This is a real rabbit warren topic. There a couple of things that make the bulk of the difference for a quality image
1. the vhs player. For better quality it needs to have a time base converter. This is a feature which aligns the edges of each scan line when sending an output image.... Think like left justification of text. ... This makes the analogue picture steady and not wobbly vertically. Because it's aligned, digital converters can read the signal better.
Not all vhs players have this... In fact very few do, and those that do are sought after.
However, some vhs to dvd recorder all in one devices have them which is what I have. It's a panasonic dmr eh80v. It's able to record straight to dvd, so has a tbc feature built in. I record the output of the dvd section, setting the source of the dvd input being the vhs player.
If you don't have this, a normal player will still work fine, but you'll just get that slight jitter on the playback image.
2. The converter. I have had very good results with an avermedia ce310b card. Ive been able to record full long play tapes in one go without any pauses or hiccups. I.e. set the record time for X hours, hit play on vhs and record on pc and walk away, coming back hours later. Got it on AliExpress iirc. The results are good though because of the player though as well.
Overall, it works a treat. Probably about as good as you'd get for a reasonable home setup and not Pro equipment.
