Buying a VCR

Oct. 23rd, 1988

There is nothing like the purchase of a videocassette recorder, or VCR, to confuse the novice or even the technically minded who has not kept up with the field, so perhaps a summary of what's available and worthwhile would be helpful, especially with Christmas coming on.

"Christmas already? Aren't you rushing the season?"

Not really.  Not if you have to save for an expensive gift.  Not if you want to put something on "layaway."  Not if you want to take advantage of pre-Thanksgiving sales.

Not if you need time to convince yourself that a self-indulgent purchase is really a "gift for the whole family."

Consumer VCRs come in three major formats: eight-millimeter, Beta, and VHS; and VHS dominates the market and is the subject of this discussion.

After years of tumbling prices, VHS VCRs, thanks to the movement of the dollar against the Yen, are slowly climbing, though makers of low-end machines are fighting the increase by building their machines in low-wage Far Eastern countries, by further automating their production facilities, and by offering perceived value for real price increases.  But in any case low priced VCRs are a whale of a bargain, offering such features as wireless remote control and frequency synthesized tuning (whereby you can access channels directly) for less then $300.

Incredibly, VCRs have become a mature technology in just ten years, and it is hard to buy a bad one.  No matter what you pay, you'll get a pretty good picture with fine color, the ability to record while you're away, the capacity to watch one show while recording another, and the enormously satisfying power to "fast forward" though or "zap" commercials by remote control.

So what do you get for more money?  The first step up is a the enhanced capacity that more video heads provide.  All a tape machine needs is two heads on a revolving drum to record or play back a picture.  But a pair of heads for the high (SP) and an additional pair for the slow speed (EP or SLP) gets the best picture from each.  Unfortunately, few VCRs are available with this feature.

Most "four-head" VCRs use two heads for record and play-back, just like the cheapest, and two more for the "special effects," that is, noise-free still frame, fast motion, and slow motion.  This feature is fun, but is not essential for most people.

At higher prices ($450 or so), two other features become prominent.  One is digital effects, which is a process whereby the analog TV signal is converted by a computer into numbers, and these numbers are processed before being converted back into an analog signal again.  Digital processing allows still yet better "special effects" than multiple heads alone offer, and allows you to watch one picture while another station is showing in the corner of your screen.  The type of digital processing that would eliminate "snow" and "ghosts" is not yet widely available due to cost, and the current digital processing is largely useless in day-today use.

The other feature introduced in this price category is MTS, or stereo broadcast sound.  If your TV does not have stereo, one of these VCRs hooked to a stereo system will upgrade your viewing experience if your local channels have stereo.  In Bennington, only WMHT channel 17 (PBS), and WNYT channel 13 (NBC) transmit in stereo, and none of the scrambled channels on our local cable system are passed along in stereo.  Satellite dish owners can get stereo from scrambled channels on their equipment.

As well as sending stereo sound through your audio system, a stereo VCR puts this sound on your tape in one of two ways.  The less expensive is "linear" stereo, where the sound is laid down on the edge of the tape by a stationary head just like the monaural sound on a cheaper deck.  The problem is that the already narrow, slow-moving track is now split into left and right channels, and the sound from these channels, even with Dolby noise reduction is nothing to brag about.

The other way to lay sound on the tape is with heads on the spinning video drum, and this is how the Hi-Fi system works.  The sound is now excellent, and to me, it is worth every penny, even though Hi-Fi units start at more than $500.  Sound wise, "Top Gun," played through my stereo, is more intelligible, clearer, more static-free than the sound I heard when I saw it in a local theatre.  And when copying tapes, there is no audible loss in sound quality.

At the top of the heap is Super VHS, with better resolution than the normal VHS.  With machines more than a thousand dollars, S-VHS tape costing $19 per cassette, and little software around, I'll pass for the time being.

Some hints on shopping:

I would buy from an established dealer, not a discount store.  The hassles involved with the warranty work and help in learning the machine are not worth the discount store savings to me.

I would buy either a low-priced, brand name VCR, or if I had more cash, the lowest priced Hi-Fi VCR.  Hi-Fi is the only extra cost feature that truly enhances what you watch.

And finally, I would try out the machine in the store, not only for picture quality, but for the ease in setting the timer for unmanned recording.  Just because a VCR has "on screen programming" does not mean it is in fact the easiest to use.

If you're as amazed as I am that the darn things work at all, you'll be happy with your purchase.

Mac Rush works in the Banner composing room.

Just a few comments from me.  My dad often received harsh criticism for this type of dryer, techno jargon type of information.  Thumbing his nose at the nay-sayers, his response was "It's my column, I'll write whatever the hell I want."

Personally, I think 25 odd years later, it's a pretty funny read considering how technology has changed, not to mention the prices for something that is now essentially extinct. 

I also feel obligated to mention that my dad used the movie "Top Gun" to demonstrate his high quality stereo frequently to all his friends.  This often occurred at two am, when I had school in the morning and I'd wake up to my windows vibrating, stagger out and beg my dad to "Turn it down!"