MZ rants about VHS versus DVD...

[MinionZombie]

http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-now-old-flesh.html

Well, more about the culture surrounding VHS during my formative years, but still...

[bassman]

Sometimes I think you and I may have been seperated at birth or something, MZ. I had the EXACT same childhood.

I remember renting tapes, hooking up two vcrs, and recording into the wee hours of the morning. I actually just the other day found an old VHS stash with all kinds of these second and third hand copies. Many of which had two movies on one tape. One of these gave me a laugh because it had Batman Returns and Ernest Scared Stupid on the same tape. What kind of combination is that?:lol:

I love dvds and some of the specials that they have, but VHS really does have something special about it. What really pisses me off is this new HD/Blu Ray fad. How clear do people want their f*cking movies?!?!?

[MikePizzoff]

Ah, I, too, did the dubbing thing. It was very easy for me because my best friend worked at Blockbuster so I got all of the movies I wanted, for free. I lost most of the tapes (in one way or another) but still have one with The Video Dead and a few others on it.

[ProfessorChaos]

i vividly recall the joys of renting vhs tapes...the first time i saw dawn of the dead was on a rental vhs, the same with day. my buddy whom i practically lived with growing up lived just a few blocks from a video store, and every other day or so we'd make the journey on foot, discussing the movie we'd seen, talking about what was next on our list. i think we rented nearly every horror film in that place....ah memories.

seems like everytime i rent a dvd (which is not often), they are all beat to hell like a ten dollar hooker near the docks. i can't tell you how many times i've rented a film only to take it out of the dvd player in like twenty minutes, flipping the disc over and being aghast at all the scratches, mutter to myself to never rent a dvd again, all the while cursing everyone whom i've seen patronizing said rental joint and the morons who work there for not enforcing damage control policies (fines, etc)...

now i don't rent dvds, i just rely on word of mouth (from cats like yourselves) to help me decide whether to buy a dvd or not. (prime example, i bought "superbad" the other day, having never seen it...been studying for finals, so i've not watched it yet, but this weekend i'd like for my first viewing to be a proper "get blazed to the max before watching" experience.)

anywho, never got pissed at a vhs rental, as vhs tapes are tough as bricks when compared to the delicacy of a dvd. as for dvds, it gets under my skin how people abuse 'em, regardless...you'd think some who rented them used the dvd as a coaster instead of removing from case, watching, then placing back inside case.:mad:

[Legion2213]

I love dvds and some of the specials that they have, but VHS really does have something special about it. What really pisses me off is this new HD/Blu Ray fad. How clear do people want their f*cking movies?!?!?

That's a good question Bassman.

I would like a HDTV and a 1080 upscaling DVD player, but in all honesty, I am perfectly happy with average DVD quality. I can see what's going on and a small part of wonders just how much better this HD/BluRay can be.

[bassman]

I think it's that school yard mentality of "mines better than yours!". True, HD looks good....but why does one need to see a small scar on an actor's face that was left there from a zit in 1963? Regular DVD is great....why try to get better? Movie theaters don't even look as good as DVD and now people are trying to top it at home?

I try not to think about it too much. If I do, this generally happens...
http://content.ytmnd.com/content/6/5/b/65bac6ed9b0fdac7a10208d699d95236.gif

[Legion2213]

That clip is ****ing wonerful! "Scanners" one presumes? :D

[MinionZombie]

Hehe, I always wanted a brother.

Indeed, we are of like-minds, great minds at that. :cool:

Oh the days of vhs rental dubbing. Dragging various VCRs around, various cables and settings...those were the days.

I've done a few online rental DVD trials before, but not gone full on paying for it. LoveFilm is good, the discs are only mildly scuffed at most, but Blockbuster - the most mainstream of choices - geeeeeez, the discs were covered in scratches, scuffs, smudges and sticky crap...or they were cracked - one was even snapped in f*cking two! :rolleyes:

I'd personally recommend LoveFilm, but I think it's UK only.

But yeah, VHS rentals would be a bit worn at most, but the better your VCR the better the picture quality - and there was manual tracking, either a button or a more-fun-than-that dial...you felt like some tech-guy dialing into a signal, it was cool. :)

The trouble with DVD is the data part is open to the elements. VHS had the tape behind the plastic (which was fun to pull the lever so you could open the flap :D).

I too don't understand how some people can be so care-free with their CDs or DVDs. Take it from the player and put it in the f*cking box you numpty! :eek:

[Legion2213]

The trouble with DVD is the data part is open to the elements. VHS had the tape behind the plastic (which was fun to pull the lever so you could open the flap :D).

One simply had to do that with any cassette that came to hand. :)

[MinionZombie]

One simply had to do that with any cassette that came to hand. :)
I still do it...and with miniDV tapes too (which are like the "travel game" version). :D

[dmbfanintn]

Man o man MZ, that piece really brings back the memories. My first viewing of Dawn and Day were VHS rentals, like so many other of the great horror classics.

I still to this day own about 300 VHS tapes that I may never part with. i still own 3 working VHS players and still love that feeling you get when you pop in a VHS and the top of the picture is all distorted and leaning to the left...Adjust that tracking sucka!

Great read MZ! Nostalgia rocks!

[Skippy911sc]

I still possess a lot of my VHS tapes...most of which were copied from LDs...the whole VHS to VHS Macrovision thing bothered me..no copy protection on LDs. But in its infancy it was cool to connect the 2 VCRs and go to work...I loved it when they released longer tapes the T120, T160 those where great!

[Tricky]

I remember the nightmare days of renting VHS,getting sat down with your popcorn etc,then pressing play & finding out that whoever rented it before you had a dodgy video that had chewed the tape up!and they'd just given it back & not said anything!you'd play with the tracking for about 20 minutes,then realise it just wasnt going to play...

[Kaos]

I think it's that school yard mentality of "mines better than yours!". True, HD looks good....but why does one need to see a small scar on an actor's face that was left there from a zit in 1963? Regular DVD is great....why try to get better? Movie theaters don't even look as good as DVD and now people are trying to top it at home?


Although mine is better than yours...to me, there is no problem with enjoying regular dvd's. I have plenty of them.

Movie theaters can have the equivalent of 4000 lines of resolution progressive. DVD's are encoded at 480 interlaced. If you are saying that DVD's are superior then you need a dual eye transplant. ;) DVD's flaws are easily seen on a monitor that exceeds 480i. Artifacts such as color banding, mosquito noise, and macroblocking are the result of cramming a movie into the limited space that dvd offers. Some dvd authors handle it better than others, but it is still a watering down of the image. Chastising enthusiasts is like chastising gamers for preferring Half-Life 2 to the original Castle Wolfenstein 3D.

For a film enthusiast nothing is better than having a film-like experience when watching a movie. More clarity generally translates to a more film like experience. HD movies also have a wider color palette than regular DVD. The wider range in color also allows for a more film-like experience. Is it perfect? Not always, but much of what is coming out has been spot on.

I always upgrade my dvd's when a better transfer is done or a good transfer is offered in HD. Even HD can have bad transfers.

I agree that for Joe Sixpack there is little reason to upgrade to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. For many, they would be happy sticking with DVD for the next 20 years... like Terran.:evil:

[acealive1]

That's a good question Bassman.

I would like a HDTV and a 1080 upscaling DVD player, but in all honesty, I am perfectly happy with average DVD quality. I can see what's going on and a small part of wonders just how much better this HD/BluRay can be.


not much better unless ur a stickler for detail under a NASA microscope. i am a detail person but the hd/blu ray war is crazy. this stuff is really not called for because theres already dvd players that up convert and they only cost $70 as opposed to $1,000 for a next gen player and $30 a pop for movies. at least when dvd came out full force they dropped prices enough so people would move over from VHS.

[capncnut]

VHS phuckin' rules, man. :cool:

[DVW5150]

The first time I watched a vhs cassette, I saw Jaws.
As I was watching it, I was enthralled as the Sony Top loading machine whizzed and whined its way through the tape.
There is something not just nastalgic about VHS, more a bit of your past life.
So yes, I do miss vhs.
I have around 300 vhs, with 3 movies on each.You could dub all 3 Mad Max films on to one.I dubbed them without credits, so it would go from the end of Mad Max where he is driving in the rain,you see the road ahead & cut to "..My Life fades..." to Road Warrior (or MM2)...
I made tapes like Full Metal Jacket,Hamberger Hill, Platoon, on one tape.

Video editing was fun too.
Thats how I got the video editing bug .
I would edit a video w/ 2 vcrs, and sync a song to it.That was back in '88.
The first DVD I rented was Pulp Fiction, when it was over, I was ,"OK that was a great movie, gotta rewin- um , no I dont.Just put back in the box."
Below is the last video I edited on VHS.Its on my YT channel :
(Note the grainy destruction of clarity from copying from vhs to my old hard drive, and you can see the tracking ...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0_J-s-9OsY
Anywho...
Great writing there MZ.

[DeadJonas190]

I agree with your blog. One thing that I have noticed about horror movies on VHS compared to DVDs is that the VHS grainyness adds depth to the creatures in the movie. DVD is so crisp and clear that you can tell when something is CGI or a guy in a rubber suit... it just looks fake on DVD. The grainyness of a VHS didnt have such crisp edges, it added a depth to the picture that just isnt' acheived in DVDs. I guess that is just part of the "soul" of a vhs tape that you mentioned.

[Skippy911sc]

This is starting to sound like an video version of an audiophiles debate over cd vs. LP...The grain gives it more depth? This is great I love the old days of VHS and LD but I would not want to return to it...I like DVDs and sure the FX are not as believable on DVD than in the theater but so what!

[MinionZombie]

This is starting to sound like an video version of an audiophiles debate over cd vs. LP...The grain gives it more depth? This is great I love the old days of VHS and LD but I would not want to return to it...I like DVDs and sure the FX are not as believable on DVD than in the theater but so what!
Don't get me wrong, I'm a whore for DVD, but it just doesn't have the soul that VHS had...and it's the wider culture surrounding the formats also.

[capncnut]

At the end of the day, these machines have been in our living rooms and bedrooms for many years now. It's hard to let go sometimes. I still have one set up in the living room for sentimental reasons and I know I should move on.

Then again, I have a few old movies on VHS that are still not widely available on DVD yet, some concerts too. The boxes were phat and phunky and much more pleasing to hold, you really felt you had yer bucks worth.

As much as DVD's are nice and crispy, they have no character. Also, I agree with MZ on the whole 'unskippable ad' business that comes with most releases, especially rentals. Some even force you to watch the trailers too and once it even took me ten minutes just to get onto the main menu. What a load of bollox!

Maybe I'll remove the VCR in another year...

[MinionZombie]

Most trailer reels you should be able to skip past surely.

What I really hate is at the end of the credits and those pages of warnings - in about a million languages - come up and you can rarely skip to the menu from them, at best you have to fast forward. :rolleyes:

I bought the DVD for "Shatter Dead", and while not a mainstream released, goddamn the menus were F*CKING ANNOYING. It'd just be a massively long clip (like 3 bloody minutes) before the options came up EVERY TIME you selected something! At best you had to fast forward, how bloody stupid is that?! You know, some people don't have time to wade through that when they could be watching two dead people f*ck each other with the aid of a handgun! :lol:

[SRP76]

I prefer VHS tapes simply due to their durability. I have lost count of how many DVDs I have that have absolutely microscopic freakin' scratches, and it hangs the disc up, and sends it to skipping. Ruined movie, and it doesn't even have anything visible-to-the-naked-eye wrong with it. It drives me crazy.

At least a tape has to get flat-out eaten for it to screw up.

[Danny]

I prefer VHS tapes simply due to their durability. I have lost count of how many DVDs I have that have absolutely microscopic freakin' scratches, and it hangs the disc up, and sends it to skipping. Ruined movie, and it doesn't even have anything visible-to-the-naked-eye wrong with it. It drives me crazy.

At least a tape has to get flat-out eaten for it to screw up.

Plus, when your little and fighting with your brother,
-great projectiles.;)

[bassman]

I prefer VHS tapes simply due to their durability. I have lost count of how many DVDs I have that have absolutely microscopic freakin' scratches, and it hangs the disc up, and sends it to skipping. Ruined movie, and it doesn't even have anything visible-to-the-naked-eye wrong with it. It drives me crazy.

At least a tape has to get flat-out eaten for it to screw up.

What kind of dvd players do you have? I have some cheaper ones that do that, but if I use one of my higher, name brand models they will read through the deepest scratch and keep on truckin....

[MinionZombie]

What kind of dvd players do you have? I have some cheaper ones that do that, but if I use one of my higher, name brand models they will read through the deepest scratch and keep on truckin....
Are there discs you can get for DVD players, kinda like a DVD version of a VCR head cleaner to clean the lens or something jiggy?

I was wondering, I got the definitive editions of Alien, Aliens and Alien 3 and they all had a glitch on them somewhere on the movie discs (features discs all fine), but at most a mere scratch...meanwhile I've played other DVDs with far bigger scratches and they've been fine...so I duno about that, maybe just those Alien discs? :confused:

Some of the glitches were the sort where they just came up no matter what (Alien 3, very last shot of Aliens) and were the sort where it happens, but you wind back and play it again and nothing happens...I duno, weirdness.

So yeah, are there DVD versions of VCR head cleaners? Do they do anything, what do they do?

[Craig]

Our DVD player doesn't record DVDs (I think) so if we want anything recorded it's still VHS all the way up in here. We still have a lot of tapes with movies on as well, so our VHS players get fairly frequent use, obviously not as much as they used to, though.

[MinionZombie]

Whenever I record something it's always to VHS still. My folks used to use VHS, but then got Sky+ so they just use that disc recorder hard-drive thing that's in the Sky box itself.

DVD-R recording is just silly, it's too fiddly and not easy enough I say, it'll never take off and hasn't taken off. VCRs are simple to use, whack a tape in, time your thing or press the big red button and boom - done.

Likewise the hard-drive recorder is really easy to use. Select the programme, press the red button, it's recorded, go into a menu and watch. SIMPLE.

Hard-drive recorders will eventually squeeze out VCRs as the mainstream recording device, but DVD-R just won't...too fiddly a technology.