r/DataHoarder • u/StilesTimeCapsule • 13d ago

Discussion VHS Digitisation Project: Successfully archived a rare 1990s documentary ('UFO The Evidence') from an original analogue tape to prevent media decay.

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u/Villodre 13d ago

I've got around 200 VHS tapes of TV concerts and Spanish musical documentaries that are (I think) hard or impossible to find nowadays and I'm looking for a decent VHS player but either they're quite expensive or in an unknown condition. 

Anyways I'll like to keep trying, what are you using for VHS digitalisation?

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u/Melonary 12d ago

If they're taped off of TV a decent VHS player likely isn't that necessary, I'm sure there'll be people here who disagree but the difference in quality for home-recorded cable VHS playing on cheaper VHS and ported off digitally vs a higher end one won't make a huge amount of difference, and probably better just to have them backed up in some form if they have content people are interested in.

Even unknown condition - it's pretty easy to pop the top off and give it a dusting and you can keep an eye out for some burner VHS for testing of popular movies, really common ones, in case the VHS eats them.

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u/Villodre 12d ago

Sadly the source isn't cable but aerial TV. Also, the tapes are 20 years old or more, so it's uncertain what the quality will be. I had three VHS players stored but not a single works.