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VHS officially dead

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Another 'dead' format...god knows how long it will hang around after officially being declared gone :D

VHS did its thing; it served its purpose. I have quite a few TV specials taped years ago (Carson's last 'Tonight Show' being one) that now live on on DVD transfers. I wouldn't have them if I hadn't taped them then.

I just hope people who actually taped family memories on VHS remember to check the tapes before just throwing out that "old box of tapes."

C.
 
To give you an idea of how far behind I am in transferring VHS to DVD I just bought a used Super 8 projector for the parents this xmas to watch some of the thousands of feet of old home movies that we haven't seen in 30+ years. So until those suckers get converted I doubt I'll get around to transferring any tapes. :) On the other hand we're a Tivo family so my old (and only) VCR sits on top of the audio rack protecting the shelf from dust. :D
 
VHS....One of the great inventions of our time. It gave us the ability to own a copy of a blockbuster movie or if we wanted to rent a copy. Movie rental stores seemed to pop up over night on almost every corner. Also the ability to tape TV shows/ball games/whatever. I remember my first VCR cost me over $600. And it was not even stereo. That was around 83/84. Remember how hard it was to program one?

But it could not withstand the new media DVD. Wonder what will take DVD`s place.

TankDonovan
 
But it could not withstand the new media DVD. Wonder what will take DVD`s place.

TankDonovan[/QUOTE]

My guess:

the $3, 1TB SD card.
 
Yeah, the VHS tape, although inferior to Sony's Beta format, opened up a whole new chapter for movie lovers worldwide. A very successful format, and I have probably a couple of hundred tapes.

Of course, the DVD wins out, hands down. A nice run.
 
speedracer said:
And not to mention what it did for the adultfilm industry.
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Good point. Just about every genre of film making made its way onto VHS. I bet a very big chunk of that (relatively speaking) came from adult vids.

On the flip side, the "stars" of these films got, ahem, the shaft when it came time to divvy up the profits. At least in the early days.
 
I snap up better quality blank tapes whenever I find them since I know that the supply is drying up.

Few people seem to know that Hi-Fi VHS made for great listening. Music recorded on VHS sounds fantastic - I think that the S/N ratio approaches CD quality and fidelity does not degrade even when recording at the lowest speed. I bought a Mitsubishi Hi-Fi VCR a couple of weeks ago that features record level adjustment so that I could continue to make quality tapes. I have tapes that I made years ago that still sound smashing. Reel to Reel might be better for editing but as far as fidelity and recording length, Hi-Fi VHS is hard to beat!
 
I've recorded a lot of music this way. My VCR has a level meter and record level knob (although you don't really need the knob.) This is something that has all but disappeared from VCRs. I recorded off of FM or satellite or CD's. Good way to get 6 or 8 hours of tunes.
 
speedracer said:
But the tapes won't last forever, after about 12-15 yrs. you get drop-out (?)
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Very likely. I don't record music onto VHS anymore and haven't since the early 90's.

CD's take care of the deterioration factor.

I know some who've experienced CD rot. I never have.
 
Wow - it's dead? I have maybe 8 DVD's, and hundreds of VHS tapes. Most are recorded TV specials, but many are very high quality music tapes I made myself.

I knew this day would come, so I've bought a couple of 20+ year old Hi-Fi VCR's (heavy beasts built to last) to keep me happy for years to come. I also still time shift record daily to watch shows on my time schedule. My local thrift store sells BPC VCR's for $5, so any HiFi ones with remote usually come home with me for extras.

Only mildly sad, though, as I also think our entire entertainment in the near future will be released on SD cards. As long as someone makes them so they time shift record TV shows, I'll be happy.

Rob
 
I was listening to a TWIT podcast, and heard that someone who does backups, found out that a recordable DVD from 4 years ago was barely readable (and not readable by some computers).
 
Well, thank God Beta isn't dead too. I still have a Toshiba Beta, and would love to find a good Sony machine.
 
hakemon said:
I was listening to a TWIT podcast, and heard that someone who does backups, found out that a recordable DVD from 4 years ago was barely readable (and not readable by some computers).
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I've had this happen too but they were ones I had put those damn CD Stomper labels on.
Don't ever use those!
 
Eric H said:
I've had this happen too but they were ones I had put those damn CD Stomper labels on.
Don't ever use those!
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+1 on that........any disc I've made using labels has slowly gone bad. Luckily, I've been able to rip the disc, and create a new one that works fine.

Rob
 
Anyone ever own a Super VHS ? I have my dad's old Mitsubishi . I think he paid around 800 bucks for it at the time . I buy a blank tape whenever I see one . They sound really good . I used to record vinyl to it for parties , nice long playtime . I think vinyl sounds a hell of a lot better on the SVHS than on a CD . :music::music: :yes:
 
I have two very nice Mitsubishi Super VHS VCRs and they are great. I also have a little Panasonic. Why so many? I'm a video game junkie and the built-in de-modulator makes it easier to use new TVs for old games or new games on old TVs. RF in, A/V out. The additional inputs are also very helpful--I have a bunch of those plug-n-play joysticks hooked up as well.

I don't often use actual videotapes, though and never even thought about using them as an audio source... not a bad idea.
 
We have around 600 and they just collect dust, for some reason we never watch them..............they dont look all that bad on our Marantz unit but still they just waste away. Someday theres gonna be a "score" thread on some forum with our collection involved from Goodwill or the curb which we donate to alot.
 
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