VHS
Analog cassette medium
VHS stands for Video Home System, a format for recording and playing video on magnetic tape cassettes.
VHS dominated home video from the late 1970s through the 1990s, displacing rival Betamax despite inferior picture quality.
People rented VHS tapes from video stores and recorded television programs.
The format became obsolete with DVDs and streaming, though VHS retains nostalgic appeal: We found old VHS tapes of family vacations in the attic.
Magnetic audio cartridge
- tapeAdhesive strip on roll
- VCRTape-based video recorder
- magneticAttracting iron or attention
- playbackReproducing recorded media
rewind · fast-forward · tracking · heads · spool · cartridge · composite · RF
Decade before the nineties
- 90sFinal twentieth-century decade
- childhoodLife's earliest phase
- memoriesStored past experiences
- retroEvoking recent past
vintage · rental · video store · Saturday morning · cartoons · home movies · rewinder · slipcase
Feature-length filmed entertainment
- blockbusterEnormously successful entertainment property
- rentalPaid temporary use
- home videoPersonal recordings for private viewing
- marathonLong-distance footrace
trilogy · letterbox · widescreen · director's cut · theatrical · unrated · special edition · double feature
Portable video recording device
- home moviesAmateur recordings of family
- recordPreserved account or achievement
- dubbingPost-production sound replacement
- tabProjection for gripping
Defunct videocassette format
- DVDOptical media format
- Blu-rayHigh-definition optical media
- LaserDiscOptical disc video format
- discontinuedNo longer available
superseded · relic · outdated · deprecated · phased out · legacy · digitization · preservation
cassette
Magnetic audio cartridge
playback · rewind · fast-forward · tracking · heads · spool · cartridge · composite · RF · hi-fi
80s
Decade before the nineties
retro · vintage · rental · video store · Saturday morning · cartoons · home movies · rewinder · slipcase · clamshell
movies
Feature-length filmed entertainment
- blockbusterEnormously successful entertainment property
- rentalPaid temporary use
- home videoPersonal recordings for private viewing
marathon · trilogy · letterbox · widescreen · director's cut · theatrical · unrated · special edition · double feature · box set
camcorder
Portable video recording device
- home moviesAmateur recordings of family
- recordPreserved account or achievement
- dubbingPost-production sound replacement
tab · blank tape · capture · copy protection · time-shifting
Betamax
Defunct videocassette format
discontinued · superseded · relic · outdated · deprecated · phased out · legacy · digitization · preservation · deterioration
- videovideo, AVI, clip, footage, film
- 80s-90s cultureMTV, cassette tapes, CDs, Walkman, Nintendo
- 90sTamagotchi, pogs, Furby, slap bracelets, Tickle Me Elmo
- Analog Eratypewriter, rotary phone, record player, phonograph, turntable
- dying industriesprint newspapers, landlines, payphones, cassette tapes, VCRs
- entertainment historyvaudeville, silent films, talkies, Hollywood, movie palaces
- VHS tapeMagnetic film cartridge
- VHS playerMagnetic tape playback device
- VHS aestheticSimulated cassette recording quality
- VHS effectsAnalog cassette visual artifacts