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 Post subject: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 09:52 
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I am trying to look on the internet and I wonder if there is a cult following for the VHS? I heard some people are into VHS collecting but they are few and far in between. Unlike LDs where you can find enthusiasts about the format, its pretty hard to have any one enthusiastic about LDs.

I would like to buy some VHS but since I am short on money right now i am afraid this format is just dying and I won't find any in the future to buy.



While we are at it, was there a restriction on NTSC or PAL VHS? I heard there was but every VHS tape I ever bought in my life worked no matter where it came from.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 11:31 
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Prerecorded tapes van be PAL or NTSC...
Some VCR's are able to play both systems, but not all!
A normal NTSC VCR won't play PAL tapes.
A VHS tape can be recorded in PAL or NTSC... There is no difference in tape, only the signal and runningspeed.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 11:52 
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Some one which can play both.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 12:39 
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There has even been SECAM ( West ) in France and SECAM ( East ) in the Soviet Union/Russia, Cold War-East Europe.
The two are very similar but not entirely the same so many PAL VCRs can play SECAM east ( also known as MiddleEastSECAM )
tapes but do not play French tapes in colour.

I have just acquired two Panasonic VCRs capable of playing all formats:

http://www.porterelectronics.com/panaso ... -recorder/

I would like to find a site like this one for VHS tapes. There is not a single VHS site that is nearly as good as this one is for LDs.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 13:00 
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Maybe because it was actually a s****y format? :P
It has lived long, but quality was very poor....
Don't know why almost nobody loves it... Maybe it was just a too common format.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 14:23 
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Still a big market for VHS. Lots of titles that haven't made it to DVD or BR. One niche part of the current market would be grandparents buying VHS tapes for their grandkids like Disney etc. way cheaper than DVDs and generally a lot more kid proof.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 16:14 
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integra wrote:
Maybe because it was actually a s****y format? :P



it was a crappy format indeed, MOST of the time.

now, take any one of the more badass VCRs out there, feed it some of the better high-grade 80's era cassette blanks,
and record from a good source such as LD or MACROVISIONless Anime DVDs, and you just might be rather surprised with the results;


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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 16:55 
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I still love my JVC BR-S622

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Build in TBC, Dropout compensator, adjustable DNR, and Component output!
Picture quality is insane! But not really a usable VCR for placement in a livingroom :P It's really large and heavy. It neads extrenal equipment to run well... You need a reference video generator, and if you really want to do it well, for the best possible picture, you have to use a waveform monitor and vectorscope to adjust he levels for the TBC and video output :)
But after that, WOW! No DVD player can match it :P
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 18:39 
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Check out these recent documentaries about VHS . . .

Rewind This!

Adjust Your Tracking

You'll see how hardcore some of these VHS collectors are. There's a whole segment talking about the ebay sale of this ultra shlock, shot-on-video title Tales from the Quadead Zone going for $600+!!
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 18:46 
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Also check these threads here on this board . . .

VHS

Does VHS have any real advantages that hold up today?
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 19:19 
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The only reason I can see for new VCR machines is to copy vhs tapes over to DVD for preservation purposes like those vcr/dvd recorder combos.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 19:35 
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Sad thing is, most of the DVDR/VHS combo's are really bad in picture quality when it comes to playing VHS....

I'll stick with my Pro machines, lots of parts are still available ;) (even new heads!)
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 19:43 
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Here is one of my videos captured from VHS to DVD using a Panasonic vhs/dvdr combo. Yes, the picture quality on the machine itself was poor but only on this machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfQT0VJ ... wBRWrfLhf6
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 20:00 
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integra wrote:
Sad thing is, most of the DVDR/VHS combo's are really bad in picture quality when it comes to playing VHS....

I'll stick with my Pro machines, lots of parts are still available ;) (even new heads!)

The Toshiba DVR600 combo was actually pretty decent when it came to VHS playback. Even let you use the component connection for VHS playback. The comb filter in it is really good, and converts VHS and LD signals to component video rather well.

Only drawback was that the DVD recorder only recorded on DVD-R and DVD-RW discs and only single layer.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 20:27 
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Panasonic DMR-EZ48V is capable of recording to dual layer discs I think.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 20:47 
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VHS is really huge right now in the U.S.. Mostly it's just hipster scum, but there is a really significant movement trying to archive and catalog it as a historical phenomenon. The VHS market was so huge, lasted so long, and for a long time was so segmented by regional markets, that people will be digging up gems for the next 50 years. Not just retail releases, but home recordings, weddings, scientific experiments, etc.

However, I'll leave it to others to find all the cool stuff and put it on YouTube. It was a terrible format that I never liked. Also, I'm pretty out of my league now that VHS is being studied by the best universities in the world:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/ ... -vhs-tapes

It's our version of pre-Colombian pottery.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 14 Apr 2015, 21:27 
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sign, you couldn't have said it better.
I HATED VHS, it was horrible.
back in the day it was one of the only ways to get anime and I never did it, I would save up to get an LD rather than VHS.

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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 15 Apr 2015, 00:02 
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rein-o wrote:
sign, you couldn't have said it better.
I HATED VHS, it was horrible.
back in the day it was one of the only ways to get anime and I never did it, I would save up to get an LD rather than VHS.

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But if you wanted to record something tape was your only option. It wasn't until the early 2000s that dvd recorders became somewhat afforable.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 15 Apr 2015, 00:30 
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elahrairrah, I can vouch for those documentaries, I enjoyed both, though I thought Rewind This! was more a little better.

sign, there are definitely a lot of hipsters doing the whole VHS thing right now, but I know people (mostly horror fans) who still watch VHS for the movies that aren't and probably never will be on DVD. I'm not sure about the market for where everyone is from, but in Seattle we have Scarecrow Video, which recently went nonprofit, but they have an amazing (in my opinion) library of VHS for rent.
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 Post subject: Re: Is there a cult following for VHS?
PostPosted: 15 Apr 2015, 00:40 
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I have about 100 VHS tapes, probably 80 of them are fansubs or home recordings. Others were given to me for free in recent years, the rest are Doctor Who series I got for $2 at Half Price Books because the DVDs didn't yet exist or they cost 10-20 times as much.

Back in the day it was LD whenever possible for me since magnetic tape just isn't a recipe for longevity. My opinion has not changed on this. The only reason why all those bad horror movies are still watchable on VHS is because they are bad, nobody rented them. All the copies of Aladin and Gremlins are probably in much worse shape since they've been played 100x as often. If you really like Face Peelers 1-4 and 6, even if you have a VHS of them, you really should get that s**t digitized and watch the copies. Every time you play that old junk you run the risk of the tape crapping out in some fashion.

And in 2015 I honestly think collecting VHS versions of perfectly normal stuff like Forest Gump or Mo' Money is just stupid, but then many people would say the same about LD, or even owning anything on any physical format at all.
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