Why Home Movie Videotapes Don?t Last Forever
after only 10 years. The most clear evidence begins with loss of audio quality (sounds goes in and out) or image quality (distorted pixels, wavy lines, dark or blanked out visuals). As these tapes sit stored in family basements and garages, they are literally withering away. When they are finally brought out and played again, it often comes as a surprise to the owner that the once-clear tape they remembered from a few years ago is now a grainy, dull version of what it once was.
Sometimes consumers have the VHS tapes transferred to digital without first viewing the condition of the tape. Thus, they don’t know how much degradation has already occurred. The digital conversion preserves the footage as it was at that point in time. Or, they are unaware that while the tape may still play sufficiently well in the original camcorder in which it was
