Product Flaws
The video cassette recorder is known to have glitches and common bugs. The most common problem was temperature and humidity changes, if the machine (or tape) was moved from a cold to a hotter environment condensation would occur on the internal parts, such as the rotating video head drum. Most models were later equipped with a Dew warning indicator which was intended to prohibit operation. This device however could not detect moisture on the surface of any cold tape inserted. Users often experienced the magnetic tape to be 'chewed' or 'eaten' when ejected from the machine due to this moisture. Other causes of malfunction occurred when the rubber drive belts or rubber rollers hardened with age. Faults such as these rendered the tape unusable, and if valuable footage (such as a wedding) was involved this loss could be traumatic for users. VHS tapes recorded in LP or EP/SLP mode tend to not play back very well on other machines due to record / replay head alignment tolerances, and tapes recorded on a machine made before 1995 tend to not play well on newer machines due to slight changes in helical scanning head technology design. Most machines no longer have control switches linked to mechanical parts, but rely on solenoids and motor driven mechanisms to perform changes of function.
Read more about this topic: Videocassette Recorder
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