Solutions to the Frustrations of Video?

Re-Torque asks: "In our organizations, interviews with perpetrators of crime (child abuse, rape, etc), and with victims, are conducted by expert interviewers and are recorded on videotape or DVD (with back ups). These recordings are legal records. They are archival records, but they are also used in the courts and in other aspects of the legal process. We have encountered problems with newer VCRs and DVD recorders. As long as the tape or DVD is played back on the same machine, there is no degradation of audio and video quality. However, when played back on any other machine, the quality of the recording is substantially degraded. We have been told that this is to frustrate illegal copying, but in our case, it frustrates the legal process. In your experience, is the problem in fact one of design of the machines or are we doing something wrong (i.e., some settings we should change before recording)? Are there any machines available that are not crippled in this way? Or are there other strategies we might employ to resolve this problem?"

Comments

I don't know about DVD recorders, but

[artifex2004]

as far as videotape recorders go, have you had the read and write heads properly aligned? Are you using real, professional recorder models, or crappy consumer models?
With proper alignment, professional and even decent quality consumer video recorders should make tapes that are interchangeable without real degradation.
If you're serious about archiving, a professional or at least digital format is probably what you want, also, not VHS.

Re:I don't know about DVD recorders, but

[gravis777]

I agree. Use professional SVHS recorders and players. Don't use consumer grade, they are crap. You may even want to try some Prosumer models. I have had VERY good luck recording with $200 SVHS VCRs recording with one recorder and playing back on another. If you are trying to record on cheap tapes using cheap $40 recorders, yeah, playback from one machine to another is going to look like crap. Use SVHS, export to your destination source via the SVHS cable and output rather than composet or coax, and it should look great.

Send the machines back - they are faulty

[TheLink]

Any DVD recorder that can't write stuff that can be played back well with normal working players is faulty.

Whatever they tell you, it is faulty. Send it back and get a refund or working replacement.

Given you are likely to know many friendly lawyers, maybe you could hint that various sorts of unpleasant legal action might be taken if they don't do the right thing...

Re:This is beautiful

[WalletBoy]

Except that the legal system aren't the ones making the laws that 'protect' Hollywood, it's the legislative system that does. It's the legal systems duty to see that those laws are enforced.

Re:This is beautiful

[1u3hr]

Except that the legal system aren't the ones making the laws that 'protect' Hollywood, it's the legislative system

How many legislators and lobbyists are lawyers by profession? Almost all of them. If a problem affects lawyers, they've got the connections to get attention better than any other group.