Bring back VHS!! - DPChallenge Forums

Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX Diagonal Fisheye for Nikon

02/11/2007 11:17:21 AM · #1

I rented out 4 DVDs this weekend;

- "Little Miss Sunshine" Loved it! Great fun to watch, and really gets you rooting for the characters
- "Adrift" Rubbish
- "Children of Men" Excellent
- "The Grudge 2" Japanese horror film, superb, really edgy

But my main whine today is how much I miss VHS video. Two of the DVDs had scratches or dirt on them which caused that problem where the movie either restarts, or you have to skip to the next chapter. And it really, really started to irritate me. To the point where I was off the sofa and swearing at the DVD player.

You get to the best part in a movie, and suddenly the screen jitters and starts to freeze... And you have to take out the DVD and try and clean it. If it's a scratch it's even worse, you can miss whole chunks of the film. To this day, I never did find out what happens in 'Taxi Driver' after he looks at himself in the mirror. The second layer was unplayable.

So what made VHS so great? - The fact you could have a mangled section of tape but you were still able to either SEE or HEAR what was happening, it was mildly irritating but it certainly didn't ruin your enjoyment of a movie as much as a scratched DVD.

Bring back VHS!!

muckpond

Nikon D200

02/11/2007 11:20:21 AM · #2

and you could fast forward through the ads at the beginning. has anyone else noticed how many dvd's are preventing you from skipping right to the title menu? BS!

fotomann_forever

02/11/2007 11:33:51 AM · #3

Edit: wrong movie... LOL

No, I don't miss VHS at all... I hated tracking issues and I have yet to see a DVD player EAT a DVD.

Message edited by author 2007-02-11 11:34:48.

UrfaK

Canon EOS-650/T4i Rebel

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

02/11/2007 02:16:39 PM · #4

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

No, I don't miss VHS at all... I hated tracking issues and I have yet to see a DVD player EAT a DVD.

lol! to be honest I did see a dvd player once gobble a dvd..went to a friend's house to have movie marathon..she put the dvd in and the display read no disc entered..we opened the slider and no dvd! spoked us a bit.. Next day got a call from her that the dvd had slipped inside the player..

And yes I hate it when the darn dvds just halt to a standstill.. makes me very very angry...

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/11/2007 02:34:42 PM · #5

VHS tapes dont live very long lol comared to the 100 year or greater possible lifespan of metallic digital discs. If you want to use magnetic storage that doesnt support higher resolutions then 720x480 go right ahead. You can still get movies on VHS but not for long.

Beetle

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

02/11/2007 02:40:21 PM · #6

I hate it, too, when DVDs don't play properly. However, it never happens with my own, only the ones I rent.

Therefore, I don't get angry at my player, but at the rude people who think it is ok to eat their lunch on a rented DVD and then play Frisbee with it - something they would probably never do with their own property.

Dr.Confuser

Nikon D800

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

02/11/2007 02:59:57 PM · #7

... tape ... VHS tape? ... is it sticky on one side like the stuff from 3M? ... how quaint!

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/11/2007 03:25:37 PM · #8

Originally posted by Beetle:

Ditto! It's not a Rental Car for crying out loud!

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

02/11/2007 04:37:23 PM · #9

A dead VHS tape yields a few hundred feet of "ribbon" for wrapping presents ... a dead DVD yields one meltable coaster ... : )

02/11/2007 04:40:17 PM · #10

Originally posted by GeneralE:

A dead VHS tape yields a few hundred feet of "ribbon" for wrapping presents ... a dead DVD yields one meltable coaster ... : )

I typically drink more soda's then give gifts! Most of my gifts arent physical (well wellt alk about that one later) most of them are through help and money. Hard to wrap that in VHS tape!

02/11/2007 04:43:40 PM · #11

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:

VHS tapes dont live very long lol comared to the 100 year or greater possible lifespan of metallic digital discs.

I only need it to last 120 minutes!...

In 100 years I doubt anyone will even know what a DVD is. Let alone what to play it on.

Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF for Minolta

02/11/2007 04:46:25 PM · #12

Heh well that can be argued, but for the most part anyoen can agree to what your saying. But we can still play UMATIC tapes that are nearly 40 years old(wether theres any data left is the only real concern). On the super analog end of things we still know how to play 100 year old moving pictures on a projector!

MrEd

Sony DSLR-A100

02/11/2007 04:51:55 PM · #13

Originally posted by GeneralE:

A dead VHS tape yields a few hundred feet of "ribbon" for wrapping presents ... a dead DVD yields one meltable coaster ... : )

Or at minimum a photo op

02/11/2007 04:59:04 PM · #14

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:

On the super analog end of things we still know how to play 100 year old moving pictures on a projector!

Ah, the joy of analog... :)

I was telling someone on Friday night about the trouble

JRalston was having with her DVD-R camcorder. The fact she potentially lost their sons's 5th birthday because of a problem with the disc. Now, if that had been tape the thing would have survived, even if the camcorder hadn't. In that case which was more important, the possibility of rescuing the recording from a dv tape (even though the quality might not have been as good as DVD) - or losing the moment altogether?

My point is that digital is great when it works, and when we're careful with it. But analog is just so much more robust. Both in terms of the build quality of the equipment and the recording medium (when was the last time you deleted a box of negatives by dropping them?) and the longevity of the formats (as in your example, 100 year old moving pictures)

The electronics and entertainment industries have been busy pushing consumers towards everything digital. To the point where we don't even bother questioning it anymore. Because it's the next new shiny digital gadget or format we all go running out to buy it. The last gadget/format is obsolete, and that cycle of obsolescence is getting shorter and shorter.

Message edited by author 2007-02-11 17:02:35.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

02/11/2007 05:19:27 PM · #15

Well actually if data recovery wasnt so damne xpensive ill tell u even if the entire dvd table isnt intact on the disc all the data can still be pulled from it. Heh u can pull video from VHS tapes that have no track, takes special equipment but it can be done.

Had the tapes track been erased or misrecorded she might end up witht he same problem the datas there but cant view it.

I actually HATE dvd camcorders, but a digital camcorder tends to capture and preserve data better. I only hate DVD camcorders because the master is compressed lossy. I hate lossy compression, i use MiniDV which uses compression but its 13GB per hour its not so copmpressed. I also hate the DV codec because it interlaces motion really bad. On tv it comes out okay but on a computer u can see it. In order to get rid of it u have to deinterlace which cuts the resolution in half.

Tape can be easily destroyed or misrecorded. These days digital is so convient we use it more often and bad things also happen more often... atleast thats bene my experience!

As far as digital its actuall the FCC thats pushed TV to go digital. Im sure the cable companies wouldnt mind keeping bandwidth usage lower lol.

Makka

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

02/11/2007 07:01:58 PM · #16

DVD's are a great medium IMO but unfortunately a lot of people who hire the movies out don't look after them and hence they become scratched and unplayable on some players. The amount of times that I have hired a new release only to find it has been severely scratched is amazing. It only takes a little common sense and respect for them to be looked after I think.

KarenNfld

02/11/2007 07:09:59 PM · #17

Originally posted by MrEd:

Originally posted by GeneralE:
A dead VHS tape yields a few hundred feet of "ribbon" for wrapping presents ... a dead DVD yields one meltable coaster ... : )

Or at minimum a photo op

Or two. ;)

bigalpha

Sony DSC-S60

02/11/2007 11:41:48 PM · #18

Originally posted by jhonan:

Children of Men is out on DVD already? It was just out in theatres.

The Grudge 1 was a horrible movie. Is the 2nd one any better?

Peleng 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye MC In M42 Mount

02/12/2007 05:00:48 AM · #19

Originally posted by bigalpha:

Children of Men is out on DVD already? It was just out in theatres.

It's out on DVD here in Ireland. The theatre release happened later in the US so it probably won't be out on DVD yet over there.

Originally posted by bigalpha:

The Grudge 1 was a horrible movie. Is the 2nd one any better?

If you didn't like the first one, then you won't like the second. It's more of the same! - But I like that kind of horror, not much gore but lots of suspense.

Matthew

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

02/12/2007 07:54:19 AM · #20

We rented a DVD last year that made a funny whirring noise. Our DVD player has a front loading "slot" - after a few moments, there was a loud crack, and half the DVD came flying out of the front of the DVD player and flew across the room (say, 12 feet). I pressed eject, and the other half of the DVD slid out of the player. The player has never been quite the same since...!