VHS era now officially dead

[llj]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/techn ... .html?_r=0

Can't say I miss the format, but yeah, a part of my life has now closed.

[SteveH]

Harsh Realm.

But save your VHS tapes. When the revival comes (and SOMEBODY will do it!) giving up tapes to be erased will make money! I'll probably bulk erase all my off-air Miami Vice tapes once I've managed to rip all the cool '80s commercials out of them. Eventually. Someday.

[usamimi]

There's already a small cult resurgence of vhs lately. Some indie movie makers release their stuff on VHS, which was is kinda neat IMO.

[Kame-Sen'nin]

There's already a small cult resurgence of vhs lately. Some indie movie makers release their stuff on VHS, which was is kinda neat IMO.

I'm a big fan of VHS tapes, and despite my skepticism, it does indeed appear as though the format is going to experience some sort of resurgence. Prices on tapes seem to be slowly going up, and I see more and more people purchasing them. For several years this was limited to things that had not been re-released on newer formats, but that no longer seems to be the case. Granted, this resurgence could be very short-lived, but it's still pretty cool to see people interested in the format again.

Long live VHS!

[llj]

Man, are you guys serious? At least with vinyl, there was an argument that it sounded better than CDs/digital. But for VHS, there is absolutely no argument that it is better than DVD. This nostalgia kick just can't last. Only so many people will prefer the fuzzy tape look.

[DKop]

The only reason I still get VHS now is that they are a cheaper alternative to getting something on DVD if it hasn't came out on DVD already or is well out of print. My Angel Cop VHS is sufficing till Discotek put it out on DVD (because I know they will). If you wanna make a decent attempt to compare old video formats to DVD, Laserdisc comes in kinda close. Laserdisc to me is my vinyl collection to audio hipsters, and at least with getting Laserdisc you have some really interesting artwork and case styles than say VHS. I can't defend a VHS style if you hold up a DVD release of Dog Soldier compared to the CPM VHS release. Its laughably bad to this day.... and I do own that, because I've never seen Dog Soldier on DVD.

[ParaParaJMo]

VHS (and laserdisc) are still widely available in Japan thanks to Book Offs, etc

[llj]

I definitely understand the laserdisc fans--the larger artwork and other extras they included often aren't found in DVDs and BDs, plus in a few cases the laserdisc versions are better than the DVDs, or were the source masters for DVDs (Project A-Ko comes to mind). There's a lot of appeal to LDs even today.

[Kame-Sen'nin]

Man, are you guys serious? At least with vinyl, there was an argument that it sounded better than CDs/digital. But for VHS, there is absolutely no argument that it is better than DVD. This nostalgia kick just can't last. Only so many people will prefer the fuzzy tape look.

Don't get me wrong here--as much as I personally love VHS tapes, I am surprised that the format is experiencing a resurgence. I do think there will always be a market for people who are interested in the rarer tapes that were never re-released, but that is not a particularly large market. The current trend of popularity is likely pure nostalgia, and I doubt it will stick around long-term.

With all that said...I am going to enjoy the resurgence while it lasts!

[SteveH]

I definitely understand the laserdisc fans--the larger artwork and other extras they included often aren't found in DVDs and BDs, plus in a few cases the laserdisc versions are better than the DVDs, or were the source masters for DVDs (Project A-Ko comes to mind). There's a lot of appeal to LDs even today.

I would still argue that massive weight aside, the LD really was the perfect format for releasing TV series to home video. Two episodes to a side is a just-right chunk for a busy person who doesn't want to 'speed watch' or burn their way thru a show trying to 'get it over with' as fast as they can. I might write a whole other post about that thing.

Naturally it's a problem, the weight, the sheer volume of TV on LD. Mazinger Z was like a couple hundred pounds all-up. Having a decent LD collection was an exercise in mass and volume management, make no mistake about it!

BUT, you didn't have to worry about 'too many episodes' crammed onto a disc and what compression would make it all look like.

And yes, the room for beautiful, beautiful art on the LD jackets. Not to mention the lovely books often included in box sets.

LD was a mess for movies but just fine for TV shows. Except those occasional oddball length series like Cimarron Strip. a 90 minute western? Strangely watchable.