Hi there I need to know which cable i need to hook up my computer to my video player so i can record off videos cassettes. Anyone help?
To connect a VCR to a PC requires a TV/Capture card in the PC. The audio R&L from the VCR would be connected to the 'Line In' jack of the capture card - usually the two RCA jacks from the VCR are connected to a mini stereo adapter which then plugs into the capture card.. The video from the VCR would either be an S-Video cable from the VCR into the S-Video jack of the capture card. Or an RCA cable from the (Yellow) video output of the VCR which goes into a corresponding jack on the capture card (if it has one) or through an adapter to connect to the S-Video jack on the card. There are devices out there which can take the input from a VCR and feed the signal into the PC through an available USB port on the PC, this may be easier than opening say a laptop and trying to find a card for it. If you are backing up commercial tapes, bear in mind that some of these tapes have Macrovision protection on them. Some - not all - capture cards ignore this and pass the video through ok. In the case where the device honours the protection, you must pass the video through a so called 'video enhancer' to allow recording. The least complicated solution is to connect the VCR to a standalone DVD recorder - but these also honour Macrovision protection and will refuse to copy a commercial movie that has this protection (not all movies have it).
