What is the best way to record VHS copies, SP or LP?
The answer is SP. SP refers to the speed at which the tape travels in the video playback unit. SP means standard play, in other words the tape is traveling at the optimum speed designed to give you the best picture and audio quality. Tapes recorded in LP travel in the video playback unit three times slower than SP. This greatly reduces your audio and video quality; Real Time LP tapes can experience severe tracking problems. High Speed duplication is a method of recording where the audio and video signals are dubbed at a much faster rate than the program time. This generally requires the creation of special masters and is run on high speed equipment. The quality is comparable to Real Time in SP. We at DCA recommend recording your dubs in SP. It has been our experience that the few cents you may save by recording your copies at other than SP is not worth the quality loss / customer service problems that will occur.
