S-VHS test (Panasonic AG1970)

I have wanted one of these for basically my entire life

THANK YOU, Digital Video Revolution, now I'm off to see if I can score some cheap Betacam decks

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• panasonic
• ag1970
• ag1980
• vcr
• s-vhs
• vhs

[NJRoadfan]

Just picked up a AG-1980, the 1970's replacement. Nice unit with a great TBC and noise reduction. The audio while queuing is cool, usually only the pro units do that. Unlike JVCs, these units usually don't break (when they do, they are easy to fix) and track every tape you throw at them! The editing controllers (AG-A96) can still be found dirt cheap on ebay too.

[pdmillar]

@NJRoadfan No kidding. When I got this the head drum bearing was squealing and causing some very fast flutter modulation on the video, I unscrewed the top half and put some 3-in-1 oil in there! I didn't know if it was even going to work afterwards but it runs perfectly smooth to this day

[jjovereats]

Don't tell me you're recording ET-REC.

[pdmillar]

@jjovereats This is "ET", I broke the S-VHS hole sensing pin off so I could record on regular tape. Seems to work about as well as the newer plastic JVC deck I have that actually is capable of ET

[pokruk]

a random question, is it possible to get video from your computer onto vhs using this particular machine?

[pdmillar]

@pokruk No, it was made well before DV and IEEE1394. You still need a DV camcorder with an analog input (getting impossible to find) or a dedicated analog to DV box (ditto)

[11SomeTime]

@IsItEarthYet who cares

[jjovereats]

@pdmillar use real svhs. i want to.

[IsItEarthYet]

If it's not recorded on an actual S-VHS tape, the ones that used to cost me $15 a pop back in '89 & '90, it won't actually register in the higher resolution, it is just "S-VHS - ET" or whatever that meant, it's nuanced reg. VHS not S-VHS, just slightly higher resolution than reg. VHS but not S-VHS. I had [and still have] 4 JVC S-VHS decks & 1 Sony S-VHS deck, all purchased for thousands of dollars back in the day when I was using them in high end video production, 1989-1997.

[panzr]

Nice! I have a non-S-VHS version of this unit (NV-F70) which looks very similar but, of course no S-VHS (so sad). Oh and yes I could clearly see the difference in quality when you flicked the switch

[jjovereats]

@pdmillar S-VHS-ETREC then...

[cameron20101000]

did you called us badass?