S-VHS vs VHS videotape format – what’s the difference? S-VHS, otherwise known as Super VHS, is the big brother to VHS and was a popular videotape format among “prosumer” videographers in the late 80s and early 90s.
The main benefit of Super VHS (S-VHS) over VHS was the increase in horizontal resolution from 240 lines of VHS to 420 lines of resolution with S-VHS resulting in a better picture quality of recordings.
We’ll explain exactly what improvements were made over the standard VHS format to dub this format “Super VHS”, as well as why it wasn’t as popular.
The History of Super VHS
JVC introduced the SVHS format in 1987, looking to create a version of VHS that had better video quality. It was still an analog video format, consumer digital video was not on the market yet.
At this time VHS had essentially beaten out Betamax in the format wars, but the knock against VHS was that Betamax had a higher resolution.
Not willing to go away easily despite the format wars, Super Betamax was introduced by Sony in 1985 which allowed recording up to 290 lines of resolution on standard Betamax Tape.
SVHS was a direct response by JVC to compete with SuperBetamax to stick a fork in the format wars once and for all by introducing a format that produced better video quality and resolution than SuperBetamax.
It was considered an extension or improvement to the existing VHS format, not an entirely new videotape format.
Below is the official promotion video from JVC about the benefits of S-VHS
S-VHS Technical Advancements
SVHS is an analog tape format based on VHS and the tape cassettes look nearly identical. S-VHS took a significant leap in video technology, resulting in significantly improve video quality compared to standard VHS.
So what are the improvements that S-VHS brings compared to VHS?
- Enhanced Resolution: The main benefit of S-VHS is that it increased its horizontal resolution to 420 lines, compared to 240 for standard VHS. This even beats standard broadcast television with 330 lines of horizontal resolution, resulting in sharper and clearer images.
- Increased Bandwidth: In order to record at a higher resolution S-VHS needs to record at higher frequencies, it does this by separating the color (chrominance) and brightness (luminance) signals compared to VHS where these are combined.The increase in chrominance and luminance bandwidth means also means improved color reproduction and enhanced clarity for overall far superior picture quality compared to VHS and SuperBetamax.
- Y/C Separation: S-VHS introduced Y/C separation or S-Video (see Wikipedia), a feature that maintained a clearer distinction between the luminance (brightness) and chrominance (color) components of the video signal, preventing color bleeding and enhancing overall image fidelity.
- Improved Color Reproduction: The S-VHS format incorporated better color recording and playback capabilities, delivering more vibrant and accurate hues.
- Reduced Noise Levels: S-VHS featured lower levels of video noise, contributing to a cleaner and more stable picture quality.
What stayed the same with S-VHS?
The audio quality of S-VHS is identical to VHS recording in the same mono and Hi-Fi audio format.
However, there are some S-VHS recorders that could PCM digital audio tracks along with normal video and audio tracks.
This actually became my favorite feature of my S-VHS Sony SLV-R recorder as I did music-based videos where it would allow me to insert a “soundtrack” and then later insert the video clips and ensure they were timed to my liking,
S-VHS Media
The SVHS tape cassette and videotape look identical to a VHS tape. So what is the difference?
- The magnetic tape in an SVHS cassette is made differently than a standard VHS tape in order to record higher frequencies needed to improve the resolution. It contains high-density oxide that allows for recording higher frequencies thus higher resolution.
- The cassette tape itself has a small hole on the bottom that VHS tapes do not have. This hole can be detected by S-VHS VCRS so it knows it’s an S-VHS cassette, not a VHS cassette.
Super VHS VCRs
The S-VHS VCR recorders and players were an improvement over VHS recorders.
- Improved Resolution: When recording onto videotape in S-VHS mode it would write up to 420 horizontal lines of resolution on the the S-VHS tape.
- Backward Compatible with VHS: All S-VHS VCRs are backward compatible, meaning they can play back VHS tapes as well as S-VHS tapes
- Auto Detect Mode: S-VHS VCRs will try to detect the hole in the bottom of the cassette as described above. If the hole is detected it knew the tape was S-VHS and it would switch into the SVHS mode. If no hole was detected it would switch to VHS mode.
- Record onto VHS Tapes: S-VHS VCRS can still record onto a standard VHIS tape, but will only record 240 lines of resolution as the design of the VHS tapes cannot handle the increased resolution.
- S-Video Inputs and Outputs: The inputs and outputs of S-VHS VCR had an additional port for a new type of video cable called an S-Video cable. This cable allows the color (chrominance) and brightness (luminance) signals to travel seperated to the TV or device you are connecting to. This allows for a cleaner picture quality.
You can still find S-VHS VCRs on eBay if you have some S-VHS tapes that you want to transfer yourself.
S-VHS Camcorders
In the early 2000s the popularity of S-VHS camcorders peaked as these were considered cutting-edge video recording devices that were sought out by professional and amateur videographers alike.
These camcorders recorded utilized all of the technological improvements of S-VHS with increased horizontal resolution and color bandwidth. As digital camcorders started to emerge in the 2000s the S-VHS camcorders remained popular.
There are some S-VHS-C camcorders that were produced as well, which is the compact version of the S-VHS tape just like VHS-C. The smaller tape allowed for a much smaller camcorder.
You can still find S-VHS camcorders for sale on eBay. some still function but many are for sale for parts only so read the description carefully if you want to purchase one.
Professional Use of S-VHS
S-VHS became popular among professional and amateur “prosumer” videographers for professional applications, such as video editing and broadcasting, where high-quality visuals were crucial.
While the VCRs and tapes were more expensive than standard VHS they were still within reach cost-wise for those willing to pay for the improved quality.
Some S-VHS VCRs like the Sony SLV-R1000 could record a digital audio track on the tape completely separate from the video signal.
This is what I found to be incredibly useful during editing was already having my soundtrack recorded onto the so the only task was inserting the video clips that were timed properly with the audio. If you’ve never tried linear editing with a VCR you can’t imagine how challenging it was to time video and audio clips correctly.
Preserving of S-VHS Tapes
It’s important to understand that S-VHS tapes will deteriorate over time like all other tape formats, usually lasting anywhere from 15 to 20 years. The magnetic material will slowly flake off the tape resulting in an un-playable tape and lost memories.
There are several reasons why you should consider transferring your S-VHS to digital immediately
- Preventing Deterioration: S-VHS tapes will deteriorate over time like all other tape formats, usually lasting anywhere from 15 to 20 years. The magnetic material will slowly flake off the tape resulting in an un-playable tape and lost memories. By transferring your tapes into a digital format you are saving your memories that can’t be replaced
- Enhancing Accessibility: Converting S-VHS to digital format make it far easier to share with friends and families. You can easily upload the digital files to social media websites or even a private YouTube channel for easy sharing with friends and family.
- Quality Improvement: Digital formats provide an opportunity to enhance the quality of S-VHS recordings. Digital transfers can often mitigate issues such as color degradation, noise, and signal instability, resulting in a clearer and more vibrant representation of the original content. There are ways to even up-scale the video using various technologies to further improve the digitized video.
- Convenience and Portability: Digital files are inherently more convenient and portable than physical tapes. Once digitized, S-VHS content can be stored on hard drives, cloud services, or other digital storage mediums, allowing for easy sharing, playback, and organization.
- Future-Proofing: Since analog video equipment like S-VHS VCRs and camcorders are obsolete and no longer produced the ability to play and convert tapes slowly diminishes. Once converted to digital the files can be easily adapted to emerging technologies, preserving the integrity of the recordings.
Transferring S-VHS tapes to a digital format is like protecting them in advance from getting old and outdated. This process helps keep the memories safe from the effects of time and the fact that older technologies might not be used anymore. It makes sure that the important memories stored in S-VHS tapes stay safe and can still be seen and shared in today’s digital world.