Yes, it's time to digitize those precious tapes

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I'd digitized the good stuff from my collection of videotapes and stored the files on DVDs. I bragged about how much more accessible the files had become and how much less room the discs took up compared to the tapes. Naturally, that made some people jealous, and one reader even wrote in and requested a few more details on how one might go about doing such a conversion. So here goes.

Besides the advantages of digital files mentioned above, you may want to digitize because videotape deteriorates. I didn't keep statistics, but quite a few of my tapes–generally ones that were five to 15 years old–showed some loss of colour or image quality. Some suffered from tracking problems that made the picture roll. As you might expect, it was generally the bargain-brand tapes that suffered most, while higher-grade tapes often looked surprisingly good, even the older ones. So if there are family memories at stake (as opposed to just ordinary TV shows), you might want to do this sooner rather than later.

The good news is that the conversion process is easy and the equipment required is inexpensive and plentiful. One route is to buy a stand-alone digital video recorder ($200 and up) after checking that it has audio/video inputs for connecting a VCR. Or you can add video-recording capability to your computer–I found 16 different products that do that (14 for Windows, two for the Mac) on the shelves at a London Drugs outlet recently, ranging from $60 to $350. And although the number of products available is a little daunting, there aren't that many manufacturers involved–most offer several packages in order to compete at each price point.

A couple of the Windows products are video cards that go inside your machine, but most of them (and both of the Mac ones) consist of some kind of external device that digitizes the signal (cable, VCR, camcorder, and such) into a stream of data and passes it into a USB 2.0 port. Some of these devices are nearly as small as a keychain-sized flash memory drive. The software that comes in the package (don't forget to read the hardware requirements before buying) writes the stream of data onto your hard drive and lets you edit the file to some extent.

At minimum, you'll be able to trim out commercials and such. However, that is a tedious task; plus, I worked out that, if you were aiming for about five hours of recorded video per blank DVD (at 25 cents each), cleaning out the ads saves about a nickel. For me, that's not worth the time and trouble when there's a functioning Fast-Forward button on my remote control.

Back to the hardware. Personally, I prefer buying external devices because you can easily move them to other computers, but I don't mind a bit of clutter on my desk. What's more important than the internal vs. external debate is to pay attention to the main distinction between these products–some are simply digitizers and don't have a TV tuner, while others have tuners but only accept a cable or satellite-TV wire. (They don't have RCA or S-VHS inputs.) Fortunately, many of the devices offer all options. Presumably, once you finish with your tapes you'll want to record broadcasts digitally from then on, so I'd say go for one with a tuner.

If you can find a product with chips that can encode video in the format called DivX, consider that a big plus. DivX not only allows about 10 hours of great-quality video to fit on a DVD (about twice what non–DivX encoding allows if you're recording at a respectable picture setting), but it's also a format that's supported by several brands of inexpensive DVD players. These can play discs of DivX files, which frees you from having to watch everything on a computer screen.

Other advice? I'd skip all the cheapest models. The mid- and high-range products don't cost much more (almost all of the products I spotted were under $200) and offer considerably more features, especially in the software. Read the blurb on each product's packaging, and once you've come up with a few likely candidates check out the ratings at Epinions.com, or maybe do a Google search for reviews. (There are plenty.) Pay particular attention to what people think of the software, since that's what you'll have to deal with all the time. And visiting each manufacturer's Web site can help you compare the features of each model.

If you're looking to digitize old videotaped material, make sure the device you buy has RCA inputs for the audio and video so you can connect a VCR. If you are planning to copy prerecorded tapes that you bought and don't feel you should have to buy again on DVD, get one of those video-stabilizer boxes ($30 to $50) to help provide a clean signal. And if you're planning to record television broadcasts, you'll need to make sure the device handles analogue and/or digital cable signals.

When you get your purchase home, install the software and plug in the device. Start digitizing. You'll notice I haven't dwelled on the actual recording process; that's because it's literally as simple as clicking the on-screen Record button. If you can operate a cassette deck, you can do this. The shopping is probably the hardest part–and even that will be simplified if you do on-line research in advance.