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  1. Member
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    Hello,

    I wonder if Sony and other videotape manufacturers have ever clients info on how many dropouts per minute they should expect on "fresh" VHS videotape, that is, how many dropouts one could find on videotape before they would begin recording/playing it.

    Thanks in advance for your help,

    Gaetano
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  2. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    It's 2025, nothing "fresh" exists now.

    However, back in the day, tapes had grades. The disclosures were voluntary, generally to upsell. I probably have a sales sheet in a file folder still.
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  3. Member
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    Here is a test overview from 1996 from Germany's (Europe's) biggest video magazine.

    They used test equipment worth about 100000,- Euro. For the dropout measurement they used a PC-controlled dropout counter from Bauersachs.

    They always tested 5 cassettes from a series in order to rule out series variation.

    The tests were carried out every year as the quality could also change.

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  4. Captures & Restoration lollo's Avatar
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    Excellent report, thanks Bogilein!
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  5. Member
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    Originally Posted by Bogilein View Post
    Here is a test overview from 1996 from Germany's (Europe's) biggest video magazine.

    They used test equipment worth about 100000,- Euro. For the dropout measurement they used a PC-controlled dropout counter from Bauersachs.

    They always tested 5 cassettes from a series in order to rule out series variation.

    The tests were carried out every year as the quality could also change.

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    That is most excellent, thank you very much! May I ask you what is the magazine and which issue (month)?
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    Originally Posted by lordsmurf View Post
    It's 2025, nothing "fresh" exists now.

    However, back in the day, tapes had grades. The disclosures were voluntary, generally to upsell. I probably have a sales sheet in a file folder still.
    Hello, and thank you so much for your reply. If you have that documentation and you are willing to share it, that would be incredibly useful to my research.
    Thanks in advance for your help!
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  7. Member
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    The magazine is called ‘Video’ and is in German language.

    The test results overview was printed in almost all issues. The last row in the picture shows the issue in which the detailed test was published.

    In this case, the test overview is from issue 02/1996. The S-VHS cassettes were tested in this issue and the video cassettes in issue 01/1996.

    The last test of VHS cassettes was in the 01/2001 issue. As already written, the VHS cassettes (SVHS cassettes) were tested annually.

    The value in the dropout column does not show the number of dropouts but how many of the 15 possible points in the rating the cassette receives.

    If you look at the "Preisempfehlung" column and compare the prices for the cassettes (here in D-MARK), you can also see one of the reasons why SVHS has not established itself on the ‘German’ market.
    Last edited by Bogilein; 4th Feb 2025 at 12:51.
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  8. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    Do not misread that chart, do not summarize too simple.

    For example,
    - Fuji VHS tapes are overall pretty terrible, but not necessarily for dropout reasons.
    - Maxell S-VHS tapes tended to feather easily, made thinner than others. Quality looked outstanding, but overall construction sucked.
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