With VHS, would you rather see the whole (damaged ) picture or a clean crop?

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

Some of the VHS tapes I get have lots of damage at the bottom. I'm starting to crop the image to cut the damage out. Usually it is only 15% or so off the bottom. So far, I have not found the crop to make a material change on the content. And if it is that bad, I would try to find another copy of the tape. (although sometimes that seems to be impossible with obscure tapes.)

As long as it does not change the message, are you OK with the crop or would you rather see the entire image along with the defect at the bottom for the whole film? I label the film as cropped due to damage as well.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

[Dennis Toeppen]

+1 for whole picture. what about a gradient on the bottom, maybe 20% at top edge, 80% bottom edge, when you've got weirdness to hide.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Dennis Toeppen

[Tyler Purcell]

Are you sure its not your player causing the damage? Generally edge damage like that is caused by a bad pinch roller, very common with old machines that haven't been serviced in years. 

 

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

Thanks for the replies.

No, not machine because it varies from no problems to big problem from tape to tape. And I have 2 duplicate machines and tapes run the the same on either machine. Plus I clean the heads often. 

I got a sealed tape yesterday that was a mess. It must have been stored poorly, maybe near magnetism as it drops out at similar spots as the tape runs. Dunno, some tapes hold up better than others.