I am having the exact same problem. What is broken, the VCR or VHS that is making it B&W. Is everything B&W because my VHS tapes are too old and have eroded? I have tapes since 1990, so do they still work 30 years later? Is there no solution to this problem? I am trying to get my tapes to digital, and I need to solve this problem.
Thanks for reading!
- A Chicken

In article ,
crazy chicken wrote:
I am having the exact same problem. What is broken, the VCR or VHS that is making it B&W. Is everything B&W
because my VHS tapes are too old and have eroded? I have tapes since 1990, so do they still work 30 years
later? Is there no solution to this problem? I am trying to get my tapes to digital, and I need to solve this
problem.

https://www.broadcaststore.com/pdf/m...20-%204802.pdf
has some useful information about how VHS color recording works,
although the details of the testing procedure it suggests won't help
you all that much.

With tapes in good condition, and a VCR in good condition and
alignment, color playback should work OK. It's unlikely that several
different tapes would have degraded in the same way, so the fault is
more probably with the VCR.

VHS can lose color because of dirty or bad playback heads in the drum,
or because of a fault in the color-conversion circuits (VHS stores the
color information in a different frequency band than is used by NTSC
video). A failed 3.68 MHz color-reference oscillator would be one
such possible fault, and I'm sure there are plenty of others.

Sure, there's a solution: try a different VCR, preferably one which is
in known-good condition.

Your existing VCR might be repairable; it might need something as
simple as a good professional cleaning (and I don't mean a "cleaning
tape", I mean a by-hand cleaning by a technician who knows how to do
it properly and who won't damage the heads) or it might need circuitry
repairs. Old VHS players are common enough that simply buying a
(used) replacement is likely to be cheaper than a repair.

Another possibility - if you have hooked your VCR up to a TV/monitor
using an S-video cable, try a different cable. S-Video sends the
luminance (brightness) signal on one wire, and the chroma (color)
signal on another wire. A broken wire or pin could cut off the chroma
and leave you seeing black-and-white. See if the problem is still
there if you use a composite-video cable (RCA plug/jack, usually
yellow) rather than S-Video.

If you're trying to video-capture onto a PC, you might have a problem
with your video-capture card.

On Friday, September 25, 2020 at 10:02:18 PM UTC-4, crazy chicken wrote:
I am having the exact same problem. What is broken, the VCR or VHS that is making it B&W. Is everything B&W because my VHS tapes are too old and have eroded? I have tapes since 1990, so do they still work 30 years later? Is there no solution to this problem? I am trying to get my tapes to digital, and I need to solve this problem.
Thanks for reading!
- A Chicken

A specific model number would be helpful. I may still have service records somewhere on VCRs. But no, the age of the tape has nothing to do with a loss of chroma in playback assuming the signal to noise ratio is still respectable (viewable image without severe noise). The chroma sub carrier won't degrade any faster than any other part of the composite waveform will.

Old VCRs suffer the same issues as modern garbage does: lazy electrolytic caps as they age. If you only need this to run long enough to do a digital transfer, try taking the cover off the VCR and heating the innards for about 10 minutes with a hair dryer (don't use a real heat gun). With a good hot soak, a weak electro cap can increase it's value and lower it's ESR enough to allow the color to work as it should. If it responds to heat, make all your transfers while it stays hot.

Thank you so much! I will tell you if any of this works! If it does, anyone else that comes into the google group will see your message and leave!

On Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 8:27:14 PM UTC-4, crazy chicken wrote:
Thank you so much! I will tell you if any of this works! If it does, anyone else that comes into the google group will see your message and leave!

"an analog-to-digital converter box transfers the VHS signal from a VCR. The converter box creates an MPEG file of the VHS tape (to a hard/flash drive).

-- https://itstillworks.com/how-to-copy...ves-10186.html

On Thursday, December 17, 2020 at 2:42:48 PM UTC-5, bruce bowser wrote:
On Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 8:27:14 PM UTC-4, crazy chicken wrote:
Thank you so much! I will tell you if any of this works! If it does, anyone else that comes into the google group will see your message and leave!
"an analog-to-digital converter box transfers the VHS signal from a VCR. The converter box creates an MPEG file of the VHS tape (to a hard/flash drive).

-- https://itstillworks.com/how-to-copy...ves-10186.html

I didn't know that you could copy the VCR or VHS tape onto the DVD (then transfer to a hard/flash drive).

On Thursday, December 17, 2020 at 11:46:28 AM UTC-8, bruce bowser wrote:
On Thursday, December 17, 2020 at 2:42:48 PM UTC-5, bruce bowser wrote:
On Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 8:27:14 PM UTC-4, crazy chicken wrote:
Thank you so much! I will tell you if any of this works! If it does, anyone else that comes into the google group will see your message and leave!
"an analog-to-digital converter box transfers the VHS signal from a VCR.. The converter box creates an MPEG file of the VHS tape (to a hard/flash drive).

-- https://itstillworks.com/how-to-copy...ves-10186.html
I didn't know that you could copy the VCR or VHS tape onto the DVD (then transfer to a hard/flash drive).

Copy to DVD/files works much better with time base corrected video so that the maths line up for the subcarrier (color) and luminance. Once the TBC
has done its job, making files and DVDs is trivial. I used to do this regularly. There aren't a lot of TBCd VCR models. JVC called it 'digipure' and it
works very well. I use a JVC HR-S9911U. Note SOME video capture cards might have the TBC function on the card so you can use any VCR.

G²