D-VHS

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D-VHS logo
D-VHS logo

D-VHS is a digital video format developed by JVC, in collaboration with Hitachi, Matsushita and Philips. The "D" in D-VHS is for Data, not Digital. It uses the same physical cassette format and recording mechanism as S-VHS, and is capable of recording and displaying both standard definition and high definition content. The content data format is in MPEG-2 Transport stream, the same data format used for most digital television applications. The format was introduced in 1998.

The JVC D-VHS deck, released in the UK, was not a bitstream recorder, although it did have a FireWire input. Instead it is best thought of as a digital recorder for traditional analog inputs such as domestic analog TV and digiboxes for digital broadcasts. The deck was able to record D-VHS signals onto S-VHS tapes, which made it a cost-effective source of high quality domestic recordings. Pictures were noticeably superior to S-VHS and were essentially transparent when compared to an off-air source. Using the LS3 mode, approximately 17.25 hours of digital video could be stored on a S-VHS E-240.

The deck's biggest shortcomings were the lack of a DV output and, perhaps more crucially, the lack of RGB input via the SCART connector (PAL territories only as the NTSC versions had component outputs).

As a "last hurrah" for VHS, the D-VHS system is seen by its fans as a highly versatile domestic recorder (the only comparison at the time being the DV format, which never gained any traction except as a camcorder medium), but given the wholesale move to DVD and then hard disk drive (HDD) recording, the format has failed to make any headway into the video market.

There has been no small-format version of D-VHS equivalent to VHS-C; JVC, the originator of the format, chose to use MiniDV for its digital camcorder lines, and since 2005 has also expanded into tapeless camcorder designs based on hard drive storage (the Everio line). JVC does market the Digital-S format for professional use; while the tapes and technology used are superficially similar to D-VHS tapes, the underlying data format is based on the DV codec and the media formulation is drastically different.

Contents

[edit] Tape Length

HD content is stored at 28.2 Mbit/s, while SD content can be stored at bit rates from 14.1 Mbit/s down to 2 Mbit/s. The tape labels are a bit confusing for HD as D-VHS was originally a standard definition format that recorded at the "STD" speed. When HD was introduced it required twice the amount of tape. For this reason, a DF-300 will only record 150 minutes and not 300 minutes. High Definition can only be recorded at STD speed if the bit stream has no peaks exceeding 14.1 Mbit/s. Somewhat confusingly, "STD" does not refer to "Standard Definition", but "Standard Speed". "HS" is "High Speed". LS is "Low Speed" where the 3 and 5 means 3 times and 5 times the standard length of tape. (i.e. A 2-hour tape recorded in LS3 or LS5 is 6 hours or 10 hours, respectively.)

Common D-VHS Tape Lengths
Tape Label Data storage Tape Length Rec. Time
HS STD LS3 LS5
DF-240 25gig 240 m 120 min (2 h) 240 min (4 h) 720 min (12h) 1,200 min (20 h)
DF-300 31.7 gig 300 m 150 min (2:30 h) 300 min (5 h) 900 min (15 h) 1,500 min (25 h)
DF-420 44 gig 420 m 210 min (3:30 h) 420 min (7 h) 1,260 min (21 h) 2,100 min (35 h)
DF-480 50 gig 480 m 240 min (4 h) 480 min (8 h) 1,440 min (24 h) 2,400 min (40 h)

[edit] Issues/Advantages

There are technical issues with compatibility between recordings from Mitsubishi and JVC D-VHS decks. PAL and NTSC recordings are incompatible too. Very few models are available to the world market and sales of this format have been weak; correspondingly, prices have remained high for both VCRs and media, contributing to low demand. Also hurting demand, say D-VHS advocates, is poor marketing, resulting in low consumer knowledge of D-VHS's advantages and capabilities. The final dager for JVC may be the cable and satellite companies future, but inevitable, switch to H.264. This switch will prevent JVC units with Jpeg2 encoding from playing H.264 content. Mitsubishi units will be spared, since they are pass-through units with no encoding.

D-VHS was at one time the only way to archive encrypted high definition material from cable and satellite companies, and will continue to be the most practical solution until there is widespread usage of Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD Recorders. Even then, high costs and digital rights management issues are expected to push back even further the public's ability to readily archive encrypted HD content. It is true that cable and satellite companies and TiVo offer high-definition digital video recorders, but backing up those recordings has proven to be an obstacle because of DRM; further, many object to the high monthly rental fees and higher initial equipment investments. As for Blu-ray Disc/HD DVD Recorders, they can only be purchased in Japan, and cost $3000 (as of December 2006). This is more than ten times the cost of traditional DVD recorders. Technological advances possibly will make archiving encrypted HD content easier, and less costly. In the meantime, D-VHS format has proven itself to be a capable and viable home HD recorder since 1998 when the first NFL game was broadcast in high definition; and will continue to be a workhorse for many informed high definition viewers.

This link [1] shows how many are recording HD video from cable and satellite including encrypted content. However, most of the earlier hacks used to record encrypted content to digital sources have been broken by cable or satellite companies. One important thread for D-VHS owners, is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-403695.html. Link shows how all copy-freely D-VHS tape libraries can be moved to a single hard drive. Windows XP, and a free downloadable program called capDVHS make this possible. FireWire(IEEE 1394) equipped boxes and FireWire equipped computers are also required.

For everyone else without a D-VHS, the capDVHS program can be used to transfer cable DVR content to your computer before it fills, and starts recording over the content you'd like to archive. Again, FireWire(IEEE 1394) equipped boxes and FireWire equipped computers are required. 5C copy once/never content will not transfer.

[edit] D-Theater

D-Theater logo
D-Theater logo
Complete Fox D-Theater collection
Complete Fox D-Theater collection

In 2002, prerecorded D-VHS cassettes are sold under the brand name D-Theater in the US. While D-Theater is a D-VHS tape, it is incompatible with D-VHS decks without the D-Theater logo. They provide content in both 720p and 1080i as well as at least one Dolby Digital audio track. Supported movies studios include 20th Century Fox, Artisan Entertainment, DreamWorks and Universal Pictures. D-Theater provides much better audio and video quality than previous formats (VHS and DVD), but has since been displaced by newer formats such as Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. D-Theater does have region code restrictions. There are 2 know regions; 1 for the USA, 2 for Japan. There has never been a D-Theater video release in region 2. Region code hacks for Japanese decks have been performed to support playback of US titles. The last movie available was 20th Century Fox's I, Robot. This title was a surprise to many as there were no prior announcements nor any indication that the title was available. It was originally available only on JVC's D-VHS store in late 2004 and no other distributor had it (not even Fox themselves). A couple of weeks later they started trickling out to more distributors after much delay and confusion about its existence. Alien vs Predator was announced to retailers as also being released on D-VHS the same day as I'Robot, but Fox later announced that Alien vs Predator in fact was never shipped to any retail outlet, the copies that were produced have never seen the light of day, the cause of this has never been explained by Fox who continue to list the title on their retailer website as released.

Most tapes have built-in copy protection mechanism (DTCP, also known as "5c") (copy never) that disables copying via FireWire. HDNet productions and 2929 Entertainment via Magnolia Entertainment do provide some of their original content on D-VHS but without copy protection. Many of the tapes have an introduction by the owner Mark Cuban encouraging you to make copies of the program.

[edit] DTS

Additional tracks may be included on D-Theater in other sound formats such as DTS. However, only the newest D-VHS players like JVC HM-DH40000, HM-DH5U, HM-DT1000, and Marantz MV-8300 include alternate audio track capabilities.

DTS D-Theater D-VHS tapes. * means dts was not mentioned on the package.

Dreamworks
20th Century Fox
Universal Pictures

[edit] Rare D-Theater tapes

When Lions Gate bought Artisan, a number of titles that were supposed to be released were cancelled. Some of them were Dirty Dancing, Basic Instinct, and Total Recall. 20th Century Fox, while experimenting with DTS, did test tapes of PHONEbooth with DTS. There are also a number of Universal Studio test tapes without DTS tracks, but the released versions contain DTS without that fact being mentioned on the packaging. These DTS tracks were probably late minute additions. All of these examples of preproduction/review/test tapes have been in the hands of various D-Theater collectors.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Industrial & home video media
Magnetic tape

VERA (1952) - 2 inch Quadruplex videotape (1956) - 1 inch type A videotape (1965) - 1/4 inch Akai (1967) - U-matic (1969) - Cartrivision (1972) - Video Cassette Recording (aka VCR) (1972) - V-Cord (1974) - VX (aka "The Great Time Machine") (1974) - Betamax (1975) - 1 inch type B videotape (1976) - 1 inch type C videotape (1976) - VHS (1976) - VK (1977) - SVR (1979) - Video 2000 (1980) - CVC (1980) - VHS-C (1982) - M (1982) - Betacam (1982) - Video8 (1985) - MII (1986) - D1 (1986) - S-VHS (1987) - D2 (1988) - Hi8 (1989) - D3 (1991) - D5 (1994) - Digital-S (D9) (199?) - S-VHS-C (1987) - W-VHS (1992) - DV (1995) - Betacam HDCAM (1997) - D-VHS (1998) - Digital8 (1999) - HDV (2003)
Optical discs

LaserDisc (1978) - Laserfilm (1984) - CD Video - VCD (1993) - DVD-Video (1996) - MiniDVD - CVD (1998) - SVCD (1998) - FMD (2000) - EVD (2003) - FVD (2005) - UMD (2005) - VMD (2006) - HD DVD (2006) - Blu-ray Disc (BD) (2006) - DMD (2006?) - AVCHD (2006) - Tapestry Media (2007) - Total Hi Def (2007) - HVD (TBA) - PH-DVD (TBA) - SVOD (TBA) - Protein-coated disc (TBA) - Two-Photon 3-D (TBA)
Grooved Videodiscs

Baird Television Record aka Phonovision (1927) - TeD (1974) - Capacitance Electronic Disc aka CED (1981) - VHD (1983)
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