Ordered VHS movie and seems blank/erased? Ruined during shipping?

[petliura]

If anyone can help i'd really appreciate it, this is the second time it has happened

I ordered a movie on VHS and when i tried to play it the screen is black or blue, there seems to be some audio though so i have no idea what to make of it, was i ruined during shipping? erased when it went through security or something?

Does anyone know why it doesn't play and if there is any way to fix it?

[johns0]

Try adjusting the tracking,also check to see if the tape is ntsc or pal,if you are in ntsc land and the tape is pal then you wont be able to see the picture.

[petliura]

i looked on the case and tape and couldn't see pal etc
i'm in canada and it's from france, i knew there were different regions for dvd but i didn't know they had that for vhs, assuming that is the issue is there anything i can do? no eh

[Number Six]

If I remember correctly - France used SECAM. Does the tape say that anywhere?

[petliura]

yeah it says VHS SECAM-EDV3 so it's a compatibility problem, is there anywhere i could take it and get the formats fixed or something like that or am i just screwed?

[Number Six]

Years ago there were photo and video stores that transferred tapes from one format to another, but I think most of them are gone now - and I do not know what services are available in Canada. Try to do a local search in your area.

I just did a quick search on eBay for multi format VCRs - they are available, but expensive - probably not worth it unless you plan on expanding your video library.

[Soopafresh]

I've seen a lot of mom and pop places that convert various VHS tape formats here in the States, in particular British and Russian imports retail stores. If you live in a bigger city, there should be something similar.

[petliura]

i live in a decent sized city, hopefully i'll find one, thanks for your help guys

[Number Six]

Glad to be of service

[lordsmurf]

French SECAM is a SECAM format of its own, SECAM-L. It's the one SECAM even I cannot convert. It takes much rarer equipment than your normal PAL or SECAM players. Leave it to the French.

[zanos]

A friend of mine bought a movie on vhs once and it was completely blank, just a blank vhs tape. I couldn't stop laughing.