An hourly DVD price needs the right question
CVS Digital publishes a VHS to DVD charge of £7.00 per hour of tape, or part thereof, transferred. The final phrase is important: this is an hourly charging unit with partial hours included, rather than a published flat price for every cassette. A label saying 'three hours' may describe the tape's capacity rather than the amount of footage actually recorded, so do not use labels alone to calculate your budget.
Ask how transferred duration is measured and how partial hours are applied across your collection. The quoted price specifically describes VHS to DVD; it does not establish the price of an MP4-only order, USB supply or file transfer. Request a total for your preferred output, including any applicable charges and tax treatment. A short list of tape formats and estimated recorded lengths gives the conversation a clear starting point.
VHS and smaller camcorder tapes can share one enquiry
The conversion page names VHS, VHS-C, Hi-8, Video 8 and Mini dv among the tape types CVS Digital can convert. That makes its published offering relevant to a collection mixing television-sized cassettes with smaller camcorder recordings. Identify each format separately when you enquire; a small cassette is not necessarily VHS-C simply because it contains home video.
Keep tapes in their cases where possible and give each one a simple reference, such as 'Summer holiday, blue label'. Photograph handwritten labels before handing anything over, and keep your inventory. If a cassette has a cracked shell, visible mould or a history of jamming, describe the problem and ask whether it can be assessed. Avoid trying to force a reluctant tape through an old player. Repair or restoration should be agreed explicitly.
Choose MP4 delivery around how you will watch
CVS Digital says it encodes to an MP4 file and can supply files on a USB stick or send them by file transfer. For a household already using a laptop or tablet to view family recordings, this is worth discussing alongside DVD conversion. USB provides a physical way to receive files; file transfer involves downloading them. Neither delivery method should become your only long-term copy.
Ask whether your order will contain one file per tape, how files will be named and what is needed to receive a download. If you prefer discs too, confirm that combination when arranging the work. Before choosing, check the devices you actually use: a television's ability to read a USB stick depends on the television and the particular file. A sample playback check is more useful than assuming every screen will behave alike.
Check the recordings before reorganising them
When digital files arrive, compare them with your tape inventory and play the beginning, middle and end of each recording. Check that sound is present, that the expected scenes appear and that the file opens on your chosen device. Keep a note of anything puzzling so you can raise a specific question. Older recordings may already contain gaps or poor sound; do not assume every imperfection originated during conversion.
Keep an untouched copy of the returned files, make another backup in a separate place and retain the original tapes. You can then create shorter viewing copies without losing the full recording. Invite a relative to help identify people and occasions. Even an approximate year or a note such as 'before we moved house' can make an otherwise anonymous recording much easier to find later.
Use the files to start a private family archive
Memrial is a separate private family archive for the digital memories you have after conversion. It does not convert physical tapes and is not part of CVS Digital. You can invite relatives, organise photos and home videos into albums, and add comments or stories. Its free plan includes 2.0 GB of storage shared across the archive, with no card needed; check your file sizes before deciding what to upload.
Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates, helping relatives find memories by year even when a tape label is vague. For a family birthday, a Live Watch Party could bring relatives nearby or far away into the same uploaded home video. Playback is synchronised, with the host controlling play, pause and seek, and voice or text chat alongside it. Free Watch Parties allow 3 hours per month and up to 6 participants.
For new memories from that birthday, Event Memories provides a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership to add photos or videos to the event album. Closing the link retains the collected memories. This gives the older recording and the next generation's photographs a place in the family's continuing story.