History PlayingWith / DeliberateVHSQuality

Back to DeliberateVHSQuality.

** The work is about VHS, it only makes sense to demonstrate it. [[note]]May even be done as a comparative demonstration between it, Betamax and LaserDisc.[[/note]]

* '''Downplayed''': The quality is still analog TV, but in a higher quality format, such as UsefulNotes/LaserDisc or professional tape equipment used at TV stations. May also be in an aspect ratio other than 4:3.

** [[CrystalClearPicture A character puts a tape in a VCR, but HD footage plays]][[note]]This scenario can be [[JustifiedTrope justified]]. From 1998 to 2004, there was actually a format available called D-VHS, which would store digital data on a VHS cassette. This allowed for up to 1080i resolution at home before UsefulNotes/BluRay came around.[[/note]]

** [[NothingIsScarier hide things in the poor detail, poor dynamic range, or poor low-light capabilities]].

* '''Enforced''': The author is a fan of {{Retraux}}, borrowing aesthetic designs from TheEighties or TheNineties.

** The quality is a consumer videotape format that predates VHS and Betamax, such as EIAJ-1 or Sony CV-2000.

*** A complete failure to read some parts of the tape

* '''Zig Zagged''': The footage put on a VHS tape was of worse quality, such as 8mm or monochrome film.
* '''Averted''': No VHS effects are shown

* '''Played For Drama''': The characters are looking for evidence in VHS quality footage, but [[RealityEnsues there is no]] EnhanceButton.

* '''Double Subverted''': Bob discovers a 2 inch master tape of a movie that was only ever distributed on VHS. When he tries playing it, it's VHS quality as if it was copied from VHS.

* '''Played For Drama''': The characters are looking for evidence in VHS quality footage, but there is no EnhanceButton.

** A character puts a tape in a VCR, but HD footage plays[[note]]This scenario can be [[JustifiedTrope justified]]. From 1998 to 2004, there was actually a format available called D-VHS, which would store digital data on a VHS cassette. This allowed for up to 1080i resolution at home before UsefulNotes/BluRay came around.[[/note]]

* '''Zig Zagged''': A film look is given, but a VHS effect is layed over it, using two effects at once.

* '''Justified''': The footage was recorded in the early [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]] or earlier.

* '''Enforced''': The characters can only use older video equipment, be it through cost or availability.

* '''Double Subverted''': Bob finds a computer file that's supposedly the highest quality version of an old show, but it's actually VHS quality.

* '''Double Subverted''': Bob finds a computer file that's supposedly the highest quality version of an old show, but it's actually VHS quality. The latter is also an example of an EnforcedTrope.

* '''Played For Laughs''': A character is using a VCR in spite of other options, and the VCR keeps crapping out and playing the tape improperly. The character keeps [[PercussiveMaintenance hitting the VCR]] as well.

** A character puts a tape in a VCR, but HD footage plays[[note]]This scenario can be [[JustifiedTrope justified]].
From 1998 to 2004, there was actually a format available called D-VHS, which would store digital data on a VHS cassette. This allowed for up to 1080i resolution at home before UsefulNotes/BluRay came around.[[/note]]

* '''Justified''': The footage was recorded in the early [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]], be it in-universe or out-of-universe.

** A character puts a tape in a VCR, but HD footage plays[[note]]There was actually a format called D-VHS, which would store digital data on a VHS cassette, allowing for up to 1080i resolution at home before UsefulNotes/BluRay[[/note]]

* '''Invoked''': "We unfroze someone who's been in cryogenic preservation since 1988. Let's film him with old technology until we can tell him it's the future now."

*** Tracking problems

* '''Conversed''': "I apologize for the poor quality, it's the only copy we have"

* '''Played For Drama''': Hiding some details behind VHS quality, a la NothingIsScarier combined with FoundFootage.

* '''Subverted''': A character goes into an "archive of old footage", walks past shelves of VHS tapes, then pulls out a film reel.
* '''Double Subverted''': Bob finds a computer file that's supposedly the highest quality version of an old show, but it's actually VHS quality.
* '''Parodied''': A character uses an old camcorder or records footage to VHS for no obvious reason, or just because they feel it will look cool.

* '''Lampshaded''': "That footage must be old. Or at least the camcorder is".

* '''Exploited''': VHS quality is used to [[IfYouCanReadThis prevent someone from reading a sign in the background]], to cover up other details with a narrow [[AspectRatio 4:3]] frame, and/or [[NothingIsScarier to hide things in the lack or detail or poor dynamic range or low-light capabilities]].
* '''Defied''': Someone uses a film look instead to convey it's the past with more resolution, or a character uses a newer camcorder or smartphone to record something.

* '''Played For Laughs''': The VCR keeps crapping out and playing the tape improperly, and a character keeps [[PercussiveMaintenance hitting it]].
* '''Played For Drama''': Covering some details, a la NothingIsScarier.

** More VHS effects are added, such as:

* '''Parodied''': A character uses an old camcorder or records footage to VHS for no obvious reason.

* '''Invoked''': "We unfroze someone from cryogenic preservation. Let's film him with old technology until we can tell him it's the future now."
* '''Exploited''': VHS quality is used to [[IfYouCanReadThis prevent someone from reading a sign in the background]], or to cover up other details with a narrow [[AspectRatio 4:3]] frame.
* '''Defied''': Someone uses a film look instead to convey it's the past, or a character uses a newer camcorder or smartphone to record something
* '''Discussed''': "Was the footage in question recorded on an analog camcorder?"

%% * '''Inverted''': ???

%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???

* '''Inverted''': ???
* '''Subverted''': That wasn't VHS, it was Betamax

* '''Discussed''': "Have you you ever tried whacking that thing to get get it working?"
* '''Conversed''': "Hey, I tried whacking that thing the other day and it started working."
* '''Deconstructed''': Bob is used to fix his computer with punching so much that one day he breaks it with a usual punch.
* '''Reconstructed''': When Bob finally gets his computer fixed at the workshop, he understands that punching certain areas of his computer won't do anything good. But punching other areas is still a good choice, since some parts of his computer tend to shift in their sockets.

Back to - back...back....ba...back to Perc...back to...(whack) Back to PercussiveMaintenance.

%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%