The VCR is over, what to do with old VHS tapes? – The Obs

The VCR is dead. Long live VHS!

Japan’s Funai Electric announced stop, by the end of July, the production of the device for reading ancient videotapes. It was the last manufacturer in the world to still manufacture. Last year, 750,000 Funai VCRs were sold worldwide (under various brands including Sanyo). Far, far away, the 15 million units that flowed in the early 2000s.

“One of our suppliers found it difficult to continue manufacturing a component for such a small volume, which we led to this decision, “said Funai Electric.

what multiply nostalgic reactions to this format that had its heyday during the 1980s and 1990s, before being replaced by the . DVD and dematerialization

This raises a huge question: how to preserve your old movies, sometimes memories filmed camcorder or not republished works?

How to recover his old movies?

Before you get rid of old VHS, it may also be possible to recover the most interesting content (and least damaged). The solution: scanning. This is extract the film from the cassette and convert it to make it readable on a computer or DVD player.

less comfortable with technology can turn to scans services available in some supermarkets and retail chains of cultural products, or to specialized shops (it takes about 20 euros to get the movie from a tape to DVD or AVI format for PC).

Insert
promotional videotapes for a scanning service

for those who want to take charge themselves, the simplest method is to save tape to a DVD . For this, we must acquire a combined DVD-VHS (between 150 and 300 euros), capable of playing but also record both formats and then launch a cassette on one side and set burning to a blank DVD the other, usually via a button “save”.

EXAMPLE DVD-VHS combined

recover his movie on a computer itself, the technique requires more connections. It will thus:

• A VCR to play the tape,
• An acquisition card converts the analog signal into digital (either as a USB key module external USB connected, a tuner card installed on the computer)
• an RCA cable can capture audio (red and white socket on one side, a jack of other)
• An S-Video or composite cable (yellow connector)
• A SCART adapter (if the VCR is not equipped with RCA outputs and composite or S -Video).

once all connected (some converters concentrate the capture card and all necessary cables), it will then start the VHS time of his capture by dedicated software on your computer (Windows or iMovie Movie Marker can do the trick).

USB VHS converter integrates all required cables

# What his old VHS?

An extensive collection of 19,774 VHS tapes in Austria (P5 Zob / Wenn.com / Sipa )

So, he must put all his old tapes in the garbage? If so, mostly green or yellow trash? It is recommended to separate the tape VHS to throw in the green bin (normal waste, non-recyclable) and the rigid shell in the yellow container (plastic, recyclable waste).

Other promoted option by issuing 100% mag: recovery. The plastic box can be a photo frame, while the tape itself becomes a kit.

But some VHS owners could also decide to … keep them. “It is time to learn from the vinyl,” said David Jinks, British ParcelHero delivery service in “Metro”. “People who bought the original of the ‘White Album’ the Beatles in 1968, had no idea of ​​the value that could reach one day. Now it sells for about 10,000 euros.”

And that could one day be the same for the old VHS. Especially that some films have not been reissued (in France, it took until 2014 for the series “Malcolm” sort on DVD). The cassette of “Tales from the Quadead Zone”, obscure horror film of 1987, and will trade around 2,000 dollars, 100 times its original value, said Dan Kinem, author of a documentary on collectors . VHS in the “Time”

VHS of the movie” Speed ​​”in all languages ​​(Mercury Press / Caters News / Sipa)

Still, it should not be forgotten that the life of videotapes appears much shorter than DVDs or hard disks. Kept in good conditions, they can continue to be played during a period estimated between 5 and 15 years.

B.M.