VHS-C TO DVD

VHS-C to DVD transfer is based around the VHS-C tape, or "Video Home System-Compact." It was introduced by JVC in 1983 to take advantage of VHS's popularity, but provide a smaller alternative for the burgeoning consumer camcorder market. Fun fact: the first VHS-C camcorder model was used by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future! (He used it to tape the DeLorean's first time-travel departure.)

JVC introduced its small VHS-C camcorder to compete with Sony's Betamovie, the first consumer camcorder. Some companies also released video cameras that used full-size VHS tapes, to compete with the longer running time of the Video8 tape. See our 8mm Video to DVD page for information about transferring Video8 tapes, the primary competitor to VHS-C.

The VHS-C cassette is 3 5/8" long, 2 1/4" wide, and 7/8" thick. The half-inch tape inside is the same width as a VHS tape. Inside, the magnetic tape is wound between a main spool and a take-up spool, with a geared wheel moving the tape forward. These wheels can also be moved by hand.

We transfer VHS-C tapes using the famous VHS adapter shell, but we always flip each tape's protective cover open to check that it is intact first. The easy-to-use adapter shell is one big reason that VHS-C continued to be a popular video format as long as the VHS VCR was a main piece of electronics in most homes. As DVD players and digital video cameras arrived, VHS-C became an obsolete format.

The VHS-C format displays 250 lines of resolution on the television screen, and is thus the same quality level as VHS. This resolution stays intact through the entire DVD transfer process.

Convert VHSC to DVD

VHS-C to DVD transfer quality, as with VHS tapes, depends upon the mode setting that was used for the tape. Most VHS-C tapes will hold approximately 30 minutes of video at SP-level quality. Therefore, we can often combine multiple VHS-C tapes onto one DVD.

Other speeds include LP and EP/SLP, which offer lower quality at longer playing times. These lower-quality tapes are more unstable and make it increasingly difficult to convert VHSC to DVD over time. This makes the VHS-C conversion process much trickier! This is why you should transfer tapes to DVD as soon as possible if you have LP and EP or SLP tapes in your collection.

S-VHS-C to DVD: Just like S-VHS, S-VHS-C offers higher quality in the same small VHS-C cassette, and is the same 420 lines, offering a better picture. It was introduced in 1987 to compete with Sony's 8mm video tapes, but nevertheless offered a slightly lower resolution. Timeless DVD can copy VHS-C to DVD as well as S-VHS-C.

Transfer VHS-C

Convert your VHS-C tape to DVD with Timeless DVD today!