Recording Speeds...
                   ....what to do & how it works.

     There are up to three speeds on the US VCRs for dubbing and playback. Some VCR manufacturers are no longer offering the LP mode to consumers.  Manufacturers are using the 19u micron system to improve the quality of the EP recording. It doesn't work very well. 

     The Three speeds are... SP, meaning Standard Play. This is the best quality the VCR can offer you.  Next is LP mode, or Long Play, and then the lowly EP/SLP speed, Extended Play

     What Is The Difference?

     EP/SLP -   This is the worst mode to record in.  You're putting lots of information in a compact area. In this mode the Audio and Video tracks overlap by one third, (see image below) leaving only one third of the track to remain clear. Good quality is the best you can expect with even the best recorders. In time the signals will degrade and bleed further into each other. The sound will become garbled and the pictures washed out or very soft. You can dub up to 8 episodes without commercials. 

  LP -   100% better quality picture and sound. (See image below) The video and audio tracks are butted up against each other on the tape but do NOT overlap and both signals are clear. In this mode you get very good to excellent quality picture and sound. There is a probability of signal bleed through after some time. You can dub five episodes without commercials on a T120 tape. One major problem with LP is tracking from VCR to VCR. It may work perfect in one VCR but not even track in another. 

  SP-   About 15% better quality picture and sound over the LP mode. In this mode there is a space between the audio and video tracks as they are laid down.  The space ensures that even over time signal bleed is not a problem. With SP you can record two episodes  with or without commercials on a T120 tape. Three episodes per T160 w/o commercials. 

Ok, let's get down to quality versus cost & number of tapes.

Example:  Let's use a 22 episode season. Dubbed on a T120...
SP-   11 tapes   with the Best Quality... (2 eps per tape)
LP-   5 tapes   with Very Good Quality (5 eps per tape)
EP-   3 tapes   with only Good Quality  (8 eps per tape)

The difference is only two tapes going from EP to LP. This is most definitely worth the cost of an extra tape for the increase in quality.  SP mode will probably more than double your tape requirements, but you can't beat the quality of the material. SP is the best way to archive material if you have the tapes and room to store them.

NOTE:::   VCRs that do NOT record in LP will, 98% of the time,  still playback material recorded in that mode.  There are a few models that will not.

scifi