HERE ARE SOME FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT VCR/VHS:

The VHS cassette is a 7 ⅜" wide, 4" deep, 1" thick (187 mm × 103 mm × 25 mm) plastic clamshell held together with 5 Philips head screws. The flip-up cover that protects the tape has a built-in latch with a push-in toggle on the right side, as seen in the Bottom View. The VHS cassette also includes an anti-despooling mechanism as seen in the Top View, several plastic parts near front label end of the cassette between the two spools. The spool brakes are released by a push-in lever within a 1/4" hole accessed from the bottom of the cassette, about 3/4" in from the edge label. There is a clear tape leader at both ends of the tape to provide an optical auto-stop for the VCR transport mechanism.

 The recording medium is a ½ inch (12.7 mm) wide magnetic tape wound between two spools, allowing it to be slowly passed over the various playback and recording heads of the video cassette recorder. The tape speed is 3.335 cm/s for NTSC, 2.339 cm/s for PAL. A cassette holds a maximum of about 430 m of tape at the lowest acceptable tape thickness, giving a maximum playing time of about 3.5 hours for NTSC and 5 hours for PAL at "standard" (SP) quality. Other speeds include LP and EP/SLP which double and triple the recording time, for NTSC regions. These speed reductions cause a slight reduction in video quality (from 250 lines to 230 lines horizontal); also, tapes recorded at the lower speed often exhibit poor playback performance on recorders other than the one they were produced on. Because of this, commercial prerecorded tapes were almost always recorded in SP mode.

As with almost all cassette-based videotape systems, VHS machines pull the tape from the cassette shell and wrap it around the head drum. VHS machines, in contrast to Betamax and Beta's predecessor U-matic, use an M-loading system, also known as M-lacing, where the tape is drawn out by two threading posts and wrapped around the head drum (and other tape transport components) in a shape roughly approximating the letter M.

Signs of VHS's decline come from two directions. First, electronic equipment manufacturers are downsizing their VHS recorder production lines. Both department and electronic "boutique" stores are also cutting down on the variety of VHS recorders they carry in-stock — especially the higher-end systems such as S-VHS recorders. In most stores, DVD players are now cheaper than VHS players.

Second, video content in VHS format is also slowly disappearing. The popularity of VHS in both for-sale and rental stores has fallen. Most retail stores have stopped selling new VHS movies alongside DVD versions.


Archived tapes (mostly VHS) at a TV Station in Olympia, Washington.Virtually only VHS/DVD combination units are available at retail stores. The last standalone JVC VHS unit was reportedly produced in 2007. The final major Hollywood motion picture released on VHS was David Cronenberg's A History of Violence

Common Tape Lengths (hours:minutes) Tape Label Tape Length Rec. Time (NTSC) Rec. Time (PAL) ft m SP LP EP/SLP SP LP

FOR THIS REASON, WE MUST CHARGE OUR PRICES ACCORDING TO MINUTES.

VCR/VHS MOVIES TRANSFERED TO DVD: $15.00 (each 120 minutes- if there is more than 120 minutes, you will be charged for an additional DVD) +S&H (S&H is based on the amount of tapes). 

 ALL DVD TRANSFERS INCLUDE: 3D DVD MENU, YOUR CHOICE OF TITLE, LASER-ETCHED LABEL, AND A PERSONALIZED DVD COVER OF YOUR CHOICE.

 CLICK THE PAYPAL BUTTON, OR USE THE ORDER FORM BELOW FOR TAPES TO DVD TRANSFER:

SEND ME YOUR CHOICES:

(THEME OR MUSIC IS NOT INCLUDED IN HOME MOVIE TRANSFERS SO PLEASE LEAVE BLANK~ THANK YOU)