Transferring analog videos

[DanielG]

Hi everybody,

I was wondering if there was an accepted practice when dealing with footage that comes from analog sources such as SVHs/VHS and video8/Hi-8?

Most analog videos have the a few lines of garbage video at the bottom of the picture and some even have interference all around. I always mask this area with a black border but I have seen many DVDs where this isn't done. When watching these videos on a conventional televison this isn't an issue as they're hidden in the overscan area but when you watch them on a computer (or via a projector) it is visible and it can get quite distracting.

I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on whether it's something that should encouraged when encoding a video or whether it's overkill.

Thanks