This is an incredibly stupid idea, but what do you expect from JVC, the company that brought use VHS tape to begin with. Upresing something as low res as VHS will actually make the image displayed on an HD TV at 1080i resolution look absolutely horrible. Even upconverting DVDs at 480i or 480p resolution to 1080i will look bad. Upconverting lower resolutions only produces images artifacts and noise. Anyone whose seen standard def broadcasts at 240i that have been upconverted to 1080i will know what Im talking about.

"Even upconverting DVDs at 480i or 480p resolution to 1080i will look bad". This is just not true. My Samsung DVD player upconverts, and South Pacific looks pretty decent on my 37" HDTV, as do many other DVDs.

Any technique that can pull just a little more detail out of old good-quality VHS tapes - not junker tapes - can make old tapes somewhat more enjoyable. The upconversion helps reduce visible lines and believe me, it DOES make a difference when scanlines are made less visible. In addition, there are still old movies not out on DVD, and the only viable way to see them is on tape. Upconversion benefits one here. It's not valid to shoot down the JVC unit on the basis of mere assumptions.

obviously you have no idea on what you are talking about. Upconverting anything to 1080i from it's original resolution will make it look better. that is unless you have a cheap Walmart tv and or a cheap dvd player. Now obviously the bigger the tv it is displayed on, and the type of tv it is displayed on makes a huge difference. Microdisplay tv's do a far better job displaying higher res video than a typical lcd does. And a good plasma will put anything else to shame besides a good crt glass tv. oh and if it wasnt for the invention of vhs, video as you know it today wouldnt be what it is.

I want to upconvert VHS from VHS player using El Gato 250plus attached to my MAC. How do I do this???

I'm going to assume that I am a little older (& wiser) than most commentators. How about if you have a VHS library of over 1,000 movies, & you consider it rather stupid to copy poor quality VHS onto DVD, & more expensive (= more stupid) to buy all new DVDs (if available), what's the problem with wanting to clean the picture up on a 10 year old favorite movie?

Actually upscaling can improve the image of VHS. Compare your old DVD player plugged into your HDTV with composite against a good DVD upscaler like OPPO digital through HDMI. BIG difference. As an indie movie lover I still have a good collection of underground movies on VHS that have NEVER been released on DVD, let alone blueray. Sure might seem like a silly idea for someone who only likes blockbuster movies but I find it a little sad that so many movies were released on VHS, fewer on DVD, and fewer still on blueray.