HD video on VHS? HD video in 1993? WTF?

[Guestx]

This is fucking trippy.

So apparently in the 90s JVC developed an HD version of the VHS format. WTF? Where did this come from?

According to Wikipedia:

D-VHS is a digital video recording format developed by JVC, in collaboration with Hitachi, Matsushita, and Philips. The "D" in D-VHS originally stood for "Data", but with the expansion of the format from standard- to high-definition, JVC renamed it Digital VHS and uses that designation on its website. It uses the same physical cassette format and recording mechanism as S-VHS (but needs higher-quality and more expensive tapes), and is capable of recording and displaying both standard-definition and high-definition content. The content data format is in MPEG transport stream, the same data format used for most digital television applications. The format was introduced in 1998.

As a final effort for VHS, the D-VHS system had significant advantages as a highly versatile domestic recorder (the other tape-based formats are DV and Digital8, which never gained any traction except as camcorder media), but given the wholesale move to DVD and then hard disk drive (HDD) recording, the format has failed to make any headway into the video market.

And according to this article:

While the CE industry and the consuming public were putting all the attention on DVD, JVC and Mitsubishi had been quietly elevating VHS technology with the development of D-VHS.

In brief, D-VHS VCRs were totally compatible with standard VHS, they had the ability record and play all standard VHS and S-VHS formats, but with an added wrinkle: D-VHS is capable of recording in all 18 DTV approved formats, from 480p to full 1080i, with the addition of an external DTV tuner.

In addition, four movie studios (Artisan, Dreamworks SKG, 20th Century FOX, and Universal) had given support to produce high definition pre-recorded programming for D-VHS in a format dubbed D-Theater.

Unlike DVD releases, movies released on D-VHS D-theater format were in 1080i resolution, giving the HDTV owner access to alternative HD programming. It was hoped that this could impact the HDTV market in that where many consumers that would like to access the benefits of HDTV but have difficulty accessing broadcast or satellite HD feeds.

The only consideration was that Mitsubishi D-VHS VCRs did not support the anti-copy encoding used on D-Theater releases, but the JVC D-VHS VCRs did, so, if you wanted to access pre-recording HD films on D-VHS, the JVC was your best option.

There were even movies released in the format?

This is blowing my mind. I don't remember ANYTHING about any D-VHS or D-Theater home video format. Does anyone else remember this shit?

And check this out. Here's a D-VHS demo from 1993. 1993! This shit is just fucking surreal to watch.

 

[John Wang]

That's dominant!!

 

[My Spot]

Don't forget about the Sega Genesis and "HIGH DEFINITION GRAPHICS" in 1989.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

I vaguely remember that. Some rich friend of my dad's had some I think, but I don't think I ever saw one played.

I can't remember, did they need a special kind of VCR or was it just the tapes that were different,

 

[Guestx]

I can't remember, did they need a special kind of VCR or was it just the tapes that were different,

According to Wikipedia, you specifically needed a D-VHS player to watch D-VHS tapes. And if you wanted to watch any of the D-Theater movies that were issued, then you needed a D-VHS player with the D-Theater logo.

 

[MaureenCretis]

The Japs had HD decades before the rest of us.

 

[sfblue]

I remember Super VHS but not the ones you mention.

 

[Guestx]

@Lionel Mandrake and @bubbleboyjones, where y'all at? Time to talk about old tech.

 

[Steve-French]

I've never heard of DVHS either, but that's pretty cool.

 

[chickenluver]

Yeah my family had a few of those. My dad has always been into the most up to date entertainment technology. We even had an HD DVD player before Blu Ray won that battle. I didn't know they actually released movies in that format. I think at my parents house they still have the Lord of the Rings films on HD tape that my dad recorded when they played on HBO in 2004 or sometime.

 

[Guestx]

I've never heard of DVHS either, but that's pretty cool.

I have to say, I thought you'd be a little more blown away by this.

 

[Guestx]

Yeah my family had a few of those. My dad has always been into the most up to date entertainment technology. We even had an HD DVD player before Blu Ray won that battle. I didn't know they actually released movies in that format. I think at my parents house they still have the Lord of the Rings films on HD tape that my dad recorded when they played on HBO in 2004 or sometime.

It's pretty interesting. I'm surprised I had never even heard about this. It seems like I would at least been aware that it existed, especially since movies were released in the format.

Apparently it will cost you $200 for a D-Theater copy of The Bourne Identity.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Bourne-...219955?hash=item2f02aaf033:g:QJwAAOSwkShY96ep

 

[IndyCovaHart]

Mandingo Effect.

 

[TrippleOG]

Japan is epic when it comes to electronics and stuff

 

[nstig8]

Very interesting stuff. Definitely ahead of its time.

 

[rj144]

I had a digital camcorder that used cassette style tapes in the late 90's...

 

[Plissken]

I have a D-VHS player, got it to record hd video off of my cable box before blu-ray hit it big and when dvr's still had very little capacity. The thing is best for transferring vhs to digital. They usually have a firewire connection in the back and you can record the vhs tape directly to your pc as a video file.

 

[Guestx]

Very interesting stuff. Definitely ahead of its time.

Good find, fascinating stuff. I'm shocked that I had just NEVER heard of this.

It doesn't surprise me that the format never took off, if for no other reason than the fact that with DVD already off the ground people were used to having more than just the movie come with their movies. Many cinephiles didn't just want a great picture, they also wanted the commentaries, behind-the-scenes features, deleted scenes, etc.

 

[Guestx]

I have a D-VHS player, got it to record hd video off of my cable box before blu-ray hit it big and when dvr's still had very little capacity. The thing is best for transferring vhs to digital. They usually have a firewire connection in the back and you can record the vhs tape directly to your pc as a video file.

Is yours one of the ones that can play D-Theater movies? If so, did you ever buy movies in that format?

 

[bubbleboyjones]

Good find, fascinating stuff. I'm shocked that I had just NEVER heard of this.

It doesn't surprise me that the format never took off, if for no other reason than the fact that people were used to have more than just the movie come with their movies. Many cinephiles didn't just want a great picture, they also wanted the commentaries, behind-the-scenes features, deleted scenes, etc.

I can say right now I definitely never hear of this. This is like the Twilight Zone. But seriously its weird and seriously cool. 50 Gb of data at 28 Mbps is extremely impressive.
That NYC video is amazing. It's like a time machine looking into a window back then.


Definitely a doomed format because it was going backwards in some respects(people wanted to get away from tapes and little DVDs are too convenient.)

The interesting thing in this video which is still an issue today is how much the studios weigh copy protection when it comes to high quality sources of their content. They mention it at 4:25 n the video. Even today copy protection is something that basically is messing with watching 4K sources today meaning places like Netflix won't just stream 4K to a computer because of piracy and DRM concerns from Hollywood studios(Apparently you can do it now with Edge browser because of the DMR).