actually it was "resolution". but resolution for VHS was kind of a weird thing as VHS knew nothing about pixels. It simply scanned information from the magnetic tape and onto a scanline on the TV. The frequency and signal-to-noise ratio in SP mode came out to around 320 pixels vertically. Thus buying a new movie recorded in SP looked really freaking good. The problem was that most SP tapes were sold as rental only, meaning they cost anywhere from $90-120. By the time they hit retail pricing they were usually recorded at LP or EP to reduce manufacturing costs (less tape used). I still remember buying Hellraiser on VHS for $12.99 and the tape on the reel couldn't have been more 1/4 inch from the plastic. :lolTheHeretic said:If you think the difference between a VHS tape and a DVD in terms of quality was resolution you never watched a VHS tape, period.
So yeah, 95% of what the average joe saw on VHS was either rental SP that had already been watched at least 5-10 times if not more or LP or EP retail copies. Still, on a new SP VHS release, resolution wise there wasn't as gigantic a quality increase with a DVD player on the same display, especially in the early days with movies right around 2 hours or more encoded to a single DVD5 side. and if the single movie was recorded as a DVD10 flipper.... lol... back to laserdisc all over again, except that we never got auto-side changing DVD players. I actually had to wait for Goodfellas for almost 5 years because of my refusal to buy the original flipper.