Betamax VCR problems playing pre-recorded tapes?

[digicube]

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?

[lordsmurf]

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.

[sanlyn]

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.

[digicube]

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