Just a few quick random thoughts: 1. The SCART socket has separate rgb outputs and l/r audio amongst its many pins so SCART is the way to go for highest quality output from the VCR. The device you buy needs to use these pins and not composite video which is output on other scart pins. If it helps any there are quite a few cheap SCART to HDMI converters available on Amazon but I have not tried them.
2. Wikipedia: Hot plugging SCART not recommended. 3. When I had an audio tape recorder I spent some time keeping the heads clean with cotton buds dipped in a little isopropyl alcohol. I also cleaned the pinch wheel (possibly alcohol not suitable for the pinch wheel) and then the tape guides and anything else in the tape path. A clean machine should give the best picture but I would Google exactly how/if to do this for a VHS machine because I only ever did it for my audio tape recorder. Cleaning tapes were available I recall but not sure how good they were or if they damaged the heads. 4. Simple autoswitch off. Put a photo relay in front of the screen and if it is blank for say 5 minutes switch everything off. However make sure the VCR playback mechanism automatically disengages when power is removed or it could be damaged. If necessary copy the ir remote "off" signal for the VCR and transmit that via an ir LED. Might need to become familar with the RPi but could be a fun project. 5. DVD media is a good question. Probably not too many choices nowadays and there is probably a lot of knock-off stuff on Amazon. Japanese is likely best if you can get it. Archive quality might be expensive. There is also the question of DVD+R vs DVD-R. Google is your friend here. I ended up choosing Verbatim DVD+R but that was some considerable time ago. 6. You may want to get some archive quality DVD sleeves for those family heritage disks. 7. The media may be damaged or may need drying out depending on how it has been stored. Google is again your friend here. Also check out stiction. I would not be rough with the tapes and only playback at normal speed if you wish to be extra cautious. The first playback may not be the best if the tape has not been played for a long time. I hope this is useful or at least given you some ideas. Best regards, Clive -- Peterboro mailing list Peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/peterboro
