fall inside a hole

VHS tapes

VHS tapes from different manufacturers. Click the images for higher resolution

JVC




An earlier JVC tape with a similar design to their introductory tapes. Different lengths were available with different text colors. JVC Victor and some other manufacturers never officially supported the 2x "LP" speed as trick play features were less compatible
A very 80s JVC T120PS Premium Standard Grade
Higher grade JVC Dynarec Hi-Fi T120HF



Starting in the mid 80s JVC offered a range of VHS tapes, the HG high grade, HR high resolution, and ER excellent resolution. In 1990 ER was changed to XR, still standing for excellent resolution, where it was the "everyday use" cassette in the lineup
Early 1990s JVX T-120SX, the new "standard" JVC T120
1994 World Cup USA variant of the JVC T120 SX A/V Master
  1994 JVC T120 SX label sheet



A later JVC, the T120SX, specifically the SXB

RCA




RCA was an early supporter of VHS because it was cheaper to license at a time when their CED project was still years away from releasing and it was clear that videotape would be sticking around



RCA used the "VK" suffix and a number relating to the tape length like a Beta tape for their early cassettes - 250 for the 247 meters of a T120



A nondescript RCA tape that probably came with an RCA VCR



A 90s RCA hifi T120



Labels for these tapes advertised an RCA universal remote that could also control a light or other small appliance



A 1999 RCA T120H
2003 RCA T-120. The spine actually has two round cutouts

Scotch




An earlier 80s Scotch T120. Scotch also produced many Beta format tapes of similar design, which can be seen on the Beta page



The Scotch EG T120. The nondescript plastic sleeve doesn't specifically mention that it is an "EG" tape, only the cassette labels



The higher-grade EXG T120 with a gold-foiled plastic sleeve



The 1987 plastic sleeve Scotch EG advertising Scotch's Olympics sponsorship



The 1987 cardboard sleeve T120 EG with Olympics sponsorship



The 1987 EXG Pro T120 in hard plastic case. Although VHS never gained widespread broadcast use, other professional applications often benefited from the availability and cross-compatibility with domestic equipment, with pro gear generally just being higher quality



The spine and back card are removable and have a recording log printed on the back



A fairly comprehensive label sheet with many duplicate stickers



The 1988 Scotch EG changed to a nice thick cardboard sleeve that can take a lot of abuse



The 1989 Scotch tapes changed to this silver, rotated back design



The 1991 Scotch EG variant



I quite like Scotch's remaining time stickers. By putting it over part of the takeup spool window it allows you to eyeball how much time is left



I wonder where this would end up if I mailed it in?



The later 1991 EG, displaying Scotch's Olympics sponsorship for 1992



Later 1991 EG+ with the Olympic sponsorship mark



The 1992 EG+ variant with a different text layout. The EG+ is now the "extra quality" tape instead of the "everyday plus" tape



A T160 variant of the EG+. The majority of blank VHS tapes sold for home use were T120s, but Scotch and other manufacturers produced longer-length higher grade tapes
Redesigned 1992 Scotch High Standard T120 that dropped the EG name



1993 redesign of the Scotch High Standard T120. The Performance High Grade blurb makes a specific mention of the T160 variant
A Scotch hifi tape that presumably would have had a more informative wrapper

Sony

Although Sony did not sell VHS VCRs until 1988, they began selling VHS tapes in 1982. This Dynamicron T120 is made in Japan and has the Sony "dots" logo and resembles the Beta of the time
Made in USA T120 Dynamicron variant



Mid 80s diagonal stripe Dynamicron







ES variant of the mid 80s Dynamicron



The 1988 ES. Sony's 80s VHS tapes all had direct Beta counterparts, as can be seen in the Beta gallery



In the 90s Sony started using a big "V" for their cassettes, like this later 90s T120VF
Made in Mexico version of the Sony V T120
  Sony V labels



Sony used this blue-purple color scheme to differentiate their T120 and T160 tapes for several generations



Slight variant of the Sony V labels, shared between T120 and T160 releases



The T120VE



In addition to cheaper, flimsier slipcases, these tapes also had far less comprehensive labels
Sony Premium Grade T160 V



The 2002 "everyday" Sony T120VL



A sealed 2002 T160VL premium grade. A High Grade T120 was also still available



The 2008 Sony T160VR

Maxell




A late 70s Maxell tape in a nice, heavy sleeve that predates the introduction of SLP or EP speed VCRs



The 1983 Maxell Epitaxial



A mid 80s T120 EX



A stripey EX variant



The high grade Maxell HGX Gold T120
Maxell HGX-Gold T160
The higher grade XL-hifi T120
    Insert card
The 1989 GX Silver T120



GX Silver with Maxell Points buyer rewards mark



The accompanying Maxell HGX Gold T120



Maxell used this bronze-silver-gold tier system throughout the 90s



A ten pack of this generation of Maxell Bronze T120s. It is astonishing to think that there was a time where anywhere between twenty to sixty hours of television or other arbitrary video could be recorded and rerecorded at home for the princely sum of five dollars
Black sleeve Maxell GX Silver that had a more informative wrapper



The mid 90s GX Silver T120 variant
The eight hour Maxell GX-Silver T160
Sealed made in Korea variant of the Maxell T-160



The mid 90s HGX Gold T120 variant



A slightly later standard grade Maxell T120
The Premium Grade T120 of the same generation



A sealed T160 variant of the Premium Grade tape



A later 90s Maxell standard grade T120



T160 variant
A sealed two-pack of Maxell High Grade T120s



The High Grade T160 variant



Because of the cost optimizations going into VHS in the 90s, a lot of lower-end tapes got cheaper sleeves and labels, like these Maxell ones that don't designate a length or grade so that they could be included with a range of Maxell tapes
A 90s Japanese Maxell T120. In Japan, many VHS sellers went to soft plastic cases in the 90s.

BASF

1986 BASF Extra Quality T120. BASF released early chrome tapes for VHS and Beta


The 1986 extra quality chrome T160
  1980s Chrome Extra Quality BASF labels suitable for use with T120 or T160
The 1988 T120 EQ



A rather worn made in Korea late 80s Extra Quality



The 1988 chrome T160 equivalent
  Later 1980s rainbow labels, also shared between T120 and T160EQ tapes



The Improved Quality variant of the T120



In 1989 BASF changed the design of their runtime table and started using this "You & Your VCR" blurb. This T120 is actually an odd dark grey color that does not scan well



A later variant of the Extra Quality T160







BASF also offered a T130 tape that would get you ten extra minutes at SP speed or a whole extra half hour at SLP/EP, which could be handy for programs of an odd length or widening your timeshifting window to make sure you didn't miss the beginning or end of a program







Starting in the 90s BASF began putting a hyphen between their letter and number runtime designations alongside a redesigned back panel



 



90s BASF T130



Like other manufacturers, BASF stopped printing individual sticker sheets for different tape lengths in the 90s
Super High Grade BASF T130 in neat black and gold sleeve
The 1990s eight hour BASF T160

TDK




The 1980 Super Avilyn. There is also a bilingual version for Canadian release



The 1985 cardboard sleeve HS

Labels for the mid 1980s TDK HS T120
A brighter TDK High Standard HS T120



The early 90s TDK HS
  Shared label sheet for these 1990s TDK tapes in nondescript sleeves



Early 90s TDK S-HG




A TDK Extra High Grade E-HG T-120 from the early 90s



A sealed two-pack of E-HG T120s showing the more informative plastic wrappers



The 1996 Super Avilyn STD T120



TDK T120 AQ



T160 variant of the AQ


 



A rather bland TDK E-HG that would have had a more informative plastic wrapping



A later TDK Revue "everyday" cassette
Higher-Grade TDK Vivid Ultimate Performance T-120
Sealed 2004 TDK T120



A TDK T160 from 2008



The simple and cheap label sheet

Fuji

A nice high-quality master recording Fuji Super XG T120 in an oversized plastic case
  Fuji Super XG case insert
  Partial label sheet for the Fuji Super XG T120



The 1986 cardboard case T120 HQ



Another T120 HQ, the official videotape of the National Football League
A bilingual 1996 Fuji HQ T120



NFL sponsorship variant
Double-coated Fuji A/V Pro Library T120



The 1998 Fuji HQ T120



A sealed Fujifilm HQ T160



The Fujifilm Pro T120 Premium High Grade

MGM




A "studio grade" tape originally from the mid 80s marketed by MGM



Bilingual variant of the MGM T120

Polaroid

Late 1987/early 1988 Polaroid Supercolor with lots of information on the back



The Polaroid Supercolor Plus from 1987
1988 Polaroid Supercolor HG high grade T120



1992 standard Polaroid T120 Supercolor. The Extra High Grade cassette is also advertised on the back



1994 bilingual variant of the standard T120 with similar front and rear designs
Sealed 1995 Polaroid Supercolor Plus
1996 Polaroid Supercolor Plus with slightly different text
1997 variant of the Polaroid Supercolor T120

Memorex

A stripy bilingual Memorex HS High Standard T120



A Memorex "Pro Series" T120 in a hard plastic case



A very 1990s Memorex. The Beta version of this design used a bluish band at the top instead of pink

A sealed 1997 Memorex High Grade T120



A 1998 Memorex T120 assembled in Canada

Magnavox


Although entitled Accuchrome HQ, this Magnavox T120 that may have been a VCR pack-in tape does not claim to be a chrome formulation. The NAP of the NAP Consumer Electronics Corp. on the back is North American Philips who bought Magnavox in 1974
A 90s "Extra High Grade" Magnavox T120. This seems to be the most common Magnavox VHS tape, and was certainly not manufactured by anybody involved with the original Magnavox

SKC




Sunkyong sold a few grades of VHS as well as at least one Beta tape in the mid 80s under the trademark SKC. They were endorsed by Good Housekeeping magazine



An SKC Maxplay T120

Ampex




An earlier Ampex T120. Ampex also sold some Beta cassettes with a similar style



An Ampex broadcast cassette. VHS was seldom used for real broadcast but sometimes tapes for industrial or timelapse uses were also marked as broadcast

Kodak




Kodak offered a few different grades of VHS tape, but the standard is by far the most common







The HS high standard variant, which also advertises other higher grade Kodak tapes on the back

Axia (Fuji)




Starting in the mid 80s, Fuji began marketing high quality and specialty audio and video tapes for the Japanese market. These "Library" T120 tapes come with a nice plastic case for storage



By the 90s, many Japanese tapes came in often plain soft plastic slipcases with the plastic wrap containing most of the product information instead of the more common cardboard sleeves seen in other territories. This sealed Hello Kitty themed tape has a similarly themed plastic slipcase

Konica




Konica cassettes came in a deep blue color with nice, quality slipcases with interesting designs

Wholesale Merchandisers (Tenkai/VeraTron)

A very 1980s looking Wholesale Merchandisers Tenkai T120
An improved quality Veratron Stereo T120 with another classic design



VeraTron tapes were packaged by Wholesale Merchandisers, who also sold compact cassettes under the VeraTron name







The high grade VeraTron T120 variant



A higher quality VeraTron cassette for hifi recordings

Tozai




Tozai also sold VHS rewinders and other paraphernalia







A more 90s disposable cup-like design. It seems that this variant used the same labels

Store branded cassettes

Radio Shack




A Radio Shack Supertape T120. Radio Shack continued to sell VHS (and Beta) tapes under their house brand well into the 2000s

Walmart



Wal-Mart "Extra Quality" T160

Kmart/Focal




An unbranded rainbow T120 that was sold in Kmart circa 1988
Kmart sold standard quality cassettes under the Focal range



Circa 1993 Focal tapes cost around $2.15



A later Focal T120. I kind of dig the purple dithered eyeball on the front

Target




A 1993 Target store brand cassette that apparently sold for two dollars. Target also resold cassette tapes

Blockbuster

1997 Blockbuster T120 - it makes sense, I guess, for a video store to also sell blank video tapes, but certainly these tapes were primarily bought with the intention of copying whatever movie(s) you were renting

Unbranded and miscellaneous



A T120 from MSR, probably from the early 80s



QEX branded T120 imported by Alaron. Alaron also imported some later tapes for brands like Maxell
An Avanti T120 promising to be super high grade for hifi stereo. There does not seem to have been any other style of tape from Avanti



A Revco distributed T120
Spartan by Hi-Tech T-120. A variant of this tape is marked made in Hong Kong
Garrand HG T120. Garrand also sold VHS rewinders
A "Signature 2000" T120, seemingly the only tape sold under this name



A Universal Security Instruments branded SHG hifi T120, seemingly made by JVC. Presumably Universal also rebranded lower grade tapes for use in timelapse VCRs, although to be honest this SHG is not particularly super high grade







Another Universal tape, this one grossly misleading - it claims to be a two hour tape on the front, implying it is a T120, but its actually a T40, and only gets two hours in the lowest quality SLP/EP mode



A similar T40 from HQV, still sealed



A Quantegy T120 Broadcast tape sold specifically for use in timelapse CCTV recorders, which in their slower modes left the tape in contact with the heads for significantly longer than at normal speeds