Q. & A.
Frequently asked,
Frequently asked,
frankly answered.
Common questions about formats, pricing, the digitization process, tape condition, AI enhancement, delivery and accounts. If yours isn’t here, just ask.
i. Formats & compatibility
What we take.
Consumer video tape, every signal standard. The shorter list is what we don’t do.
VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, Video8, Hi8, Digital8 and MiniDV. NTSC, PAL and SECAM signal standards are all supported. If you have something unusual (Betamax, U-matic, professional formats) contact us first. We may be able to help, or refer you to the right specialist.
Not part of our current service. We focus exclusively on the consumer video formats listed above to keep our equipment and expertise sharp on what we do. Not sure what format you have? Use our tape identification guide.
Yes. We have multi-system decks that handle all three TV standards. Just let us know what you’re sending if you’re not sure of the format.
No. We specialize in video tape only. For audio cassettes, photos or 8mm/16mm film, we recommend services that focus on those specific media.
ii. Pricing & packages
What it costs.
Transparent per-tape rates, no box minimums, no surprise fees at delivery.
Basic Digitization starts at $25 for 2 tapes ($12.50/tape) and drops to $75 for 10 tapes ($7.50/tape). Advanced adds $5 per tape. AI Enhancement for your own uploaded files is $0.35 per minute of the file. See the pricing calculator for a live total, or read what VHS conversion costs across the whole market.
Yes. Disc delivery is included in the package price. For Basic and Advanced you pick DVD or BluRay at checkout, no price difference. Cloud streaming is the alternative to discs, also at no price difference. More detail: VHS to DVD, the modern way.
Online orders cap at 10 tapes. For larger collections, contact us. We can offer better per-tape pricing and stagger the work over a longer timeline.
Yes, until your order is completed. Once captures appear in your dashboard, you can mark selected portions for upgrades: Advanced re-scan from a Basic capture at $0.05/minute, AI Enhancement on an Advanced capture at $0.30/minute, or combined on a Basic capture at $0.35/minute ($0.05 + $0.30). AI requires an Advanced base on the same clip, since the cleaner source dramatically improves AI output. With discs, add upgrades before the discs are burned. After the order is completed (discs burned and the order closed, or a cloud order completed), upgrades can’t be added to it anymore; you can still download your files from the dashboard and enhance them as a standalone AI Enhancement order, or email support@savevhs.com and we’ll help.
Oregon has no statewide sales tax. Customers outside Oregon may see tax added at checkout depending on local rules.
iii. Process & timeline
How long, and what happens when.
From tape arrival to file delivery: realistic timelines.
Basic capture is typically 2 to 5 business days after we receive your tapes. Advanced takes 2 to 3 times longer. AI time depends heavily on the length of the video and our current load: from a few hours to a few days. Every stage of your order is visible in your dashboard.
Yes. Captures appear in your dashboard as soon as they’re complete. You can preview each clip, mark upgrades, and download source files before any disc is burned.
Originals are logged on arrival, stored in our climate-controlled work area during capture, and returned to you afterwards. We don’t keep or dispose of them.
A digitization order is complete once your original tapes are shipped back to you, or returned by our courier in the Portland metro area, within 3 business days after we finish working on it. A standalone AI Enhancement order is complete as soon as processing finishes. Your results are in your dashboard before that, so check them and email us about any quality question before your order is complete: a completed order can’t be cancelled or refunded.
Yes, while they’re still on their way to us. Email support@savevhs.com with your order number and we’ll cancel the order and refund it, except for the return shipping you paid. Once your tapes reach us, your order is in progress and can no longer be cancelled. See the refund policy.
iv. Tape condition & damage
When a tape needs more than a capture.
Mold, sticky-shed, broken shells: quoted free before any restoration work begins.
Every tape is inspected on arrival. Minor wear is handled in the standard package. For major issues (mold, broken shells, sticky-shed syndrome, snapped tape) we contact you with a free restoration quote before doing any work.
A degradation of the magnetic binder in some tape formulations. The tape feels sticky, leaves residue on heads, and can’t play normally. It’s treatable through controlled baking and careful capture. Restoration billing applies.
Quoted after inspection. Billing is hourly based on the actual work: sticky-shed treatment, shell repair, splicing. We never proceed without your written approval.
If we genuinely can’t capture anything from a tape, we reject it and refund that tape’s portion of your order (return shipping is not refunded). The rest of your order proceeds normally.
Yes. Heat-stored tapes are common. They may show more dropouts and color shifts than well-stored tapes; Advanced scans handle this best. We’ll flag anything serious during inspection.
v. Delivery & cloud access
Files, discs, downloads.
Cloud, DVD, BluRay (with one notable thing we don’t offer: USB).
Cloud lets you stream from phone, tablet, smart TV or web for one year (free, included). Discs play in standard players: DVD or BluRay, your choice. You pick the format at checkout. Same price either way.
Yes. With DVD or BluRay delivery, source MP4 files are downloadable for 30 days after your order is completed. With cloud delivery, they are downloadable for as long as your subscription is active, plus 30 days after it ends if you don’t renew. Save local copies before your window closes.
Renewal is $25/year for up to 20 tapes in your cloud, plus $1/year for each additional tape, paid a year at a time; a renewal can’t be cancelled or refunded. If you don’t need the cloud any more, simply don’t renew. Streaming stops when your subscription ends, but for 30 days after that you can still download your files from your dashboard. They then stay in backup for another 60 days: during that time they can’t be streamed or downloaded, but if you renew within 90 days of the end date, everything is back in place. After 90 days they are permanently deleted and cannot be restored.
No. The free year starts when your account is created with your first order. Videos from later orders join the same cloud and share its end date, so a new order doesn’t start a new free year. When the year ends, one renewal covers everything in your cloud.
AI Enhancement comes two ways. If you upload your own file, you get the enhanced video back as an MP4 download, with no disc. If you ordered Basic or Advanced digitization and enhance some of your videos or parts of them from your dashboard before the order is completed, the enhanced version joins the rest of that order: it goes to your cloud, or onto a BluRay disc if you chose discs. It’s BluRay because DVD can’t hold a FullHD stream: DVD is a standard-definition format by spec, while a BluRay holds 25–50GB. For Basic and Advanced your source is SD, so both DVD and BluRay work and you choose.
No, on purpose. USB flash drives have a limited and unpredictable lifespan, especially the cheap drives some competitors bundle as a “storage option.” Flash memory cells can fail without warning; recovering data from a damaged drive typically costs hundreds of dollars and isn’t guaranteed to succeed. Optical discs, by contrast, remain readable for many years (decades with proper storage) and play on any DVD/BluRay player or computer. If you want convenient access from phone, tablet or TV, our cloud gives you exactly that, free for the whole first year, so for most customers it’s effectively a no-brainer over USB.
Yes. That’s the dashboard. Once your captures land there, you can reorder clips into chronological order, give them meaningful titles (“Christmas 1994” instead of “Tape_03.mp4”), remove dead air or leader segments, group into chapters, and lay out the disc menu the way you want it. We burn what you assemble, not a default we picked. Most digitizing services don’t offer this.
vi. Portland pickup & mail-in
Getting tapes to us, safely.
Hand-delivered if you’re local; tracked carriers everywhere else.
Roughly the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area: Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties in Oregon, plus close Vancouver, WA zip codes. If you’re on the edge, contact us with your address and we’ll confirm.
Use a sturdy cardboard shipping box, not a soft mailing envelope. Leave the tapes in their original cases if you have them, wrap them in bubble wrap and fill any empty space so nothing moves around. Use a trackable shipping method (UPS, FedEx, USPS Priority all work). Send the tracking number to support@savevhs.com with your order number, or reply to our order confirmation email, so we can watch for arrival.
Calculated at checkout based on package weight. We ship returns via USPS with tracking, typically in 3–8 business days.
Not by default. We’re U.S.-based. International customers should contact us first. We can sometimes accommodate return shipping outside the U.S. but need to confirm carrier options and costs in advance.
vii. AI Enhancement
Realistic expectations.
What the model does, and what it can’t do no matter how good it gets.
Upscales standard-definition (480i NTSC or 576i PAL) video to true 1080p FullHD, with denoise and detail enhancement. The result is cleaner, sharper and better suited to modern displays, but it can’t add content the camera never recorded.
Yes. You don’t need physical tapes to use AI Enhancement: upload existing digital files through the AI Enhancement flow; uploading creates the order. The whole file is enhanced, at $0.35 per minute of the file.
Not for videos we digitized: mark specific clips, scenes or time ranges in your dashboard and you pay only for the minutes you select, with the first 3 minutes free. A file you upload yourself is enhanced as a whole and billed for its full length.
It will help, but it won’t magically restore the original. AI works best when the underlying signal is mostly intact: Advanced scan plus AI is the right combination for most degraded tapes.
No, and we say so up front. AI output depends on the source video and on personal taste in how vintage footage should look. We don’t guarantee that any specific clip will enhance to your satisfaction, and we don’t hide the failure modes (plastic-skin faces, drifting features, distorted text and logos, general softness). See the honest rundown for examples.
Yes, when you enhance videos we digitized for you. The first 3 minutes of AI Enhancement are free when you mark portions of a Basic or Advanced capture from your dashboard; anything beyond those 3 minutes is paid. Use them to sample on a clip you actually care about and see whether the result fits your archive and your taste before committing more. Files you upload yourself don’t get free minutes, since the whole file is enhanced and billed: to test on your own footage, upload a short file first (uploads start at 5 minutes).
Sample first. For AI added to a Digitization order the first 3 minutes are free, so the sample costs nothing. If you don’t like it, stop there and don’t mark additional portions: you’ve spent nothing. Your original Digitization capture stays in your account unchanged. We cannot refund or redo completed AI Enhancement work because the result isn’t to your liking, since the GPU time and operator labor have already been spent. See our Cancellation and Refund Policy for the full rules.
viii. Accounts & files
The dashboard and what lives in it.
One account for all your orders. Cloud, downloads, upgrades: all in one place.
Yes, an account is created when you place your order. It’s how you preview captures, mark upgrades and download files. The delivery format (cloud or discs) is chosen at checkout, and one account holds all your orders.
Yes, within reason. You can share your videos with family and friends by giving them access to your account. We don’t impose hard concurrent-viewer limits but reserve the right to question patterns that look like commercial use.
MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio for both Basic and Advanced output. AI Enhancement output is also MP4 at 1080p.
Streaming stops when your subscription ends, but for 30 days after that you can still download your files from your dashboard. They then stay in backup for another 60 days: during that time they can’t be streamed or downloaded, but renew within 90 days of the end date and everything is back in place. After 90 days they are permanently deleted and cannot be restored.
Question not answered here?
Reach out. We reply quickly during West Coast business hours. Standard orders go through the calculator; anything off-script, just ask.