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I bought a Panasonic 4821 S-VHS to time shift programs. What is the story with double and triple coated tapes? Any unbias sites? Wife time-shifts 10-15hrs a week, (I know, not much of a social life) I was told that tapes leave residue on the heads!? Has anyone done an A/B. Has any Consumers type testing made on tapes in the last 5 years?
I love to use cheaper VHS tapes to do the job.
(I am waiting for that Hard Drive Recorder with no monthly and $200, probably next Xmas).
Follow Ups:
Well, I also do agree that there's a great difference when recording S-VHS and VHS in NTSC, and the results you can get.First of all it's the recording speed, which is different for PAL and for NTSC. If you want to take full advantage of your tapes you have to record at SLP speed, or 6 hours per 120 minutes tape. In S-VHS/NTSC you can get fantastic quality at that capacity (6 hours) compared with what you get at SP speed (2 hours capacity).
In PAL you can only get 4 hours vs 2 hours, which probably shortens the quality gap between both speeds. That's why there are longer (and thinner) tapes offered in the PAL world. As PAL has more lines, they can get away with that too, particularly considering PAL recorders run slower than NTSC ones, if I am not wrong.
As I said I only record at SLP speed, and I have been recording S-VHS for some time now, using a top notch Panasonic machine. My preferred S-VHS tape, chosen for its low price, is the JVC SV: it's a fantastic tape! You can't pick the original from the recorded program with it, even at SLP.
Panasonic machines demand you to trick them with the S-VHS hole, which I do with a solder pen. But not all tapes work well, quality wise, if you want to record SLP. The one I use is the TDK Hi-Fi, and probably the TDK HD-X Pro would do it too. Other tapes, and I tried a lot, only work rather well at SP. But even the "Hi-Fi with the hole" doesn't compare with a legitimate S-VHS for quality programs.
In my opinion I am a defender of S-VHS over digital tapes and recorders, particularly because the analog world is difficult to trick for no-recording barriers as digital is. I intend to keep recording S-VHS for as long as I can get the tapes. Maybe copying all my stuff onto DVD, when prices go down. But that may take some time yet.
Carlos
I will try the TDK HD-X, but it is expensive. Will track down some JVC SV tapes. They better have good episodes of West Wing to justify the cost. There use to be constant testing several years age on audio tapes, but since CD's, I not seen any testing, on any tapes. To properly test tapes one should have an oscilloscope with frequency generator plus a really high end machine. I tried to tell the difference with video essential taped and played back. Not easy with a single machine. I will try to "borrow" another Panasonic 4821 and try A/B on a new Sony 36sbr450 tv, I think the tv is good enough to get a "preference".
Amatuer time.
Give it another year and D-VHS and HD recorders will finish the problem.
Thanks for the reply.
Yesterday I didn't have the time to, but today I went check the latest prices you could get on S-VHS and VHS tapes in the USA. Is there where you are buying that tape?Best prices I found till now, in the USA, is www.tapewarehouse.com. If any of you know of better places please do let us tapers know.
The lowest priced is still JVC ST120 SV at $3.84 in up to 99 quantities. Fuji ST-120 ProS ($4.26) and Maxell XRS ST-120 ($4.30) are close by and should deserve a test of them three to see which comes out best.
If you buy in the USA and can get that price for a S-VHS tape, it is not worth it going for the TDK Hi-Fi, which is $2.44 at this place. Or even less TDK HDX Pro, which is $6.08.
But there's probably ground for testing for dropout rates on these more economical types.
Unfortunately, as you say, I don't know who's testing tapes anymore.
In fact I don't think we should have another go at tape based medium anymore, if a disk based one (like recordable DVD) becomes a reality. Dropout is a real problem, as well as practicality. A disk is more durable and practical than tape, but DVD-R getting cheaper may take long.
But maybe I'm wrong and D-VHS brings more air to tape medium.
Carlos
I actually get my TDK SVHS Pro's for $4.00 a tape at...are you ready.....PC Richards. What happended was I met this salesman and told him I got a $4.75 cent price for the JVC's @ Sears, so he beat it with a better product no less ! My point is, I was suprised to get the lower price from them, versus the web....so, try everyone before you buy. Oh, and the TDK's are *very* good in my opinion.
As far as I know, the HDX Pro is a VHS tape, not S-VHS. Can you check on that?The type XPSP should be TDK's cheaper S-VHS type.
Carlos
Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner, anyway I stand corrected. The tape I'm refering to is the TDK SuperPro which is without a doubt, SVHS.
Haven't A/B'ed any SVHS tapes for years, I for years have used the Maxell SVHS tapes. I now have a JVC deck that can record in SVHS mode on standard tapes. It works pretty well, but not as good as a true SVHS tape. BTW, you can do the same with any SVHS deck if you drill the tiny SVHS-identifying hole in the bottom of a standard, high-grade VHS tape. Compare the underside of a standard cassette to a SVHS counterpart and you'll see it.I can't agree with John, at least as far as NTSC goes. SVHS justs blows standard VHS out of the water; the bigger the image, the more pronounced the difference, IME...
Regards,
Kevin
HiWe have two S-VHS recorders in regular use here time shifting from two digital satellite sources (our best pictures) as well as other "free to air". I gave up using S-VHS tapes a long time ago. When the first machine was purchased I also bought 10 Panasonic tapes but found the quality little different to high quality TDK VHS so have not pursued the special, more expensive tapes. My experience is that BASF, Agfa and Sony tapes (even the more expensive ones) are inferior to Maxell & TDK. Avoid the cheaper stuff and let the recorder do its job with quality VHS tapes. The better circuitry in the S-VHS recorders makes investment in them wothwhile but IMO the extra cost of the tapes is not justified.
We project the images on to a 96 inch wide screen from a Barco so this really tests image quality. DVD is currently the winner with top software but digital satellite often exceeds it. VHS tape is not that far behind on good program sources. Bear in mind we have the PAL video system here.Hope this helps
John
Do you guys realize how many different tapes Maxell & TDK make. I know the drill trick, but I was hoping for a quick answer. Now I am going to do it the hard way. Prepare the cold towels, aspirin and coffee, I am testing again. Will post my humble findings!!!!!!
P.S. Thanks for the replies.
P.S.S. Hey mate, is it true in Aussie land that TV's are placed upside down to get better reception or did I get this information from some pissy galah with t'much Fosters?? ;-)Yours Truly,
Drongo Seppo, Esquire
Yeah, it is why we have switched to satellite. Looking at the screen upside down became tiresome + with the satellile beaming downhill reception was a lot easier to get. And yes, the bathwater does go down the sink anticlockwise.I refrained from more specific tape recommendations as they are often given different labelling in the Southern hemisphere. Also, I have found that some of my older Mexell & TDK tapes level in quality with their latest extra high grade ones, suggesting their current "high quality" has a different connotation to that a couple of decades ago. BTW videotape is a fraction of the cost it was when VHS first hit the deck over 20 years ago - something like 1/10th when you take inflation etc into account.
I will follow your investigation with interest. I presume you have done a search on the net for that info - I find "Google" particularly effective as a search engine.
John
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