finally getting back to rebuilding my collection after devastating house fire a few years back. have a question about transferring pal to ntsc. I have a Aiwa hv-mx1 multisystem vcr. I play a pal tape to tv and I get a good b&w pic with nice audio. when I plug composite cables into dvd recorder I get a good b&w pic with ok audio on tv screen, but bottom of pic is at top of screen with a black line and top of pic is on screen below black line. i tried a $15 converter and it did nothing to improve anything.

I want to record the pal tapes to ntsc dvd without it costing me a lot of money. from my research, I think I need either a video enhancer or time based corrector. some of the tbc units on ebay are expensive. some enhancers are reasonable. please let me know what I need to record the pal tapes to ntsc dvd or vhs without it costing me an arm and leg. any and all info will be greatly appreciated. What you got for advise Lordsmurf? since you good at things like this. PLZ let me know. thanks stoogedog

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would this Orei XD-901 PAL RCA/S-Video to NTSC HDMI 50/60 Hz Multi-System Digital Audio Video Converter - Dual Voltage work to do pal to ntsc transfers with good results, such as color clear picture? please last post for reference info. please let me know. any and all input is appreciated. thanks stoogedog

Aww, a fire! That's terrible. :(

FYI: That Aiwa is a rebadged Panasonic. I have a Samsung, which is also a rebadged Panasonic. And I believe the JVC is a rebadge, too. So anything you see online about multisystem VCRs is essentially referring to the same unit.

A pure TBC won't help.

However, I do have a special PAL>NTSC / NTSC>PAL TBC. It's composite, and I'm selling it for $350. (You can always buy it, use it, resell it.) This is for converting without the aid of the PAL>NTSC circuits inside the VCR. You'd play PAL and PAL, and the TBC converts.

The internal conversion circuits might be fired.

It could also just be a wiring issue.

PAL/NTSC VHS hardware can be temperamental.

B&W image is a typical problem, with many solutions.