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Decode Launcher Universal GUI - 2026

TBC-Tools tbc-analyse 2026 with Diamler Chrysler NTSC SP demo tape.

Self-Contained .app builds are available, but will require admin user permissions for first launch.

• Decode for MacOS x86 Intel & Arm
• TBC Tools for MacOS x86 Intel & Arm

We target MacOS 15 for builds and support.

There is also alternative decoders with Rust and Dotnet ports which lag behind in features but are vastly faster on modern hardware.

• Tape Decode Rust
• Decode Dot Net

Open a Terminal or use Warp Terminal.

1. Open System Settings: Click on the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen and select “System Settings.”

2. Navigate to Privacy & Security: In the sidebar, click on “Privacy & Security.”

3. Keep System Settings Open: Ensure this window remains open throughout the process.

Open Terminal: Go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Disable Gatekeeper: In the Terminal window, paste the following command and press Enter:

 sudo spctl --master-disable 

You will be prompted for a password, to run the command, this unlocks the "allow any" option for apps.

1. Then open System Settings --> Privacy & Security
2. At the bottom under "security" there will be a prompt to allow application from Anyware to run.
3. Click allow when prompted after the first launch of the new tbc-tools.app or vhs-decode.app

Open a terminal after moving the apps to your applications directory. Run vhs-decode.app with vhs, ld, cvbs, hifi at the start i.g decode.app vhs calls the decoder you desire, commands are universal.

Run tbc-tools.app opening it will call ld-analyse, otherwise manually call tools via tbc-tools.app ld-chroma-decoder for example.

Today all post capture compression and resampling has moved to the cross-platform FLAC-Chop

If you encounter uncompressed data or legacy 10-bit packed .lds or wish to "chop" parts or start/ends of captures then this is the AIO tool for that task all modern captures should be made via MISRC GUI directly to FLAC and appropriate sample rates for the format being ingested.

To build for contribution or testing builds should run though an GitHub actions workflow file, this replicates a real-world release, there is a nightly release profile for making easy quick test releases on your forks for sharing and development.

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

brew install cmake pkg-config qt qwt ffmpeg fftw python pipx rust

git clone https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode.git vhs-decode
cd vhs-decode

pipx ensurepath
pipx install .

pipx install tbc-video-export

cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DUSE_QT_VERSION=6 -DBUILD_PYTHON=false
cmake --build build -j8
cmake --install build 

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