Has anyone else noticed this with VHS tapes? It's weird...I'll record something, then when I watch the tape a few weeks/months later, the bottom half of the picture will be really jittery for some reason. It's really an eyesore and I have no clue what would be causing it - mind you it doesn't really happen with all of my tapes, but a great deal. I follow all the basic guidelines for care of VHS tapes, yet it still happens. I generally store my tapes in Rubbermaid boxes in a flat position. I've heard some people say to keep them in a vertical positon, but I doubt that that would be the problem...does anyone know what could cause this annoyance?? :confused:

Originally posted by bb25
Has anyone else noticed this with VHS tapes? It's weird...I'll record something, then when I watch the tape a few weeks/months later, the bottom half of the picture will be really jittery for some reason. It's really an eyesore and I have no clue what would be causing it - mind you it doesn't really happen with all of my tapes, but a great deal. I follow all the basic guidelines for care of VHS tapes, yet it still happens. I generally store my tapes in Rubbermaid boxes in a flat position. I've heard some people say to keep them in a vertical positon, but I doubt that that would be the problem...does anyone know what could cause this annoyance?? :confused:

I haven't seen this very often, though I do have the same problem on one set of shows that I have (taped in ep), and I've found that playing them on a better VCR helps. (We have a 19 head VCR which is supposed to play and record better than an ordinary VCR.)

Jen :wave:

have you cleaned the heads on your vcr lately? or it could be a tracking problem too. if it is the tape i sometimes kinda jiggle the tape against a pillow or something and it comes back to it's senses

Sometimes the picture jiggles and the voice is real low when I play a tape in a VCR that I didn't tape it in.:confused:

Originally posted by mr roper
Sometimes the picture jiggles and the voice is real low when I play a tape in a VCR that I didn't tape it in.:confused:

my tapes have done that before, i found out it was a problem with the VCR i recorded it in. make sure the VCR is sitting the proper way, not laying on it's back or side, that plays a big part in it too

Nope, it's not that. The VCR I recorded them in is a top-of-the-line RCA, and I've been playing them back on a brand new Sony I just got less than 2 months ago, so it's definitely not the VCR or dirty heads. While there seems to be less jitter if I play them on the RCA they were recorded on, it's still there and keep in mind that these were fine when I first recorded them - jitter free...the only other thing I can think of is the way I store them - flat instead of vertical...:confused:

Originally posted by bb25
Has anyone else noticed this with VHS tapes? It's weird...I'll record something, then when I watch the tape a few weeks/months later, the bottom half of the picture will be really jittery for some reason. It's really an eyesore and I have no clue what would be causing it - mind you it doesn't really happen with all of my tapes, but a great deal. I follow all the basic guidelines for care of VHS tapes, yet it still happens. I generally store my tapes in Rubbermaid boxes in a flat position. I've heard some people say to keep them in a vertical positon, but I doubt that that would be the problem...does anyone know what could cause this annoyance?? :confused:

You know... I've been thinking about this. The only set of tapes that I've had this happen to me with were acquired from a trade. The tapes were recorded in ep, and they played beautifully the first time. Since they've been played once, I have to practically babysit them and play them in my best VCR to get a decent picture. Otherwise, the bottom level is jittery.

This is the only experience I've had with them, so I'm assuming that it happened as a result of my trader's VCR.

Jen

Actually, that isn't the case with mine either. I'll record them say in December, then when I go to watch them say in April or something, they'll be jittery. I mean, you'd think from the looks of it that I left the tapes out in the cold all winter, then just sat and shook them for awhile before playing them. It stumps me because they're high quality tapes recorded on a high quality machine and stored properly...:confused: