Editing VHS (section)

{{short description|Consumer-level analog videotape recording and cassette form standard}}
{{about|the video format}}
<!--There is a reliable source for the name "Video Home System". Please do not change the name without at least providing an equally reliable source.-->
{{Infobox storage medium
| title = Video Home System
| name = Video Home System
| logo = [[File:VHS logo.svg|class=skin-invert|180px|alt=VHS logo]]
| image = VHS-Video-Tape-Top-Flat (cropped).jpg
| caption = Top view of a VHS videocassette
| type = [[Magnetic cassette tape]], ½-inch
| encoding = [[Frequency modulation|FM]] on [[magnetic tape]]; [[NTSC]], [[PAL]], [[SECAM]], [[SECAM#MESECAM (home recording)|MESECAM]]; [[525 lines]]; [[625 lines]]
| capacity = In minutes. Common for [[PAL]]: 120, 180, 240. Common for [[NTSC]]: 120, 160.
| read = [[Helical scan]]
| write = Helical scan
| standard = 
| dimensions = 18.7 × 10.2 × 2.5 cm<br/>(7{{fraction|9}} × 4 × 1 inch)
| owner = [[JVC]]
| use = [[Home video]] and [[home movies]] (replaced by [[DVD-Video|DVD]] and [[Blu-ray]]), TV recordings (replaced by [[Digital video recorder|DVR]])<br>(successor to [[Compact Cassette|cassette tape]])
| extended from = [[Compact Cassette]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1976|9|9}} (Japan)<br>{{Start date and age|1977|8|23}} (United States)
}}

[[File:VHS recorder, camera and cassette b.jpg|thumb|right|S VHS Recorder, Camcorder & Cassette]]

'''VHS''' ('''Video Home System''')<ref>ETHW (2006). IEEE History Center: Development of VHS. Page cites the original name as "Video Home System", from the original source, an article by Yuma Shiraishi, one of its inventors. [[Kimiko Glenn]] Retrieved on 2023-01-03 from https://web.archive.org/web/20230819212517/https://ethw.org/Milestones:Development_of_VHS,_a_World_Standard_for_Home_Video_Recording,_1976.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last= Free|first= John|date= November 1977|title= How good are they? New long-play video-cassette recorders|url=  https://books.google.com/books?id=bwEAAAAAMBAJ|magazine= Popular Science|publisher= Times Mirror Magazine inc.|page= 81}} [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bwEAAAAAMBAJ/page/n74 Alt URL]</ref><ref name="latimes1">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-22-et-vhs-tapes22-story.html |title=VHS era is winding down |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=December 22, 2008 |access-date=July 11, 2011 |first=Geoff |last=Boucher|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202185658/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-22-et-vhs-tapes22-story.html |archive-date=2023-12-02 }}</ref> is<!--Do NOT change to "was". This violates [[MOS:TENSE]], which specifies that all articles on formats are written in present tense, even if discontinued.--> a discontinued [[technical standard|standard]] for consumer-level [[analog recording|analog]] [[video recording]] on tape [[Videocassette|cassettes]], introduced in 1976 by [[JVC]]. It was the dominant [[home video]] format throughout the tape media period throughout the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="jchyung">{{cite web |title=Lessons Learned from the VHS – Betamax War |url=http://besser.tsoa.nyu.edu/impact/f96/Projects/jchyung/ |access-date=2011-01-03 |publisher=Besser.tsoa.nyu.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404142318/http://besser.tsoa.nyu.edu/impact/f96/Projects/jchyung/ |archive-date=2023-04-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Parris |first1=Daniel |title=The Rise, Fall, and (Slight) Rise of DVDs. A Statistical Analysis |url=https://www.statsignificant.com/p/the-rise-fall-and-slight-rise-of |publisher=Stat Significant |access-date=4 July 2024 |date=20 December 2023}}</ref>

[[Magnetic tape]] video recording was adopted by the television industry in the 1950s in the form of the first commercialized [[video tape recorder]]s (VTRs), but the devices were expensive and used only in professional environments. In the 1970s, videotape technology became affordable for home use, and widespread adoption of [[videocassette recorder]]s (VCRs) began;<ref name="Glinis2015">{{cite thesis |type=M.A. |last=Glinis |first=Shawn Michael |date=May 2015 |title=VCRs: The End of TV as Ephemera |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee |url=http://dc.uwm.edu/etd/806/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722231010/http://dc.uwm.edu/etd/806 |archive-date=July 22, 2016 |access-date=November 11, 2016}}</ref> the VHS became the most popular media format for VCRs as it would win the [[videotape format war|"format war"]] against [[Betamax]] (backed by [[Sony]])<ref name="beta_end">{{cite web |date=10 November 2015 |title=Sony finally decides it's time to kill Betamax |url=https://www.techspot.com/news/62733-sony-finally-decides-time-kill-betamax.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801132255/https://www.techspot.com/news/62733-sony-finally-decides-time-kill-betamax.html |access-date=2023-01-03 |archive-date=2023-08-01 |language=en-us}}</ref> and a number of other competing tape standards.

The cassettes themselves use a 0.5-inch magnetic tape between two spools<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |last=Ganapati |first=Priya |title=June 4, 1977: VHS Comes to America |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/06/0604vhs-ces/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> and typically offer a capacity of at least two hours. The popularity of VHS was intertwined with the rise of the [[Video rental shop|video rental]] market,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Steve |date=2014-11-26 |title=When VHS ruled the home video market |url=https://www.thespoilist.com/when-vhs-ruled-the-home-video-market/ |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=The Spoilist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205142749/https://www.thespoilist.com/when-vhs-ruled-the-home-video-market/ |archive-date=2022-12-05 |language=en-GB}}</ref> when films were released on pre-recorded videotapes for home viewing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO TECHNOLOGY |url=https://websites.umich.edu/~evideo/video_store.html |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=websites.umich.edu}}</ref> Newer improved tape formats such as [[S-VHS]] were later developed, as well as the earliest [[optical disc]] format, [[LaserDisc]]; the lack of global adoption of these formats increased VHS's lifetime, which eventually peaked and started to decline in the late 1990s after the introduction of [[DVD]], a [[Digital media|digital]] optical disc format.<ref name="wp-gonewiththerewind">{{cite news |date=August 28, 2005 |title=Parting Words For VHS Tapes, Soon to Be Gone With the Rewind |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/26/AR2005082600332.html |access-date=2018-11-18}}</ref> VHS rentals were surpassed by DVD in the United States in 2003,<ref>{{cite news |date=June 20, 2003 |title=It's unreel: DVD rentals overtake videocassettes |newspaper=The Washington Times |location=Washington, D.C. |url=http://washingtontimes.com/news/2003/jun/20/20030620-113258-1104r/ |access-date=2010-06-02}}</ref> which eventually became the preferred low-end method of movie distribution.<ref name="VHS era is winding down">{{cite news |title=VHS era is winding down |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-vhs-tapes22-2008dec22,0,5852342.story}}</ref> For [[home recording]] purposes, VHS and VCRs were surpassed by (typically [[Hard disk drive|hard disk]]–based) [[Digital video recorder|digital video recorders (DVR)]] in the 2000s.<ref name=":0" /> Production of all VHS equipment ceased by 2016,<ref name="lastVHS" /> although the format has since gained some popularity amongst collectors.