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How Magnetic's Can Destroy Your Family VHS Tape Memories

MAGNETIC DAMAGE TO FAMILY VIDEO TAPES Magnetic tape damage is pretty common. Family tapes store video and audio information in the form of a magnetic strip. The VCR has special heads that can pick up on these magnetic signals and translate them into images and sound that plays on your TV. While magnets are used to write information to the tape, they are also used to erase footage from your tape. Since VHS uses an iron oxide as its formula, this makes them very susceptible to magnetic damage. A tape that has been exposed to magnetic damage is nearly always irreparable. There is no way to recover footage that has been magnetically erased or damaged. The best bet is to make sure you keep your video tapes away from anything resembling a magnet! CLIENT CASE Unfortunately one of our clients contacted us Friday with regard to his family Hi8 video tapes that had been damaged by the magnetic field given off by a mobile phone. He asked whether our company would be able to help recover ...
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What is Betacam SP? Is it Still in Use?

Sony’s Betamax lost out to JVC’s VHS in the home video entertainment format war in the 1980s.   This didn’t stop Sony from venturing into another ‘Beta’ format, namely, Betacam SP or Beta SP. SP stands for Superior Quality.   Sony introduced this analogue video camera format in 1986.  Before Betacam SP was Betacam which was released in 1982 as the ‘pro version’ of Betamax.   Betacam SP is an enhancement of the Betacam format. The Betacam system was a 1/2-inch tape format (similar to VHS and Betamax) that needed a camcorder, video recorder, and tape. It was targeted at the professional market.    It was meant to be an improvement on Sony’s 3/4-inch U-Matic tape format.   Betacam tapes came in two sizes – Short (S) and Long (L).   Betacam camcorders for consumers could only load the S version.   Only broadcast stations with a complete Beta system could support both the S and L versions through recorders meant for editing.   Betacam offer...

How to Digitise 78 Records - Phil Seamen "Britain's Greatest Jazz Drummer" - Ronnie Scott

We were priviledged to work with Peter Dawn, a Jazz journalist and historian who commissioned our company to digitise his companies complete archive of rare shellac and pathe records, into National Archive Standard digital files, preserving the music for future listening. Our audio engineering services offered Broadcast WAV files with MP3 asset files for online listening. Audio restoration using Isotope standards were gently applied to ensure the outcome was a pure record sound. Talking to Peter about this fascinating and specialist archive revealed that over twenty years  he has researched to write a book about the legendary Phil Seamen, Britains greatest Jazz drummer, and this collection of rare vinyl is part of this amazing story.  Peter, in his own words highlights:  "The Parnell band’s minor riot, Billie Holiday at the Royal Albert Hall, West Side Story’s ‘Dinner is Served’ episode, Phil being stopped from going to America, the start of European Free Form jazz, thirt...

How to Digitise Glass Plate Negatives | Oxford Archiving

The Preservation of The Curnock Glass Plate Negatives Introduction Our services ( @OxfordDuplicat1 )  are highly recommended in the UK for specialist photographic film scanning. Trusted to our company, we are preparing The Curnock glass plate collection, held at Oxford Brookes University and part of the  @MethodistGB collection. Almost all archives possess some type of photographic collection. Many individuals typically think of “photographs” as plastic-based negatives and slides; but these photographic techniques are relatively recent inventions. Prior to the invention of cellulose nitrate film in 1903, photographic emulsions were made on glass supports. These glass supports are typically referred to as glass plate negatives. The term “glass plate negative” refers to two separate formats: the collodion wet plate negative and the gelatin dry plate. Both of these formats consist of a light sensitive emulsion that is fixed to the glass plate base with a binder. Dozens of photog...

The Deterioration of Paper Archives - The Deterioration and Preservation of Paper

What Actually Causes Paper to Deteriorate in Storage? Oxford Duplication Centre offer a professional bulk and short-order document scanning facility for corporate, heritage and consumer clients. Converting all paper and animal hide media into National Archive Standard output formats, including PDF, PDF/OCR, TIFF and JPEG options. https://oxfordduplicationcentre.com/document-collections.html The rate and severity of deterioration result from internal and external factors: most importantly, the composition of the paper and the conditions under which the paper is stored. Paper is made of cellulose -- a repeating chain of glucose molecules -- derived from plant cell walls. In the presence of moisture, acids from the environment (e.g., air pollution, poor-quality enclosures), or from within the paper repeatedly cut the glucose chains into shorter lengths. This acid hydrolysis reaction produces more acids, feeding further, continued degradation. Typical causes are as follows: 1.  Degrada...

VHS Copy of Movie Sells for Tens of Thousands

For many years now, we have been advising clients to not throw away their old VHS tapes, unless they have checked out a few sites to confirm they are not valuable.   Recently, an old VHS tape, a sealed copy of 1986 Back to The Future made a record price. The highest ever paid for a VHS tape! Do check our blog on VHS tapes and their collection price future down our blog pages. Kind regards Cheryl - Oxford Duplication Centre Ltd Share HOTLINES VHS Copy of Movie Sells for Tens of Thousands NOVEMBER 1, 2022 Record price for a VHS tape.  Check your old VHS collection. A sealed copy of the 1986 comedy  Back to the Future  was recently sold for $75,000 by Heritage Auctions. The closing price is believed to be the highest ever paid for a VHS tape. The tape came from the collection of Tom Wilson, an actor featured in the Back to the Future trilogy. The tape was still in its original shrink wrap and rated near-mint by experts. Wilson starred as Biff Tannen and other membe...