I'm in the process of converting my late grandparents' VHS tapes to digital for their memorial. Some tapes are quite lengthy, while others might only have 30 to 60 minutes of footage. Since I'll be using the library's equipment, I won't know the video quality until I get there. The conversion will be done in real-time, likely making it a one-tape-per-day task. I've only found an 8GB USB stick so far. Would that be enough to store a tape's footage, given that I'm unsure of the quality?
1 Answer
Generally, you can estimate about 2GB per hour for compressed video files, which means an 8GB USB stick should be enough for a standard-length VHS tape. Just make sure you have enough temporary space on the library’s hard drive for the conversion process. Also, check what video format you’ll need for playback at the memorial since some devices only support certain formats. Using a laptop might give you more flexibility!
That totally makes sense! The quality of the playback device is also important. I used to download movies back in the day that fit into the 700MB to 1GB range, and they looked good enough on bigger screens.