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76 GO VIDEO REFERENCE GUIDE
8mm and
VHS Formats
VHS Format
VHS videotape is 1/2" magnetic tape that carries three
‘tracks’: a linear audio (sound) track, a video (picture) track,
and a control track. The video track also contains the Hi-Fi
audio.
Linear Audio Track
You can think of the linear audio track as a sort of audio
cassette tape that is attached to the videotape and carries
the sound. Because the linear audio track is actually a
separate track, you can erase and record over this track only,
leaving the video portion of the tape intact. This is what we
call Audio Dub; see the Adding New Audio section of this
manual to learn how to do this.
Video Track
The video track is actually a series of frames, similar to the
series of frames that you see on movie film. Videotape can be
recorded at one of three speeds: SP, LP, and SLP. Set the
record speed in the VHS Menu. Your Dual-Deck VCR will
automatically play a tape at the speed at which it was
recorded.
SP, or Standard Play, is the fastest speed. A T-120 tape
records for two hours in SP. In SP, the individual video
frames are spaced further apart on the videotape than at the
slower speeds. This gives you a better quality picture, and
we recommend using this speed to record or copy material
where picture quality is of top importance to you.
LP, or Long Play, is twice as slow as SP. A T-120 tape records
for four hours in LP. SLP (Super-Long Play) records three
times longer than SP, a T-120 tape will record six hours of
material. In LP and SLP, the individual video frames are
recorded closer together. If your material was recorded on a
4-head VCR, the picture quality will be good, but you will
lose some clarity compared to SP. Linear audio quality also
deteriorates somewhat at LP and SLP speeds.
VHS Tape
Audio Track
Video Tracks
Control Track