VHS

* Front
* Back

**VHS**, officially known as the **Video Home System**, is a videocassette format and an industry standard for consumer analog recording.

The format was first introduced in September 1976 by JVC. It competed with Betamax in the videotape format war, but VHS later won the war, gaining 60% of the North American market by 1980. It emerged as the dominant home media format during the tape period.

In 1996, with the arrival of DVDs, market sales of VHS cassettes began to decline. By 2003, DVD rentals surpassed those of VHS, and by 2008, DVDs emerged as the low-end method of distribution.

Japanese manufacturer Funai, the last known company to produce VCRs in a VCR/DVD combo, ceased production in July 2016, citing shrinking demand and difficulties procuring parts.

## History

### Development

In 1971, Japanese engineers Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano, both working at JVC, created a team to develop a consumer-based videotape recorder. That same year, they created an internal diagram called the VHS Development Matrix, which established 12 objectives for JVC's new VTR. 7 of these objectives are as follows:

* The system must be compatible with any ordinary television set.
* Picture quality must be similar to a normal air broadcast.
* The tape must have at least a 2-hour recording capacity.
* Tapes must be interchangeable between machines.
* The overall system must be versatile, meaning it can be scaled and expanded, such as connecting a video camera, or dub between 2 recorders.
* Recorders should be affordable, easy to operate and have low maintenance costs.
* Recorders must be capable of being produced in high volume, their parts must be interchangeable, and they must be easy to service.

However, in early 1972, the video recording industry in Japan saw an financial downturn. JVC restructured its video division and was forced to make budget cuts, shelving the VHS project. Despite this, Shiraishi and Takano worked secretly on the project, which led to a functional prototype by 1973.

### Competition with Betamax

#### Attempts at standardization

Desiring to avoid consumer confusion, in 1974, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry attempted to force the video industry to standardize on one home format, in which the preferred choice was Sony's Betamax format. However, due to pressure from JVC and Matsushita, the MITI dropped the push for standardization.

#### Working against MITI and Sony

JVC had a belief that an open standard was better for consumers. In an attempt to prevent MITI from adopting Betamax, JVC worked to convince other companies (in particular, Matsushita) to accept VHS, and thereby worked against MITI and Sony. Matsushita agreed, due to concerns that Sony might dominate the video industry, if Betamax was the only one to be manufactured.

As a result of Matsushita backing JVC, this persuaded Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Sharp to also back the VHS standard. Sony's release of the Betamax in 1975 placed further pressure on MITI to side with the company. Despite this, the collaboration between JVC and its partners were much stronger, and this led MITI to again drop its push for an industry standard.

### Release and further competition

On 9 September 1976, the first VHS machines were released in Japan, and in 1977, machines were released to the United States and the United Kingdom. Betamax competed with VHS through the late-70s and 80s, in what became known as the videotape format war.

#### Comparisons with Betamax

Betamax's major advantages against VHS were its smaller cassette size, theoretically higher quality video, and earlier availability, but its lower recording time proved to be a major shortcoming.

##### Recording times and tape lengths

Initially, Beta I machines in the NTSC standard were capable of having 60 minutes of recording time, at a standard tape speed of 1.5 inches per second (IPS), but the first VHS machines could record for 2 hours, due to its slightly slower tape speed, at 1.31 IPS, and longer tape lengths.

Due to the smaller size of Betamax cassettes, this limited the length of the tape, and it could not compete with VHS' 2-hour recording time by extending the tape length. This forced Sony to slow down the tape speed to 0.787 IPS (which led to Beta II) in order to have a 2-hour recording time. Sony later created Beta III, with a tape speed of 0.524 IPS, allowing Betamax to break even out of 2 hours, but by then, VHS had already won the format war.

##### Tape transport

VHS tapes had a less complex tape transport mechanism than Betamax, and VHS machines had faster rewinding and fast-forwarding speeds than Betamax machines.

#### Victory in the format war

By 1980, VHS had a 60% market share in North America, and by 1984, 40 companies made VHS machines, compared to 12 companies who were making Betamax machines. The format continued to be a mainstay in many American and European households for the next 2 decades.

### Decline

The introduction of DVDs in March 1997 in the United States signaled the decline of VHS. By June 2003, DVD rentals surpassed those of VHS. In 2005, 94.5 million Americans owned VCRs, but despite this, global market shares continued to drop. Throughout the mid-2000s, multiple American and European retail chains announced that they would no longer sell VHS equipment, focusing on DVD (and later Blu-ray Disc) media.

Japanese manufacturer Funai, which was the last company to make VCRs under the Sanyo brand, discontinued production in July 2016, due to shortages of parts and falling demand.

### Legacy

Despite the decline in VHS players and programming on VHS machines, it continues to be used by some households worldwide. Several reasons, such as nostalgic value, ease of use, keeping personal videos and home movies, and collecting, are reasons why some people still use VHS.

Markets for VHS tapes have survived and continued, and some online retailers continue to sell pre-recorded cassettes.

## Technical information

### Tape

#### Tape speed

##### NTSC market

VHS tapes using the NTSC standard have 3 different speeds: SP (standard play), LP (long play), and EP/SLP (extended play/super long play). Tapes using the PAL standard have 2 different speeds: SP (standard play) and LP (long play).

##### PAL market

PAL-market cassettes also have the same speed standards as NTSC-market cassettes, but they have less recording time than NTSC-market cassettes.

#### Tape measurements

VHS tapes are half-inch wide, and the longest tape lengths are 500 m (1640 ft) for NTSC/PAL tapes, and 435 m (1427 ft) for PAL-only tapes. Tapes are 25 mm (0.08 ft) thick, and 103 mm (0.3 ft) deep.

#### Tape lengths

For NTSC-market cassettes, the longest recording times are 250 minutes in SP, 500 minutes in LP, and 749 minutes in EP/SLP in the NTSC standard. In the PAL standard, the longest is 356 minutes in SP, and 712 minutes in LP.

For PAL-market cassettes, the longest recording times in NTSC are 217 minutes in SP, 435 minutes in LP, and 652 minutes. For the PAL standard, the longest recording times are 310 minutes in SP, and 620 minutes in LP.

### High fidelity

In response to Betamax's introduction of Beta Hi-Fi in June 1983, the following year, JVC added Hi-FI to VHS. Both formats delivered flat full-range frequency response (20 Hz to 20 kHz), 70 dB signal-to-noise ratio, a dynamic range of 90 dB, and professional audio-grade channel separation of more than 70 dB.

It is achieved using audio frequency modulation (AFM), modulating the stereo channels on two frequency-modulated carriers and embedding the combined modulated audio signal pair into the signal. It relies on a form of magnetic recording called depth multiplexing.

If the recording is made on high-end or professional VHS machines with a manual audio recording level control, the sound quality is comparable, to some extent, to the quality of CD audio. Due to its higher quality audio compared to consumer audio recording formats, such as the Compact Cassette, it gained the attention of amateur or hobbyist recording artists.

#### Issues

##### Accessibility

Due to its complexity and additional hardware, VHS Hi-Fi was limited to high-end decks in its initial years. Decks in the 1990s would later commonly feature Hi-Fi, while linear stereo all but disappeared from home VHS decks.

##### Reproduction

VHS Hi-Fi was imperfect to music due to the inaccurate reproduction of levels which are not recreated as the original source.

## Variants

### Super-VHS

The most notable variant of VHS was **S-VHS**, or **Super-VHS**, with the variant having improved video bandwidth. It also had 400 lines, unlike 250 lines in VHS and Beta tapes, and 500 lines for DVDs. Due to its superior quality, it was able to gain traction in the camcorder market. Despite this, S-VHS would never make that much impact on the home market.

Due to ADAT, it had the ability to record multitrack digital audio, as much as 8 audio tracks.

#### SVHS-ET

For S-VHS camcorders and VCRs, JVC also developed **SVHS-ET** technology, giving it the ability to record S-VHS signals on normal VHS tapes, despite having a slight blur. Almost all later models of S-VHS camcorders and VCRs have SVHS-ET ability.

#### Competition with ED-Beta

Sony released ED-Beta in 1988 shortly after the announcement of S-VHS, but both formats were largely ignored in the American market and another potential "format war" did not follow suit. This is due to the decline of Betamax throughout the 1980s, after it lost to VHS in the format war.

### VHS-C

**VHS-C** was a compact version of VHS, which was initially developed in 1982 for portable VCRs, but it gained traction for users of palm-sized camcorders. Using a mechanical adapter, it can be played back on regular VHS tapes, due to the VHS-C's magnetic tape being based off VHS magnetic tape.

#### S-VHS-C

**S-VHS-C** was developed in 1987, providing improved luminance and chrominance quality, but these tapes continued to be compatible with VHS tapes.

#### Competition with 8mm formats

Unable to shrink its Beta tapes any further, Sony developed Video8 in 1985, Hi8 in 1989, and Digital8 in 1999. It competed with S-VHS tapes during the 1980s to the 2000s, but neither format "won" and both of them were superseded by tapeless formats.

### W-VHS

**W-VHS** was developed in 1994, which allowed recording of MUSE analog high-definition in Japan, which was broadcast from 1989 to 2007, having been replaced with the ISDB format, which was also developed in Japan.

#### D-VHS

**D-VHS** was an improved version of W-VHS, released in 1998. It can record both SD and HD video, which has the ability to record 4 hours of ATSC television in 720p and 1080i using the fastest record mode, and up to 49 hours of lower-definition video at slower speed.

### Digital-S/D-9

> *Main article: Digital-S*
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**Digital-S**, also known as **D-9**, was developed in 1995, using VHS form factor tape and the same mechanical tape handling techniques as an S-VHS recorder. It was not able to gain traction, due to competition from DigiBeta.

## Appearance

VHS tapes are typically black in appearance, with 2 windows on either side. For home videos, some modifications are made, such as colored spines, shells, or both, as well as security features.

## Usage

### Television recording

VHS was a popular format for recording television, such as news, commercials and promos. Many videos on the Internet contain footage from VHS tapes, in websites such as YouTube and Vimeo.

A notable user was television producer and archivist Marion Stokes from Philadelphia, who recorded television programs (in particular, news programs) on 71,000 VHS and Beta tapes, from 1977 until her death in 2012. Her archive was moved to The Internet Archive's headquarters in San Francisco, at $16,000.

### Home video

VHS was the industry standard for home video during the tape period. Some companies sold both VHS and Beta cassettes, before these companies switched to VHS. DVDs later took over the home video market, followed by Blu-ray Discs and VOD. The last release on VHS was in 2006, with *A History of Violence*.