VHS - better than DVD? (1 Viewer)

[richard plumb]

Just curious really.
Is VHS capable of reproducing a better prologic soundtrack than DVD? VHS is an analog format, so the effective 'bitrate' could be very high, compared to a DD2.0 soundtrack of only a couple of hundred kbits/second.
Is it possible for VHS to sound better than a DVD prologic track? Or are there other factors that come to bear?

 

[NathanP]

Nope, Nope, Nope!
Dvd's are ALOT better!
1. Dvd's are "Cleaned up" allowing for better sound..
2. VCR's have more moving parts, and that's bad.
3. Dvd's are often encoded in Surround Sound, tapes aren't allowing for better sound.
Nathan

 

[Ricky f]

There are only 2 good reasons why VHS is better than DVD.
1. Cheaper
2. Pretty much every movie is available on VHS and not on DVD, Which I hate.
but being a DVD fan, I do not care about those factors, well maybe about not every movie (mainly 80s') being availabe, I want more 80's slashers.
DVD all the way none the less.
Regards,
Ricky
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[Edited last by Ricky f on September 29, 2001 at 05:18 PM]

 

[Brad_W]

Would you rather listen to a tape or a cd?
I know that I've gotten rid of all my tapes and don't even own a tape player. Same concept.
DVD will always be better.
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My Home Page http://www.geocities.com/masternix/DVD.html

 

[Michael St. Clair]

VHS Hi-Fi tracks can sound better than DD2.0, at least at the low bitrates that the studios use. They can't sound as good as PCM though, at least not in my experience.
Many mass-produced tapes don't track well enough to get this performance.
If you want 'better than DVD' sound, laserdisc is your best bet.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

3. Dvd's are often encoded in Surround Sound, tapes aren't...

Tapes can be encoded in Surround Sound, too. In fact they were encoded that way long before DVD existed. (Matrixed Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby Surround.) "Tapes couldn't do surround sound" is one of those HT urban legends, like "LD is better than VHS because it has digital picture and sound", that never seems to go away. (LD is better than tape, mind you, but not for the reason stated. LD video is analog.)
Regards,
Joe

 

[Scott H]

quote: There are only 2 good reasons why VHS is better than DVD.
1. Cheaper[/quote]
Actually, in the rental market VHS tapes are more expensive. A VHS tape cassette is more durable than a DVD disc, has a longer rental life, and thus costs more.
I believe that from a materials/production perspective a VHS tape also costs more than a DVD disc (not transfer/content production/mastering).
Though not VHS, other tape formats are far superior to the lossy compression of DVD. DVD's are mastered from digital videotape.
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[Edited last by Scott H on September 29, 2001 at 06:43 PM]

 

[TomRS4]

A VHS tape cassette is more durable than a DVD disc, has a longer rental life...

I've had VHS tapes break while using them. I've never had a DVD (or CD) break from normal use. In some regards DVDs may be less able to withstand the abuse of un-caring hands, and assuming DVD rot is not a factor, DVDs will outlast VHS in a collector's possession.
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Tempus Fugit
[Edited last by TomRS4 on September 29, 2001 at 06:54 PM]

 

[Jonathan Burk]

Whatever the theoretical sonic benefits may be, the difference in video quality more than makes up for it in DVD's favor. And has been noted, DVD's can carry uncompressed PCM digital audio, which can sound very good.
So your header should have been "Hi-Fi VHS- better than Dolby Digital 2.0?". In which case, the answer would be: "Possibly, but who cares?" (You would also have to define what you meant by "better".)

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

A VHS tape cassette is more durable than a DVD disc, has a longer rental life, and thus costs more.

The price has nothing to do with durability, and everything to do with production costs of a mechanical device like a plastic-enclosed tape transport, plus what the market will bear. (How much will a video store pay to have a hot title during a rental-only window?)
VHS tapes are not significantly more durable in rental settings than DVDs, barring gross abuse. Dirt and a little mishandling are easily dealt with. (Even my local Blockhead has finally learned to check disc surfaces and remove fingerprints and the like before returning a disc to the shelves.) And unlike VHS tapes DVDs do not progressively destroy themselves every time they are played back, and are not nearly as liable to damage from dirty, badly maintained or damaged home players. I'll bet most rental places end up tossing more wrecked VHS tapes than they do damaged DVDs, and the DVDs are a hell of a lot cheaper to replace, as a rule.
Regards,
Joe
[Edited last by Joseph DeMartino on September 30, 2001 at 10:48 AM]