Reusing D-VHS Tapes. Good idea; bad idea?
 

I'm new to D-VHS and currently own a Mitsubishi HS-HD2000U for some stubborn VHS tapes. I Noticed some blank D-VHS tapes on Amazon for $20 new and $7 used like-new. My question is: After just glancing over the D-VHS specs, it is my understanding that the bit-for-bit data of the video is all that is stored on the tape, so reusing a previously recorded tape shouldn't have any impact on quality unless the tape is worn out/damaged, correct? Or is my understanding of D-VHS technology flawed?

I'm not looking to do any heavy use; I just want to fool around with it out of curiosity, so if I can get a cheaper used tape, then that would be nice.

Thanks!

You can get cheaper used tapes. I got a box of about 70 of them here. The tapes are a MPEG-2 transport stream recorded on the video track. There is no linear audio track, but the standard does use the same control track as analog VHS/SVHS. You can also force most machines to record DVHS onto SVHS tapes. The only weird thing I have encountered was tape playback issues with the tapes I have in HS speed (1080i HD recording, tape runs at the same speed as VHS SP tapes). They were all recorded on a Mitsu HS-HD1100U, but my JVC won't auto track them correctly unless I turn off and reengage the auto tracking. The JVC's internal MPEG2 decoder also won't show video output (decoding issue?) with most of the tapes, I have to use Firewire and VLC to decode them on my PC. Apparently playback of tapes made on one company's DVHS machine wasn't quite compatible with another. Analog playback has no such issues.

Keep in mind that the HS-HD2000U doesn't have any analog to digital encoder like the JVCs for SD video, you must use firewire for all digital recording.

Thanks for the info! Yeah, I was already aware of the firewire issue. Maybe now I will actually get to use firewire for the first time since my early 2000's ADVC ;) .

A friend said he used to record MPEG-2 on S-VHS tapes, using a JVC deck. I believe him, he's no dummy. But he also didn't like re-using tapes. I don't believe in re-using tapes either. Of course, that's obviously a problem in an era where new tapes are now harder to come by. But still. Just use your best judgment, and look for problems. If a tape acts up, pitch it. No second chances. (I do the same with wires. You screw up once, you go in the garbage can.)