Converting a Star Wars VHS tape to digital format

There's certainly endless amounts of information about this online but I thought I'd share my own personal experience. 

'Click and convert' Hardware by CnM Lifestyle electronics with software by Arcsoft (2007)

 

Why bother? Well, if have a favourite film, television drama, family moments or anything else you want to preserve for future then it's a good idea. The more you play a VHS tape, the more it will wear out and it could even snap eventually. Always store your VHS tapes at room temperature otherwise you stand the risk of the tape going mouldy, which is very common. Mouldy tapes can be cleaned, so don't just throw it away, but it's not an easy process. I've heard of someone throw away a first edition Star Wars VHS tape away becuse of mould, something I would certainly not do for such a classic collectable. 

In the 2000's I was using a dektop computer. I had a collection of collectable UK issue pre-cert VHS tapes and wanted to convert them to a digital format. I bought a VHS to digital converter kit which included software by Arcsoft called Showbiz, around 2007. This worked really well, but I never got around to copying many of my VHS tapes because it took so long. Using a desktop computer for this was good because it had so many input jacks and a seperate sound card. 

Fast foward to 2025 and I decided to convert my set of first edition Star Wars trilogy VHS cassettes to a digital format. The Star Wars (A New Hope) VHS was the first time it was made available to watch at home. This was for rental only, so the condition is surprisingly good for a tape which is 42 years old and could have been watched hundreds of times. 

My original Star Wars 'rental only' VHS from 1982

That's when it started to get rather complicated. 

A while ago I discovered that my new HP Dragonfly laptop didn't have a sound card. The original Showbiz software came with cables including a standard USB A and an audio jack for the sound. Well, there was no audio input on my laptop so I found I couldn't get any audio, even with the USB. 

I hastily went online and purchased another similar 'kit' with software by 'Honsetech'. Well, the software has proved to be almost useless and I paid what I consider alot of money for something which is probably made in China for about $5.

I would NOT recommend this product

A few years ago I explored all sorts of other options including using my PowerDirector software and Open Broadcaster Software (OBS). I had mixed success using these. 

This time I tried a different approach which turned into bit of a project. I still had an old Dell Inspiron 640m laptop. This had two audio jack sockets, one for headphones and one for a microphone. I thought this would allow me to record the audio, which was missing when I tried recording with my newer laptop. 

Over the years my old Dell was used for experimenting by installing Windows 98 and later a version of Linux to play some old computer games. I noticed that the Dell still had the sticker underneath with the Windows licence key for Windows Vista. I decided to try and re-instal this with the intention of then installing my old Showbiz software, which should be compatible with Vista. 

Despite having the Windows product key for Vista, I didn't have any reinstall discs. Fortunately I was able to download a complete version of Vista service pack 2. 

This worked but I soon realised that I should 'activate' the Windows Vista licence to ensure I maintained all it's features. I had just 3 days to do this. 

Fortunately I found a good video on Youtube which was how to register a copy of Windows Vista in 2023. It was no longer possible to do this online, but it could be done by telephone. To my surprise, the paid for Microsoft telephone registation service was still open and I was able to follow voice activated commands to complete the activation successfully. 

Firstly I checked my Star Wars tape using an LG model V280 DVD/VHS combi video cassette recorder (VCR). This is a 6 head VCR made in 2007. I played the tape and was rather shocked to see how bad the quality was. However, after running the tape throught the VCR a few times, it seemed to improve and stabalise. The ares of jumping and scratches were not always in the same place, so I assume it was more to do with the VCR tracking than the condition of the tape itself. 

I was ready to start recording the video using Arcsoft Showbiz. The audio jack with the 'dongle' did indeed produce audio when used via the microphone input jack, as I was hoping. 

I hooked up to a spare Television but later realised you don't even need to play it through the TV. You can simply connect the cable between the VCR and computer. There's a preview panel in Showbiz which allows you to see the video being played. I couldn't seem to get the preview working with the Honestech software. 

Despite the  Arcsoft Showbiz software being 18 years old, it's still significantly better then the much newer Honestech software I purchased just a few years ago.  

Just when I thought everything was going fine, a pop-up message appeared saying "Copyrighted video detected. Recording not allowed" and it stopped recording. I tried several times again but this message always appeared once or twice during the recording. 

I read many forums, offering many suggestions on how to bypass the analogue protection system used on some VHS tapes aka Macrovision or Copyguard. None of these worked for me and I didn't want to spend any more money of gadgets which may, or may not work. 

Analog Protection System - Wikipedia

My solution

The only way I solved this was to record chunks of the film and then use my PowerDirector 15 editing software to paste it all back together again. This was quite alot of work involving editing at single frame level to join the parts together successfully. It was a long process, but it worked and I finally had the full VHS film version as it was in 1982, in a digital format.

I decided to keep one full version in it's original format and produce another one which I enhanced using Power Director 15 by applying various 'fixes' such as 'de-noise' and colour correction. 

I managed to edit out all the worst quality bits by re-recording them using my Showbiz software. Curiously, the various bits which had 'jumping' and 'snow' didn't always appear again in the same place. I was able to use Power Director 15 to remove the worst bits and and then add the newly recorded scenes. This was a slow process. It needs lots of patience and at least some basic knowledge of using video editing software.

It's worth noting that the initial recording came with a file size of about 5GB. I did manage to compress this to about 2GB using Handbrake software, with no noticable degregation of quality.  

I read that a 6 head VCR could bypass the Copyright protection. I did wonder whether it was the occassional interference which was triggering the Copyright protection. 

There's still a huge number of 'kits' for converting VHS to digital availble. Nearly all of these are over-priced, and may not even work. I would suggest spending time to research these, read reviews and ensure compatiability with your own computer. If like me, you just want to record some old VHS tapes to preserve them digitally and have the convenience of that, then some of the more basic recording methods would be sufficient. If you have some very important old family tapes to preserve then you should probably have them done professionally to get the best quality possible. Finding such a reputable company is imperritive. I'm sure some might not manage to do it much better than you could yourself. 

My enhanced version

Afterwards I decided to make another copy, with enhancements and fixes using my Power Director 15 video editing software. The result was actually quite good, as you can see from the following comparison screenshots.

Only a subtle difference on this screenshot from the opening credits. The black background appears darker on the right-hand side enhanced version.  

A more noticable improvement with this screenshot. In the original, the skin colour appears more red. The second one has a more natural skin tone. 

My third comparison highlights how the 'noise reduction' feature has reduced the amount of visible lines and 'grain'. 

Since this I've also recorded my Dawn of the Dead Intervision VHS from 1982. The quality being much better than with using Honestech a few years ago. Perhaps 18 years ago the VHS converters were better made than today, even the cheap ones. 

Star Wars Video VHS first release 1982 (UK pre cert)

 

Having written a post about pre-cert VHS videos in the UK, I found myself looking more closely at the various first editions of Star Wars. 

There didn't seem to be much information about the early UK editions or their values today (2023).

Star Wars A New Hope was first released on VHS, V2000 and Betamax by 20th Century Fox on 1 July 1982. For the first three months it was only available for rental. 20th Century Fox made available 20,000 copies to retailers when it went on general sale three months later. However, retailers were limited to just 10 copies each.

At the same time the video was made available for sale to the general public, Star Wars was shown on British television for the first time in October 1982. ITV initially claimed they had paid £1.5 million for the film but 20th Century Fox denied this and indicated it was even more. No doubt those lucky enough to own a video recorder preferred to record it than purchase the retail version. However, such a recording would have been spoilt by the addition of countless advertisements. Having said that, I'm sure that today a collector would be willing to acquire such a recording of the first showing on television for completeness.

Star Wars Episode IV on British television 1982

 

The very first video release of Star Wars A New Hope had the words "Rental Library" at the bottom of the front artwork. At that time VHS video films were very expensive to buy (about £45) so the vast majority of people would rent a film. In fact video recorders/players (VCR) were also very expensive to buy so these were also usually rented. The retail version of Star Wars could be purchased directly by the general public from October 1982 and it used the same box cover artwork. The only difference was that it didn’t include the text 'Rental library' on the front cover. Both videos had a black box, although there was also an early release available with a white box. So if you do find one with a white box, it may still be the original. The white box version is also likely to be in excellent condition as this was an expensive private purchase at the time it was released. I expect the majority of people would assume the white box is not the original one. 

There's quite a variation in values on these first editions. A rental library version of  the first film A New Hope is worth around £50. The value depends on overall condition and originality. By originality I mean that it has the original box stamped with 20th Century Fox, original artwork sleeve and makers labels on the cassette. 

A genuine seller will provide good photographs, description and welcome questions. Dealers often use generic descriptions with nothing specific about the actual item in the photograph. It's common to see tapes listed as 'untested'. That's understandable if someone no longer owns a VCR, but also a good way to sell off a very poor quality tape. 

Bear in mind that being ex-rental, it's likely to have been viewed hundreds of times and could be somewhat worn, so prepare to lower your expectations to avoid disapointment. Those in the best condition may have escaped the rental shop shelves, but that would be rare. These could be identified by their lack of rental related labels attached to the box or the cassette. For example, it's common to find an adhesive label reminding the user to rewind the tape. 

Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope (ANH) was released in the UK on VHS for the first time on 1 July 1982 for rental only. It was not for another three months before 20th Century Fox released a retail version. It comes in a black 20th Century Fox plastic box*. Often described as 'small box' which was the standard size. Rental companies also adopted over-size boxes for many films, referred to simply as a 'big box'. The artwork on the spine will indicate whether the tape is VHS or Betamax. The cassette has a makers label. 

The VHS and Betamax tape boxes are identical from the front. 

Star Wars A New Hope VHS and Betamax 1982

The smaller tape is the Betamax version

The spine label is identical on both except for a different serial number

 

20th Century Fox logo on the inside of the case

Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (ESB) was released on VHS video for the first time in the UK on 18 October 1984. By the time this was released 20th Century Fox had merged with CBS and became known as CBS Fox. ESB comes in a dark grey box embossed with CBS Fox along the top and bottom edge. The CBS Fox logo is also stamped inside the case cover. The CBS Fox logo is printed onto the cassette tape instead of using an adhesive label like the earlier ANH and later ROTJ videos. The ESB artwork is almost identical on the later issue, the only difference being the red text at the top which was only used on the first release edition. This edition frequently appears on eBay with a value around £30.

Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (ROTJ) was released on VHS for the first time in the UK on 27 February 1986. The case is white with CBS FOX embossed along the top and bottom edge. The CBS Fox makers details are printed onto the cassette with a self adhesive label. The CBS Fox logo is also embossed on the inside of the case. I've seen a few with grey cases like ESB but don't know if these were originally issued in grey. It's not uncommon to find ex rental tapes with different cases to the original issue ones. There's quite alot of ROTJ VHS tapes appearing on eBay and many sellers are 'trying' to get £40 for them, although their true value is more like £15-£30. In June 2024 eBay had one with a buy-it-now for £29.99 and £2.70 p&p but it was re-listed a few times after not finding a buyer.

February 1986 ROTJ Video release

Illegal copies known as 'pirate' videos were becoming more common during the early 1980's. Perhaps surprisingly, there were already some pirate videos of ROTJ in circulation at the time of it's cinema release in June 1983.

In June 1983 an entire 35mm copy of the film was stolen from a cinema in Hastings, England. Some pirate video copies of ROTJ were confiscated by Police in the West Midlands in June 1983, but experts from 20th Century Fox concluded these were not from the recently stolen 35mm tape reel. I'm not sure if they ever recovered the original 35mm print. Selling this openly was not an option because it was stolen. Perhaps since then it's found it's way into a private collection and may one day surface. 

Here's all the first editions which were made available for private purchase for the first time. The example of A New Hope shown here is first promotional issue white box (later black box). The artwork is almost identical to the rental version but without the rental wording at the bottom and a different label on the cassette.

 

This next example of mine is interesting as the sleeve is a colour photocopy and the box is not an original 20th Century Fox issue. However, the additional green U certificates are actual adhesive stickers placed on top. It's common to find these U certificates added to pre-cert boxes when the law changed and they had to be displayed. Any exising stock had the stickers added by the retailer or video rental shop. In this example, the fact that the U certificates are stickers suggests it's a period 'repair' and was actually used as a rental tape. 

How to tell if the sleeve is a copy

With today's colour photocopiers and laser printers it's possible to print a very good quality sleeve, even from a digital image. 

In the case of a Star Wars VHS from 1982 there are a few things to look out for. The first being the 'hologram' sticker at the bottom of the spine. This should reflect the light well whereas a copy would appear flat matt. The rental versions of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi did not have any hologram so laser printed photocopies might be harder to spot. 

This is a photocopy as the hologram is flat with no shine

The second is to look closely at the additional copyright text at the top left corner on the back of the sleeve. This was actually an adhesive label originally added to the case as seen below. If you can't feel any edges then it's a photocopy.

An original sleeve with sticker - notice the slight tear in the bottom right corner of the text

This copyright text at the top here is flat and is not a sticker

Apparently this example was purchased in the 1980's in good faith, but it's not an original sleeve or case. 

This copy sleeve has also captured some strange imperfections which I suspect was damage to the original sleeve. If the copy does originate from the 1980's then it could be possible that the original sleeve and case were damaged and replaced. 

The image of the imperfections on the front sleeve almost appear as copies of holes. I could imagine that kind of damage would be caused from something hot, for example cigerette ash. It's possible a rental shop could have made a copy of the damage sleeve and replaced the case - a viable theory anyway. That would explain why the sleeve is a copy, but with 'original' post cert U certificate stickers, plus having a non- 20th century fox case. These video tapes were very expensive at that time so it makes sense that someone would try and 'repair' it so it could still be rented out. I'm sure most people renting it would probably not even notice the imperfections on the cover design. The actual tape for this box is original.

Damage on the original sleeve has been reproduced on this copy

Perhaps damage caused by a cigerette?

I should also point out that the paper used for the sleeve copy is a similar weight and type to an original and not just a piece of standard weight A4 paper. 

For someone with access to a good laser printer it wouldn't be too difficult to reproduce a high quality copy on the correct paper. The hologram would represent the biggest challenge. 

Here's some scans from my own examples. These should be decent enough quality to reprint and be used for missing or damaged sleeve artwork. Notice that there's no hologram on ESB and ROTJ. 

I noticed that the Episode IV artwork uses a different shade of black on the spine. Initially I thought it was becase it had faded from sunlight, but on closer inspection could see that they used a lighter shade of black. 

US Versions

Here's the US first editions for comparison. These were produced with cardboard sleeves. There's even more of the US versions in circulation, despite some sellers asking unrealistic prices. Of course importing from the UK will incur significant additional costs. I imported these from the US about 20 years ago for less than £10 plus shipping. Seems there was little interest in them at that time. Even re-selling later on eBay UK didn't attract that much attention back then. 

Values

I've seen some old forums from years ago where people were advising they had very little value. I bought and sold some in 2004 and values were indeed very low. That coincided with the release of Star Wars Trilogy on DVD for the first time so perhaps people started off-loading their bulky and inferior quality videos. 

There appears to be a slight revival of interest in VHS format in 2023. This has prompted some sellers on eBay to set some ridiculously high selling prices. Of course the market dictates the value and it's unlikely anyone is foolish enough to pay these prices. For example I've seen A New Hope with asking prices ranging from £50 to over £1,000.

Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope UK VHS first edition is currently worth about £50 depending on condition. ESB and ROTJ are usually less, around £20-30. Having said that, I managed to buy all three first edition VHS tapes on eBay for £51 in May 2023. Although they were cheap for a reason - the main one being Episode IV did not have the original box or artwork, but I was very fortunate to find an original box with artwork to replace it with. Another similar set sold for £107 shortly beforehand, which was a good price if all three were in original condition. If you don't  already have any and want a full set then it can work out cheaper overall to buy a whole set together. Perhaps people prefer to try and get them cheaper seperately. 

I would recommend not buying from sellers who claim these are very rare and want more than the values I've quoted here. 

There are enough of these first editions in circulation that you shouldn't have to wait too long  before the next one is listed on eBay. During the early 1980's there were thousands of video rental shops in the UK and most, if not all would have had a copy of Star Wars A New Hope.

Stick to a sensible bidding limit and don't get sucked into a bidding frenzy. If you miss out this time, just wait for the next one. 

Valuation update

In August 2023 a set of the original VHS trilogy films sold on eBay at prices which reflect their true value. The Star Wars ANH tape was in almost mint condition sold for £56, so you can forget about sellers asking hundreds or more for the same VHS. It seems you can expect to pay about £100 for a full set. These are often being listed on eBay so just be patient. 

• Star Wars £56
• Empire Strikes Back £28
• Return of the Jedi £14.50

This first edition VHS sold for a realistic £56

This next one sold for £96 on eBay in August 2023. It seems several collectors noticed this was a promotional edition available to the public to purchase for the first time. It came in a white case*. Needless to say, the low starting price soon started to escalate over the last few days and hours of the auction. In July 2025 an example of one of these was being offered on eBay for an unrealistic price of £260.63. I would be very surprised if someone was foolish enough to pay such a high price. 

Top 6 Ebay Most Unrealistc Prices

Here's a selection of Star Wars first edition VHS tapes which were on sale in December 2023. As already mentioned, the true value of these tapes is £50-£60 for a tape in good condition. I have no idea why someone would think it's possible to get much more, even ten times this estimate. Buyer Beware! 

If anyone is foolish enough to buy any of the videos shown below, they have very deep pockets and don't care about losing money, since it's highly unlikely they would ever be able to sell it again for what they paid.

It's possible to buy all three of these tapes for around £100, which is reasonable. However, this value can fluctuate depending on condition and whether they have the original plastic boxes. It can be very hard to find just an original box if one is missing. The same goes for the artwork sleeve. Sometimes the sleeves were damaged and replaced with photocopies. 

I've known some original cases and sleeves appear for sale. I've heard of someone throwing away an original tape because it had some mold. Mold CAN BE REMOVED so please don't do this!

1.

2.

I should say this offer includes all three original tapes.....

3.

'

4.

5.

6.

This one is still overpriced but more 'down to earth' and closer to the true value

A note on 'Making of' videos

It's perhaps no surprise that the 'making of Star Wars' videos are also sought after by collectors and film fans alike. 

These also suffer from over-inflated values based on 'buy-it-now' offers on eBay. 

Perhaps the first 'Making of Star Wars' video available in the UK was by Magnet Video with a release date of 1979. I had one of these which I bought from eBay around 2000 and subsequently sold it for about £40 in 2007. 

One of these sold on eBay in July 2024 for £65. Another copy with some minor 'damage' sold for just £24 in February 2025. 

It just shows how much prices fluctuate based on condition and time. Overall, I think values have stagnated over the last 15 years, with just a few expections. There's much hype based on 'perceived' value rather than true value. Whilst such videos will probably always find buyers, these are not items you should buy on the basis of  an 'investment'. It's always a bonus if you do make a profit when you sell, and most people do eventually sell.  

My copy of The Making of Star Wars by Magnet video c.1979

Sold on eBay for £65 in July 2024

Sold on eBay for £24 in February 2025

Further reading

Since writing this blog post I've discovered another excellent reference source to these early Star Wars videos. For a more detailed visual guide to all the video releases, check this website:

https://holocronvault.com/

The only omission seems to be the labels used on the spine of the video cassette itself.