Tape format

Used VHS-C and VHS camcorders

JVC introduced VHS in 1976 and the compact VHS-C cassette in 1982. The tape inside is ordinary VHS, so with an adapter cassette a VHS-C tape plays in a full-size VHS deck. S-VHS-C is the sharper version, about 400 lines against VHS's 240, and a plain VHS deck can't play it properly unless it has S-VHS quasi playback, which shows it at VHS quality. Some camcorders, like RCA's CC421, took full-size VHS tapes. All of these are analog, so you capture them in real time through composite or S-Video. If you want to watch tapes in a deck, check the listing includes the VHS-C adapter.

9 models we cover.