Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mccolin 659 days ago
A VHS of this I taped from broadcast is bopping around my parents’ basement somewhere. I need to find that.
2 comments

I wonder if content on VHS tape can be read and/or post-processed better than the best Toshiba or Sony (PAL|NTSC) VCR in history using fancier techniques and modern technology.
Awesome, thanks. I guess one just needs benchmarks of the sensitivity of various compatible hardware solutions.
Was about to say that.
I wonder if the newer reading technology offsets the degradation of the magnetic tape, or whether it's better to digitize X years ago, using the older digitizing technique, but with a stronger magnetic signal.
Every time it's played, there is mechanical wear on the tape surface and mechanical stretching to place it under tension.

Probably always best to digitize it then because there's quite a bit that can happen to tape magnetically and to the plastic tape itself.

Awesome! Please share if you are able to recover it.