VHS quality issues...

[dreamweaver888]

Hi all, I'm trying to archive some old VHS tapes (10 years+) to DVD...anyhow, upon playback in the VCR (also 10 years+, but rarely used), I notice that some tapes upon playback have intermittent flickering (horizontal lines across the screen for a brief moment), and sometimes out-of-focus scrolling (warped picture for a second or two) in certain parts, often when there is a flash of bright light on the recording. Other tapes play back fine with no quality problems.

Is this because the affected tape is just old and degrading, or do the heads need to be cleaned, or tracking adjusted (my VCR says tracking is 'normal' and centered)? The problem tapes have been played maybe two or three times, and were stored upright, and were rewound forward and back to the end years ago, not left halfway played.

Thanks for any info.

[lowellriggsiam]

In my experiece it's caused by oxidation. In some cases you might get better results from the same tape on a different VHS player.

[dreamweaver888]

In my experiece it's caused by oxidation. In some cases you might get better results from the same tape on a different VHS player.

Thanks for the suggestion!!! I tried my older (and more finicky) VCR, and lo and behold the warping was gone (even though that VCR took several tries to actually play). It's a quality improvement, thanks for the suggestion again!

[lowellriggsiam]

Glad to be of service.