[stuartjk]

When home video first came out, there were 2 main formats, Beta and VHS. As we all know VHS went on to be the dominant format, and we all eventually (apart from a few diehards!) switched over to it. It is easy to forget how popular VHS really was. In the late 90's I worked for Blockbuster Video, and we were always busy! (Busiest day was the day Princess Diana died, but thats another story...........) Were people happy with VHS as it was the main consumer format, or were we all just putting up with it until something better came along (DVD) ? Certainly DVD eventually spelled the death knell for the traditional rental store like Blockbuster, as downloads and internet streaming(legal or otherwise) became the norm for a lot of people.
Will there be a nostalgia element about VHS for people like there is with vinyl, or are we all glad to see the back of it?

[ProDave]

Hard disk PVR's have revolutionised TV recording. Shame they got off to a slow start, mainly due to TiVo and their subscription model. Thankfully PVR's are now normal kit freely available and you don't have to pay anyone to use them.

VHS won't be missed. With vinyl there was no "format war" and you had the best technology at the time allowed. VHS will (for me) always be remembered for a triumph of marketing clout that won over technological excellence (betamax) so won't be missed.

[kcspurs]

i perfer vhs to dvds

[Soundbox]

VHS was 'movies at home' and with that came the rental clubs (they were in even small shops) and so for me the format holds a very soft spot. The sound of the motors, the tracking knob to be twiddled and the trailers for other films all were part of the experience. That the picture and sound were sometimes 'off' was irritating at the time and that part I don't recall fondly but all in all, yes, I like the format very much.

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by kcspurs

i perfer vhs to dvds

Why

The picture quality is massively inferior

The sound quality is crap

You cannot copy it losslesly.

Do you watch Freeview TV ?

[stuartjk]

Originally Posted by Soundbox

VHS was 'movies at home' and with that came the rental clubs (they were in even small shops) and so for me the format holds a very soft spot. The sound of the motors, the tracking knob to be twiddled and the trailers for other films all were part of the experience. That the picture and sound were sometimes 'off' was irritating at the time and that part I don't recall fondly but all in all, yes, I like the format very much.

Thats what I was getting at with the first post. As I said it is easy to forget how popular as a format VHS was. At Blockbuster we always ran out of stock of the big films on the first day, examples being "The Full Monty", Face/Off", "Starship Troopers", anything with Steven Seagal in.....(I kid you not!).That led to the Blockbuster promise, where you got it free next time.(god that was a pain in the ar*se!). So a lot of people were more than happy with it as a format. (We even had a midnight opening for the release of Titanic...............!) You only have to walk around a car boot sale these days to see where all those copies went!

[Andy2]

Originally Posted by grahamlthompson

Why

The picture quality is massively inferior

The sound quality is crap

You cannot copy it losslesly.

Do you watch Freeview TV ?

Yes to all that, but VHS was of its time. We engineers could see and hear its shortcomings, but in all my time in the trade I never heard any customer wish for better quality. Being able to record TV shows at all was quite enough!

[Soundbox]

Originally Posted by Andy2

Yes to all that, but VHS was of its time. We engineers could see and hear its shortcomings, but in all my time in the trade I never heard any customer wish for better quality. Being able to record TV shows at all was quite enough!

And on those lines you can bet that todays tech will be thought of in the same way as VHS today.
Thinking back I remember that even recordings made with poor TV reception and linear mono sound never upset anyone because that was all there was.

[webbie]

DVD recorders are old hat already - storing films to NAS is the current way to go - in HD and 5.1 as well....

[motsy]

If anybody in the Sale/Stretford area of Manchester, Television Doctor (On Chester Roade heading up to Sale/Stretford mall) has a collction of VHS films ranging from the obscure to the more well known films.

[Chris Frost]

Originally Posted by stuartjk

... it is easy to forget how popular as a format VHS was.

It's easy to be popular when you're the only choice in town.

Early adopters had to contend with the VHS/Beta battle. But by the time video nasties were at their peak then that was all over bar the shouting. As far as the mainstream consumer were concerned they simply wanted a home recording solution and VHS was by far the most prevalent technology available in shops.

The comparison with vinyl doesn't work as far as I'm concerned. Vinyl holds its own in the quality stakes against CD and SACD. The same can't be said of VHS vs DVD or Blu-ray.

Personally, VHS holds no special place in my heart. For movie playback DVD came like a breath of fresh air that was long overdue. I remember seeing one of the early American players back in '97 and thinking "This will be huge". At the time the UK mags were still dithering. I bought in straight away and started importing films in bulk from New York. VHS came off a very poor second and only remained in my system for timeshift recordings. DVD never really made the grade for timeshift IMO. Too faffy. PVRs are the perfect solution.

The only feature of VHS that I miss was from a very smart JVC deck I once owned. It had an Audio Only mode that turned it in to the equivalent of a reel-to-reel. Now that was a cool feature.

If I have any nostalgia then it's reserved for Laser Disc. Although an impractical choice I still hanker after a player and some discs. VHS.... meh.

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by grahamlthompson

Why

The picture quality is massively inferior

The sound quality is crap

You cannot copy it losslesly.

Do you watch Freeview TV ?

You should have invested in a VHS deck with HiFi stereo sound. The quality wasn't really any different to that of a decently-encoded CD.

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by Chris Frost

The only feature of VHS that I miss was from a very smart JVC deck I once owned. It had an Audio Only mode that turned it in to the equivalent of a reel-to-reel. Now that was a cool feature.

JVC HRD725? HRD370?

[jjne]

Originally Posted by Andy2

Yes to all that, but VHS was of its time. We engineers could see and hear its shortcomings, but in all my time in the trade I never heard any customer wish for better quality. Being able to record TV shows at all was quite enough!

I don't recognise that comment at all.

Virtually the first thing our family said when we got our first VCR (a Ferguson Videostar toploader like millions of others) was that the picture quality was a bit poor. It's only redeeming feature was that the poor sound hid all the buzzes, hisses and clunks present in Tyne Tees TV's presentation at the time

I spend small fortunes on HQ, 6-head, NICAM, Beta and SVHS machines over the years in a vain attempt to up the quality. Nothing ever sufficed.

I couldn't wait to get rid of VHS. I bought in to TiVo on the day it came out, and the VCR collected dust from that day onward.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by AidanLunn

JVC HRD725? HRD370?

Many of the early HiFi VHS machines did that - it simply required a sync generator in the VCR in order to simulate a picture signal and make the mech work.

[emptybox]

VHS or video cassette recorders in general, was the first time most homes could record off the telly, and it'll be remembered fondly for that.

[Spruce]

Originally Posted by AidanLunn

JVC HRD725? HRD370?

I had a HRD530(?) and very pleased with it as it was with this I first heard NICAM, Channel 4 cricket.

[2Bdecided]

In answer to the thread title: No!

Just like cassettes and minidiscs, I mourn all the time and money spent on such inferior technology. Give me DVDs, PVRs, recording audio and video straight into a PC for flexible and lossless editing, and my mp3 player any day.

I treasure many things that I recorded using cassettes and VHS, but I have no love for the formats. Not much nostalgia either - and if any creeps in, it vanishes again each time I need to use them to transfer some old recording to my PC.


I guess the irony is that I love technology that existed before I was even born - probably because I've never had to endure its shortcomings, except by choice / for fun.

Cheers,
David.

[Glawster2002]

Originally Posted by emptybox

VHS or video cassette recorders in general, was the first time most homes could record off the telly, and it'll be remembered fondly for that.

Like jjne our first video machine was a Ferguson Videostar and, at the time, it was a revelation. To be able to rent a video for the evening, or to set the timer to record a programme whilst you were out, or watching one of the other channels was brilliant.

However it was very much a technology of its time and compared to today's technology it has/had very few, if any, redeeming features.

[BKM]

Originally Posted by Andy2

Yes to all that, but VHS was of its time. We engineers could see and hear its shortcomings, but in all my time in the trade I never heard any customer wish for better quality. Being able to record TV shows at all was quite enough!

I am old enough to have seen Betamax recorders in the shops!

I am therefore the customer you must have missed meeting! While VHS was "OK" it was clear that, from a picture quality perspective, that the wrong technology had won!

[Smerph]

Any format which degrades on successive viewings deserves to be dead and buried.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by Smerph

Any format which degrades on successive viewings deserves to be dead and buried.

So absolutely everything then before digital?.

Pretty silly attitude

[gemma-the-husky]

i think VHS player design and technology will be missed. it was a wonderful format for a long while., still used by many, no doubt.

But the low quality will not be missed.

Unlike vinyl, where the quality is still at least as good as CD, bar the odd click.

[UberGamer]

Originally Posted by 2Bdecided

In answer to the thread title: No!

...

I guess the irony is that I love technology that existed before I was even born - probably because I've never had to endure its shortcomings, except by choice / for fun.

Spoken like a gentleman and a scholar.

VHS will have a warm spot in my heart, but I will never go out of my way to watch VHS over my dvd, or even Blu Ray and digital copy.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by gemma-the-husky

Unlike vinyl, where the quality is still at least as good as CD, bar the odd click.

The quality of vinyl is far short of CD, but some people seem to prefer the lower quality.