My Dad worked on that show - the Panorama Vera one. He did the sound. I was born the next year and worked in TelRec at the BBC (VTRs). I've not seen this Tim Hunkin show, for decades. Great to see ! Many thanks.
This has to be one of the best educational show ever. One of my all-time favorite I remember it watching this on TV now thanks to TH-cam I can enjoy it again.
I used to love watching this show as a kid and I remembered first seeing the episode on the VCR--I was always amazed on how they worked.... an amazing box that combines mechanics and electronics. The show played a role in igniting my passion to learn how things work, and inspired me to become the electrical engineer that I am today. I know, I'm a dork...lol
I love the animations in these episodes. Also, though it’s crazy, hearing the sound of the VHS brought back memories from my childhood 30+ years ago. I used to hear the sound of the magnetic drum spinning up in the VCR as a kid. I’m 35 now and it’s neat to be able to think of things from my childhood as being old school.
Most production for television was done on 16mm film, not 35mm, so it's not going to be good enough for an Ultra HD transfer. And likely once the film was transferred to videotape, it was discarded. But even a transfer of the videotape could be much higher quality than what you see here -- PAL videotape is 576i resolution, versus this 240p TH-cam video.
Actually, I'd be pretty certain Google still host this video on spinning rust in a box in a rack somewhere far away from Mountain View and in several different locations, possibly including Mountain View.
I have read on Tim Hankins website that he will be releasing restored and upscaled version of the old episodes. Do be sure to check out his new series the secret life of components.
Excellent Video. Still have my 1982 Ferguson Piano Key VHS deck -with wired remote control, and yes it does still work. (kept alive by its owner who is ex. TV repair tech.)
Great it still works ducter2001 I am wondering though are there any VHS tapes to find with a reasonable quality film on it............ ? They seem to fade....
Absolutely brilliant video I recall my first video recorder a very chunky top loader vcr with piano style keys then in later years I had a remote control front loading vcr with extended play and record facilities and in later years I did also have a short lived dvd recorder with hard disk drive too
This is cool. I persuaded my parents to send off for the accompanying cartoons by Hunkin showing how each machine worked. I can still remember them 24 years later. what a classic. I'm going to watch these with my daughter when shes old enough
Thank you for sharing this. So much has been lost through indifference over the decades as people did not think it would be relevant as was relatively recent. We would not have what we do today without these advances. What a different world it was then. I probably saw Brian Cant in this programme on Play School when it first aired. I dont have room for an editing suite, but recognise Telequipment S32R oscilloscope from the video. I have one of these still working, along with Tektronix vectorscope and waveform monitors from ca.1964.
Something very interesting and subtle about programs recorded on VHS tape during in the 80s and 90s (before DTV and LCD). It's how natural-looking subject movement appears, because of the unique way VHS updates the entire 100% screen on every separate frame like cine film does. You don't get today's peculiar DTV distortion effects: when a person turns their head slightly their eyes and mouth move but their face texture stays still static and how Detail and Texture of the same object separate from eachother and then move differently. If you have a VHS recording made in the 80s /90s (and ideally a plasma or box CRT display), it's striking to see how natural-looking all movement is compared to the same programme repeated on today's DTV. The first difference you'll notice is comparing the lip-sync and faces of people talking especially in dimly lit scenes. The way they'd hid this peculiar effect in the TV salesroom was screen animated cartoon films like "Finding Nemo"
At 20.16 a mistake, in 1972 SONY didn't introduce the Betamax but UMatic for broadcasting purposes. Only in 1975 Betanax introduced for the domestic market.
The series inspired me to be an engineer, too. Though I haven't reached that yet (got absorbed in filmmaking instead), it nevertheless helped to make me an insufferable know-it-all in elementary school. Watching the Channel Four logo gradually deteriorate was so interesting to me back then, and also deeply disturbed me, because I knew that all the videos I had recorded of my favorite movies and shows (including this one) were destined to that same fate. **sigh**
These tech vids are so good to watch, I follow them with fond knowlege of being there at the time they were introduced. As Tech improved, recorders got much better, I had a VCR which was able to scan the tape and give you multiple thumbnails of the begining of each recording. But progress is progress, now we record to Hard Drive or Pen Drive. I wouldn't want to go back.
21:20 This is what happened with a lot of fan subtitled anime tapes which were often recorded from Japanese TV and then copied to multiple VHS tapes. Sometimes the copies would be almost impossible to watch. I still have a few of my old VHS recordings of anime I borrowed from others back in the 90s that looked real bad quality wise. Even the anime club I went to showed some of these low quality tapes until better sources and video downloads were available.
Now that I have started watching...I have never heard magnetic recording explained so eloquently for people whom are naive on the subject...great job!!!
I started watching this when I was watching another video explaining how Laserdisc worked and someone on that page suggested this video. When he explained how a recording worked by simply magnetizing spots on a bandsaw, I still find it as perplex as how an airplane is able to take off, but it helped me to understand enough how electricity is used to embed a magnetic signal onto a magnetic strip.
That opening title sequence is totally bad ass! I love that kitchen and the cat is in the washer and the kids on the floor looking like he was eating shit!
This entire show was awesome :). Tim and Rex are geniuses and it's pretty hard to imagine a world without this show, them and their work to keep us educated and entertained at the same time.
0:31 reminds me of Herbie Hancock - Rockit in fact I was hearing that tune in my head until Tim started speaking. and at 25:00 we're back to Herbie Hancock's house of rock!
I was fortunate enough to own a machine exactly like the one at 19:50, the Philips VCR format. It could record very well though the quality was not quite as sharp as compared to VHS, for instance. It also had a tendency to damage the tape.
As a kid I never believed that tapes were magnetic so I took a toy magnet and randomly rubbed it on a 1m long section of a casette tape and played it back and heard static in a small spot so ever since then, I knew it was a magnetic signal.
I find it interesting that some TH-camrs still say they "taped" or "filmed" an event, even though tape, and especially film are difficult or impossible to obtain.
Not to mention the usage of the term "Footage". Footage refers to the the length in feet of tapes used to record audio and the film used to record video.
My problem is, I still love video recorders. I have a collection of dozens of them, encompassing a huge range of different formats (there were so many more than just VHS and Beta).
Regardless of how amazing digital video is, It's frankly ASTONISHING that video could be recorded and played back on a medium that was barely good enough for HI-FI music just a few years before. To me a VTR/VCR is more amazing than a DVD player in as much as SO MUCH mechanically has to be "perfect" JUST to get it to work. VCRs were amazing in how complex electromechanical devices could be made/sold so cheaply. Don't get me wrong, I would not go back to VTR over digital (Disc or just files), But Damn, It's STILL impressive that it worked AT ALL!
Last line is not technically correct. Rust was for oxide tapes. By 1991, metal tapes were used in studios with the BetacamSP format (because Beta derived formats outlived VHS). Later, metal tape became the norm for camcorders too with Video8, Hi8, Digital8 and miniDV. The old VHSC format just rusted quietly, giving dreadful pictures.
I don’t think iron oxide tapes were ever used in Betamax or VHS, either. Every one I’ve ever seen has a darker, not very reddish coating. More like chrome or metal audio cassettes.
At 20:00 That Philips machine was the first VCR in our house. It was bought by my father and me. Not a fantastic machine but it was the start. I moved out the parental home and switched to VHS. My father, a real Dutch patriot, switched to Video 2000 system which was in many ways superior.
People nowadays have forgotten the almost complicated setting of recording schedules and the fact that you could always watch the recording only if it was finished.
ACTUALLY each frame is made up of two fields that can be separated into two frames, giving us (in PAL) 50fps playback, hence why direct camera recording to tape look extremely smooth.
wow... that intro was seriously creepy! I absolutely love their easy to understand examples showing how the machines work using things theyve created. So easy to understand... drawing the path of the head on the tape made it so easy to see why it packs so much information on the tape!
Hi I've Acquired A JVC HR7655EK And I've A Problem With The Loading It Won't Load A Tape, I've Peered Through The Video Flap And The Video Lamp Which I've Been Told Is On This Unit Isn't Lighting. Would That Stop The Loading? Also Would You Be Able To Give Me A Part Number For This Video Lamp That Would Be Most Helpful Thanks So Much.
Hi, this model is the same as the Ferguson 3V32, with the HR7650 being the same as the Ferguson 3V31 (the non-LP version). The stock faults will be the same. Yes, you may need to replace the incandescent bulb, but you need to verify that it is actually blown and/ or there is voltage present across it (out of stand-by), otherwise the fault will be somewhere else. FYI: There was an infra-red LED mod that could also be done, and in that case the light will not be visible to the eye. Note: I don't think these machines switch on automatically when presented with a cassette - you have to manually move the power lever up to the 'On' position. You will know when it is awake as the tape counter will appear on the display, and one of the channel selector buttons will be lit. If you can't bring it out of stand-by check/ replace transistor Q22 on the Mechacon PCB. One of the faults is a missing 12v rail which would make the machine look dead besides the off light. This is diode D207 being open circuit, which supplies pin 36 of IC206. The other 'dead' fault is Fuse F4 being blown. If you get the bulb going (machine awake and out of stand-by), and it's still not loading, check/ replace transistor Q8 on the Mechacon PCB. Also check/ replace transistor Q9 if it doesn't eject. Also check the drive belts, etc. Hope that helps! :)
@@Oldgamingfart Huge Thanks For Your Reply.. This Machine Is The HR 7655EK You Have HR 7650 Is There Much Of A Difference? Also What's Happening Is The Machine Powers On, I Place A Tape In The Loading Basket But It Wont Pull It In I Then Shove It In And The Tape Just Stays Stuck And If I Push It Even More It Refuses To Sit Down On The Chassis Tape Is Now Stuck In The Machine. Then I Completely Turn Off The Mains Power To The Machine Then Turn The Mains Power Back On And Then Loading Motor Engages And Spits The Tape Out! Before PCB's Are Looked At Is There Anything Else That Can Cause The Machines Loading Basket To Not Recognise The Tape Is Been Loaded. All Help Is Very Much Gratefully Received And Appreciated Thank You.
@@VideoWorldWaterford The 7650 is just the previous version but without the extra switch denoting the longplay (LP) feature. They're mostly the same, otherwise. Definitely not a good idea to force a tape in as that will often lead to mechanical damage and broken bits.. and then you'll have even more problems to deal with! Again, the lamp being out is the most obvious fault, as this will 100% stop the machine dead in its tracks. I would find someone local who can take it on for you. Perhaps try the forum on the 'UK Vintage Radio Repair & Restoration' site. Note: Even when working properly, VHS decks are often light sensitive. Best to place something on top if you are running it with the cover off, as you can sometimes get 'undesired operation'.
@@VideoWorldWaterford I think its around 12v 70ma, so any of those little car dashboard lights, or model railway ones might do the trick. Also search eBay for 'PU55110' as that's the LED replacement for some JVC/ Ferguson decks, although I'm not sure if it will fit in yours. Also requires a 1k resistor for the machine to recognise it. For more suggestions, try an eBay search for 'lamp' in the: 'Sound & Vision > Vintage Sound & Vision > Video/VCRs' section.
I still use the word "tape"when I record digitally. I last used my VCR over 7 years ago and still have it now. That's good going considering many people have long dicarded the VHS recorders long before then. Also, I remember the rock steady version of "Take Five" was the theme tune. When Channel 4 was innovative and different......
I'm pretty sure TH-cam stores it exactly in lump of rust, on their HDD. It may become history for PC and laptops, replaced with SSD but it would hardly go away for massive storages
TV gets no better than this. Maybe Sesame Street. I bought a new Sharp VHS camcorder in 1994 and it still works! I get it out and play with it some fairly often. The analogue system is fascinating.
Not _totally_ wrong - some camcorders actually used miniature head drums that did one field per revolution (to be played back on normal half-revolution-per-field machines)!!
Loved this series, easily explained & simply demonstrated. Only complaint is against the BBC statement "Nightingale Square SOUTH London". Not on my map! Nightingale Square is surely Westminster, Mayfair or if you want to be just as incorrect - West London. I bet Channel 4 would've got that correct.
I remember when I first saw a DVD video for the first time and was amazed at the picture quality when compared to that of VHS. I think it was in about 2001 or so and it was Shrek that I saw. 😂😂
For years now the newer LCD Tvs onwards can record and playback with a usb stick in the back so the VCR and even the DVD recorder is a dead technology even more so as they had moving parts and a usb stick has none. I still have a VCR connected s have old tapes to play and its very easy just to hit record on the vcr- so still convenient. The helical system is brilliant as it compresses the lines extremely close together on the tape and you can get 3 hours of quality recording and double that just by slowing the tape by half again. The tolerances of these devices are extreme however and i service my own VCR and you need a oscilloscope to read the signals to adjust the tape position on the drum high or low in order to get the digital signal working correctly. Trying to adjust the adjusting posts by eye is a totally hit and miss affair and even if playback is barely acceptable especially in LP mode!, recording will be terrible as that tape has to within a fraction of a mm to record and play right. a scope makes it easy to see to get it dead on. I found "sharp" VCRS very hard to wear out in both electronics and the mechanical mechs are well designed like all Japanese things of the time. My tip is use only quality tapes and keep them sealed if possible as that oxide coating on bad tapes will clog the tiny heads and you have to clean VCRS at least periodically after playing a lot and know how to do this as perm damage to the heads are done if you not extremely carefully working on the drum. You can spay some electronics cleaner which will desolve the muck or use special brush to touch the heads and if you know how to do this its easy but they warn people not too as almost all ruin them unless you know what you are doing. If you need to replace the heads they just solder & screw in to place but have to me minutely adjust once again with a scope as they will be touching the tape.
"post the toast" was the classic. Lots of butter and honey, or jam. Guaranteed repair bill when this stuff cost a couple (or four) weeks pay to replace.
great show. one of my engineering professors had worked at Ampex. he said the biggest mistake was selling off patents until america didn't mfg any electronics.
Hi Graham. Before videotape recording came along the BBC (predominantly) used a system called "Film Recording". Indeed there was a whole department so named with a large number of machines that basically pointed a special 16mm or 35mm film camera at a high resolution (by those day's standards) black and white TV monitor in order to archive programs. It was not a standard film camera. It had to have a special mechanism that exposed the film for one frame and then pulled the film down very rapidly (within the "frame blanking" period) between exposures. For this reason the machines were extremely noisy and sounded like a machine gun, hence were kept in a separate room to protect the operator's hearing. That's why all TV programmes of this era (those that have survived) look like they are on film even though they were actually produced on video by TV video cameras in a TV studio. The BBC actually used film recording as an archive method for a long time after videotape recording came along, because the video tapes, being very expensive, were often wiped for re-use. That's why some classic programmes like Dr Who for example, even though they were transmitted in colour video, were only kept on 16mm black and white film! Actually film recording was still in use well into the 1980s to make film copies of video programmes for splicing into programmes edited on film (with timecode in-vision). This "rough" footage would later be replaced by the original video when the film was transferred to tape for transmission in a process known as "conforming". For loads more information about the golden days of videotape recording at the BBC see here: www.vtoldboys.com/
My Dad worked on that show - the Panorama Vera one. He did the sound. I was born the next year and worked in TelRec at the BBC (VTRs). I've not seen this Tim Hunkin show, for decades. Great to see ! Many thanks.
This has to be one of the best educational show ever. One of my all-time favorite I remember it watching this on TV now thanks to TH-cam I can enjoy it again.
It’s a shame these type of shows aren’t made anymore.
I used to love watching this show as a kid and I remembered first seeing the episode on the VCR--I was always amazed on how they worked.... an amazing box that combines mechanics and electronics. The show played a role in igniting my passion to learn how things work, and inspired me to become the electrical engineer that I am today. I know, I'm a dork...lol
I love the animations in these episodes. Also, though it’s crazy, hearing the sound of the VHS brought back memories from my childhood 30+ years ago. I used to hear the sound of the magnetic drum spinning up in the VCR as a kid. I’m 35 now and it’s neat to be able to think of things from my childhood as being old school.
They're not. I'm 50. 8 tracks and vinyls were a thing when I was a kid.
Your ability to go from such basic understandable demonstrations to the end point is fantastic. I'll remember this when teaching others
Ironically this was recorded on film, not videotape -- you can see the film grain.
Oh I would love for a high res blu ray of these if it was film. Imagine. This show is 4k. 😄
Most production for television was done on 16mm film, not 35mm, so it's not going to be good enough for an Ultra HD transfer. And likely once the film was transferred to videotape, it was discarded. But even a transfer of the videotape could be much higher quality than what you see here -- PAL videotape is 576i resolution, versus this 240p TH-cam video.
@@gaminggabe, the DVD transfers had issues sadly, I think one of the film episode masters has gone missing.. which is a shame.
coolwhip455
"What you are watching is a lump of rust". Damn how much things have changed.
Yeah, now you are watching it on a pinch of sand...
Actually, I'd be pretty certain Google still host this video on spinning rust in a box in a rack somewhere far away from Mountain View and in several different locations, possibly including Mountain View.
hahahah true
GeoNeilUK Good point!
And then sent over copper and sand
@@soundspark Indeed. Just ordered eight tera bytes of spinning rust for just little over two hundred euros.
Tim Hunkin is a legend. He has his own You Tube channel with new videos of his own.
At 10:03 "This is recorded on sticky tape and rust." That was my favorite bit from this entire series. I liked every episode.
I have read on Tim Hankins website that he will be releasing restored and upscaled version of the old episodes. Do be sure to check out his new series the secret life of components.
Some new ones released today on his channel
A recording of that Nixon/Kruschev press "conference" with sound has subsequently been found.
"Is really very simple" - Tim's favourite phrase.
In essence it is very simple.. Like a finger print
Excellent Video. Still have my 1982 Ferguson Piano Key VHS deck -with wired remote control, and yes it does still work. (kept alive by its owner who is ex. TV repair tech.)
Great it still works ducter2001 I am wondering though are there any VHS tapes to find with a reasonable quality film on it............ ? They seem to fade....
I learned to program my families VCR as a kid so I could record shows like this when they aired after my bed time.
@@tjdelucio995 before DVD, looks like a big cassette
The tilted VCR head demonstration is one of the best technical explanations for how the tech works ever come up with. Absolutely brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant video I recall my first video recorder a very chunky top loader vcr with piano style keys then in later years I had a remote control front loading vcr with extended play and record facilities and in later years I did also have a short lived dvd recorder with hard disk drive too
This is cool. I persuaded my parents to send off for the accompanying cartoons by Hunkin showing how each machine worked. I can still remember them 24 years later. what a classic. I'm going to watch these with my daughter when shes old enough
a133m210 My Dad ordered them for me, too - it was a giant fold out poster as I recall.
+unlokia yes big fold out sheets! thanks for reminding me about my comment, my dauhters two years older now I think I might try some hunkin :-)
a133m210 I wish I could find mine :/ - yes - DO IT - SLOM is excellent! God bless you and Happy 2017! :)
Yes I still have both sets. Great stuff
Fascinating show. Also, so cool to learn how that famous Polo Mint advert was actually made!
Thank you for sharing this. So much has been lost through indifference over the decades as people did not think it would be relevant as was relatively recent. We would not have what we do today without these advances. What a different world it was then. I probably saw Brian Cant in this programme on Play School when it first aired. I dont have room for an editing suite, but recognise Telequipment S32R oscilloscope from the video. I have one of these still working, along with Tektronix vectorscope and waveform monitors from ca.1964.
Something very interesting and subtle about programs recorded on VHS tape during in the 80s and 90s (before DTV and LCD). It's how natural-looking subject movement appears, because of the unique way VHS updates the entire 100% screen on every separate frame like cine film does. You don't get today's peculiar DTV distortion effects: when a person turns their head slightly their eyes and mouth move but their face texture stays still static and how Detail and Texture of the same object separate from eachother and then move differently.
If you have a VHS recording made in the 80s /90s (and ideally a plasma or box CRT display), it's striking to see how natural-looking all movement is compared to the same programme repeated on today's DTV. The first difference you'll notice is comparing the lip-sync and faces of people talking especially in dimly lit scenes. The way they'd hid this peculiar effect in the TV salesroom was screen animated cartoon films like "Finding Nemo"
Just yesterday the last VCR manufacturer announced they are shutting down production. RIP, VCR!
Jorge Rodriguez Funai Electronics.
thats a problem considering i still use them to record
That,s bad ! !
I know what you mean about video tape wearing out. My, err, 'Pretty lady' VHS tapes didn't last long at all.
Ah, watched them a few times did you? ;-D
miss this series
Also, I wonder how many people noticed that the cassette tapes in the intro animation were going into the VCR upside down.
True, unless they were using the 'Philips V2000 video cassette system'.
I noticed.
Less than 30 years later, and I’m watching this on my iPad.
25 years old, seems like a few weeks
At 20.16 a mistake, in 1972 SONY didn't introduce the Betamax but UMatic for broadcasting purposes. Only in 1975 Betanax introduced for the domestic market.
The series inspired me to be an engineer, too. Though I haven't reached that yet (got absorbed in filmmaking instead), it nevertheless helped to make me an insufferable know-it-all in elementary school.
Watching the Channel Four logo gradually deteriorate was so interesting to me back then, and also deeply disturbed me, because I knew that all the videos I had recorded of my favorite movies and shows (including this one) were destined to that same fate. **sigh**
These tech vids are so good to watch, I follow them with fond knowlege of being there at the time they were introduced.
As Tech improved, recorders got much better, I had a VCR which was able to scan the tape and give you multiple thumbnails of the begining of each recording.
But progress is progress, now we record to Hard Drive or Pen Drive.
I wouldn't want to go back.
21:20 This is what happened with a lot of fan subtitled anime tapes which were often recorded from Japanese TV and then copied to multiple VHS tapes. Sometimes the copies would be almost impossible to watch. I still have a few of my old VHS recordings of anime I borrowed from others back in the 90s that looked real bad quality wise. Even the anime club I went to showed some of these low quality tapes until better sources and video downloads were available.
I use to watch this show on TV… bring it back👏🏼👏🏼
The Video Recorder one of my favorites Topics When this program was on the air back on the 90's
Now that I have started watching...I have never heard magnetic recording explained so eloquently for people whom are naive on the subject...great job!!!
That was the great thing about Tim and Rex. I loved this series when it was first aired. They could really show stuff in a simple clear way.
I started watching this when I was watching another video explaining how Laserdisc worked and someone on that page suggested this video. When he explained how a recording worked by simply magnetizing spots on a bandsaw, I still find it as perplex as how an airplane is able to take off, but it helped me to understand enough how electricity is used to embed a magnetic signal onto a magnetic strip.
That opening title sequence is totally bad ass! I love that kitchen and the cat is in the washer and the kids on the floor looking like he was eating shit!
This entire show was awesome :). Tim and Rex are geniuses and it's pretty hard to imagine a world without this show, them and their work to keep us educated and entertained at the same time.
0:31 reminds me of Herbie Hancock - Rockit in fact I was hearing that tune in my head until Tim started speaking.
and at 25:00 we're back to Herbie Hancock's house of rock!
I was about to comment the same thing haha
I was fortunate enough to own a machine exactly like the one at 19:50, the Philips VCR format. It could record very well though the quality was not quite as sharp as compared to VHS, for instance. It also had a tendency to damage the tape.
so there was a couple of special fx specialists dedicated to dissecate some trivial questions of our lives. amazing
The part of the story that’s missing is the enormous gap between consumer, professional, and broadcast grade equipment.
$200, $10,000, and $200,000
From a time back when the "art" was still in the Art of documentary. Utterly beautiful and yet with substance.
I was deeply obsessed with all things media in school and this was one of many things that inspired me to get into music production.
I'd like to see an update going over the DVD and BluRay and Digital tech.
As a kid I never believed that tapes were magnetic so I took a toy magnet and randomly rubbed it on a 1m long section of a casette tape and played it back and heard static in a small spot so ever since then, I knew it was a magnetic signal.
The kids nowadays have no idea how challenging and fun everything was back then, especially renting movies to watch on a weekend
Not to mention finding them all, and getting them back before they were overdue!
I watched this on TV back in the day. I thought it was the best program ever! I had not seen real people on the telly before!
I find it interesting that some TH-camrs still say they "taped" or "filmed" an event, even though tape, and especially film are difficult or impossible to obtain.
Not to mention the usage of the term "Footage". Footage refers to the the length in feet of tapes used to record audio and the film used to record video.
Tapes and film are not that difficult to obtain. Film can be expensive tho.
My high school science teacher never called me by my name, only 'Bing'... Greatest teacher I ever had! Ward Gilkerson!
Ah yes, I remember the good old days when I used to record songs off the radio onto my bandsaw.
Great series. Tim Hunkin has his own channel now on TH-cam.
My problem is, I still love video recorders. I have a collection of dozens of them, encompassing a huge range of different formats (there were so many more than just VHS and Beta).
YOU love video recorders?! I would never have guessed! Nope, never in a million years! ;)
with the onset of more & more people cutting the cable and getting a broadcast antenna will VCR's make a comeback
I’m watching this in 2021 and I think I still have an old VHS machine in the garage , could it be like the vinyl revival ?
vinyl revivale is only 5% the sell…
Regardless of how amazing digital video is, It's frankly ASTONISHING that video could be recorded and played back on a medium that was barely good enough for HI-FI music just a few years before. To me a VTR/VCR is more amazing than a DVD player in as much as SO MUCH mechanically has to be "perfect" JUST to get it to work. VCRs were amazing in how complex electromechanical devices could be made/sold so cheaply. Don't get me wrong, I would not go back to VTR over digital (Disc or just files), But Damn, It's STILL impressive that it worked AT ALL!
Last line is not technically correct. Rust was for oxide tapes. By 1991, metal tapes were used in studios with the BetacamSP format (because Beta derived formats outlived VHS). Later, metal tape became the norm for camcorders too with Video8, Hi8, Digital8 and miniDV. The old VHSC format just rusted quietly, giving dreadful pictures.
I don’t think iron oxide tapes were ever used in Betamax or VHS, either. Every one I’ve ever seen has a darker, not very reddish coating. More like chrome or metal audio cassettes.
..and what Tim Hunkin didn't realise at the time was that we'd all be watching a series of pixels :-)
At 20:00 That Philips machine was the first VCR in our house. It was bought by my father and me. Not a fantastic machine but it was the start. I moved out the parental home and switched to VHS. My father, a real Dutch patriot, switched to Video 2000 system which was in many ways superior.
People nowadays have forgotten the almost complicated setting of recording schedules and the fact that you could always watch the recording only if it was finished.
I have SKY with a 2TB box, but I rarely ever bother to record anything anymore as it's so much more convenient just to stream content.
Hard to believe that as of 2019, these remarkable machines are now obsolete.
ACTUALLY
each frame is made up of two fields that can be separated into two frames, giving us (in PAL) 50fps playback, hence why direct camera recording to tape look extremely smooth.
I prefer the Ch4 ident when it loses all quality at the end - 21:47
but why though
Lol Ch4 has lost all its quality when you look at the junk it puts out in 2020.
need to bring this type of show back
20:00 Philips producing the first home video recorder - a very rare example of European innovation.
When I bought my last VCR, I bought it purely on the basis of the remote and how easy that was to use.
wow... that intro was seriously creepy! I absolutely love their easy to understand examples showing how the machines work using things theyve created. So easy to understand... drawing the path of the head on the tape made it so easy to see why it packs so much information on the tape!
14:49 finally I know where that Monty Python sketch came from where they replayed a TV programme from the beginning again and again :)
I loved this great show thank you so much for doing this 📻☎️🎛📽🔋🎥📀🖨💻📼📹🎬📺
I watch the Discovery Channel on a regular basis, how did I miss this show?
The wonderful world of analog recording!
Hi I've Acquired A JVC HR7655EK And I've A Problem With The Loading It Won't Load A Tape, I've Peered Through The Video Flap And The Video Lamp Which I've Been Told Is On This Unit Isn't Lighting. Would That Stop The Loading? Also Would You Be Able To Give Me A Part Number For This Video Lamp That Would Be Most Helpful Thanks So Much.
Hi, this model is the same as the Ferguson 3V32, with the HR7650 being the same as the Ferguson 3V31 (the non-LP version). The stock faults will be the same.
Yes, you may need to replace the incandescent bulb, but you need to verify that it is actually blown and/ or there is voltage present across it (out of stand-by), otherwise the fault will be somewhere else. FYI: There was an infra-red LED mod that could also be done, and in that case the light will not be visible to the eye.
Note: I don't think these machines switch on automatically when presented with a cassette - you have to manually move the power lever up to the 'On' position. You will know when it is awake as the tape counter will appear on the display, and one of the channel selector buttons will be lit.
If you can't bring it out of stand-by check/ replace transistor Q22 on the Mechacon PCB.
One of the faults is a missing 12v rail which would make the machine look dead besides the off light. This is diode D207 being open circuit, which supplies pin 36 of IC206.
The other 'dead' fault is Fuse F4 being blown.
If you get the bulb going (machine awake and out of stand-by), and it's still not loading, check/ replace transistor Q8 on the Mechacon PCB. Also check/ replace transistor Q9 if it doesn't eject. Also check the drive belts, etc.
Hope that helps! :)
@@Oldgamingfart Huge Thanks For Your Reply.. This Machine Is The HR 7655EK You Have HR 7650 Is There Much Of A Difference? Also What's Happening Is The Machine Powers On, I Place A Tape In The Loading Basket But It Wont Pull It In I Then Shove It In And The Tape Just Stays Stuck And If I Push It Even More It Refuses To Sit Down On The Chassis Tape Is Now Stuck In The Machine.
Then I Completely Turn Off The Mains Power To The Machine Then Turn The Mains Power Back On And Then Loading Motor Engages And Spits The Tape Out!
Before PCB's Are Looked At Is There Anything Else That Can Cause The Machines Loading Basket To Not Recognise The Tape Is Been Loaded.
All Help Is Very Much Gratefully Received And Appreciated
Thank You.
@@VideoWorldWaterford The 7650 is just the previous version but without the extra switch denoting the longplay (LP) feature. They're mostly the same, otherwise.
Definitely not a good idea to force a tape in as that will often lead to mechanical damage and broken bits.. and then you'll have even more problems to deal with!
Again, the lamp being out is the most obvious fault, as this will 100% stop the machine dead in its tracks. I would find someone local who can take it on for you. Perhaps try the forum on the 'UK Vintage Radio Repair & Restoration' site.
Note: Even when working properly, VHS decks are often light sensitive. Best to place something on top if you are running it with the cover off, as you can sometimes get 'undesired operation'.
@@Oldgamingfart Any Idea For A Part Number For This Lamp Inside The Machine?
@@VideoWorldWaterford I think its around 12v 70ma, so any of those little car dashboard lights, or model railway ones might do the trick.
Also search eBay for 'PU55110' as that's the LED replacement for some JVC/ Ferguson decks, although I'm not sure if it will fit in yours. Also requires a 1k resistor for the machine to recognise it.
For more suggestions, try an eBay search for 'lamp' in the: 'Sound & Vision > Vintage Sound & Vision > Video/VCRs' section.
I still use the word "tape"when I record digitally. I last used my VCR over 7 years ago and still have it now. That's good going considering many people have long dicarded the VHS recorders long before then. Also, I remember the rock steady version of "Take Five" was the theme tune. When Channel 4 was innovative and different......
Some tapes can be digital, such as D-VHS, D8 or miniDV.
You're welcome River, thanks for stopping by :) I would've replied earlier but notifications were not being forwarded to email, doh!
They were broadcast on BBC 4, but their closing theme was "Take 5."
wonderful and VERA
Not quite the '40s stuff, but still awesome and way better than most oversimplified "educational" crap we get today
Rex did the stick rust trick. Miss that guy 👍
"What you are watching is a lump of rust". Damn how much things have changed.
coolwhip455 not for the better in many cases. Too much complexity.
I'm pretty sure TH-cam stores it exactly in lump of rust, on their HDD. It may become history for PC and laptops, replaced with SSD but it would hardly go away for massive storages
"...this razor sharp steel..." *grabs with bare hands*
Oh how i miss this show watched it always early 90s
TV gets no better than this. Maybe Sesame Street. I bought a new Sharp VHS camcorder in 1994 and it still works! I get it out and play with it some fairly often. The analogue system is fascinating.
This is recorded on stickytape and rust, This is recorded on stickytape and rust, This is recorded on stickytape and rust, LOL.
This was a great TV show.Didn't Rex Garrod go on to make the first flipper robot in robot wars?
i love this show! always wondered how it works.
In 2020, what’s a video tape?
love your guys work its very satisfying
One error was rotating the upper cylinder a full turn rather than only a half turn before advancing the paper strip.
Not _totally_ wrong - some camcorders actually used miniature head drums that did one field per revolution (to be played back on normal half-revolution-per-field machines)!!
You didn't added how sound get added to video.
22:22 Rex working the beaver hard from below.
Loved this series, easily explained & simply demonstrated. Only complaint is against the BBC statement "Nightingale Square SOUTH London". Not on my map! Nightingale Square is surely Westminster, Mayfair or if you want to be just as incorrect - West London. I bet Channel 4 would've got that correct.
Life goes on
I remember when I first saw a DVD video for the first time and was amazed at the picture quality when compared to that of VHS. I think it was in about 2001 or so and it was Shrek that I saw. 😂😂
Tim was great as the hero in the movie Bad Taste
One of my favorite shows :)
Nice load of rust.
As I type I have a VCR dubbing an old family tape to DVD... my mate asked me to dub his - go me! In exchange I get a jar of home-made pickles!
How were those pickles? 😉🤣
For years now the newer LCD Tvs onwards can record and playback with a usb stick in the back so the VCR and even the DVD recorder is a dead technology even more so as they had moving parts and a usb stick has none. I still have a VCR connected s have old tapes to play and its very easy just to hit record on the vcr- so still convenient.
The helical system is brilliant as it compresses the lines extremely close together on the tape and you can get 3 hours of quality recording and double that just by slowing the tape by half again. The tolerances of these devices are extreme however and i service my own VCR and you need a oscilloscope to read the signals to adjust the tape position on the drum high or low in order to get the digital signal working correctly. Trying to adjust the adjusting posts by eye is a totally hit and miss affair and even if playback is barely acceptable especially in LP mode!, recording will be terrible as that tape has to within a fraction of a mm to record and play right. a scope makes it easy to see to get it dead on.
I found "sharp" VCRS very hard to wear out in both electronics and the mechanical mechs are well designed like all Japanese things of the time.
My tip is use only quality tapes and keep them sealed if possible as that oxide coating on bad tapes will clog the tiny heads and you have to clean VCRS at least periodically after playing a lot and know how to do this as perm damage to the heads are done if you not extremely carefully working on the drum. You can spay some electronics cleaner which will desolve the muck or use special brush to touch the heads and if you know how to do this its easy but they warn people not too as almost all ruin them unless you know what you are doing. If you need to replace the heads they just solder & screw in to place but have to me minutely adjust once again with a scope as they will be touching the tape.
Cornerstone remark: Magnetism and electronics are closely connected. Also no surprise that the quality products originated in Germany.
"It's easy for children to stick things in them". I had stuck keys in there :D
"post the toast" was the classic. Lots of butter and honey, or jam. Guaranteed repair bill when this stuff cost a couple (or four) weeks pay to replace.
great show. one of my engineering professors had worked at Ampex. he said the biggest mistake was selling off patents until america didn't mfg any electronics.
AND NOW we have solid state: No more tape or clunky mechanical loading.
At 18:56 is krustef and Nixon!
So how did they record panorama to show us the whole thing including the recording..?
Hi Graham. Before videotape recording came along the BBC (predominantly) used a system called "Film Recording". Indeed there was a whole department so named with a large number of machines that basically pointed a special 16mm or 35mm film camera at a high resolution (by those day's standards) black and white TV monitor in order to archive programs. It was not a standard film camera. It had to have a special mechanism that exposed the film for one frame and then pulled the film down very rapidly (within the "frame blanking" period) between exposures. For this reason the machines were extremely noisy and sounded like a machine gun, hence were kept in a separate room to protect the operator's hearing. That's why all TV programmes of this era (those that have survived) look like they are on film even though they were actually produced on video by TV video cameras in a TV studio. The BBC actually used film recording as an archive method for a long time after videotape recording came along, because the video tapes, being very expensive, were often wiped for re-use. That's why some classic programmes like Dr Who for example, even though they were transmitted in colour video, were only kept on 16mm black and white film! Actually film recording was still in use well into the 1980s to make film copies of video programmes for splicing into programmes edited on film (with timecode in-vision). This "rough" footage would later be replaced by the original video when the film was transferred to tape for transmission in a process known as "conforming". For loads more information about the golden days of videotape recording at the BBC see here: www.vtoldboys.com/
Here's the link all about Film Recording: www.vtoldboys.com/fr01.htm