From: earle@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov (Greg Earle - Gainfully Unemployed)
Subject: Some Really Stupid S-VHS questions ...
Followup-To: rec.video
Summary: Duhhh ...
Organization: Gainfully unemployed
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 10:46:21 GMT

I have some Really Stupid questions about S-VHS.

[ Warning - ignoramus approaching!  Dr. Smith!  Danger, Will Robinson! ]

We have a Panasonic PV-S350D S-VHS camcorder.  It's 4 1/2 years old now, but
it still works perfectly, has some amazing built-in digital effects features,
and the picture quality is very high.

It also has this slider button on the side that says "+------ S-VHS ---->".
Too bad I didn't discover what it was *for* until after I'd taken, oh, videos
of Hawaii, New Mexico/Arizona/Utah, Vancouver/Whistler Mountain, etc. ... :-(
(I told you, ignoramus alert - there's no excuse for this, even if we *did* get
 the camera without a manual ... :-( )

*Sigh* ... anyway.

Here's the stupid questions:

(1) I keep forgetting this, but what is the resolution of S-VHS vs. normal VHS?
    Isn't it something like 425 lines vs. 330?

(2) Now that I know how to record in S-VHS mode (-:, do I need a special kind
    of tape to do so?  I can't recall seeing blank VHS tapes that have an S-VHS
    symbol on them; I just see stuff like "HiFi - recommended for HiFi VCR's"
    and the like.  If I need a special S-VHS tape, where do I get it?  Some
    obscure camera/video store (I mean, that's where I went when I needed an
    S-VHS cable to hook the camera to my Sony TV, so ... )?

(3) The Panasonic has what looks to be a pretty decent set of VCR functions
    built-in; there's a slider on top that can be pushed in the "For VCR
    Play/Rec" arrow direction, revealing a set of small buttons for
	Rec  Dub  Rew  Play  FF  Pause  Stop
    There's also "Search" and "Search  Still" labels underneath the buttons.

    Given that is has this VCR-esque setup, and it has S-Video input & output,
    is there any point in getting an S-VHS VCR to play back the S-VHS tapes I
    can now make, now that I've figured out how to make them?  (-:

(4) One puzzling thing related to VCR playback; this has a built-in mic with
    2 leads attached inside (I dunno if this is a stereo mic or not; suspect
    that it isn't), and it also has a very tiny "Remote" jack (even smaller
    than the "Phone" jack) that I know you can hook up an external microphone
    into.  What I am puzzled by is the fact that you can have S-VHS and play
    it back through S-Video out, but there doesn't seem to be any easy way
    of getting the *audio* output out.  There's a (small) "Phone" jack, but
    it appears to be Mono (alas).  For some reason, I would have expected that
    an S-VHS camcorder would record (and playback) Stereo audio.  Am I dumb to
    have assumed that, given that it's a mid-1988 vintage camera?

(5) Finally, anyone have an address for Panasonic so I might be able to get a
    manual for this beast?  There's a button the back with "On"/"Off" settings
    labelled "Edit"; I have no idea what enabling "Edit" affects.  I'm also not
    real sure what the "Rec Review" and "Index" buttons grouped with the normal
    functions do, either ... 

Thanks to any and all respondants ...
   
--
	- Greg Earle
	  Itinerant Sun Consultant
	  isolar!earle@elroy.JPL.NASA.GOV
	  (818) 353-8695
Newsgroups: rec.video