VHS

The Video Home System, first released in 1976, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative licensing agreements with Sony) and launched in 1976. VHS officially stands for Video Home System, but it initially stood for Vertical Helical Scan, after the relative head/tape scan technique. Some early reports claim the name originally stood for Victor Helical Scan system.

Related Topics:
Acronym - Video cassette recorder - JVC - 1976 - Officially stands for - Relative head/tape scan

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VHS became a standard format for consumer recording and viewing in the 1980s after competing in a fierce format war with Sony's Betamax and, to a lesser extent, Philips' Video 2000. VHS initially offered a longer playing time than the Betamax system, and it also had the advantage of a far less complex tape transport mechanism. Early VHS machines could rewind and fast forward the tape considerably faster than a Betamax VCR since they unthreaded the tape from the playback heads before commencing any high-speed winding (most newer VHS machines don't do this, as improved engineering has stopped head-tape contact from being an impediment for fast winding).

Related Topics:
Consumer - 1980s - Format war - Sony - Betamax - Philips - Video 2000

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