What Are VHS to Digital Converters?
If you want to find the best VHS to digital converters, you’d have to first understand what it is. So, what is a VHS to digital converter? In simple terms, it’s a means to convert data from your VHS tape to digital mediums. Let’s say your family recorded most of your family videos and stored them on VHS tapes. You’ve stored your child’s first steps, their first birthday party, and many more on VHS. However, they no longer work with modern devices and have phased out. Is there any way to preserve those precious memories into your external drive or the family computer? Yes, if you find the best VHS to digital converter. With the best VHS to digital converters, you can safely convert your old VHS videos to modern-day file formats. This means converting VHS to DVD so that you can store your videos onto modern storage solutions. You can store the files onto hard drives, computers, servers, the cloud — you name it.
How to Choose the Best VHS to Digital Converters
Choosing the best VHS to digital converter might seem complicated but trust us, it isn’t. However, there are some considerations you need to take into account before buying a VHS converter. Here are a couple of things you should think about before looking for the best VHS to digital converter: Firstly, you should think about what you want to do with your videos. Let’s say you recorded your favorite programming on VHS. However, there were a lot of pesky commercials shown in between the shows. The good news is, some of the best VHS to digital converter software have a solution to this. Some VHS converters have features that let you cut and edit videos so you can get rid of non-essentials. Of course, not all converters have this, but it’s something to consider if you want that functionality. Secondly, if your VHS tape has copyright protection features, it might be impossible to convert them to digital. However, some of the best VHS to digital converters do have workarounds for these kinds of tapes. If your VHS tapes have these copyright features, we suggest you look for a converter that can handle this problem. Lastly, you have to check your converter’s file quality. That means making sure it doesn’t lower your video resolution or render out terrible audio quality. It’s also more convenient to find the best VHS to digital converter with fast conversion speeds. That’s especially if you recorded multiple episodes — or even seasons — of your favorite TV show.
12 Best VHS to Digital Converters
Now that you know what a VHS converter is and how to choose one, let’s check out the best VHS to digital converter hardware and software on the market. Here are our top picks:
Our Verdict on the Best VHS to Digital Converters
There are many options when it comes to the best VHS to digital converters out on the market. It can be difficult to choose one because it’ll all depend on your needs. How many VHS tapes do you need to convert? Do you want to burn them to DVD or would you like them to go straight to your USB? How about converting non-VHS analog tapes? With all things considered, however, the Corsair converter is tough to beat. Some of the others like the VIDBOX Conversion Suite, UCEC, ClearClick, and DigitNow are also great options. Moreover, ClearClick gives you the advantage of not only converting VHS tapes but many other retro file formats as well. You can convert VHS tapes, gaming systems, cassette tapes, DVRs, DVDs, and more so you can have a digital copy. If you’re looking to convert many of your old stuff to digital, this will save you both time and money. In addition, it has a handy auto shut-off feature so you can schedule when the recording stops. You can plan out your storage space, convert while you’re sleeping, or leave it to convert while you’re working. If you want a more hands-on converting experience, you can also monitor the recording with the built-in screen. The only downside is that some customers have reported the USB 3.0 connection to be fickle. It’s also a little expensive but for the features, it’s well worth the price. The Elgato Video Capture is notoriously easy to use with many positive customer reviews. It converts to high-quality video files that can flexibly capture videos in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. Moreover, it records videos in H.264, which is ideal if you want to upload those videos on different platforms (for example, YouTube). This converter also connects via USB 2.0 making it compatible with your Mac and PC. You can also convert to DVD or even export to your iPad, depending on what you need. Last but not the least, the Elgato has video editing features that also prep your video for compatibility with other video editing software. Talk about convenience! The only difficulty with Corsair Elgato Video Capture is probably its compatibility with Windows 10. Some users report that making it work with the OS isn’t as seamless. However, the rest of the Corsair is great. Moreover, DIGITNOW also captures in H.264, which makes your video files more versatile than most file formats. You can upload them almost everywhere — even on YouTube if you like. Plus, like most great converters, DIGITNOW allows you to edit videos with advanced features like stabilization, background noise reduction, etc. With the Funai Combination Record, you can watch your tapes or burn them to DVD. It converts videos through basic line-in recording and can upscale up to 1080p. Moreover, it can record content six hours at a time if you want to bulk record. However, given that it’s also a full-on VCR and VHS player, it costs significantly more than the alternatives. Of course, each order is limited to two hours worth of footage, but that’s more than enough if you only want to convert one tape. With the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD 3 Plus Video Converter, you can easily convert your VHS tapes. Moreover, you can also edit videos with advanced features like color correction, noise reduction, and video stabilization. You can also convert cassettes to more modern music file formats and retain the sound quality. However, it’s only compatible with Windows and is a bit buggy when it comes to software. It’s simple and easy to use with little-to-no stress. You can record and save your old videos on DVD with this device in only 30 minutes. If you like having a bit more control over your content, you can also fix up your videos with the built-in video editing features. Moreover, the VIDBOX 8.0 Deluxe also offers high-quality video editing features and video output formats. Add background music, take stills, and more until you’re satisfied. When you’re done, you can easily upload your files to YouTube or Facebook to share with your friends. The only difficulty is that it’s only compatible with Windows and it’s more expensive than others on this list since it costs a little under $200. Apart from these, this VIDBOX unit is a great converter, outputting high-resolution videos in DVD, MPEG-2, MP4, and MOV. In terms of supported input file formats, VIDBOX covers NTSC, PAL, and SECAM, making many VHS tapes convertible.
