The Basics of VHS-Decode
Although VHS is now an obsolete technology, the innovation behind those old machines and tapes is quite complex. Belts, gears, motors, drums, and computer processors are just some of the parts that need to work properly for a VCR to read a VHS tape. A VHS tape is a film with magnetic markings on it. Those markings provide the information for the VCR to decode and then display in ways that we can experience, such as color, brightness, or sound. The cables transmit the decoded information to a display, usually a TV or a computer monitor.
Well, as we’ve discussed in previous posts, VHS technology is fragile. Those tapes can get damaged, belts can get worn out and cracked, and drums can stop spinning. Sometimes, the markings on the tapes become so faint and weak that not even the strongest, high-end S-VHS player can display them anymore. When that happens, whatever is stored on those videos could be presumed to be lost forever.
That presumption, surprisingly enough, MIGHT NOT BE TRUE. Enter VHS-Decode.
VHS-Decode is a robust tool of extreme last resort. Using a modified computer chip, a VCR, a soldering iron, and some electrical engineering know-how, VHS-Decode allows a user to capture all of the data stored on a tape. It bypasses all of the translation of digital chips, and instead stores the raw FM radio frequency data on the tape. If the data still exists on your tape at all, and the tape can be physically run through a VCR, VHS-Decode will capture the data. The only thing it can’t do is repair stripped film. If the data layers have peeled off the film completely, that data truly is lost.
Why is this useful? Well, frankly, computer chips now are significantly stronger than back in the 1990s and early 2000s. Instead of the video being decoded by a VCR, it can be decoded directly by software on a modern PC. Think of it like how the Apollo missions flew to the moon and back using computers that were weaker than our smartphones. Yes, they got the job done, but we can do it better these days. And by storing the raw data, we leave open the possibility of decoding again later on, as technology continues to improve.
There are drawbacks to this method, of course. The biggest drawback, literally, is the file size. A half-hour video run through our standard digitization process will be approximately 5 GB large. The raw data for the same video, run through VHS-Decode, will be 150 gigs! Yes, the files are HUGE, and that’s just the raw data, which brings us to our second drawback, the time it takes to process the files. A conventional conversion takes a few minutes more than the runtime of the tape. Remember: we can’t digitize VHS videos on fast forward, we have to do it in real time. A couple of minutes to set the equipment up, a few minutes after the fact to process, remux, and snip the final product, and we’re done. A 2-hour tape will take just over 2 hours to digitize conventionally. A 2-hour VHS-Decode can easily take 8-12 hours to process, because each second of the video has around 80 million scans to process.
As you can see, VHS-Decode is the Hail Mary of digitization. For 90% of our home videos, standard digitization is going to work just fine. But if that tape is damaged, and we think that it might just hold on for one more trip, then VHS-Decode is the way to go. VHS-Decode is currently in its alpha phase at Pure ImageNation. It will be available as a service in 2027, so check our website and social media pages for updates!