Panasonoc pv-s4680 vcr

[Hilscher11]

Hi all second post here. First one was the same post but i think its in the wrong forum? Im posting it here because it seems roght. Anyhow. Getting into the archiving thing. I have a chance to buy a pv-s4680. I have done the research i can but there isnt much info out there on them except that they are super rare. We havent discussed price yet but it seems like he knows its worth something. My question is whats a fair price to start and end at? Someone please help!

[hech54]

By looking at the manual cover......It looks like an S-VHS version of every other consumer Panasonic VHS.

[Brad]

I suspect the picture quality is the same as the PV-S4670, which I don't like. The PV-S4680 includes the same always-on "Color Noise Reduction + Advanced Noise Reduction" according to the manual.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/377577-Panasonc-PV-S4670-S-VHS-VCR-my-thoughts

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/379450-VCR-comparison-SP-mode-%5BWARNING-auto-load%21%5D
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/378473-VCR-comparison-EP-mode-%28so-many-VCRs%29

[orsetto]

The PV-4680 is a decent, fairly rare VCR if you just need a vcr, but I wouldn't pay a premium price for one. It was the last "consumer" model Panasonic offered with flying erase heads for precise editing: great if you're actually still making tapes, useless for digital transfers.

As vaporeon800 notes, the 4680 is identical to the 4670 other than the addition of flying erase heads. On the plus side, this chassis design was one of Panasonic's most rugged and reliable (don't be fooled by the toy-like small size: the 1995-1996 models were near bulletproof). Tape handling is very good, they cope with slow speed LP/EP tapes very nicely, and they have the premium DynaMorphous video heads.

Unfortunately, these units also include the horrendously ill-conceived and poorly-executed "Panasonic Exclusive Color Noise Reduction" system, which cannot be switched off (and renders them all but useless for playback). When this analog system works, it does superbly clean up many of the color issues that plague VHS (esp the flickering and strobing in large areas of red), without the temporal smearing and plastic faces effect one finds in the JVC DigiPure system and AG1980. Sadly, it almost NEVER works correctly, because it has an inexplicable interaction with the tracking controls. Tracking needs to be 110% absolutely dead-on perfect for the analog color noise reduction to lock and operate properly. But this "ideal" tracking performance is unattainable in the real world: even when playing tapes the deck recorded itself, there will be vagaries in tracking moment to moment, and each tiny drift triggers a MASSIVE error in color processing. The noise reduction backfires so spectacularly it looks 10x worse than the problem it is attempting to fix: instead of some areas merely streaking or flickering, the entire frame rapidly flutters between full color and silvery monochrome, and you get exaggerated magenta color bars over the top or bottom of the frame.

Short version: unless you can pick up this PV-4680 for less than $30 to just experiment with, don't bother. If you like collecting unusual or rare premium VCRs, the 4680 is quite a nice piece and Panasonic did aim for top performance with it. But it is laid low by the ridiculously defective color processing circuit Panasonic stubbornly refused to alter or drop between 1992 and 1997. Any technology scholar seeking undeniable proof that "Average Joe" could not possibly care less about picture quality during the VCR era need look no further than mid-1990s Panasonics. For five long years over the course of 30 midrange and premium models, Panasonic remained the best seller despite virtually unwatchable playback. Then, in 1997, they finally dropped the defective color circuit but (almost spitefully) added full-time luma noise so terrible it made video look like a Seurat painting. Panasonic mfd many good VCRs but it can be tricky identifying the gems from the dross year to year.

[hech54]

I don't think this thread is going exactly the way the OP had hoped.