Not to mention, at least a laserdisc doesn't lose quality. It looks the same on play 1000 as it did play 1. VHS continually looks worse after each play.
Objectively vinyl is much worse than CD. I own a lot of vinyl I’m not trying to hate on it but if you’re seriously looking for sound quality vinyl is worse. I know people love it and I love it too, but people think it sounds better. It’s really false, the frequency response and sound reproduction is less superior. And it’s much harder to reproduce that sound to its full potential with a record player than a CD player a $10 CD player sounds very similar to a more expensive one, but they get good sell out of vinyl you have to spend hundreds.
CDs provide better sound quality than records so it really doesn't make sense. Record players cause background rumble caused by the stylus running through the grooves. The reason people still buy records is for the same reason, nostalgia
Respectfully disagree. With a nice record player and pre amp, vinyls sound way better. Analog vs digital - it's just a completely different experience.
The answer is no. LPs actually sound good. Cassettes still sound okay and are portable so there's a small market. VHS does not look good. You can obsess over the packaging so it's basically a memorabilia market aside from the limited or obscure titles never transferred to more accessible media.
Each to their own, but for me personally as a movie lover who grew up in the 70's & 80s watching movies on Betamax and later VHS, I was astounded by the leap in quality when DVDs appeared in the late 90s. No more tracking problems, no more tape creasing or degradation, no more full frame picture! Then Blu-Rays and 4Ks took it even further, so now we can watch a movie at home in better quality than it would've been projected back in the Cinemas in the day. I would NEVER go back to Betamax\VHS, not even for nostalgia reasons. But, if it makes you happy - go for it. ❤
As much as I would love that, the problem lies with manufacturing. Unless someone is willing to spend the money on manufacturing & getting movies on the format, I doubt it'll ever happen.
It won’t take off simply because laserdisc players are nowhere near as easy to find as VCRs, and if you find a laserdisc player that works, you better be prepared to part with a lot of money.
I grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s, so VHS was something I had as a kid. We had Disney tapes galore! I remember getting a dvd player and not being allowed to touch it, had to ask a parent to use it at first. VHS was just something normal, I did not know the difference between audio and video quality. My dad said VHS tapes were just not good quality and wear out quickly. He hated the fact they were not usable for the long haul.
I’m 50 and I restarted my movie collecting. Turned my channel into showing my love for the medium. And collecting VHS again as well. Good stuff!! Oh, I subbed too!!
VHS and cassettes feel like purely for nostalgia. VHS does have an aesthetic but I can't imagine anyone willingly watching a movie that way and preferring it. Vinyl however has a unique sound that holds up while VHS is simply an obsolete format. I don't think it's the new vinyl at all. It's just something for people to collect.
Some people prefer genre movies, particularly horror, on VHS simply because the lower quality and tape noise give the movie a darker, grittier look. Plus the lower quality helps special effects blend in better.
@@TheOneTrueBeard that may be true, but for the movies where nostalgia is a big part of the experience, that doesn’t bother me. I first saw some of those films on tv broadcasts or on vhs as a kid, so that’s how I know those movies. To each his own!
@@NoirFan84 & lets be real, he isn't going to rewatch all those movies like that anyway. These channels need more film discussions. Also it looks like these people don't even go to the theatres..
@davidd4696 I watched his channel for a little bit but I don't any more. Not to sound like a hater but I think he just copies his reviews from other channels. I think there's a few of these physical-media restoration channels that do tbh, most of them just all say the same things. They put it in their own words but essentially they're exactly the same opinions.
No shade to anyone that collects VHS, but there's virtually no reason to collect it, outside of nostalgia, or boz art. The format is horrible. Its like listening to a really bad MP3 from the late 90s on a boombox vs a bluray or 4K is like listening to a pristine original vinyl pressing on a $30,000 sound system.
I have a ritual every October where I pick a movie from my VHS collection (I bought a bunch of obscure horror films a few years ago) and watch it that way. I feel like the lower-quality enhances the eery atmosphere and the mystery of it (in most cases I know almost nothing about the movie) emulates that feeling of catching a scary movie on tv as a kid that you’ve never heard of before. Other than that, yeah VHS has no real place. I only have them for the novelty really. I could never do it for every genre.
@@janinebrittanica4314 Um... I am paying 10 cents for every VHS tape at my local thrift shop the past 4 months... I will keep on purchasing 40 at a time!!! Dorks!! LOL
Came here to say something like this. Some films have VHS cover art that is legitimately better than their DVD counterparts (a lot of Disney animated films come to mind for me), but from a quality standpoint, VHS will never be able to match digital. Vinyl, on the other hand, has a sound quality that is usually better than digital for old music and can hold its own on music mastered in the digital era.
I have one flatscreen TV that’s about 13 years old and VHS looks good on it. My new TV, not so much, but it’s weird, because depending on the movie/show, it may not look so bad on my modern TV
There was an article a while back and the author’s argument was basically “I’m buying an old iPod because it leaves me the fuck alone” and it helped inspire my physical media books/movies/games/music/comics resurgence. Reinvesting in old formats forces me to be intentional with the art and pay attention to it, and it somehow inspires me to buy contemporary physical formats too.
Im a big 4k fan, but I've recently started collecting a nostalgic VHS library, and I've been working my way through the 90s classics I missed when i was a kid. I just watched "The Fugitive" for the first time and on VHS. It was super fun and felt nostaligic even though I'd never seen it before. So there is at least one person who recently started buying them for the vibes, but actually watches them too.
I definitely don't see it happening. Records sell because of the quality sound, and the exorbitant number of colors and variants. VHS has awful quality, and no real reason to collect more than one copy. But who knows, I could be wrong.
I think your videos are so interesting and entertaining. Calm to watch too, because you are so chill in your videos. This is really something for me. And it also gives me hope for the physical media and motivation to keep collecting. Thank you for what you do mate.
I volunteer at a Friend's of the Library Bookstore and the new manager decided VHS just take too much room. Thousands and thousands of VHS's went into a rolloff, along with thousands of books. It was TRAGIC! I couldn't save them all, though I saved several hundred. Collectors, check your local library stores. They are true treasure troves.
You said flying off the shelfs , right there , shows you that physical media is alive and well.And they know it.Yet they told us the format was dead.What they need to do is start making new vhs players.New ones.Im not talking about old stock vcrs
Started collecting VHS about 3 years ago and that’s actually what got me into collecting 4K! I love having a nostalgic collection and a collection for top tier quality and modern movies! Nothing in between haha
I was over VHS 35 years ago when I upgraded to laser disc. I don't get the appeal of going back further than DVD unless it is something that never got released beyond VHS.
I spent so much money in my teens buying high quality VHS to record episodes of "The American Experience", particularly "The X-Files", "Seinfeld", and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" for lifetime archiving, never realizing DVD would come out. Like, $12 to $16 Canadian on a 2-hour tape. I used to fast-forward scan through the tape once or twice before a recording because it minimized errors. Such a waste of hours and hours of my life worrying about trying to live-edit out ads, etc. If that failed, I had a 2nd VCR to do a 2nd generation edit, playing the 1st gen recording and recording that onto a 2nd generation tape with the required edits. Haven't been able to play a VHS for over a decade without old VCR's chewing up the tape, but the quality of your local channel due to weather problems, etc, was so much worse than DVD. So happy those DVD sets came out. I come to this channel to learn about 4K, etc. VHS makes me depressed.
I live in a rural area in central Mo and almost all the thrift stores here trash the VHS before they ever hit the floor. I stopped in a thrift store today and saw a bunch of dvds so i asked the two old ladies if they had any vhs tapes, they said they couldn’t sell them so they stopped putting them out about 5yrs ago. I actually talked to a manager at one store and asked if they would hold them for me and then call me. About two weeks later he called with a huge collection of old Beta tapes. That was the first time i ever seen beta tapes and I’m 45 years old. I enjoy collecting them because I can fill a bag full of movies that I haven’t seen for like $10.
Its cool people still buy VHS/DVD, i personally only buy DVD when thats the only format available but i see the appeal for both. Especially VHS physically
I definitely have nostalgia for VHS. I'm not sure I want to invest in a player and a CRT TV, but I do kind of like the idea of displaying the tapes as decorations.
VHS is very nostalgic for me. I find it comforting to see the imperfections in the image. The problem with vhs becoming more mainstream is the difficulty in finding a function VCR and a TV that has an AV port.
When Joe Bob did his Class of 1984 episode, he held up the VHS tape and said 'you can't get artwork like this anymore.' VHS was all about the artwork, I watched a lot of really bad horror and science fiction movies back then because the artwork was graphic and over the top. Today, my 2002 Sony DVD/VHS combo player still works, but it's struggling now. It doesn't like to rewind anymore. And to this day, people still won't listen about the sheer brilliance of VHS. It's a pure color image, there are no pixels because it's not digital. Soft focus and fog effects in older movies don't translate well to a digital image. You can also fast forward through the copyright infringement warning and all the other disclaimers that companies cry over.
There was a time back in the day, I remember when movies would come out in both VHS and DVD formats. Later when both would make their way to my local thrift and second hand stores, I would normally buy the VHS version because, they were only $5 or less. However, now when shopping in thrift stores, I pass on the VHS copies and only buy used DVD's (smile ... smile).
Beyond nostalgia and cultural significance, there is something inherently special about watching horror films on VHS. The analog nature of the format imbues these films with a certain rawness and grittiness that enhances the viewing experience. The imperfections inherent in VHS tape degradation and analog artifacts add to the atmosphere of horror, immersing viewers in a world where practical effects are blurred. They serve as time capsules, preserving the aesthetic and sensibilities of the periods in which they were produced. The cover art, promotional materials, and even the grainy quality of the footage all contribute to the unique charm of horror VHS tapes, capturing the essence of the times in which they thrived. VHS 100% has a place in 2024 but for a niche audience. The people who collect these so called artifacts do so not for speculative value but for the love of memories and lost media.
As a kid born in the 80s I love watching VHS on my CRT TV. It's definitely nostalgia though. I love the warm fuzzy glow when watching something from my childhood. Some of my favorites are the goonies, Indiana Jones, home alone, and tapes of cartoons.
I got into VHS for fun about a year ago. I put a VCR and small tube TV up in our warehouse. People came by and normally stopped and tripped out that we had a VCR and then would start sharing stories from their childhood. I pick up VHS tapes because they are cheap fun a dollar are less. If you put the Modern TV’s in 4x3 mode they don’t look bad. It’s about the movie not about everything being perfect. We were told they wouldn’t last but honestly I have found very few tapes that have actually gone bad. I know VHS isn’t for everyone one but it is a fun hobby looking in the wild and finding movies and box art that brings back memories. I collect DVD, BluRay, 4K & VHS. They are fun, you can swap out the cases with different colors and the tape reels can even be found in different colors. Making custom labels and boxes add to fun plus you can put any modern movie or show on a tape for fun.
@@videoproboston2450 I definitely will not argue with anyone saying VHS is amazing quality but I don’t think it is as bad as the rep it gets. The most I ever paid for a VHS was 2 dollars and that was because it was a first release of Caddy Shack that still had the $70 original price tag on it. I remember that box on the shelf as a kid at the video stores so nostalgia is king. That tape plays perfect though, and the 80’s tapes are made better. They weigh more the tape is a better quality. I just think it’s a cool piece of history. I definitely would not spend a lot on a tape and typically don’t buy something I already have on a better format.
In the words of Darth Vader: "Nooooooooo!" I can only hope this is a joke. VHS has always been a craptastic format. I've been collecting movies since L-O-N-G before you were born, and I'm happy to report I never purchased a single title on VHS. I recorded MANY to Betamax off of HBO and the like, and dubbed them to DVD. I'm happy to report they held up very well, thanks. I also purchased a lot of those films on DVD or Blu-ray. I ditched ALL of my vinyl in 1984 and got everything on CD, but I *get* why people dig vinyl. VHS served its awful purpose and has blessedly been assigned to the trashed heap of shitty outdated tech. Let it stay dead. PLEASE!
I love your channel! I'm slowly getting into the 4k classic movies and related stuff too. You got any videos on the best 4k TVs/players for a decent price? Anyways, you got a new subscriber.
Vinyl is not a 1:1 comparison to VHS at all. VHSs were cheap, poor quality, and are prone to wear and breakage just like all other types of home media. Even though I don’t personally care, Vinyl can offer a unique experience that isn’t available on digital formats. Whereas there were very few movies/shows that can benefit from a VHS quality image. And if a movie hasn’t been released past VHS, there’s probably a good reason for that. I only have a couple VHS just because they have original audio that was changed in later releases. You can buy VHS if it’s just a couple of cents, but don’t expect a better experience and don’t spend tons of money on it.
No. I had a big VHS library and it was fun but the quality sucked even then. Plus a huge lack of widescreen titles, especially in the first 15 years or so. I was glad to be rid of my tapes when DVD debuted.
I watch VHS on a CRTs almost daily. I go through pre-recorded tapes for lost media, and rip funny clips from my collection. This community is growing fast in popularity, prices of the media and devices keep going up since the supply is limited.
I grew up with VHS and still watch them regularly on an old CRT television they look great! On a modern tv they are still watchable but a bit fuzzy. It’s more than nostalgia there are movies that are only on VHS. 2700 movies and counting VHS is a small fraction of my collection. There is a charm to VHS especially with horror movies.
As a vinyl collector, I don't super like the comparison because of the very poor quality of the VHS but especially because of their durability which is destroyed over time. I really like the look, but I would much prefer a box set with this look, like the Strager Things one rather than a real vhs
My local thrift store stopped selling VHS tapes a month ago and I was devastated. I always picked up a few tapes every time I went, and now I'll find them far less than I used to. Many of the places I know that sell them aren't getting new tapes, and then many more places are not selling them anymore. It sucks, but I have a lot of tapes so I don't think it'll matter a ton going forward. I'll just have to look hard at flea markets and yard sales for old tapes.
I actually think that this has more sense in another countrys. I'm from Argentina, and right now there it's a huge increase in the VHS collectors; i think that this has more sense due that many latin spanish dubs were only released on VHS editions, so the VHS tapes could have a huge value with that in mind. I dont see really the point in collecting VHS tapes in United States, aside of maybe movies or series that they werent released on phisical media, or works that were alterated in later releases (like Star Wars)
The curious thing about physical media and why it will never die whatever format--- is that many people (including myself, of course) prefer the tangible over just an access at the expense of content creators and platforms holding such content and it's just soooo frustrating having to pay bills every damn month. Like... Yeah, nobody can erase what's on your disc and no internet connection is required. While with streaming... They take content down whenever the fuck they want to, so it kinda makes sense physical media overall is making a comeback. Because a lot of people is soooo sick of being at the expense of an internet connection and platforms' holy willing.
I still love VHS. About 10 years ago I went through a phase where I bought a VCR and bought up and bunch of tapes and would occasionally watch them. There are a few issues with VHS in terms of collecting and actually watching the films today, though. The main ones being: 1. Unlike with vinyl, or even audio cassettes, you can't buy new players anymore. There are tons of record players on the market, and even audio cassette players are making a comeback, but there is not even one manufacturer offering new VCRs today. So if you want to actualy watch movies on VHS, you have to settle for a second-hand VCR. I wonder if we'll ever see this change. 2. Tapes degrade and eventually become unwatchable. When I went through my VHS collecting phase, all of the tapes I acquired were old because new tapes simply did not exist. Some were still pretty good in terms of picture and sound but others were so bad that the quality was total garbage. So for VHS to remain a thing, in practical terms for people who want to actually own their movies, there need to be ways to procure new copies. And I don't just mean horror movies that only a niche audience wants to watch. I mean mainstream films as well.
In a world where we continue to get these revisionist, AI-slop 4K remasters like the James Cameron disks, it does make me consider the VHS copies of these films which were released much closer to the films original releases, and are probably the most faithful they have ever looked on home media.
I have a bit of a VHS 📼 collection, but I’ve been really diving into the world of Laserdisc the last year. I think people enjoying all these different formats are great. The more conversations go on; the more attention gets drawn to how important physical copies of old movies and music is.
Current multimedia store clerk here in Chicago. VHS and Laserdisc are definitely taking off. 3 years ago my store had a ban on buying VHS, now it's a top seller. As a collector, it's nice because you can find them outside of thrift stores and yard sales, but prices can be wild!
For collection purposes, absolutely. But as far as practicality and actually watching them, I don’t think so. That’s an interesting point that a VHS resurgence could get more people to watch Blu rays and more modern types of physical media.
I started buying VHS tapes again about 5 years ago and it was fun. Until we moved recently. Now i have no idea what to do with all of these boxes of tapes. I have to store them for a couple years but they can't go in extreme heat, so they have to be stored indoors. It ended our VHS collecting immediately. We didnt realize how much space it took up at our old place but now its kinda crazy. But i will admit that it was pretty awesome opening a brand new copy of Karate Kid 2 a couple years ago. It was crystal clear, like a DVD. I do like VHS but its on hold for me. I'm not sure if I'll ever want to add more to the collection because they quickly eat up tons of space.
The big difference is that VHS doesn't look as good as vinyl sounds. I was born in 85 so I definitely have nostalgia for VHS and they make cool collectibles but let's be real, it kinda sucked for a bunch of different reasons and blu-ray is a superior format in every way.
Ive been collecting VHS for a while now. My tv/vcr is running in the background like an 'art installation'. Its fun, retro and the old covers are the best.
VHS is still very much alive in the anime community. I’ve been buying tapes and laserdiscs quite often lately and exclusively watch them on my CRT TVs. The comparison to vinyl isn’t quite fair but I get where you’re coming from. I’ve been actively buying vinyl for about 15yrs now but it never really died or stopped being mass produced. VHS definitely did. It had its death rattle.
I think this is interesting. I myself despite only being born in 2001 have had a strong interest in VHS. I’ve been collecting Blu-ray & 4K since I got into physical media a few years ago but I grew up watching VHS as a kid so there’s a lot of nostalgia there. However I also sometimes miss seeing films how I first watched them. With the imperfections, seeing all the film grain. Then other times I may wanna watch the same film but as a 4K transfer. It’s pretty weird. I’ve never even conceived the idea of new films being released on VHS. I could definitely see people buying them just to have them for aesthetic in a collection. My dad has a lot of Vinyls but has no record player just as many who would be buying VHS likely wouldn’t own a VCR.
I kept my VCR and still have some tapes. A main reason for keeping them is some flicks didn’t make the jump to DVD, particularly horror. Of course now, boutique labels are putting some of these flicks out, but Dark Night of the Scarecrow was never meant to be seen in 4k. The hum of the machine and the tracking adjustment is part of the charm. Then you have stuff like “The Godfather 1901-1980” that took the whole trilogy and recut it into chronological order and reinserted the deleted scenes.
As a latter half Gen Y/Millennial (born 1993), I grew up partially in the VHS era and partially in the DVD area. My family and I only switched to DVD when VHS tapes ended widespread production, and only then on our computer disc drives and portable DVD players. We did eventually get nonportable players, but I suspect we were waiting for the price to come down so we could more easily afford it (though I could just simply have been procrastination as well). And for all their nostalgic value, I wouldn't revert back to VHS for my main video format for the same reason I wouldn't revert back to cassettes for audio. There's the risk of the player eating the tape, the need for head cleaners, and in the case of audiocassettes, the risk of the player ripping out the tape. It's way too much hassle for me and most other consumers, and the quality of VHS is not nearly good enough to justify it. As for the vinyl comparisons, those fall flat for another reason. Vinyl actually has good sound quality, and in the case of old music that was originally mastered in analog, it will nearly always sound better than digital. Cassettes are a good solution for die-hard audiophiles that will only listen to analog and want a more portable format to supplement or substitute for vinyl. VHS almost never matches digital in picture or audio quality, and while tapes are easily portable, VCRs are not in the least. In other words, there are plenty of good reasons besides nostalgia why someone might choose vinyl and/or cassettes over digital for audio, but no such good reasons to choose VHS (or Beta, for that matter) over digital for video.
I already commented once, but I wanted to make another comment. I would really like if VHS and Cassettes would come back, as an older millennial I have memories of playing both, the tactile feel of both, which was less delicate than CDs/DVDs. I remember the sounds, just so many memories that you don’t get from digital audio. For me it is pure nostalgia. Although had I stuck with cassette instead of CDs growing up, I wouldn’t have had to deal with skipping.
5 месяцев назад
As a vinyl collector, what I really like is the extended artwork and the different sound characteristics. What I really hate is any of the sound imperfections, but those can be avoided with proper handling and cleaning of the discs. Also most new vinyl has great production quality and suffer less from warping and surface noise. VHS, like K7 tapes, are mostly for nostalgia. Quality of picture/sound is very much not the top priority, as it's capped by the media properties. But if this can bring more physical media to the market, I'm more than happy.
It turns out that the VHS and the general tape format is way more durable and long lasting than thought previously, i have almost 3 thousand VHS tapes alone and the wast majority of them play great, been stored in average conditions, learn how to care for your VCR and you're set for a long time. I'll be holding on to my tapes as they provide a great source of entertainment for life.
Vinyl and 4K can hold a ton of detail and can be the definitive version for the consumer on a good setup and i also love the packaging Cassettes and VHS are noticeably lower in quality but i love them for novelty and nostalgia
I really miss the video renting days. I'd love to see physical media being available in rental stores again. I collect ex-rental VHS and Betamax here in Australia. I love the nostalgia and being able to save movie history on physical media.
I think it's really cool that there are these throwback releases that are seemingly doing well such as Late Night With the Devil, etc. but ultimately I don't think VHS could ever be the next vinyl. At first glance they are in similar situations; two nostalgic analogue formats that have more intimacy than digital and look great on display, but I think the quality tradeoff inherent to VHS is just too severe, and the interest in film just isn't there in the mainstream. It's true that vinyl records are lower in fidelity and dynamic range than digital formats, but it still sounds very pleasing. There are many that love how the sound feels, and even people that truly believe the format has higher fidelity and range than any digital medium. This is not the case with VHS. The format has always looked horrible, and the problem is exacerbated in the modern day when most people are watching their tapes on large flat screen TVs through cheap adapters. Any young person who wants to try VHS and isn't the most tech savvy is in for a world of disappointment. But this isn't the main reason I think it can't take off, it's more so the different relationships that people have with music vs film. The physical relationship to records is very personal, and they have huge replay value unlike how most people interact with movies. I did not expect to write this much, but I find our media landscape really fascinating. Anyways I hope I am wrong and more people will start owning movies again and cherishing them, no matter what format it's on.
Yes and no, I don’t think VHS will have that level of resurgence of vinyl records because the format itself is inferior and went obsolete by big name manufacturers, it would just be revived on a small scale for movie collectors. But I do think rare VHS tapes of Star Wars and any obscure monster movies from the 1980s are why VHS is getting a resurgence!
I spent the early '90s blowing my allowance on VHS at Suncoast. Never could bring myself to get rid of them even after replacing with discs later. Guess I'm rich now.
Eight tracks preceded stereophonic vinyl records as a physical media format by three years, coming out in 1954. But the oldest physical media format for audio and music is wax cylinder phonographic records, invented by Thomas Edison in 1877. The differences between stereophonic vinyl records and wax cylinder phonographic records are as follows: Medium & Format: - Vinyl Records: These are flat, circular discs made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). They have a spiral groove inscribed on the surface. - Wax Cylinder Records: These are cylindrical tubes made of wax or other materials. The sound information is recorded along the length of the cylinder. Sound Storage: - Vinyl Records: The groove on vinyl records contains stereo audio information. The stylus reads both left and right channels simultaneously, allowing for stereo playback. - Wax Cylinder Records: Early wax cylinders were typically monaural (single-channel), but later versions could also store stereo sound. Playback Technology: - Vinyl Records: Played using record players (turntables) with an electronic stylus that follows the groove. - Wax Cylinder Records: Played using phonographs (also known as gramophones) with a mechanical needle that traces the grooves. Sound Quality: - Vinyl Records: Generally offer better sound fidelity due to advancements in vinyl technology and stereo playback. - Wax Cylinder Records: Older wax cylinders may have limited fidelity, but later versions improved sound quality. Popularity and Era: - Vinyl Records: Dominated music reproduction from the mid-20th century onward. Still popular among audiophiles and collectors. - Wax Cylinder Records: Popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but declined in use by the 1920s.
I get the overall point. A more accurate comparison may be cassettes which is mostly about nostalgia and not about quality if I am being frank. Vinyl IF DONE WELL has the POTENTIAL to be the best way to listen to an album. VHS-no way to cut it-is not the best way to watch a movie-in terms of video/audio quality. Vinyl is more like 16mm film. CDs are the best digital physical format-all things considered-for music. Though some streaming services are just as good.
As someone who grew up watching vhs, there's no way i would go back to that quality. Lol. I'll keep collecting my blurays/4k. I still have vhs movies maybe I'll sell them now
Betamax and Laserdisc too! Nothing new being produced, but the older stuff is definitely picking up in popularity again. I have tons of all of them, so any way it goes, I'm happy. :)
I have about 600 vhs in my collection.. mostly for nostalgia and artwork, horror especially.. you can't beat it. And honestly, the playback quality and sound is not as bad as many people here think. If the tapes weren't beat to shit and you clean your video heads, watch on a CRT , they look as good as I remember them.. no dip in quality over the years.
I find great joy in picking a record, looking at the art, dropping the needle and listening to all of the nuances of a song. It's a process. I find no joy at all from pushing the tape in, hitting the tracking button until all of the white static goes away, unjamming a tape if it gets stuck, or hearing that "wine" of the vcr rewinding a tape. It is an inferior technology. It's fuzzy and tinny. If you're going to collect a vintage media form, then Laserdisk is the way to go. But to each their own.
I’d definitely start buying laser discs before I ever buy VHS tapes. The laser disc releases always had cool special editions and amazing artwork! VHS tapes have terrible audio, terrible visuals, and they degrade with every viewing! I think I’d only ever buy a VHS tape purely as a display piece of one of my favorite movies.
Okay, but, as someone who still has a laserdisc player and some LDs, these old analog video formats do not look good (they don’t even look as good as they used to, in my memory) on modern digital displays. If one, for whatever reason, wants to get into these older analog formats, get a CRT display to watch them on. Then they’ll look the way you remember them. I’m happy to have the LDs to display some of the covers in frames, but when it comes to watching the movie, it’s 4K blu-ray all the way. But, you do you. :-)
Get a FREE $15 credit to buy VHS tapes on Whatnot with my link: www.whatnot.com/invite/jeffrauseo
Hey buddy, is your Super Mario Bros from Umbrella the common Trust The Fungus Boxset(2250 made), or the 10x more rare Collectors Edition(250made)?
@@AdaptiveRiderthe rarer one!
Records = good sound vhs = bad visual and audio . Would rather collect laser disc for the amazing cover art
Honestly 😂😂😂
Exactly
Not to mention, at least a laserdisc doesn't lose quality. It looks the same on play 1000 as it did play 1. VHS continually looks worse after each play.
@@ShaMicKan... Not to mention the tape eating machines.
@@ShaMicKan Aside from disc rot.
Vinyl makes sense because the sound quality is always TOP notch, but VHS was such a low quality i cant see it being more then a niche thing
Objectively vinyl is much worse than CD. I own a lot of vinyl I’m not trying to hate on it but if you’re seriously looking for sound quality vinyl is worse. I know people love it and I love it too, but people think it sounds better. It’s really false, the frequency response and sound reproduction is less superior. And it’s much harder to reproduce that sound to its full potential with a record player than a CD player a $10 CD player sounds very similar to a more expensive one, but they get good sell out of vinyl you have to spend hundreds.
CDs provide better sound quality than records so it really doesn't make sense. Record players cause background rumble caused by the stylus running through the grooves. The reason people still buy records is for the same reason, nostalgia
Respectfully disagree. With a nice record player and pre amp, vinyls sound way better. Analog vs digital - it's just a completely different experience.
The covers have more character than dvds/Blu-ray.
@Michelle-s2z6l I miss awesome movie covers. 99% of dvds ,blu ray nowadays don't even try
The answer is no. LPs actually sound good. Cassettes still sound okay and are portable so there's a small market. VHS does not look good. You can obsess over the packaging so it's basically a memorabilia market aside from the limited or obscure titles never transferred to more accessible media.
Each to their own, but for me personally as a movie lover who grew up in the 70's & 80s watching movies on Betamax and later VHS, I was astounded by the leap in quality when DVDs appeared in the late 90s. No more tracking problems, no more tape creasing or degradation, no more full frame picture! Then Blu-Rays and 4Ks took it even further, so now we can watch a movie at home in better quality than it would've been projected back in the Cinemas in the day. I would NEVER go back to Betamax\VHS, not even for nostalgia reasons. But, if it makes you happy - go for it. ❤
No, laserdisc should be! Laserdiscs were better than VHS in every way. Better video quality, way better audio quality, and superior cover art.
As much as I would love that, the problem lies with manufacturing. Unless someone is willing to spend the money on manufacturing & getting movies on the format, I doubt it'll ever happen.
No on laserdiscs you had to flip it more then once even more if it’s a long movie.
It won’t take off simply because laserdisc players are nowhere near as easy to find as VCRs, and if you find a laserdisc player that works, you better be prepared to part with a lot of money.
Vhs was superior.
@@peepsrboy4822 My player plays both sides, no flipping needed
I grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s, so VHS was something I had as a kid. We had Disney tapes galore! I remember getting a dvd player and not being allowed to touch it, had to ask a parent to use it at first. VHS was just something normal, I did not know the difference between audio and video quality. My dad said VHS tapes were just not good quality and wear out quickly. He hated the fact they were not usable for the long haul.
CDs are the biggest part of my physical media collection. I'm somewhere just over 1,000.
SACD sounds better. Shame MP3 killed it off.
@bradavon True, and Hi-Res sounds better than mp3. In my opinion
I’m 50 and I restarted my movie collecting. Turned my channel into showing my love for the medium. And collecting VHS again as well. Good stuff!! Oh, I subbed too!!
I dont know if you know this but 4k blurays exist. It's basically a much better formate than VHS.
Much more expensive also-when I can get em under a dollar then it's a different story.
@@ben99ny69 vhs is a dollar or less 😅
VHS and cassettes feel like purely for nostalgia. VHS does have an aesthetic but I can't imagine anyone willingly watching a movie that way and preferring it. Vinyl however has a unique sound that holds up while VHS is simply an obsolete format. I don't think it's the new vinyl at all. It's just something for people to collect.
Some people prefer genre movies, particularly horror, on VHS simply because the lower quality and tape noise give the movie a darker, grittier look. Plus the lower quality helps special effects blend in better.
Exactly, I prefer watching VHS for many different movies.
@@martianwoodpecker you don’t even see the entire frame on vhs. You’re missing 40-65% of the film!
@@TheCassettePhase you don’t even see the entire frame on vhs. You’re missing 40-65% of the film!
@@TheOneTrueBeard that may be true, but for the movies where nostalgia is a big part of the experience, that doesn’t bother me. I first saw some of those films on tv broadcasts or on vhs as a kid, so that’s how I know those movies. To each his own!
Sorry but this would only be of interest to collectors with zero self-control who just collect for the sake of collecting. More money than sense.
I didn't wanna say it cuz I don't like trashing collectors having fun...but, yes. This is correct, lol.
sounds like midlevelmedia
@davidd4696 LOL. Yeah, he buys so much. His missus is extremely tolerant with the money he wastes on double & triple dipping on titles etc., Crazy.
@@NoirFan84 & lets be real, he isn't going to rewatch all those movies like that anyway. These channels need more film discussions. Also it looks like these people don't even go to the theatres..
@davidd4696 I watched his channel for a little bit but I don't any more. Not to sound like a hater but I think he just copies his reviews from other channels. I think there's a few of these physical-media restoration channels that do tbh, most of them just all say the same things. They put it in their own words but essentially they're exactly the same opinions.
No shade to anyone that collects VHS, but there's virtually no reason to collect it, outside of nostalgia, or boz art. The format is horrible. Its like listening to a really bad MP3 from the late 90s on a boombox vs a bluray or 4K is like listening to a pristine original vinyl pressing on a $30,000 sound system.
I have a ritual every October where I pick a movie from my VHS collection (I bought a bunch of obscure horror films a few years ago) and watch it that way. I feel like the lower-quality enhances the eery atmosphere and the mystery of it (in most cases I know almost nothing about the movie) emulates that feeling of catching a scary movie on tv as a kid that you’ve never heard of before.
Other than that, yeah VHS has no real place. I only have them for the novelty really. I could never do it for every genre.
@@patrickleahy7854 it's fun to have some titles for sure, esp if it's classic box art or something, but the comparison to vinyl is just wild.
@@janinebrittanica4314 it’s not even remotely analogous. Vinyl assists the quality of music. VHS is just bad resolution lol.
I mean how crystal clear does your picture and sound have to be to enjoy something like Stand By Me or Teen Wolf?
@@janinebrittanica4314 Um... I am paying 10 cents for every VHS tape at my local thrift shop the past 4 months... I will keep on purchasing 40 at a time!!! Dorks!! LOL
It’s a VCR, not a “VHS Player”.
The only allure here is box art and nostalgia. VHS looks like crap on any current TV.
VHS
Came here to say something like this. Some films have VHS cover art that is legitimately better than their DVD counterparts (a lot of Disney animated films come to mind for me), but from a quality standpoint, VHS will never be able to match digital. Vinyl, on the other hand, has a sound quality that is usually better than digital for old music and can hold its own on music mastered in the digital era.
I have one flatscreen TV that’s about 13 years old and VHS looks good on it. My new TV, not so much, but it’s weird, because depending on the movie/show, it may not look so bad on my modern TV
There was an article a while back and the author’s argument was basically “I’m buying an old iPod because it leaves me the fuck alone” and it helped inspire my physical media books/movies/games/music/comics resurgence. Reinvesting in old formats forces me to be intentional with the art and pay attention to it, and it somehow inspires me to buy contemporary physical formats too.
CDs can be played on BluRay & DVD players.Record players are widely available. VCRs have to be bought second hand and near impossible to get repaired.
Im a big 4k fan, but I've recently started collecting a nostalgic VHS library, and I've been working my way through the 90s classics I missed when i was a kid.
I just watched "The Fugitive" for the first time and on VHS. It was super fun and felt nostaligic even though I'd never seen it before.
So there is at least one person who recently started buying them for the vibes, but actually watches them too.
I definitely don't see it happening. Records sell because of the quality sound, and the exorbitant number of colors and variants. VHS has awful quality, and no real reason to collect more than one copy. But who knows, I could be wrong.
I don't think you are wrong!
Agree with Jonathan you aren't wrong 😎
I think your videos are so interesting and entertaining. Calm to watch too, because you are so chill in your videos. This is really something for me. And it also gives me hope for the physical media and motivation to keep collecting. Thank you for what you do mate.
Some older Gen Zs (born in late 90s) did actually have VHS tapes as kids
Pure nostalgia. Nothing else to see here.
I did try to find the Terrifier 2 on VHS at Wall-Mart but they are already sold out
I volunteer at a Friend's of the Library Bookstore and the new manager decided VHS just take too much room. Thousands and thousands of VHS's went into a rolloff, along with thousands of books. It was TRAGIC! I couldn't save them all, though I saved several hundred. Collectors, check your local library stores. They are true treasure troves.
Collecting VHS is one thing, actually watching VHS is another. Your theory is a bit too Fantasy Island.
50% of people who buy vinyl records don’t have a player.
@@JeffRauseolies
I watch my vhs all the time. I also have dvds, blu rays and 4ks.
@@JeffRauseoand 87.3% of statistics are made up...
@@Robbie11To be honest I'm confident that people who own vinly record players probably listen to 99% of their music digitally.
The only way VHS has any comeback is if new VCRs get manufactured, which is highly unlikely since the machines stopped being made in 2016!
Yeh if new VCRs get made with a HDMI output would amazing! Hahaha
@@jimsyhammondagreed! The converters really don’t do them justice.
50% of people who buy vinyl don't own a record player...
Recently a few new Walkaman-type portable cassette players went into production so it doesn't seem out of the question that VCRs might too.
You said flying off the shelfs , right there , shows you that physical media is alive and well.And they know it.Yet they told us the format was dead.What they need to do is start making new vhs players.New ones.Im not talking about old stock vcrs
As someone who worked at local video stores as a teenager, I love this. It's bringing back a lot of memories.
Started collecting VHS about 3 years ago and that’s actually what got me into collecting 4K! I love having a nostalgic collection and a collection for top tier quality and modern movies! Nothing in between haha
I've been seriously collecting VHS since 2018
I don't blame you I'm about to start also
@@antlive1231 I wouldn't but have fun.
@@TheTonyahawk I will
I was over VHS 35 years ago when I upgraded to laser disc. I don't get the appeal of going back further than DVD unless it is something that never got released beyond VHS.
I spent so much money in my teens buying high quality VHS to record episodes of "The American Experience", particularly "The X-Files", "Seinfeld", and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" for lifetime archiving, never realizing DVD would come out. Like, $12 to $16 Canadian on a 2-hour tape. I used to fast-forward scan through the tape once or twice before a recording because it minimized errors. Such a waste of hours and hours of my life worrying about trying to live-edit out ads, etc. If that failed, I had a 2nd VCR to do a 2nd generation edit, playing the 1st gen recording and recording that onto a 2nd generation tape with the required edits. Haven't been able to play a VHS for over a decade without old VCR's chewing up the tape, but the quality of your local channel due to weather problems, etc, was so much worse than DVD. So happy those DVD sets came out. I come to this channel to learn about 4K, etc. VHS makes me depressed.
Please be kind Don't forget to rewind.
I live in a rural area in central Mo and almost all the thrift stores here trash the VHS before they ever hit the floor. I stopped in a thrift store today and saw a bunch of dvds so i asked the two old ladies if they had any vhs tapes, they said they couldn’t sell them so they stopped putting them out about 5yrs ago. I actually talked to a manager at one store and asked if they would hold them for me and then call me. About two weeks later he called with a huge collection of old Beta tapes. That was the first time i ever seen beta tapes and I’m 45 years old. I enjoy collecting them because I can fill a bag full of movies that I haven’t seen for like $10.
Its cool people still buy VHS/DVD, i personally only buy DVD when thats the only format available but i see the appeal for both. Especially VHS physically
I was just talking about that over with my friend. That's crazy. Thank you for the video. Love the content.
I definitely have nostalgia for VHS. I'm not sure I want to invest in a player and a CRT TV, but I do kind of like the idea of displaying the tapes as decorations.
VHS is very nostalgic for me. I find it comforting to see the imperfections in the image. The problem with vhs becoming more mainstream is the difficulty in finding a function VCR and a TV that has an AV port.
When Joe Bob did his Class of 1984 episode, he held up the VHS tape and said 'you can't get artwork like this anymore.' VHS was all about the artwork, I watched a lot of really bad horror and science fiction movies back then because the artwork was graphic and over the top. Today, my 2002 Sony DVD/VHS combo player still works, but it's struggling now. It doesn't like to rewind anymore. And to this day, people still won't listen about the sheer brilliance of VHS. It's a pure color image, there are no pixels because it's not digital. Soft focus and fog effects in older movies don't translate well to a digital image. You can also fast forward through the copyright infringement warning and all the other disclaimers that companies cry over.
HELL NO! Grew up with those torture devices and never ever ever again.
There was a time back in the day, I remember when movies would come out in both VHS and DVD formats. Later when both would make their way to my local thrift and second hand stores, I would normally buy the VHS version because, they were only $5 or less. However, now when shopping in thrift stores, I pass on the VHS copies and only buy used DVD's (smile ... smile).
Beyond nostalgia and cultural significance, there is something inherently special about watching horror films on VHS. The analog nature of the format imbues these films with a certain rawness and grittiness that enhances the viewing experience. The imperfections inherent in VHS tape degradation and analog artifacts add to the atmosphere of horror, immersing viewers in a world where practical effects are blurred.
They serve as time capsules, preserving the aesthetic and sensibilities of the periods in which they were produced. The cover art, promotional materials, and even the grainy quality of the footage all contribute to the unique charm of horror VHS tapes, capturing the essence of the times in which they thrived.
VHS 100% has a place in 2024 but for a niche audience. The people who collect these so called artifacts do so not for speculative value but for the love of memories and lost media.
As a kid born in the 80s I love watching VHS on my CRT TV. It's definitely nostalgia though. I love the warm fuzzy glow when watching something from my childhood. Some of my favorites are the goonies, Indiana Jones, home alone, and tapes of cartoons.
I got into VHS for fun about a year ago. I put a VCR and small tube TV up in our warehouse. People came by and normally stopped and tripped out that we had a VCR and then would start sharing stories from their childhood. I pick up VHS tapes because they are cheap fun a dollar are less.
If you put the Modern TV’s in 4x3 mode they don’t look bad. It’s about the movie not about everything being perfect. We were told they wouldn’t last but honestly I have found very few tapes that have actually gone bad.
I know VHS isn’t for everyone one but it is a fun hobby looking in the wild and finding movies and box art that brings back memories. I collect DVD, BluRay, 4K & VHS.
They are fun, you can swap out the cases with different colors and the tape reels can even be found in different colors. Making custom labels and boxes add to fun plus you can put any modern movie or show on a tape for fun.
As nostalgia I think it's awesome. I might get a few just to have on the shelf.
@@videoproboston2450 I definitely will not argue with anyone saying VHS is amazing quality but I don’t think it is as bad as the rep it gets. The most I ever paid for a VHS was 2 dollars and that was because it was a first release of Caddy Shack that still had the $70 original price tag on it. I remember that box on the shelf as a kid at the video stores so nostalgia is king. That tape plays perfect though, and the 80’s tapes are made better. They weigh more the tape is a better quality. I just think it’s a cool piece of history. I definitely would not spend a lot on a tape and typically don’t buy something I already have on a better format.
In the words of Darth Vader: "Nooooooooo!" I can only hope this is a joke. VHS has always been a craptastic format. I've been collecting movies since L-O-N-G before you were born, and I'm happy to report I never purchased a single title on VHS. I recorded MANY to Betamax off of HBO and the like, and dubbed them to DVD. I'm happy to report they held up very well, thanks. I also purchased a lot of those films on DVD or Blu-ray. I ditched ALL of my vinyl in 1984 and got everything on CD, but I *get* why people dig vinyl. VHS served its awful purpose and has blessedly been assigned to the trashed heap of shitty outdated tech. Let it stay dead. PLEASE!
I have never understood why the US have their VHS tapes in cardboard sleeves.
Merica!
I hope not!
Thanks Jeff.
I love your channel! I'm slowly getting into the 4k classic movies and related stuff too. You got any videos on the best 4k TVs/players for a decent price? Anyways, you got a new subscriber.
Vinyl is not a 1:1 comparison to VHS at all.
VHSs were cheap, poor quality, and are prone to wear and breakage just like all other types of home media.
Even though I don’t personally care, Vinyl can offer a unique experience that isn’t available on digital formats.
Whereas there were very few movies/shows that can benefit from a VHS quality image. And if a movie hasn’t been released past VHS, there’s probably a good reason for that.
I only have a couple VHS just because they have original audio that was changed in later releases.
You can buy VHS if it’s just a couple of cents, but don’t expect a better experience and don’t spend tons of money on it.
No. I had a big VHS library and it was fun but the quality sucked even then. Plus a huge lack of widescreen titles, especially in the first 15 years or so. I was glad to be rid of my tapes when DVD debuted.
I watch VHS on a CRTs almost daily. I go through pre-recorded tapes for lost media, and rip funny clips from my collection. This community is growing fast in popularity, prices of the media and devices keep going up since the supply is limited.
Oh, gawd! I hope not! Of _all_ the vintage formats?! 🥴
Dude this is awesome! Thanks for this video 🙏🏼
I grew up with VHS and still watch them regularly on an old CRT television they look great! On a modern tv they are still watchable but a bit fuzzy.
It’s more than nostalgia there are movies that are only on VHS. 2700 movies and counting VHS is a small fraction of my collection. There is a charm to VHS especially with horror movies.
As a vinyl collector, I don't super like the comparison because of the very poor quality of the VHS but especially because of their durability which is destroyed over time. I really like the look, but I would much prefer a box set with this look, like the Strager Things one rather than a real vhs
I think the resurgence might have to do with the Back to the future vhs tape that sold for 30 thousand.
My local thrift store stopped selling VHS tapes a month ago and I was devastated. I always picked up a few tapes every time I went, and now I'll find them far less than I used to. Many of the places I know that sell them aren't getting new tapes, and then many more places are not selling them anymore. It sucks, but I have a lot of tapes so I don't think it'll matter a ton going forward. I'll just have to look hard at flea markets and yard sales for old tapes.
I actually think that this has more sense in another countrys. I'm from Argentina, and right now there it's a huge increase in the VHS collectors; i think that this has more sense due that many latin spanish dubs were only released on VHS editions, so the VHS tapes could have a huge value with that in mind.
I dont see really the point in collecting VHS tapes in United States, aside of maybe movies or series that they werent released on phisical media, or works that were alterated in later releases (like Star Wars)
I’m 21 and I grew up watching vhs and DVDs so
The curious thing about physical media and why it will never die whatever format--- is that many people (including myself, of course) prefer the tangible over just an access at the expense of content creators and platforms holding such content and it's just soooo frustrating having to pay bills every damn month. Like... Yeah, nobody can erase what's on your disc and no internet connection is required. While with streaming... They take content down whenever the fuck they want to, so it kinda makes sense physical media overall is making a comeback. Because a lot of people is soooo sick of being at the expense of an internet connection and platforms' holy willing.
I still love VHS. About 10 years ago I went through a phase where I bought a VCR and bought up and bunch of tapes and would occasionally watch them. There are a few issues with VHS in terms of collecting and actually watching the films today, though. The main ones being:
1. Unlike with vinyl, or even audio cassettes, you can't buy new players anymore. There are tons of record players on the market, and even audio cassette players are making a comeback, but there is not even one manufacturer offering new VCRs today. So if you want to actualy watch movies on VHS, you have to settle for a second-hand VCR. I wonder if we'll ever see this change.
2. Tapes degrade and eventually become unwatchable. When I went through my VHS collecting phase, all of the tapes I acquired were old because new tapes simply did not exist. Some were still pretty good in terms of picture and sound but others were so bad that the quality was total garbage. So for VHS to remain a thing, in practical terms for people who want to actually own their movies, there need to be ways to procure new copies. And I don't just mean horror movies that only a niche audience wants to watch. I mean mainstream films as well.
In a world where we continue to get these revisionist, AI-slop 4K remasters like the James Cameron disks, it does make me consider the VHS copies of these films which were released much closer to the films original releases, and are probably the most faithful they have ever looked on home media.
The laserdiscs look very close to the original releases as well.
I have a bit of a VHS 📼 collection, but I’ve been really diving into the world of Laserdisc the last year. I think people enjoying all these different formats are great. The more conversations go on; the more attention gets drawn to how important physical copies of old movies and music is.
Current multimedia store clerk here in Chicago. VHS and Laserdisc are definitely taking off. 3 years ago my store had a ban on buying VHS, now it's a top seller. As a collector, it's nice because you can find them outside of thrift stores and yard sales, but prices can be wild!
For collection purposes, absolutely. But as far as practicality and actually watching them, I don’t think so. That’s an interesting point that a VHS resurgence could get more people to watch Blu rays and more modern types of physical media.
I started buying VHS tapes again about 5 years ago and it was fun. Until we moved recently. Now i have no idea what to do with all of these boxes of tapes. I have to store them for a couple years but they can't go in extreme heat, so they have to be stored indoors. It ended our VHS collecting immediately. We didnt realize how much space it took up at our old place but now its kinda crazy. But i will admit that it was pretty awesome opening a brand new copy of Karate Kid 2 a couple years ago. It was crystal clear, like a DVD. I do like VHS but its on hold for me. I'm not sure if I'll ever want to add more to the collection because they quickly eat up tons of space.
The big difference is that VHS doesn't look as good as vinyl sounds. I was born in 85 so I definitely have nostalgia for VHS and they make cool collectibles but let's be real, it kinda sucked for a bunch of different reasons and blu-ray is a superior format in every way.
Ive been collecting VHS for a while now. My tv/vcr is running in the background like an 'art installation'. Its fun, retro and the old covers are the best.
i used to collect VHS until i lost my entire collection to an ant colony. not doing that again
VHS is still very much alive in the anime community. I’ve been buying tapes and laserdiscs quite often lately and exclusively watch them on my CRT TVs.
The comparison to vinyl isn’t quite fair but I get where you’re coming from. I’ve been actively buying vinyl for about 15yrs now but it never really died or stopped being mass produced. VHS definitely did. It had its death rattle.
I own over 100 VHS tapes and several VCRs. They Remind me of my childhood memories.
I think this is interesting. I myself despite only being born in 2001 have had a strong interest in VHS. I’ve been collecting Blu-ray & 4K since I got into physical media a few years ago but I grew up watching VHS as a kid so there’s a lot of nostalgia there. However I also sometimes miss seeing films how I first watched them. With the imperfections, seeing all the film grain. Then other times I may wanna watch the same film but as a 4K transfer. It’s pretty weird. I’ve never even conceived the idea of new films being released on VHS. I could definitely see people buying them just to have them for aesthetic in a collection. My dad has a lot of Vinyls but has no record player just as many who would be buying VHS likely wouldn’t own a VCR.
I kept my VCR and still have some tapes. A main reason for keeping them is some flicks didn’t make the jump to DVD, particularly horror. Of course now, boutique labels are putting some of these flicks out, but Dark Night of the Scarecrow was never meant to be seen in 4k. The hum of the machine and the tracking adjustment is part of the charm. Then you have stuff like “The Godfather 1901-1980” that took the whole trilogy and recut it into chronological order and reinserted the deleted scenes.
As a latter half Gen Y/Millennial (born 1993), I grew up partially in the VHS era and partially in the DVD area. My family and I only switched to DVD when VHS tapes ended widespread production, and only then on our computer disc drives and portable DVD players. We did eventually get nonportable players, but I suspect we were waiting for the price to come down so we could more easily afford it (though I could just simply have been procrastination as well). And for all their nostalgic value, I wouldn't revert back to VHS for my main video format for the same reason I wouldn't revert back to cassettes for audio. There's the risk of the player eating the tape, the need for head cleaners, and in the case of audiocassettes, the risk of the player ripping out the tape. It's way too much hassle for me and most other consumers, and the quality of VHS is not nearly good enough to justify it.
As for the vinyl comparisons, those fall flat for another reason. Vinyl actually has good sound quality, and in the case of old music that was originally mastered in analog, it will nearly always sound better than digital. Cassettes are a good solution for die-hard audiophiles that will only listen to analog and want a more portable format to supplement or substitute for vinyl. VHS almost never matches digital in picture or audio quality, and while tapes are easily portable, VCRs are not in the least. In other words, there are plenty of good reasons besides nostalgia why someone might choose vinyl and/or cassettes over digital for audio, but no such good reasons to choose VHS (or Beta, for that matter) over digital for video.
I already commented once, but I wanted to make another comment. I would really like if VHS and Cassettes would come back, as an older millennial I have memories of playing both, the tactile feel of both, which was less delicate than CDs/DVDs. I remember the sounds, just so many memories that you don’t get from digital audio. For me it is pure nostalgia. Although had I stuck with cassette instead of CDs growing up, I wouldn’t have had to deal with skipping.
As a vinyl collector, what I really like is the extended artwork and the different sound characteristics. What I really hate is any of the sound imperfections, but those can be avoided with proper handling and cleaning of the discs. Also most new vinyl has great production quality and suffer less from warping and surface noise.
VHS, like K7 tapes, are mostly for nostalgia. Quality of picture/sound is very much not the top priority, as it's capped by the media properties.
But if this can bring more physical media to the market, I'm more than happy.
It turns out that the VHS and the general tape format is way more durable and long lasting than thought previously, i have almost 3 thousand VHS tapes alone and the wast majority of them play great, been stored in average conditions, learn how to care for your VCR and you're set for a long time. I'll be holding on to my tapes as they provide a great source of entertainment for life.
They’re just for displaying them on the shelf. There’s no VHS players for sale anywhere, unlike record players.
I guess if analog and nostalgia is your thing then I get that appeal. I still own a VCR but it’s mainly just to transfer old home videos to digital.
Vinyl and 4K can hold a ton of detail and can be the definitive version for the consumer on a good setup and i also love the packaging
Cassettes and VHS are noticeably lower in quality but i love them for novelty and nostalgia
Would never go back to vhs. Theater setups with vhs were terrible
I really miss the video renting days. I'd love to see physical media being available in rental stores again. I collect ex-rental VHS and Betamax here in Australia. I love the nostalgia and being able to save movie history on physical media.
The box art is amazing. I am also a fan of the LoFi aesthetic
I think it's really cool that there are these throwback releases that are seemingly doing well such as Late Night With the Devil, etc. but ultimately I don't think VHS could ever be the next vinyl. At first glance they are in similar situations; two nostalgic analogue formats that have more intimacy than digital and look great on display, but I think the quality tradeoff inherent to VHS is just too severe, and the interest in film just isn't there in the mainstream.
It's true that vinyl records are lower in fidelity and dynamic range than digital formats, but it still sounds very pleasing. There are many that love how the sound feels, and even people that truly believe the format has higher fidelity and range than any digital medium. This is not the case with VHS. The format has always looked horrible, and the problem is exacerbated in the modern day when most people are watching their tapes on large flat screen TVs through cheap adapters. Any young person who wants to try VHS and isn't the most tech savvy is in for a world of disappointment.
But this isn't the main reason I think it can't take off, it's more so the different relationships that people have with music vs film. The physical relationship to records is very personal, and they have huge replay value unlike how most people interact with movies.
I did not expect to write this much, but I find our media landscape really fascinating. Anyways I hope I am wrong and more people will start owning movies again and cherishing them, no matter what format it's on.
Yes and no, I don’t think VHS will have that level of resurgence of vinyl records because the format itself is inferior and went obsolete by big name manufacturers, it would just be revived on a small scale for movie collectors. But I do think rare VHS tapes of Star Wars and any obscure monster movies from the 1980s are why VHS is getting a resurgence!
I spent the early '90s blowing my allowance on VHS at Suncoast. Never could bring myself to get rid of them even after replacing with discs later. Guess I'm rich now.
Jeff, on another matter, I'm in the middle of enjoying Jaws on physical 4K, and WOW. Even the scratching on the chalkboard was tense.
I’m 30 years old and I grew up with books ,VHS,cassette,dvd ,cd,CD-ROM PlayStation 1 -2-3-4
Eight tracks preceded stereophonic vinyl records as a physical media format by three years, coming out in 1954. But the oldest physical media format for audio and music is wax cylinder phonographic records, invented by Thomas Edison in 1877.
The differences between stereophonic vinyl records and wax cylinder phonographic records are as follows:
Medium & Format:
- Vinyl Records: These are flat, circular discs made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). They have a spiral groove inscribed on the surface.
- Wax Cylinder Records: These are cylindrical tubes made of wax or other materials. The sound information is recorded along the length of the cylinder.
Sound Storage:
- Vinyl Records: The groove on vinyl records contains stereo audio information. The stylus reads both left and right channels simultaneously, allowing for stereo playback.
- Wax Cylinder Records: Early wax cylinders were typically monaural (single-channel), but later versions could also store stereo sound.
Playback Technology:
- Vinyl Records: Played using record players (turntables) with an electronic stylus that follows the groove.
- Wax Cylinder Records: Played using phonographs (also known as gramophones) with a mechanical needle that traces the grooves.
Sound Quality:
- Vinyl Records: Generally offer better sound fidelity due to advancements in vinyl technology and stereo playback.
- Wax Cylinder Records: Older wax cylinders may have limited fidelity, but later versions improved sound quality.
Popularity and Era:
- Vinyl Records: Dominated music reproduction from the mid-20th century onward. Still popular among audiophiles and collectors.
- Wax Cylinder Records: Popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but declined in use by the 1920s.
I get the overall point. A more accurate comparison may be cassettes which is mostly about nostalgia and not about quality if I am being frank. Vinyl IF DONE WELL has the POTENTIAL to be the best way to listen to an album. VHS-no way to cut it-is not the best way to watch a movie-in terms of video/audio quality. Vinyl is more like 16mm film. CDs are the best digital physical format-all things considered-for music. Though some streaming services are just as good.
Some. Like Apple TV+.
As someone who grew up watching vhs, there's no way i would go back to that quality. Lol. I'll keep collecting my blurays/4k. I still have vhs movies maybe I'll sell them now
Betamax and Laserdisc too! Nothing new being produced, but the older stuff is definitely picking up in popularity again. I have tons of all of them, so any way it goes, I'm happy. :)
4k blu ray is the new vinyl
I have a few tapes as collect8ng pieces but i cant bring myself to have a big collection of a low quality format
I’d be curious to hear your take on how this pattern applies to books vs e-readers vs tablets.
I have about 600 vhs in my collection.. mostly for nostalgia and artwork, horror especially.. you can't beat it. And honestly, the playback quality and sound is not as bad as many people here think. If the tapes weren't beat to shit and you clean your video heads, watch on a CRT , they look as good as I remember them.. no dip in quality over the years.
0:57 how did they fit a almost 3hr movie onto a single vhs tape
I find great joy in picking a record, looking at the art, dropping the needle and listening to all of the nuances of a song. It's a process. I find no joy at all from pushing the tape in, hitting the tracking button until all of the white static goes away, unjamming a tape if it gets stuck, or hearing that "wine" of the vcr rewinding a tape. It is an inferior technology. It's fuzzy and tinny. If you're going to collect a vintage media form, then Laserdisk is the way to go. But to each their own.
Great video. I 'm happy I stumbled upon this
I’d definitely start buying laser discs before I ever buy VHS tapes. The laser disc releases always had cool special editions and amazing artwork! VHS tapes have terrible audio, terrible visuals, and they degrade with every viewing! I think I’d only ever buy a VHS tape purely as a display piece of one of my favorite movies.
i hope this means soon vcr repairists will get their jobs back and help me fix one of mine🤣
knowing how to fix it is the easy part, the problem is it's impossible to find parts because no one makes them anymore
Ya know what I think would be neat to bring back? CRT TVs. Perfect for VHS and people like me who collect retro games.
Okay, but, as someone who still has a laserdisc player and some LDs, these old analog video formats do not look good (they don’t even look as good as they used to, in my memory) on modern digital displays. If one, for whatever reason, wants to get into these older analog formats, get a CRT display to watch them on. Then they’ll look the way you remember them. I’m happy to have the LDs to display some of the covers in frames, but when it comes to watching the movie, it’s 4K blu-ray all the way. But, you do you. :-)