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| Introduction |
| In this guide you will learn of the many features
available in today's VCRs. Many of these features are quite
useful, but not all of them work in Barbados. Before you purchase
your new VCR, check out which features are most important to
you. |
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| General Features |
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| Picture Quality |
| The more video heads, the better the picture
quality. Two-head VCRs offer a lower price tag, but their picture
quality is surpassed by four-head VCRs. Four-Head VCRs also
offer significantly cleaner freeze-frame, fast-forward, and
slow motion functions. Some VCRs are even equipped with six
heads. |
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| 19-Micron Heads |
| Recording at faster speeds (SP) will produce
better picture quality than recording at slower speeds (SLP/EP).
The 19-micron heads feature significantly improves picture quality
when recording at slow speeds, resulting in a quality close
to SP recordings. |
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| Sound Quality |
| If you plan to use your VCR with your stereo
or home theater system, you will need a hi-fi stereo VCR. Most
VHS movies you purchase, and some rentals, are recorded in stereo
or surround sound. This awesome enveloping sound is not possible
without a hi-fi VCR and tapes recorded in stereo. If you couldn't
care less about your room sounding like a movie theater, then
you can opt for the lower price mono sound VCR. |
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| Audio/Video Inputs and Outputs |
 Audio/video
(AV) inputs and outputs allow you to connect additional devices
to your VCR, such as camcorders, video game consoles, stereos
or other VCRs. Most VCRs have the AV connector jacks at the
back. Newer models offer convenient front-panel AV jacks, eliminating
the hassle of accessing the back of the VCR. |
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| Super VHS (S-VHS) |
 Super
VHS offers higher screen resolutions than standard VHS players,
which translates to superior picture quality. A Standard VHS
VCR provides a resolution up to 240 lines per inch, while a
VCR with S-VHS provides up to 400 lines. Whether you will be
able to notice this improvement or not all depends on the quality
of the videotape you are playing. Improvement is most likely
to be seen on tapes recorded from high-resolution sources such
as DVD players and satellite systems. Note, to take advantage
of the superior S-VHS quality, you will need a TV with a S-VHS
cable connection as well. On televisions, this feature is called
S-Video. |
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| Remote Control |
| Since most VCRs come with a remote control, the
option here is whether it has a universal remote or not. In
addition to operating your VCR, a universal remote can be programmed
to operator TV and cable/satellite system. Some "universal"
remotes will only let you operate other devices from the same
manufacturer of the VCR, but most will work with multiple brands.
You may also be interested in remotes that glow in the dark
for easy night operation. Good remotes also have different size
and shaped buttons so that you can recognize the buttons by
touch. |
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| Auto Head Cleaners |
| As the name suggest, built-in head cleaners automatically
clean the VCR heads when a tape is played or recorded. If the
heads are not cleaned, dust and debris will accumulate and degrade
your picture quality. |
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| High-Speed Rewind |
| If you are ever in a rush to return a tape before
the video store closes, you may be interested in high-speed
rewind. High-speed rewind will rewind a tape in less than two
minutes. |
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| Tamper Proof / Parental Lock |
| If you don't want anyone messing around your
VCR while you are gone, you can make the VCR inoperable with
the tamper proof feature. You can set a pass code that allows
you to use the VCR again. This feature is useful if you do not
want your children operating the VCR or watching certain videos
while you are away. |
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| Search, Instant Replay & Index
Search |
 The
search and replay functions allow you to advance or rewind a
tape by entering specific time intervals. This feature comes
in handy if you want to fast forward 30 seconds to skip a commercial,
or maybe rewind 1 minute to replay your favourite scene in a
movie. Index search comes in handy if you want to fast forward
or rewind to the beginning of a recording. VCRs with the indexing
feature will place an electronic index tag on the tape each
time you record on the tape. Therefore, each time you press
the index search button on your VCR, it will advance (or rewind)
to the beginning of each successive recording. |
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| Commercial Skip |
| Commercial skip will automatically fast forward
though commercials when a tape is being played. This feature
may only work with programs recorded from certain channels.
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| Features that don't work in Barbados |
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| VCR Plus+ |
 In
the U.S., the TV Guides have a special VCR+ Code next to each
program listed. If you want to record a particular show, all
you have to do is enter the VCR+ code into your VCR and it will
automatically record the show when it starts. Your local TV
station must be able to broadcast the VCR+ signal for this feature
to work. |
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| Auto Clock Set |
| Yup, you've guessed it, this feature automatically
sets the time on the VCR. Your local TV station must broadcast
this signal in order for this feature to work. |
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| Special thanks to "West Riley
Electronics " for allowing us to take photos of their VCRs. |
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