DC Video

DC Video DC Video provides a wide range of high quality video tape transfers and media migration services. We Videotape recording was introduced in 1956.

Over the years, many recording schemes have come and gone. Most of the videotape recorder/players over 10 years old are scarce or non-existant. Fortunately DC Video has dedicated itself to preserving and maintaining the technology to recover and transfer these obsolete formats. Please don't hesitate to call or email us for further details. For examples of our media migration and reformatting work, please visit our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/dcvideoonline

Another project consisting of the recovery and preservation of historic A level talent performances. The chosen record s...
03/20/2025

Another project consisting of the recovery and preservation of historic A level talent performances. The chosen record stock: One dozen Memorex Chroma 90 two-inch Quad. RCA truck with TK-45A cameras making excellent pictures. Record machine: RCA TR-61 (a pair). More details to follow when I can...
www.dcvideo.com

A last minute urgent transfer from a client this past week occurred involving a 3 hour reel of type C 625/PAL. It was a ...
03/04/2025

A last minute urgent transfer from a client this past week occurred involving a 3 hour reel of type C 625/PAL. It was a feature with stereo German language. The container work order stated that a VPR-3 was used for the creation of this tape so we felt it appropriate to transfer this program on an ultra-rare (in the U.S.) Ampex VPR-3 PAL machine with a PAL Zeus. Leave it to Ampex, all went well with this over-sized source reel!

www.dcvideo.com

Another project completed and shipping out. This is one of three pallets. All going back East to their home. www.dcvideo...
02/26/2025

Another project completed and shipping out. This is one of three pallets. All going back East to their home.

www.dcvideo.com

Here is a nice review for the movie we contributed to, "Becoming Led Zeppelin":
02/16/2025

Here is a nice review for the movie we contributed to, "Becoming Led Zeppelin":

In this video I share some thoughts on seeing the long-awaited rock documentary, 'Becoming Led Zeppelin'.Cheers for now,MarkImages fair use for educational p...

02/14/2025
The film makers wanted good quality from their 625 SECAM source tapes. So we gave it to them!
02/11/2025

The film makers wanted good quality from their 625 SECAM source tapes. So we gave it to them!

Thank you for making the biggest IMAX exclusive opening weekend for any music film EVER.

Now playing exclusively in IMAX. In theaters everywhere this Friday.

From Beautiful Downtown Burbank, let's get it on!www.dcvideo.com
02/10/2025

From Beautiful Downtown Burbank, let's get it on!

www.dcvideo.com

What does IVC 1" videotape, pre-type A 1" videotape, Eddie Harris, Roy Ayres, Joe Brazil, Joe Henderson, Dizzy Gillespie...
02/07/2025

What does IVC 1" videotape, pre-type A 1" videotape, Eddie Harris, Roy Ayres, Joe Brazil, Joe Henderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl (Father) Hines and Herbie Hancock have in common? They each were a part of the recent completion of rare, never before seen interviews, performances and audience Q&A in an informal setting from the early to mid 1970's. Each program has been digitized and preserved for posterity.
More details to follow.

DC Video specializes in the transfer and reformatting and digitization of 2 inch Quadruplex, 1/2 inch EIAJ, 3/4 inch Umatic and other legacy videotape formats.

We attended an invitation-only screening of "Becoming Led Zepplin" last night at the Chinese. What a show! Our two-inch ...
01/28/2025

We attended an invitation-only screening of "Becoming Led Zepplin" last night at the Chinese. What a show! Our two-inch Quad material (two segments) looked pretty good on the big screen and one piece had one of the longer duration songs of this two-hour spectacular.
This movie has a lot of archival material within. I suggest you go and see it if you like Led Zepplin!

Here is a news piece from last night:

https://ledzepnews.com/2025/01/28/heres-who-attended-the-hollywood-premiere-of-becoming-led-zeppelin/

More details to follow.
We are proud to have contributed to this motion picture and our name is on the end credit roll!
www.dcvideo.com

For those who crave 50 year-old extremely obsolete videotape recordings, here is today's offering. Not pretty but noneth...
01/23/2025

For those who crave 50 year-old extremely obsolete videotape recordings, here is today's offering. Not pretty but nonetheless, another snapshot of local PBS member stations as we contribute towards a deeper-dive coupled with unique metadata in this preservation of "Public Broadcasting" programming.
Tony Garrett, long-time fixture of North Texas broadcasting, is a part of this production.

This is an off-the-air recording of a segment from the November, 1974 Auction for KERA-TV channel 13, Dallas/Fort Worth Texas. A one-inch Ampex VR series low...

The tale of the missing source tape: It's who you know in this town that helps a lot!This past year, we were given a pro...
01/16/2025

The tale of the missing source tape: It's who you know in this town that helps a lot!

This past year, we were given a project to transfer a variety series from 2" Quad videotape to file. All went well but I reported early on that one tape had breakup recorded in on a critical performance. There was no way to get around it. It was a two-inch to two-inch master issue. No cutaway such as to an audience shot was possible.

The content owner was advised but had no idea where the source tape was that made this errant E-E master (a cut down version). A DB was pulled. It was the same. A 3/4" office copy was pulled late last year. The same issue existed.

I started to think who might have a rundown of the guests on this particular show that might lend a clue as to what the original air master source tape might be. Only one individual came to mind. This industry colleague across town had years ago acquired the promotional paperwork for this 50 year old production series from a defunct organization's file cabinet. So on a hunch, I reached out to this contact just before Christmas, giving him the show guest list and performances as seen on this bad tape just in case he comes up with some idea.

About a week later, he lets me know that the information I provided matched a certain edited master's original air date rundown. Voila! Maybe we have something here. But the client had no record of this element in his vault here in Los Angeles. Zip. Nada.

I had worked with a gentleman in this particular client's vault before and asked him if and only if he had the time, could he do a visual search of the inventory item by item over multiple shelves and see if he could see an original element with this exact show number and air date as seen on the rundown paperwork? One must understand that this effort in a cold/dark vault is not easy and was not an officially mandated task. But he did it anyway, thanks to our previous working relationships. A while later, he surfaces with the exact tape as I had described! I could not believe it. Immediate contact was made with the content holder for a release of this material to us for pickup. This tape was indeed the original E-E master for air and it did not have the breakup-IT WAS CLEAN! Using the third-generation Ampex AVR-1, new files were made across multiple drives. Two drives were hand-delivered yesterday from our office here in Burbank to the A-list talent agency in Los Angeles who had been patiently waiting for this better element. It was a good day!

The moral of the story here is: Keep digging. Your client may end up being very happy!

www.dcvideo.com

This is what happens when you fire the Chyron department.
01/12/2025

This is what happens when you fire the Chyron department.

The long wait may be coming to an end in so far as to announcing DC Video's contributions to this film. When the NDA is ...
12/23/2024

The long wait may be coming to an end in so far as to announcing DC Video's contributions to this film. When the NDA is dropped, we will post it here!

Directed by: Bernard MacMahonWritten by: Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourtyCast: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John BonhamTickets on Sale Now...

If you like seeing vintage TV equipment such as the GE PE-400 cameras, the GE PE-240 vidicon film chain, Sarkes-Tarzian ...
12/19/2024

If you like seeing vintage TV equipment such as the GE PE-400 cameras, the GE PE-240 vidicon film chain, Sarkes-Tarzian switchers and the second & third-generation Ampex VTR's, all the while shot with an early S/N RCA TK-76, then we have a show for you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAb4YldvEl4

www.dcvideo.com

DC Video specializes in the transfer and reformatting and digitization of 2 inch Quadruplex, 1/2 inch EIAJ, 3/4 inch Umatic and other legacy videotape formats.

12/14/2024

Low-band monochrome 7.5 I.P.S. recording made on an RCA TR 5 VTR in 1974. The record engineer had no idea that color information was being laid down to tape! Thank you Ampex AVR-1.

https://youtu.be/A6cr8SWSRJU

Now, how many 2" dupes using the second generation Ampex VR-1200's did you say you needed right away? Today, we have eno...
11/21/2024

Now, how many 2" dupes using the second generation Ampex VR-1200's did you say you needed right away?

Today, we have enough AVR-1's to replicate this photo but not enough floor space!

www.dcvideo.com

We are always grateful to be involved in a restoration project. We have not seen the BluRay product yet nor have we seen...
11/01/2024

We are always grateful to be involved in a restoration project. We have not seen the BluRay product yet nor have we seen the completed "bonuses" as listed below:

Product Extras :
Interviews with Mark Quigley (John H. Mitchell Television Curator, UCLA Film & Television Archive), Maya MontaƱez Smukler (Head of the UCLA Film & Television Archive Research and Study Center), and Amanda Reyes (Made for TV Mayhem)
Demonstration of 2" video technology, featuring David Crosthwait (DC Video)

If you have a chance to watch this production, please let us know what you think. Thank you.

Virtually unseen since their late-night airings on ABC television in 1973, The Classic Ghosts is a series of five feature-length teleplays, shot live on videotape.

For Mark, Kris and others: Here are two vector scope displays. See individual picture descriptions.www.dcvideo.com
10/12/2024

For Mark, Kris and others: Here are two vector scope displays. See individual picture descriptions.

www.dcvideo.com

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3071 N Lima Street
Burbank, CA
91504

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

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