Has anyone seen the Netflix documentary series about David Beckham? I found it absolutely fascinating! I'm no real football fan but do remember his career starting off with Manchester United and his England captaincy. Wow! That does seem so long ago now. How time flies. What captured my interest more than anything was the interviews with his father Ted and how he used to video every game his young son played in when he was just starting out and playing for his local teams. He still has all of that footage and rooms full of VHS Videotapes. God the memories that must be on those tapes! Perhaps Ted has already had them digitised! Hope so!
VHS Videotape is magnetic which over time does degrade. It does depend on how store it though. The best place is in a loft and within a sealed plastic container or somewhere cool but not too cold. Damp conditions like a shed or garage and you are heading for real trouble. The tape can easily attract mould which is very sticky. If that sticks to the tape then the footage on it can be ruined completely and never retrieved.
As I have said it does vary on how much it degrades but on average a VHS tape with footage recorded onto it in 1993 will have reduced its quality. I actually know the answer to how much but I'm going to open up a poll and let you have a guess and vote.
How much on average does VHS Videotape degrade over 30 years?
Ten Percent
Fifty Percent
Ninety Percent
Looking forward to seeing the results of the poll! It is best though to have your tapes digitised. Read my blogs on the future of DVD and the importance of preserving your precious printed photographs or slides. The same does apply to your VHS and camcorder tapes!
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Take care until next time!