The Pinnacle hardware comes in the form of a PCI card that requires minor open-case surgery to install in a desktop computer's expansion slot, while the ADS add-on is a compact external module that plugs in to a USB port.

Neither offers a FireWire digital port for newer digital camcorders they include only composite and S-Video inputs. We tested two systems that can transfer old videos to a computer, then archive them in digital form on blank CDs or DVDs.īoth Pinnacle Systems' Pinnacle Studio AV (Win 98 SE or newer, $130, and ADS Technologies' USB Instant DVD (Win 98 SE or newer, $200, take an analog video source and funnel it into a computer. And now that digital successors to the VCR are starting to appear in stores, even a mint-condition video may find itself homeless somewhere down the line.įortunately, the same digital technology that may eventually doom the VCR also allows you to salvage a collection of decaying VHS tapes. An old videotape isn't like an old book its quality only goes downhill with age.

Vcr to dvd conversion macrovision