Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Did you know that you can still record modern HDTV broadcasts onto VHS tapes in lossless digital quality? Join me as I look at the D-VHS format as it originally was - a recording format for digital TV broadcasts. In the modern streaming era, it's a curious case of a 50 year old physical format that still works to capture modern digital television in its original quality. Help celebrate the golden anniversary of VHS with a look at the format's last gasp before it was swamped by DVR's, DVD's and DRM.
This video unintentionally took me a long time to make because it's a really complicated technical story and also stuff just kept happening. So while it's a long video as it is, you can see the EVEN LONGER version on my Patreon if you're interested: patreon.com/c/modernclassic
Also this is the video that finally pushed me to get a new shooting setup, which I'll talk more about in my next video. But apologies for some of the noisy, ugly, out of focus footage in this video. I was shooting on a 10 year old mirrorless camera and an iPhone and it is definitely time to upgrade to modern YouTube standards.
You can help out my channel by using my affiliate link if you decide you want to hunt for your own D-VHS deck (or really anything else) on Ebay:
ebay.us/uX8OVC
00:00 Intro
02:04 Why does D-VHS exist?
12:21 The US and Euro launch
18:50 The DRM dilemma
29:32 First D-VHS capture and why I made this video
30:50 The waning years of D-VHS
37:27 A look at my VCR and tuner
47:21 Recording demo
49:23 The repair
57:55 More recording & quirks
01:04:01 Analog VHS capture
01:08:58 Double Outro!
Did you know that you can still record modern HDTV broadcasts onto VHS tapes in lossless digital quality? Join me as I look at the D-VHS format as it originally was - a recording format for digital TV broadcasts. In the modern streaming era, it's a curious case of a 50 year old physical format that still works to capture modern digital television in its original quality. Help celebrate the golden anniversary of VHS with a look at the format's last gasp before it was swamped by DVR's, DVD's and DRM.
This video unintentionally took me a long time to make because it's a really complicated technical story and also stuff just kept happening. So while it's a long video as it is, you can see the EVEN LONGER version on my Patreon if you're interested: patreon.com/c/modernclassic
Also this is the video that finally pushed me to get a new shooting setup, which I'll talk more about in my next video. But apologies for some of the noisy, ugly, out of focus footage in this video. I was shooting on a 10 year old mirrorless camera and an iPhone and it is definitely time to upgrade to modern YouTube standards.
You can help out my channel by using my affiliate link if you decide you want to hunt for your own D-VHS deck (or really anything else) on Ebay:
ebay.us/uX8OVC
00:00 Intro
02:04 Why does D-VHS exist?
12:21 The US and Euro launch
18:50 The DRM dilemma
29:32 First D-VHS capture and why I made this video
30:50 The waning years of D-VHS
37:27 A look at my VCR and tuner
47:21 Recording demo
49:23 The repair
57:55 More recording & quirks
01:04:01 Analog VHS capture
01:08:58 Double Outro!
