VHS

Video Home System
VHS Logo
VHS cassette with ruler.jpg
Top view of VHS cassette with ruler for scale
Media type Video recording media
Encoding FM on magnetic tape
Developed by JVC (Victor Company of Japan)
Usage Home video

The Video Home System[1] (better known by its abbreviation VHS[2]) is a consumer-level video standard developed by Japanese company, JVC, and launched in 1976.

Contents

History

It was first introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago on June 4, 1977, and later marketed to the public on October 1, 1977. During the late part of the 1970s and the early 1980s, the home video industry was involved in the VHS vs. Betamax war, which VHS would eventually win. Advantages of VHS included longer playing time, faster rewinding and fast-forwarding, and a less-complex, lower-cost tape transport mechanism. The VHS technology was owned by JVC, but they allowed other manufacturers to license the format for much smaller fees than Sony did, leading to wide adoption by non-JVC companies. [3] VHS would eventually succeed as the dominant home video format, surpassing others by the early 1980s and remaining dominant through the 90s.

In later years, optical disc formats began to offer better quality than video tape. The earliest of these formats, Laserdisc, was not widely adopted, but the subsequent DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) format eventually did achieve mass acceptance and replaced VHS as the preferred method of distribution after 2000. [4] By 2006, film studios in the United States had stopped releasing new movie titles in VHS format. On December 31, 2008, the last major United States supplier of pre-recorded VHS tapes, Distribution Video Audio Inc. of Palm Harbor, Florida, shipped its final truckload.[5] Currently, most of the VHS tapes being produced are blank.

VHS originally stood for "Vertical Helical Scan," after the process of storing the signal on the tape. The initialism's meaning was later changed to "Video Home System" for the benefit of the open market.[6]

Technical details

Capacity

The interior of a modern VHS VCR showing the drum, tape, and cassette.

A VHS cassette holds a maximum of about 430 m of tape at the lowest acceptable tape thickness, giving a maximum playing time of about 3.5 hours for NTSC and 5 hours for PAL at "standard" (SP) quality. Other speeds include LP and EP/SLP which double and triple the recording time, for NTSC regions. These speed reductions cause a slight reduction in video quality (from 250 lines to 230 analog lines horizontal); also, tapes recorded at the lower speed often exhibit poor playback performance on recorders other than the one they were produced on. Because of this, commercial prerecorded tapes were almost always recorded in SP mode.

Video recording

VHS tapes have approximately 3 MHz of video bandwidth and 0.4 MHz of chroma bandwidth, which is achieved at a relatively low tape speed by the use of helical scan recording of a frequency modulated luminance (black and white) signal, with a down-converted "color under" chroma (color) signal recorded directly at the baseband. Because VHS is an analog system, VHS tapes represent video as a continuous stream of waves, in a manner similar to analog TV broadcasts. The waveform per scan-line can reach 170 waves at max and contains 525 scanlines from the top to the bottom of the screen in NTSC (486 visible). PAL variants have 625 scanlines (576 visible). In modern-day digital terminology, VHS is roughly equivalent to 333x480 pixels luma and 40x480 chroma resolutions.[7]

JVC would counter 1985's SuperBeta with VHS HQ, or High Quality. The frequency modulation of the VHS luminance signal is limited to 3 megahertz which makes higher resolutions impossible, but an HQ branded deck includes luminance noise reduction, chroma noise reduction, white clip extension, and improved sharpness circuitry. The effect was to increase the apparent horizontal resolution of a VHS recording from 240 to 250 analog (equivalent to 333 pixels from left-to-right, in digital terminology). The major VHS OEMs resisted HQ due to cost concerns, eventually resulting in JVC reducing the requirements for the HQ brand to white clip extension plus one other improvement.

In 1987 JVC introduced the new format called Super VHS which extended the bandwidth to over 5 megahertz, yielding 420 analog horizontal (560 pixels left-to-right).

Audio recording

Original linear system

In the original VHS format, audio was recorded as baseband in a single linear track, at the upper edge of the tape, similar to how an audio compact cassette operates. The recorded frequency range was dependent on the movement of the tape past the audio head, which for the VHS SP mode, resulted in a mediocre frequency response of roughly 100 Hz to 10 kHz. The signal-to-noise ratio was an acceptable 42 dB. Both parameters degraded significantly with VHS's longer play modes, with EP frequency response peaking at 4 kHz.

Audio cannot be recorded on a VHS tape without recording a video signal, even in the audio dubbing mode. If there is no video signal to the VCR input, the VCR will record black as well as generate a control track while the audio is being recorded.

More expensive decks offered stereo audio recording and playback. Linear stereo, as it was called, fit two independent channels in the same space as the original mono audiotrack. While this approach preserved acceptable backward compatibility with monoaural audio heads, the splitting of the audio track degraded the signal's SNR to the point that audible tape hiss was objectionable at normal listening volume. To counteract tape hiss, decks applied Dolby B noise reduction for recording and playback. Dolby B dynamically boosts the mid-frequency band of the audio program on the recorded medium, improving its signal strength relative to the tape's background noise floor, then attenuates the mid-band during playback. Dolby B is not a transparent process, and Dolby-encoded program material will exhibit an unnatural mid-range emphasis when played on non-Dolby capable VCRs.

High-end consumer recorders took advantage of the linear nature of the audio track, as the audio track could be erased and recorded without disturbing the video portion of the recorded signal. Hence, "audio dubbing" and "video dubbing", where either the audio or video are re-recorded on tape (without disturbing the other), were supported features on prosumer editing-decks. Without dubbing capability, an audio or video edit could not be done in-place on master cassette, and requires the editing output be captured to another tape, incurring generational loss.

Studio film releases began to emerge with linear stereo audiotracks in 1982. From that point onward nearly every home video releases by Hollywood featured a Dolby-encoded linear stereo audiotrack. However, linear stereo was never popular with equipment makers or consumers.

Hi-Fi audio system

Around 1985, JVC added Hi-Fi audio to VHS (in response to Betamax's introduction of Beta Hi-Fi.) Both VHS Hi-Fi and Betamax Hi-Fi delivered flat full-range frequency response (20 Hz to 20 kHz), excellent 70 dB signal-to-noise ratio (in consumer space, second only to the compact disc), dynamic range of 90 dB, and studio-grade channel separation (more than 70dB). VHS Hi-Fi audio is achieved by using audio frequency modulation (AFM), recording each of the 2 stereo channels (L, R) on a frequency-modulated carrier and embedding the modulated audio signal pair into the video signal. To avoid crosstalk and interference from the primary video carrier, VHS's implementation of AFM relied on a form of magnetic recording called depth multiplexing. The modulated audio carrier pair was placed under the luminance carrier (below 1.6 MHz), and recorded first. Subsequently, the video head erases and re-records the video signal over the same tape surface, but video signal's higher center frequency results in a shallower magnetization of the tape, allowing both the video and residual AFM audio signal to coexist on tape. (PAL versions of Beta Hi-Fi use this same technique). During playback, VHS Hi-Fi recovers the depth-recorded AFM signal by subtracting the audio head's signal (which contains the AFM signal contaminated by a weak image of the video signal) from the video head's signal (which contains only the video signal), then demodulates the left and right audio channels from their respective frequency carriers. The end result of the complex process was audio of outstanding fidelity, which was uniformly solid across all tape-speeds (EP or SP.) Since JVC had gone through the complexity of ensuring Hi-Fi's backward compatibility with non-Hi-Fi VCRs, virtually all studio home video releases contained Hi-Fi audiotracks (in addition to the linear audio track). Under normal circumstances, all Hi-Fi VHS VCRs will record Hi-Fi and linear audio simultaneously to ensure compatibility with VCRs without Hi-Fi playback, though only early, high-end Hi-Fi machines provided linear stereo compatibility.

Due to the path followed by the video and Hi-Fi audio heads being striped and discontinuous- unlike that of the linear audio track- head-switching is required to provide a continuous audio signal. Misalignments may lead to imperfect joining of the signal, resulting in low-pitched buzzing.[8]

The sound quality of Hi-Fi VHS stereo is comparable to the quality of CD audio, particularly when recordings were made on high-end or professional VHS machines that have a manual audio recording level control. This high quality compared to other consumer audio recording formats such as compact cassette attracted the attention of amateur and hobbyist recording artists. Home recording enthusiasts occasionally recorded high quality stereo mixdowns and master recordings from multitrack audio tape onto consumer-level Hi-Fi VCRs. However, because the VHS Hi-Fi recording process is intertwined with the VCR's video-recording function, advanced editing functions such as audio-only or video-only dubbing are impossible. Some VHS decks also had a "simulcast" switch, allowing users to record an external audio input along with off-air pictures. Some televised concerts offered a stereo simulcast soundtrack on FM radio and as such, events like Live Aid were recorded by thousands of people with a full stereo soundtrack despite the fact that stereo TV broadcasts were some years off (especially in regions that adopted NICAM).

The considerable complexity and additional hardware limited VHS Hi-Fi to high-end decks for many years. While linear stereo all but disappeared from home VHS decks, it was not until the 1990s that Hi-Fi became a more common feature on VHS decks. Even then, most customers were unaware of its significance and merely enjoyed the better audio performance of the newer decks.

Cassette and tape design

Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed
Top view of VHS cassette with front casing removed

The VHS cassette is a 187 mm wide, 103 mm deep, 25 mm thick (7⅜" × 4" × 1") plastic clamshell held together with five Phillips head screws. The flip-up cover that protects the tape has a built-in latch with a push-in toggle on the right side (see bottom view image). The VHS cassette also includes an anti-despooling mechanism as seen in the top view, several plastic parts near front label end of the cassette between the two spools. The spool brakes are released by a push-in lever within a 6.35 mm (1/4") hole accessed from the bottom of the cassette, about 19.05 mm (3/4") in from the edge label.

There is a clear tape leader at both ends of the tape to provide an optical auto-stop for the VCR transport mechanism. A light source is inserted into the cassette (through the circular hole in the center of the underside) when loaded in the VCR, and two photodiodes are located to the left and right sides of where the tape exits the cassette - when the clear tape reaches one of these, enough light will pass through the tape to the photodiode to trigger the stop function, or in more sophisticated machines it will start rewinding the cassette when the trailing end is detected. Early VCRs used an incandescent bulb as the light source, which can fail and may cause the VCR to erroneously think that a cassette is loaded when empty, or will detect the blown bulb and stop functioning completely. Later designs use an infrared LED which has a much longer lifetime.

The recording medium is a 12.7 mm (½ inch) wide magnetic tape wound between two spools, allowing it to be slowly passed over the various playback and recording heads of the video cassette recorder. The tape speed is 3.335 cm/s for NTSC, 2.339 cm/s for PAL.

VHS M-loading system.

As with almost all cassette-based videotape systems, VHS machines pull the tape from the cassette shell and wrap it around the head drum. VHS machines, in contrast to Betamax and Beta's predecessor U-matic, use an "M-loading" system, also known as M-lacing or omega wrap, where the tape is drawn out by two threading posts and wrapped around more than 180 degrees of the head drum (and also other tape transport components) in a shape roughly approximating the letter M.

Tracking adjustment and index marking

Another linear control track, at the tape's lower edge, holds pulses that mark the beginning of every frame of video; these are used to fine-tune the tape speed during playback and to get the rotating heads exactly on their helical tracks rather than having them end up somewhere between two adjacent tracks (a feature called tracking). Since good tracking depends on the exact distance between the rotating drum and the fixed control/audio head reading the linear tracks, which usually varies by a couple of micrometers between machines due to manufacturing tolerances, most VCRs offer tracking adjustment, either manual or automatic, to correct such mismatches. The control can additionally hold index marks. These are normally written at the beginning of each recording session, and can be found using the VCR's index search function: this will fast-wind forward or backward to the nth specified index mark, and resume playback from there. There was a time when higher-end VCRs provided functions for manually removing and adding these index marks — so that, for example, they coincide with the actual start of the program — but this feature has become hard to find in recent models.

By the late 1990s, some high-end VCRs offered more sophisticated indexing. For example, Panasonic's Tape Library system assigned an ID number to each cassette, and logged recording information (channel, date, time and optional program title entered by the user) both on the cassette and in the VCR's memory for up to 900 recordings (600 with titles).[9]

Comparison to other video formats

Below is a list of modern, digital-style resolutions (and traditional analog "TV lines per picture height" measurements) for various media. The list only includes popular formats. All values are approximate NTSC resolutions. For PAL systems, replace "480" with "576".

Digital formats:

Variations

Victor S-VHS cassette (left) and S-VHS-C cassette (right).
VHS-C adapter

Super-VHS / ADAT / SVHS-ET

Several improved versions of VHS exist, most notably Super-VHS (S-VHS), an analog video standard with improved video bandwidth. S-VHS improved the luminance resolution to 400 horizontal per picture height (versus 250 for VHS/Beta and 500 for DVD). The audio-system (both linear and AFM) is the same. S-VHS made little impact on the home market, but gained dominance in the camcorder market due to its superior picture quality.

The ADAT format provides the ability to record multitrack digital audio using S-VHS media. JVC also developed SVHS-ET technology for its camcorders and VCRs, which simply allows standard units to record Super VHS signals onto lower-priced VHS tapes, albeit with a slight blurring of the image. Nearly all camcorders and VCRs made today have SVHS-ET ability.

VHS-C / Super VHS-C

Another variant is VHS-Compact (VHS-C), originally developed for portable VCRs in 1982, but ultimately finding success in palm-sized camcorders. The longest tape available holds 40 minutes in SP mode and 120 minutes in EP mode. Since VHS-C tapes are based on the same magnetic tape as full size tapes, they can be played back in standard VHS players using a mechanical adapter, without the need of any kind of signal conversion. The magnetic tape on VHS-C cassettes is wound on one main spool and uses a gear wheel to advance the tape.

The adapter does not require a battery to function and is solely a mechanical adapter. It has an internal hub to engage with the VCR mechanism in the location of a normal full-size tape hub, driving the gearing on VHS-C cassette. Also when a VHS-C cassette is inserted into the adapter, a small swing-arm pulls the tape out of the miniature cassette to span the standard tape path distance between the guide rollers of a full-size tape. This allows the miniature cassette to use the same tape loading mechanism of the full-size tape.

Super VHS-C or S-VHS Compact was developed by JVC in 1987. S-VHS provided an improved luminance and chrominance quality, yet S-VHS recorders were compatible with VHS tapes[10].

Sony Betamax was unable to shrink that form any further, so instead they developed Video8/Hi8 which was in direct competition with the VHS-C/S-VHS-C format throughout the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Ultimately neither format "won" and both continue to be sold in the low-end market (examples: JVC SXM38 and Sony TRV138).

W-VHS / Digital-VHS (high-definition)

W-VHS allowed recording of MUSE Hi-Vision analog high definition television, which was broadcast in Japan from 1989 until 2007. The other improved standard, called Digital-VHS (D-VHS), records digital high definition video onto a VHS form factor tape. D-VHS can record up to 4 hours of ATSC Digital Television in 720p or 1080i formats using the fastest record mode (equivalent to VHS-SP), and up to 40 hours of standard definition video at slower speeds.

D9

There is also a JVC-designed component digital professional production format known as Digital-S, or officially under the name D9, that uses a VHS form factor tape and essentially the same mechanical tape handling techniques as an S-VHS recorder. This format is the least expensive format to support a pre-read edit. This format is most notably used by Fox for some of its cable networks.

Accessories

Shortly after the introduction of the VHS format, VHS tape rewinders were developed. These devices served the sole purpose of rewinding VHS tapes. Proponents of the rewinders argued that the use of the rewind function on the standard VHS player would lead to kinks in the tape that would affect playback quality. Many lower end VCR's would leave the tape wound around the video head whilst rewinding or fast forwarding, so the rewinders were of some benefit on these machines, to save additional tape and head wear. The rewinder would rewind the tapes smoothly and also normally do so at a faster rate than the standard rewind function on VHS players.

There is some controversy over whether you could use a domestic VCR to be able to record PC contents on it. However there are some devices which have allowed personal computer to hook up a VHS tape recorders for use as a data backup device. Most notable of these devices was ArVid, widely used in Russia and CIS states. Also available in the United States were similar systems manufactured by Corvus, and Alpha Microsystems[11]. Also available was Backer from Danmere Ltd. of England.

Hewlett-Packard also developed a backup system that used VHS tapes known internally as Hero, storing up to 5 GB per tape. It was canceled in 1987 as it was quickly overtaken by DAT tapes which became available at similar storage capacity and smaller physical size.

Signal standards

VHS can record and play back all varieties of analog television signals in existence at the time VHS was devised. However, a machine must be designed to record a given standard. Typically, a VHS machine can only handle signals of the country it was sold in. The following signal varieties exist in conventional VHS:

Note that PAL/625/25 VCRs allow playback of SECAM (and MESECAM) tapes with a monochrome ('Black and White') picture (and vice-versa) as the line standard is the same. Since the 1990s, dual- and multi-standard VHS machines have become more and more common. These can handle VHS tapes of more than one standard. For example, regular VHS machines sold in Australia and Europe nowadays can typically handle PAL, MESECAM for record and playback, plus NTSC for playback only (provided the TV is able to display NTSC's 525/30 line standard - most can). Dedicated multistandard machines can usually handle all standards listed, some high end model can even convert a tape from one standard to another by using a built-in standards converter.

S-VHS only exists in PAL/625/25 and NTSC/525/30. S-VHS machines sold in SECAM markets record internally in PAL, and convert to/from SECAM during record/playback, respectively. Likewise, S-VHS machines for the Brazilian market record in NTSC and convert to/from PAL-M.

A small number of VHS decks are able to decode closed captions on pre-recorded video cassettes. A smaller number still are able, additionally, to record subtitles transmitted with world standard teletext signals (on pre-digital services), simultaneously with the associated program.

Tape lengths

Both NTSC and PAL/SECAM VHS cassettes are physically identical (although the signals recorded on the tape are incompatible). However, as tape speeds differ between NTSC and PAL/SECAM, the playing time for any given cassette will vary accordingly between the systems.

In order to avoid confusion, manufacturers indicate the playing time in minutes that can be expected for the market the tape is sold in. It is perfectly possible to record and play back a blank T-XXX tape in a PAL machine or a blank E-XXX tape in an NTSC machine, but the resulting playing time will be different from that indicated. SP is Standard Play and LP is Long Play at 1/2 speed for both NTSC and PAL regions. EP/SLP designates Extended Play/Super Long Play at 1/3rd speed for NTSC regions, but was not widely released in PAL markets.

Common Tape Lengths in minutes (hours)
Tape Label Tape Length Rec. Time (NTSC) Rec. Time (PAL)
m ft SP LP EP/SLP SP LP
T-60 125.6 412 60 min (1 h) 120 min (2 h) 180 min (3 h) 84 min (1:24 h) 168 min (2:48 h)
T-90 185.9 610 90 min (1:30 h) 180 min (3 h) 270 min (4:30 h) 126 min (2:06 h) 252 min (4:12 h)
T-120 247.5 812 120 min (2 h) 240 min (4 h) 360 min (6 h) 169 min (2:49 h) 338 min (5:38 h)
T-160 327.7 1075 160 min (2:40 h) 320 min (5:20 h) 480 min (8 h) 225 min (3:45 h) 450 min (7:30 h)
T-180 368.8 1210 180 min (3 h) 360 min (6 h) 540 min (9 h) 253 min (4:13 h) 507 min (8:27 h)
T-210 (rare) 433.1 1421 210 min (3:30 h) 420 min (7 h) 630 min (10:30 h) 294 min (4:56 h) 592 min (9:52 h)
DF480 (T-240 equiv) 495 1624 240 min (4 h) 480 min (8 h) 720 min (12 h) 340 min (5:40 h) 680 min (11:20 h)
E-120 173.7 570 83 min (1:26 h) 172 min (2:52 h) 258 min (4:18 h) 120 min (2 h) 240 min (4 h)
E-180 259.4 851 129 min (2:09 h) 258 min (4:18 h) 387 min (6:27 h) 180 min (3 h) 360 min (6 h)
E-240 348.1 1142 173 min (2:53 h) 346 min (5:46 h) 519 min (8:39 h) 240 min (4 h) 480 min (8 h)
E-300 435.1 1427 216 min (3:36 h) 432 min (7:12 h) 649 min (10:49 h) 300 min (5 h) 600 min (10 h)

Uses in marketing

Although VHS was a popular delivery format for long-play content, VHS was also used to deliver short-play content, such as music videos, in-store videos and tutorials.

VHS single

VHS single, also known as videotape single or Video 45s (a play on the term "45" when used to describe vinyl records), is a music single, using a standard-sized VHS cartridge. The format has existed since the early 1980s. In 1983, British synthpop band The Human League released the UK's first commercial video single called "The Human League Video Single".[12] It wasn't a huge commercial success due to the high retail price of £10.99, compared to £1.99 for a vinyl single.

The VHS single format gained higher levels of mainstream popularity when Madonna released "Justify My Love" as a video single in 1990 following the blacklisting of the video by MTV. U2 also released "Numb", the lead single from their 1993 album Zooropa as a video single.

Despite the success of these releases, the video single struggled as its releases were relatively periodical, the technology slowly being superseded first by CD Video (which proved unsuccessful due to the cost of capable LaserDisc players to play the video portion), music CDs with computer-accessible video files, then, by the early 2000s, by both DVD singles and CD+DVD releases.

Other uses

VHS was also commonly included in various products and services - including exercise equipment, kitchen appliances, and even computer software. Corporations used the VHS format to deliver addresses made by company executives to regional offices. Manufacturers would send out VHS tapes to its service centers, to demonstrate how to repair a new product. And, retail stores would play VHS tapes demonstrating a product on a television set, requiring a VCR that supported encore function replay or auto rewind play.

VHS vs. Betamax

Size comparison between a Betamax cassette (top) and a VHS cassette (bottom).
MII, VHS, and S-VHS are distinct from above...
...the undersides are more similar.

VHS was the winner of a protracted and somewhat bitter format war during the late 1970s and early 1980s against Sony's Betamax format.

Betamax was widely perceived at the time as the better format, as it offered a slightly higher horizontal resolution (250 lines vs. 240 lines in PAL & NTSC), lower video noise, and less luma-chroma crosstalk than VHS, and was marketed as providing pictures superior to those of VHS. However the introduction of B-II speed (2-hour mode, NTSC regions only) to compete with VHS' 2-hour Standard Play mode, reduced Betamax's vertical resolution to 240 lines.[13] The extension of VHS to VHS HQ produced 250 lines, so that overall a Betamax/VHS user could expect virtually identical resolution, wherein the actual picture performance depended on other factors, including the condition and quality of the videotape, and the specific video recorder machine model. In PAL markets, Betamax had just the one running speed, broadly similar to that of VHS SP, and again was capable of marginally improved results over VHS models of the day.

Betamax held an early lead in the format war — but by 1981, U.S. Betamax sales had sunk to only 25% of all sales.[14] There was an also-ran format battle with the V2000 format from Philips, which sold in reasonable numbers in parts of mainland Europe for a short time.

Decline

The VHS VCR was a mainstay in the TV-equipped living room for more than a decade, but is being replaced by newer technologies. For time-shifting (off the air or cable/satellite taping), hard-drive based DVRs have replaced the VCR as the time-shifting device of choice, especially in households with subscriber-based TV-services. The home camcorder market, one which VHS shared with alternative formats, has already transitioned to digital-video recording. But the largest blow to VHS was the March 1997 introduction of the DVD format to American consumers.[15] For home-video (that is, pre-recorded commercially-released movies, etc.) rental and sales, DVD has completely taken the place of VHS.

At most electronics retailers, choice among VHS equipment is increasingly shrinking. New sales are focused on DVD-recorders and subscriber-based DVRs (such as TiVo). Most electronics chains have stopped stocking VHS home-video releases, focusing only on DVD and Blu-ray Disc technology. Major Hollywood studios no longer issue releases on VHS. The final major Hollywood motion picture released on VHS was David Cronenberg's A History of Violence.[16]

On December 31, 2008, the final truckload in the USA of recorded programming on VHS tapes rolled out of a warehouse owned by Ryan Kugler, the last major supplier of VHS-recorded videos. Kugler is President and co-owner of Distribution Video Audio, a seller of distressed goods such as VHS tapes. According to Kugler, "It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt. I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I'm done. Anything left in warehouse we'll just give away or throw away."[17][18]

However in 2009, the Hayao Miyazaki film Ponyo received a VHS release in Japan alongside DVD and Blu-Ray.[19] Home-video VHS tapes can still be found in many second-hand shops, and are sometimes very cheap due to the lack of demand.

In 2010, The House of the Devil received promotional distribution on VHS[20][21] and is available exclusively on Amazon.com with a DVD copy of the film.[22] Another horror film was released on VHS the same year. After a petition on the website WeWantVHS.com, Paranormal Activity had a limited VHS release in the United States[23] and the Netherlands.[24]

Although VHS has quickly faded from mainstream home-video, the VCR is still used in many US households. The Washington Post noted that as of 2005, 94.5 million Americans still owned VHS format VCRs.[15]

Archived tapes (mostly VHS) at a TV Station in Olympia, Washington.

The last standalone JVC VHS-only unit was produced on October 28, 2008.[25] JVC, like many other manufacturers, still makes combination DVD+VHS units.

Several retail chains in the United States and in Europe planned to stop selling VHS equipment in 2004,[26] 2005,[27] and 2006.[28] Despite these plans, VHS recorders and blank tapes are still being sold in major stores worldwide. As an acknowledgment of VHS popularity, in 2009 Panasonic has announced the world’s first dual deck VHS-Blu-ray player.[29]

Successors

DVD

The DVD-Video format was introduced first, in 1996, in Japan, to the United States in March 1997 (Test Marketed) and mid-late 1998 in Europe and Australia.

Despite DVD's better quality (480 typical versus 250 lines horizontal resolution), VHS is still widely used in home recording of television programs due to the large installed base and the lower cost of VHS recorders and tape. The commercial success of DVD recording and re-writing has been hindered by a number of factors including:

Blu-ray Disc

A newer optical disc format is Blu-ray Disc, which is the designed successor to DVD. A single Blu-ray Disc can hold up to 128GB (over 25 times the capacity of a single-layered DVD) of information including up to 1080p High-definition video, high definition photos, music, and more.

High-capacity digital recording technologies

High-capacity digital recording systems are also gaining in popularity with home users. These types of systems come in several form factors:

Hard disk-based systems include TiVo as well as other digital video recorder (DVR) offerings. These types of systems provide users with a no-maintenance solution for capturing video content. Customers of subscriber-based TV generally receive electronic program guides, enabling one-touch setup of a recording schedule. Hard disk-based systems allow for many hours of recording without user-maintenance. For example, a 120 GB system recording at an extended recording rate (XP) of 10 Mbit/s MPEG-2 can record over 25 hours of video content.

References

  1. ↑ "IEEE History Center: Development of VHS", cites the original name as "Video Home System", from an article by Yuma Shiraishi, one of its inventors. Accessed December 28, 2006.
  2. ↑ LA Times Article
  3. ↑ Lessons Learned from the VHS - Betamax War
  4. ↑ "It's unreel: DVD rentals overtake videocassettes". The Washington Times (Washington, D.C.). June 20, 2003. http://washingtontimes.com/news/2003/jun/20/20030620-113258-1104r/. Retrieved June 2, 2010. 
  5. ↑ VHS era is winding down
  6. ↑ "VHS Named History Milestone", IEEE
  7. ↑ Taylor, Jim (2005). DVD demystified. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 9–36. ISBN 0071423966. http://books.google.com/books?id=ikxuL2aX9cAC. 
  8. ↑ http://stason.org/TULARC/entertainment/audio/general/14-18-Is-VHS-Hi-Fi-sound-perfect-Is-Beta-Hi-Fi-sound-perfec.html
  9. ↑ Panasonic Video Cassette Recorder NV-HS960 Series Operating Instructions, VQT8880, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
  10. ↑ Damjanovski, Vlado (2005). CCTV. Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 238. ISBN 0750678003. http://books.google.com/books?id=MQZQIFaOhgoC. 
  11. ↑ Videotrax: New System To Back Up Hard Disks. InfoWorld, May 26, 1986.
  12. ↑ Virgin Records 1983
  13. ↑ Video Interchange. "Video History". http://www.videointerchange.com/video-history.htm#BetaMax. Retrieved 2007-08-20. 
  14. ↑ Helge Moulding. "The Decline and Fall of Betamax". http://tafkac.org/products/beta_vs_vhs.html. Retrieved 2007-08-20. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Parting Words For VHS Tapes, Soon to Be Gone With the Rewind", Washington Post, August 28, 2005.
  16. ↑ http://citypaper.com/film/story.asp?id=13351
  17. ↑ Long, winding road hits a dead end at last for VHS
  18. ↑ VHS era is winding down
  19. ↑ "Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (VHS)". http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWSZ-8126. 
  20. ↑ "The Coolest Promo Ever? 'The House of the Devil' on VHS!". Bloody Disgusting. January 7, 2010. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18625. Retrieved April 9, 2010. 
  21. ↑ "Badass House of the Devil Collectible VHS". Deadcentral.com. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/35248/badass-house-devil-collectible-vhs. Retrieved May 14, 2010. 
  22. ↑ "The House of the Devil (VHS/DVD Bundle)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/House-Devil-VHS-DVD-Bundle/dp/B003360JKY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1270868683&sr=1-3. Retrieved April 9, 2010. 
  23. ↑ "We Want VHS". Wewantvhs.com. http://www.wewantvhs.com/. Retrieved May 14, 2010. 
  24. ↑ "Videoband maakt comeback". Paranormalactivity.nl. http://www.paranormalactivity.nl/nieuws.php. Retrieved May 14, 2010. 
  25. ↑ Elliott, Amy-Mae (2008-10-28). "JVC last to stop production of standalone VHS players". http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/18759/19783/jvc-stops-production-vhs-players.phtml. Retrieved 2008-10-31. 
  26. ↑ "Death of video recorder in sight". BBC News. November 22, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4031223.stm. Retrieved January 6, 2010. 
  27. ↑ Chediak, Mark (June 15, 2005). "As DVD Sales Fast-Forward, Retailers Reduce VHS Stock". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR2005061401794.html. Retrieved May 27, 2010. 
  28. ↑ "Wal-Mart said to stop selling VHS". CNN. June 13, 2005. http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/13/news/fortune500/walmart_vhs/index.htm?cnn=yes. Retrieved May 27, 2010. 
  29. ↑ "Panasonic expanded 2009 Blu-ray lineup with the world's first VHS-Blu-ray player". http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prModelDetail?storeId=11301&catalogId=13251&itemId=322744&modelNo=Content01072009023243932&surfModel=Content01072009023243932. 

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