Betamax VCR problems playing pre-recorded tapes?
 

Recent acquired a used SONY SL-HF900 and it has problems playing some prerecorded tapes; lots of static at the bottom of the video. I have attached example video.

The prerecorded tape plays fine on another Betamax VCR, so it must be my SONY SL-HF900. I think the video heads maybe dying or I may have alignment issues.

Home recordings made on this machine doesn't have this problem but on occasions streaks will appear on the video.

I was told not to use betacam metal tapes because it can damage the video heads. is this true?

The deck itself may be out of alignment. Head wear tends to be more uniform across a picture, not along one side. That appears to be a tracking or alignment issue.

If streaks are random in location, it may also be heads.

I agree, the lower border noise in that sample mp4 is a tracking issue, as well as some other problems on the tape and in the player's aging electronics. The picture is dim and discolored, with some bad horizontal dropouts.

I was told not to use Betacam SP metal tapes because it can damage the video heads. is this true?