SVHS Movies: are any made for rent or sale?
Chris Seal
discussed recently.
Recently I bought a S-VHS VCR, which included a S-VHS video (Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade) as part of the package. Looking in the local video
stores, I cannot find any S-VHS movies for rent. I am not surprised
really.
However, are any S-VHS movies made for rent or sale, or are they produced
just for promotional giveaways?
I have a few related questions:
What happens to a S-VHS movie/tape played on a non-S-VHS player?
The Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade S-VHS video has some very noisy
scenes, that when played caused gross distortion and loud crackling
noises. (I have external Koss TV speakers). The volume level was not
high. The VU meters on the VCR showed levels during these noisy scenes
that were passed the end stop! Is this a fault of the tape?
Chris
--
Chris Seal
Context DTP Inc
email: cs...@fox.nstn.ca
Mike Palmer
>I am new to this group: please forgive me if this has already been
>discussed recently.
>Recently I bought a S-VHS VCR, which included a S-VHS video (Indiana Jones
>and the Last Crusade) as part of the package. Looking in the local video
>stores, I cannot find any S-VHS movies for rent. I am not surprised
>really.
>
>However, are any S-VHS movies made for rent or sale, or are they produced
>just for promotional giveaways?
Call 800 enquiries for Super-Source Video, somewhere out west. They have
S-VHS pre-recorded tapes for sale.
>I have a few related questions:
>What happens to a S-VHS movie/tape played on a non-S-VHS player?
Some VHS decks can play S-VHS tapes at reduced (VHS) resolution. Most just
get a garbeld picture.
>The Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade S-VHS video has some very noisy
>scenes, that when played caused gross distortion and loud crackling
>noises. (I have external Koss TV speakers). The volume level was not
>high. The VU meters on the VCR showed levels during these noisy scenes
>that were passed the end stop! Is this a fault of the tape?
Are you listening to the Hi-Fi, or "standard" track?
Espen Braathen
This will produce a viewable pictire, but bright areas (white)
will cause overmodulation on the VHS demodulator circuits, and
will be shown as horizontal black lines in those areas.
Sound is not affected of course.
espen braathen
email: esp...@powertech.no
Tazio DeNicolo
looks pretty good (with a huge remote control :-)). Anybody with a
comment?
Frank Pilhofer
>
> However, are any S-VHS movies made for rent or sale, or are they produced
> just for promotional giveaways?
>
LAST CHANCE TO SEE: Prerecorded SVHS tapes
------------------------------------------
I am not SVHS owner for long (about 2 months), and I had heard rumours about
prerecorded movies on SVHS since then. I've actually seen one tape once in a
German store before ("Point Break"), but I never saw it again.
Recently I found out about a company named "SuperSource Video" in California
that has specialized in selling SVHS cassettes. Some troubles later, I found
out their phone number and called them.
I even managed to persuade them to send a catalogue to me (this was pretty
hard, because they normally do not sell to foreign countries). This involved
spelling my address (that is not pronouncable in english) a couple of times,
but it finally worked. Four days later, I held the catalogue in my hands.
The catalogue held about 30 titles, but most of them were marked as "sold
out". Just 7 (in words: seven) titles were left. I called again and asked if
there was any chance of the other titles getting restocked in the near future.
But they said "NO". The woman on the phone explained that they had failed to
get acceptable supplies and sales in the past five years, and that they are
about to shut their business down.
Therefore this is probably the last chance to see actual SVHS movies.
Yesterday I faxed them an order of three tapes. As told before, they do not
sell to foreign countries, but I was able to supply them with a US destination.
I hope to get the tapes soon. They are not at all tapes I really get crazy
about, but I am a little bit romantic and want to remember that there once
were times with a little hope left for the SVHS medium.
Epilogue:
SVHS has failed to get a home theater medium. It still is _the_ choice for
taping TV or to make semi-professional video productions. I don't want to cry
about it, since laser disc is obviously far superior for "Home Theater".
So here's what they have:
------------------------
Title Rating LB ST SR D1 D2 Number Price
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
City Slickers PG-13 X X X SS-1052 39.95
Misery R X X X SS-1051 39.95
The Terminator R X SS-6000 29.95
Days of Thunder PG-13 X X X X SS-4004 28.95
Godfather Part III R X X X SS-4001 39.95
When Harry Met Sally R X X X SS-1050 39.95
Star Trek II PG X X X X SS-4008 39.95
The Voyager Odyssey None X X X SS-1071 34.95
And what they don't have any more:
----------------------------------
Hunt For Red October Star Trek VI
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade Ghost
Star Trek IV Top Gun
On Golden Pond Superman
Nature's Symphony Nature's Serenade \
The Worlds Below Canyon Dreams > SVHS demo tapes
Desert Vision Water Colors /
Maybe you can find these titles somewhere else? I'm interested to know. If
you know of a place where these or other titles can still be found, please
let me know (mail me or post a followup).
Ah yes, you'll probably need their phone number.
Toll-Free: 1-800-331-6304
Regular: 415-777-1964
Fax: 415-777-0187
DISCLAIMER:
-----------
I am in no way related to SSV. I can only quote _them_ because as far as I
know, they are unique in their business.
--
+ Frank Pilhofer fr...@informatik.uni-frankfurt.de +
| Darmstaedter Str. 22 |
| D-63225 Langen, Germany |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Department of Computer Sciences * University of Frankfurt / Main, Germany |
Greg L. Kimnach
> Therefore this is probably the last chance to see actual SVHS movies.
> Yesterday I faxed them an order of three tapes. As told before, they do not
>sell to foreign countries, but I was able to supply them with a US destination.
>I hope to get the tapes soon. They are not at all tapes I really get crazy
>about, but I am a little bit romantic and want to remember that there once
>were times with a little hope left for the SVHS medium.
though i am not a fan of the format, i say that this is a good idea--you get
to see just how well the s-vhs format can look, without an expensive s-vhs
camcorder. i procrastinated with my opportunity to buy some ed beta titles
and will forever regret it:-(
Greg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"ED Beta is simply the best consumer videotape format available."
--Video Magazine (Nov.1992, p. 30)
"Manufacturers may have a point when they perceive the U.S. consumer
electronics market as unsophisticated." --VideoMaker (March 1993, p. 88)
Amiga ED and Super Beta Toaster4000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vidiot
<scenes, that when played caused gross distortion and loud crackling
<noises. (I have external Koss TV speakers). The volume level was not
<high. The VU meters on the VCR showed levels during these noisy scenes
<that were passed the end stop! Is this a fault of the tape?
Did you try adjusting the tracking control?
--
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