Variety Declares VHS Dead

An anonymous reader writes "Variety has written an obituary for the VHS format only 3 years after it was surpassed in popularity by the DVD." While VHS is hardly the format of choice these days, there are still many, many home movies and other favorite recordings and commercial releases floating around in VHS. How long until VHS players themselves go the way of the 8-track player?

Re:the real question

[tverbeek]

My former boss has been predicting the death of physical media since the early days of the CD-ROM, when the internet started becoming commonplace. One of these years I'm convinced he's going to be proven right.

VHS won't die until. . .

[kimvette]

VHS won't die until the HTPC appliance fully matures, and a DRM-free medium is adapted en masse, and can record both NTSC and ATSC. DVD recordable is almost there, but is less flexible than an HTPC and won't record high-def, so why bother upgrading? Tivo almost has it, except tivo decides how long you can keep recordings (in some cases at least), NOT you, PLUS it requires a monthly subscription and either a land line or ethernet connection to phone home. Also, Tivo makes it FAR to difficult to record say, Smallville or Desperate Housewives or whatever it is you and your friends all want to watch, then take that recording over to a friend's house or simply lend it out. It's FAR to difficult for the average joe to record a show for you while you're on vacation and then give you the timeshifted content.

I think that VHS will be around until the HTPC is easy to use, DRM-free, HDTV capable, AND the public is made aware of it. Myth is so close, and yet so far, because it is a royal pain in the ass to set up, and the easy-to-configure distribution (Knoppmyth) is fully two generations behind when it comes to chipset and video card support.

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[account_deleted]

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Audio

[Anonymous Coward]

DVD will not kill VHS because the analog audio on VHS tapes is far superior to the compressed digital audio on DVD disks.

DVD simply cannot match the quality of audio signal obtained from a tape in good condition played on a quality stereo VCR.

Therefore VHS is not dead, nor will it be until DVD and HD-DVD formats stop compressing audio and using substandard sampling rates and bit depth.

When a standard DVD or HD-DVD release can provide uncompressed (or lossless compressed) 24bit 96KHz audio at a minimum, then perhaps VHS will become obsolete.

Even then, audiophiles will still prefer the quality analog signal from VHS tape. (I have seen people use VHS tape for audio only without video because of the physical layout of data on the tape can provide exceptional signal quality.)

Cueing is easier on VHS

[Convector]

I found VHS superior to DVD when I wanted to show video clips in a class I taught. I can cue up a VHS tape to the exact spot I want, pop it out of my player, pop it into the classroom VCR and it's all set to go. No fiddling around with chapter selections or anything, I just hit Play. I also use a VCR to tape "Good Eats", and the occasional other program, since I don't have Tivo and (for complicated reasons) the DVR is not hooked up to the satellite receiver. Of course, no one will argue that VHS picture or sound quality is superior to DVD. Certainly I never buy movies on VHS. I got me a VCR/DVR combo, so I can copy my VHS collection of anime fansubs onto DVD, but so far I've been unimpressed with the quality of the copies.

Re:the real question

[rainman_bc]

Well only about 16.7 percent of the world's population has access to the internet. So a while.

and how much own a dvd player??

VHS is still alive and well in our house.

[pixelguru]

My daughter figured out how to play the VHS tape of her choice when she was about 14 months old. The process was simple - just jam a durable tape into the big slot, and kick back and watch some Baby Einstein. If the tape won't go in, press the little eject button, remove the old tape and try again. Piece of cake!

6 months later, she's still working on DVDs. Getting one out of the package is a challenge in itself, and the discs must be handled gently with clean hands (usually we can manage one of those at a time). She knows which button opens the tray, but she's still working on getting the disc centered in the tray, and right side up. The tray is flimsy, and she's almost ripped it off at least once. Even if she gets a disc into the player, she still has to deal with the DVD menu interface or at least press the play button at the appropriate time. This whole process is far from toddler-friendly, but she is determined to figure it out, and I'm willing to let her keep trying as long as she's supervised.

She's fast though, and last week, before I could stop her, she jammed a DVD into the VCR with great satisfaction after getting frustrated trying to get it to play. For the record, a DVD will fit fully into a VCR, and it took me 10 minutes and a pair of needle nose pliers to get it out.

Re:the real question

[rynthetyn]

Yeah, that's for sure. I still don't know who my new US Congressperson is going to be, and it's all the fault of the county south of me thinking that touch screen voting machines were a good way to go. Now, thanks to the fact that there were 18,000 fewer votes in that race than there were people who voted overall, we're in for the loser putting us through the long protracted court battles that Florida is becoming known for. I might be the voting machines going haywire, it might be that 18,000 people decided they didn't want either bum (the reason I didn't vote for either of them), but since there's no paper trail, there's no way of knowing.

Don't worry

[tokenhillbilly]

You paid for the 8-tracks which includes a fair use license for the music. Just rip the music off to Audio Compact Discs or MP3s and destroy the 8-tracks. If you have any questions, just contact the RIAA which will assist you in preserving your rights.

Re:the real question

[timeOday]

I wonder what percent have VCRs?