{"id":3007,"date":"2020-04-21T20:07:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T20:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bigheadamusements.com\/wordpress\/?p=3007"},"modified":"2020-06-06T18:08:23","modified_gmt":"2020-06-06T18:08:23","slug":"your-showmaster-video-colorizer-may-not-be-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigheadamusements.com\/wordpress\/?p=3007","title":{"rendered":"Your Showmaster Video Colorizer May Not Be Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Showtime Video Ventures: A Preamble<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll preface this slight how-to blog by unashamedly stating I\u2019ve been a fan of the gear that Showtime Video Ventures produced and released ever since I picked up my first \u2018black box\u2019, an Image Enhancer which can sharpen or smoothen video .<\/p>\n

From what\u2019s available online \u2013 and it isn\u2019t much \u2013 the company was presumably founded in the late 1970s. There\u2019s a listing for 2 trademarked names<\/a> \u2013 a Syncalyzer which stabilized rental tapes when viewed on a TV set, and a Vidiot, of which there\u2019s no other info \u2013 but in a Sept. 1980 issue of Video Magazine, their Enhancer is given an overall positive review. That product originally listed for $299 SRP, so it\u2019s fair to bet SVV\u2019s products were aimed at the then-seminal prosumer market \u2013 early adopters of recording and playback gear searching for feasible methods of improving image, and to some extent, sound.<\/p>\n

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If not Excellent, then Fun, 35 years strong.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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There used to be a great site that listed *all* of SVV\u2019s products \u2013 catalogue numbers and rough description \u2013 but as often happens with sites, it\u2019s gone, taking with it a valuable resource of information that outlined the company\u2019s extensive product line which gained notoriety when it launched it\u2019s own gizmo that defeated copyguard.<\/p>\n

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Issues of Video magazine<\/a> and Video Review magazine had classified ads in the back for video enhancers, correctors, and whatever nomenclature alerted video fans that the gizmos could get rid of tearing at the upper image when playing back rental tapes, and yes, subvert copyguard.<\/p>\n

When SVV folded isn\u2019t clear \u2013 it seems they were doing quite well up to the late 1980s, marketing a broad variety of products designed to enhance, amplify, duplicate, convert, mix, and colorize signals, either in black box form or in rare cases, a gizmo you attached between your camera and VCR. (That gizmo existed as an enhancer and separate color corrector, and I used the latter for a short film, because it was helpful in tweaking and boosting weak color signals from a tube camera.)<\/p>\n

Over the years I\u2019ve gathered a substantive amount of the company\u2019s products, plus some manuals and catalogues, and saved images from rare oddities posted for sale at often stupid prices with ridiculous international shipping.<\/p>\n

In no way is the following a detailed explainer of how a Showmaster Video Colorizer works. I\u2019d like to reserve that bulk of info for a future video if plans for a proposed Patreon channel come together in the fall, but I did post a series of minute-long videos on Instagram<\/a>, briskly spotlighting the Colorizer’s core features .<\/p>\n

The following info may help those who gambled on a Colorizer and found it either twitchy, non-functional, or became such over time.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Colorizer\u2019s closest contemporary parallel might be some of LZX\u2019s products<\/a>; SVV\u2019s gizmo tints a video input and allow the largely primary colors to pulse according to audio inputs.<\/p>\n

SVV\u2019s gizmo follows the company\u2019s physical design of using custom components \u2013 you\u2019ll notice the knobs and switches are the same as other black boxes, and their video mixer \u2013 as well as their proprietary logic of eschewing RCA composite video inputs for coax connectors identical to the screw-on RF connectors using coax cables. My guess is they felt the fatter copper cable offered better signal, and they also sold their own cables, which mandated the use of coax for video, unless you hopped over to Radio Shack and grabbed some from them (which I frequently did for my own needs during the 1990s).<\/p>\n

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In any even, the Colorizer\u2019s audio inputs are RCA, and the video are coax, and they\u2019re for composite video, not RF, even though some of the black boxes do contain clearly identified RF outputs for TV display.<\/p>\n

I first heard about the Colorizer when I stumbled upon Chris King\u2019s Video Circuits page<\/a> that showed the colorizer, a mixer, and a genlock box that came up for sale. Here\u2019s the first threesome image:<\/p>\n

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Showtime Video Ventures’ Camera Power Supply & Genlock, Mixer, and Colorizer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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And here\u2019s another threesome that I actually bought from this vendor, which contains a switcher box (not useful for my needs), that image enhancer, and that color processor which you fitted between the video camera and VCR:<\/p>\n

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Showtime Video Ventures’ switcher, Image Enhancer, and Video Processor for 10-pin video cameras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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From my initial research, the Colorizer sold around 2007-2008 on Ebay, and then nothing appeared for more than half a decade until a new old stock (NOS) unit showed up, which I grabbed ASAP. That one functioned perfectly, and came with a manual that\u2019s as eccentric as their manual for their other products. My second Colorizer showed up maybe a half year later, and it too worked\u2026 but then started to get funny, losing sync from the video input, and then becoming unusable.<\/p>\n

Soon the NOS unit started to have issues \u2013 the colors were off, and there was a persistent vertical offset that appeared regardless of whether you turned the unit on \/ off, ran through various switches, or yanked out the video inputs for a moment.<\/p>\n

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The Showmaster Video Colorizer: How the Gizmo Works & the Not Really Big Fix
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The following section identifies the innards of the unit and those potentiometers I was able to identify, but I make no warranty as to whether it\u2019ll work or cause damage. Proceed at your own risk; what follows is exclusively what worked for me.<\/em><\/p>\n

First, a basic primer on how the unit works:<\/p>\n

It accepts up to 2 switchable video inputs and one stereo audio input, and will loop out the original \u2018clean\u2019 video, and has 2 outputs of the colorized signal. As per the manual, these outputs were designed for use with their mixer, the Showmaster VSEC-1, which is loosely advertised has having a synchronizer *but does not*.<\/p>\n

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The Showmaster video mixer \/ SEG \/ very weird thing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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That model deserves and will get its own video, but be forewarned: you can dissolve and wipe between the colorized and clean signals from this unit, but forget about connecting 2 consumer VCRs for mixing \u2013 they need to be genlocked, and that\u2019s another video subject, given their separate genlock \/ camera power supply box is very, very weird.<\/p>\n

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Showtime’s camera genlock and power supply unit. It heavy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Here’s a rough scan of the schematics of gear ‘recommended’ by SVV to maximize your video needs:<\/p>\n

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Remember: these connections are made using primarily coax cables!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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That’s 2 VCRs and \/ or cameras + genlock + colorizer + mixer + color processor + audio \/ visual processor + monitor(s). Diagram 6 ‘suggests’ the addition of a Systems Switcher.<\/p>\n

Overkill, right?<\/p>\n

First point<\/strong>: while you don\u2019t need audio to make the image pulse, you absolutely need a stable video input, or you get gibberish. The unit will not output even its own color bars preset unless you\u2019re sending it clean video, either from a camera or VCR.<\/p>\n

Second point<\/strong>: although you don\u2019t need to input audio, the unit\u2019s own pulsing oscillator offers a stable pulse which you can slow down and speed up, and adjust its volume. I\u2019d use it more for testing the machine\u2019s colorizing feature than anything else, or perhaps when using the unit for some background plates that can randomly pulse.<\/p>\n

Third point<\/strong>: whatever setting you found that yields pulsing colours will *not* be saved after the unit is turned off. Yes, you may have left the 3 lower knobs alone, but you have to restart by letting the unit \u2018see\u2019 the audio and then make slow adjustments to the video and audio until an image starts to appear and pulse. (See the Instagram videos demonstrating camera-fed footage<\/a> and the abstract pattern the unit generates, Part 1<\/a> and Part 2<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an odd process, because you have to wait for the unit to sense the audio, which can be hastened if you crank up bass; bear in mind that you still have to find a sweet spot between you music source’s volume and the Colorizer\u2019s volume setting to get things pulsing.<\/p>\n

Fourth point:<\/strong> the unit is really sensitive to what doesn\u2019t seem like broad turns of the knob; in other words, it\u2019s easy to lose or smother a color-pulsing image, and takes a moment to get it back because it has to \u2018re-sense\u2019 the inputs.<\/p>\n

The prosumer aspect of SVV\u2019s designs and target buyers mandated the addition of extra features, so the order of display choices the Colorizer offers are:<\/p>\n

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The Showmaster Video Colorizer upper panel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Color Bars<\/strong><\/p>\n

B&W Bars<\/strong><\/p>\n

Colorized Image<\/strong> (Video Input A or B that pulse to the inputted audio)<\/p>\n

Art Patterns<\/strong> (abstract graphic patterns that also pulse to the inputted audio)<\/p>\n

Colorized Image<\/strong> (which pulses according to the internal oscillator)<\/p>\n

Art Pattern<\/strong> (which pulses to the internal oscillator)<\/p>\n

Fixed Color Field<\/strong> (selectable color backgrounds)<\/p>\n

Variable Color Field<\/strong> (which you create by alternating 3 upper knobs)<\/p>\n

Crosshatch Pattern<\/strong> \/ Color Field (to check tube \/ monitor and the unit\u2019s alignment)<\/p>\n

Dots \/ Color Field<\/strong> (to check tube \/ monitor and the unit\u2019s alignment)<\/p>\n

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If you look at the pictures of gear way up top, you\u2019ll see the black box design includes similar plastic side panels, top sliding panel, and front knobs \/ potentiometers that require the use of a small screwdriver to tighten if they get loose and are misaligned.<\/p>\n

The Colorizer features a similar design where assorted screws will loosen panels, and it\u2019ll allow you to ultimately peel out the small circuit board in the upper rear which houses three important potentiometers, made by Piher Spain.<\/p>\n

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One of 12 Piher Spain potentiometers \/ trimmers spread across the Colorizer’s 3 circuit boards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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I used a small Phillips tip attached to a flexible screwdriver attachment to do tweaks, but bear in mind a) these are (obviously) non-hex pots with non-incremental positions; b) some of the pots are located in cramped corners; and c) you tweak at your own risk<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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These are the *only* screws you need to remove to gain access to the circuit boards<\/p>\n

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Unscrew: these 2 rear screws…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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… And these 4 botttome screws…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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… And these 2 top screws…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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… And lastly this one front screw. Nothing Else!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Sections to be removed:<\/p>\n

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Side view of small circuit board that can be folded & flipped out to access its 3 pots.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Remember how it’s mounted to that side panel!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Close-up view of circuit board in thin groove.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Splayed circuit boards:<\/p>\n

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Sloping panel with exterior pots \/ knobs & switches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sloping panel + small circuit board.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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When you peel out the sloped and small circuit boards, make sure you have cardboard or one of the plastic side panels between the exposed boards and the unit\u2019s case \u2013 I almost zapped the small circuit board when it briefly touched the upper metal case.<\/p>\n

As both images show, the sloped panel with the switches and knobs also comes out, and has 1 pot.<\/p>\n

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Audio & Video Connections<\/strong><\/p>\n

With everything splayed out, here\u2019s how I did my tweaks while the unit was connected. The main video source was a video camera; audio was from a stereo receiver; one colorized output went to a CRT monitor, and the other into an LCD widescreen monitor (that connection was Colorizer to Toshiba DVD-R recorder, and Toshiba to LCD monitor via HDMI, and the monitor set to 4:3).<\/p>\n

As a test, if you disconnect your video input, you\u2019ll see the image turn to gibberish, and when you put it back, the image is stable – a clear example of how much it relies on a stable video signal.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a series of highlighted stills of the circuit boards and what pots I was able to identify. The unknowns I did tweak, and assume they might be to control the internal oscillator volume, the audio input volume, and maybe signal outputs.<\/p>\n

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Wide view of Pots 4-11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Close-up. No idea what pots 5 and 6 do.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Close-up. No idea what pots 8 and 9 do.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Close-up. No idea what Pot 10 does.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Close-up of Pot 12 on bottom of sloping panel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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To fix my gibberish unit required going back & forth between the identified pots. I touched the black level (located under the sloped panel) once, but the others I tweaked because the horizontal sync was mush.<\/p>\n

The steps that seem to have worked involved displaying the Crosshatch pattern, then adjusting the vertical sync so there\u2019s a stable visual element to enable adjust the horizontal. This edited footage of the main tweaks give an idea of some of the visualclues to observe as you adjust the identified pots:<\/p>\n

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Vimeo:<\/strong><\/p>\n