THE TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH THAT TOOK THE WORLD BY STORM

Many of us remember the “Be Kind, Please Rewind” smiley face stickers. We have fond memories of gathering friends and family around the VCR for an 80’s movie marathon. Of digging out that huge video camera and making a home video. The era of the VHS was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. A technological marvel of its time, the VHS tape could very well have been the best thing since sliced bread.

It became the center of every family entertainment experience and holds waves of nostalgia between its two small spools. The rise and fall of the VHS tape is not only a cool piece of history, it's also a way to fondly remember times gone by.

So put on your mental walking shoes and prepare to take a stroll with us down memory lane.

WHAT IS A VHS TAPE?

A VHS tape is a consumer-level analog video recording on magnetic tape cassettes. The heart of these cassettes are the two spools of magnetic tape. Designed to prevent unspooling, each tape has “sensors” that prevent the tape from potentially unraveling inside the VCR. This is done using clear tape that provides a signal to the VCR that the end of the tape is near.

This magnetic tape is very thin, but also pretty durable. The average VHS cassette holds a length of tape that’s an incredible 1,410 feet long. That’s nearly four football fields!

Fun Fact! While “VHS” quickly became an abbreviation for Video Home System, it actually started out as meaning Vertical Helical Scan, referring to the magnetic tape recording system developed by JVC.

HOW IT STARTED

The development of the VHS dates back to the early 1970s when JVC, the Victory Company of Japan, began working on a new type of video recording format. They wanted to create an affordable, longer-recording, consumer-friendly system, and in 1976 they reached their goal.

First introduced in Japan, the VHS cassette quickly gained traction and won the hearts of consumers. Following that successful reveal, it was brought to the United States a year later in 1977. The VHS tape quickly dominated home entertainment and became a staple of the home movie industry.

But you can’t talk about the beginnings of the VHS without also mentioning the format war. A little before JVC introduced the VCR, Sony released the Betamax. The Betamax used half-inch magnetic tape cassettes to record and playback video and audio signals. It even had some early advantages over VHS in terms of build quality, reliability, and video noise. So what happened?

First, while the Betamax format offered better resolution, JVC's VHS had a longer recording time (two hours vs Betamax's initial one hour), which won over consumers. Movie studios favored the VHS format as well thanks to its longer recording time, so it became far more available and offered a wider range of content. Third, while Sony maintained strict control over the Betamax format, JVC allowed other manufacturers to license VHS technology, flooding the market with VCRs and VHS-compatible devices, which drove down the price and gave consumers more options. So, in the end, JVC’s VHS won that format battle.

HOW IT EVOLVED

Once the VHS and VCR hit the market, popularity skyrocketed. People loved being able to own copies of their favorite movies, and waiting for a movie to be released to VHS was a new thrill. VCRs had great features as well - you could pause, fast-forward, and rewind at the touch of a button, making watching your favorite movies even better.

With home use also came the creation of video rental stores, such as Blockbuster, West Coast Video, and Rogers Video. You could find a Blockbuster on nearly every corner, making it a simple task to pop down and grab a handful of VHS tapes for a weekend marathon!

People were also able to easily record TV shows and news for the first time. Being able to record and replay television programs was a joy to many. With video cameras, people could also record memories onto VHS tape. Home videos became insanely popular, and if you’re a millennial or older, you’re likely to have fond memories of them.

HOW IT ENDED

As it has a tendency to do, technology shrunk. From the VHS came the Super VHS, or the S-VHS. Then JVC released the VHS-Compact, or the VHS-C. Around the same time was the MiniDV and the Hi8. Sony and Philips then released the CD, which paved the way for the birth of the DVD.

The DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) was slim, shiny, and new. It had superior quality capability and the VHS tape was nudged to the side. The DVD held down the fort until Blu-ray and streaming took over. The VHS tape became more of a relic than the go-to home movie format.

SUMMARY

Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with us! We hope you learned something new about VHS tapes. While streaming services are now the norm for movie night, and Blu-rays take up most of the home entertainment shelf space, VHS tapes hold a sense of nostalgia for most of us that keep them close to our hearts.

But they are not just a dusty remnant of times gone by. VCRs and VHS players may no longer be manufactured, but they still exist! More modern VCRs, like DVD/VCR combos, along with standard, compact, and S-Video VCRs can still be found online - if you know where to look.

Here at SpenCertified, VCRs are actually our specialty! So if you’re interested in shopping our wide selection of refurbished VHS players, you can check what we have available here. We even have a handful of brand new VCRs available!

https://spencertified.com/collections/refurbished-vcr-vhs-players

Fun Fact! National VCR Day is on June 7th. So if you have some old VHS movies or home videos sitting in the back of your closet, consider dusting them off, popping one into a VCR, and enjoy reliving the past!