Video Asylum

Posted by Tech on March 19, 2001 at 05:13:32:

In Reply to: could audio on VHS be inadvertently erased without harming picture? posted by brew on March 16, 2001 at 00:35:06:

It is not possible to erase or damage only audio signal on tape, and leave video untouched, without editing tape in VCR.

But there is explanation for your situation.

There are two ways to record audio on VHS-(C) tapes. One by video heads for Hi-Fi mode and one by audio head for mono mode. When you record in Hi-Fi, both tracks are recorded (Hi-Fi and mono). If your camcorder is Hi-Fi and has broken aoudio head it will record in Hi-Fi mode and play back on Hi-Fi VCR with no problems. But will not play sound on mono VCRs.

Now... what is it that you have???