I used forum search but didn't find anything similar to my problem, so here goes:
What causes the darkening pictures of old video equipment over time. I have an old vcr that I hadn't used in a looong while and I put a tape in it and the picture was very dark with no detail in the dark areas and the color was grainy and washed out. I put the same tape in a new Vcr/Dvd combo unit that I just bought and the picture looked good. Both vcr's were attached to the SAME INPUT on the tv. I hooked both vcr's to all the tv's in my house - same deal - "new vcr" good, "old vcr" terrible picture. So somehow something in the circuitry of the old vcr decayed over time. Is it because I didn't use it frequently enough? Is this related to the "gamma" part of the equipment?
I also hooked up my old Nintendo 64 that I bought in 1997. When I hooked it up to the crt tv, same situation, slightly duller, grainier colors than I remembered, and a dark image with no detail in the dark areas. It's as if someone turned the contrast way up then turned the brightness way down. I tried my playstation 1 purchased in 1997 and not played in over 7 years - same situation, terrible looking dark image.
I hooked my new Xbox 360 to ALL THE SAME TV'S using the SAME COMPOSITE inputs and it has a perfect picture. No horrible darkening or grainy colors . There are no gamma or brightness controls on the old Playstation or Nintendo or old Vcr SO IT'S NOT MY SETTINGS. What could be causing this? Is there some circuit that is notorious for going bad on old video equipment. Can I replace the bad parts on my old equipment?
Has anyone noticed this effect on their old game systems? I know all about emulators for old games but I like playing on the real thing.
What causes the darkening pictures of old video equipment over time. I have an old vcr that I hadn't used in a looong while and I put a tape in it and the picture was very dark with no detail in the dark areas and the color was grainy and washed out. I put the same tape in a new Vcr/Dvd combo unit that I just bought and the picture looked good. Both vcr's were attached to the SAME INPUT on the tv. I hooked both vcr's to all the tv's in my house - same deal - "new vcr" good, "old vcr" terrible picture. So somehow something in the circuitry of the old vcr decayed over time. Is it because I didn't use it frequently enough? Is this related to the "gamma" part of the equipment?
I also hooked up my old Nintendo 64 that I bought in 1997. When I hooked it up to the crt tv, same situation, slightly duller, grainier colors than I remembered, and a dark image with no detail in the dark areas. It's as if someone turned the contrast way up then turned the brightness way down. I tried my playstation 1 purchased in 1997 and not played in over 7 years - same situation, terrible looking dark image.
I hooked my new Xbox 360 to ALL THE SAME TV'S using the SAME COMPOSITE inputs and it has a perfect picture. No horrible darkening or grainy colors . There are no gamma or brightness controls on the old Playstation or Nintendo or old Vcr SO IT'S NOT MY SETTINGS. What could be causing this? Is there some circuit that is notorious for going bad on old video equipment. Can I replace the bad parts on my old equipment?
Has anyone noticed this effect on their old game systems? I know all about emulators for old games but I like playing on the real thing.
