Originally Posted by LS @ Youtube
Few corrections, additions:
- The "door" is the "tape gate".
- If you're not careful when opening a cassette, the spring will jump out, and it can be difficult for newbies to put back. The spring wasn't shown in the animation.
- Betamax wasn't really "slightly better quality", but merely slightly different. It had a mere higher 4% (max) luma resolution, that didn't really result in a better resolve, due to other variables in the decks. But that simple(ton) 240 vs. 250 math is why some folks think it's better.
- The "circuit board" is almost always referred to as the "mainboard".
- The "guide rollers" are often also referred to as the "tape guides", and these control a type of deck alignment. This alignment is related to tracking. When a tape will not track, it's generally because the player has gone out of alignment, or because the tape was recorded on a misaligned deck. All decks are affected by gravity, and the alignments drift between that and usage over the years/decades.
- The "clear tape" is the "leader".
- "6 heads" is not accurate, and was marketing that added the 4 video heads and 2 audio heads, when describing the unit. Toshiba was the main offender here. No VCR has more than 4 video heads. So a standard HiFi 4-head VCR technically had "6 heads", but only shady advertising referred to all 6.
- HiFi means "high fidelity", and most VCRs from the late 80s, 90s, and 00s were HiFi. Most VCRs from the 70s and early 80s only had linear audio. Do not confuse HiFi with stereo, or linear with mono.
- Many VCRs did not have mainboard buttons, but instead entire dedicated daughter boards that controlled the external buttons.
- VHS tapes have a longevity of 35-65 years, so don't feel pressured by scare tactics to "CONVERT YOUR TAPES BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!" Any company that say such things have limited understanding of the format. Tapes the the 70s and early 80s are now in that 35 degradation window, and could last for another 10/20/30 years. That said, it is prudent to transfer, just don't feel panicked, and make hasty transfer decisions that you'll later regret. Such as converting to now-low-quality DVD format, using cheap gear, or paying a lousy service.
- I see that you read "VCR Troubleshooting and Repair" by Brenner and Capelo, and it's an outstanding read to understand this format and some others.
To learn more: I've discussed VHS and S-VHS VCRs regularly on various video sites for 25+ years now, usually as it related to repair, or the selection of the best decks for digital transfer. I've written multiple VCR buying advice guides.
This was a decent video. I remember seeing something very similar in the 80s, and that video is floating around Youtube somewhere. It used lots of simple drawing and simple CG, to the same effect. Did you ever see that one?
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