Sony Dynamicron L-750 U.H.G. video tapes

[B 4204 T3]

A while back, I bought a big collection of used Betamax video cassettes from the 1980s & 1990s from an elderly couple. They took really good care of them, and they are all in very good condition. I have spent the last few years playing them, and most of them still play very well, with excellent sound & picture quality; however, there are some tapes they had called Sony Dynamicron L-750 Ultra High Grade video cassettes that I am having problems with trying to play.



They come in a brown sleeve with yellow, orange, pink, purple, and blue horizontal stripes in the middle of it, along with this promotional statement on the back:



"Newly developed VIVAX magnetic particles give superior picture resolution and audio quality at every recording speed."



The problem that I am having with these tapes is that I can get them to load & start playing, but the picture quality is absolutely dreadful! They all have a lot of static in the picture, and sometimes, the picture is so grainy and snowy that it's difficult for me to even tell what is going on in the scene that I am trying to watch, and other times, the picture just cuts out entirely. Despite the bad picture, the sound quality is still satisfactory the entire time they are playing.



I've never had this problem with any other video tapes that I've ever played before, either Betamax or VHS. Many different brands of tapes came in the lot, and the confusing part is that only these tapes have the bad video quality, and all the rest of the tapes are good. Even the off-brand tapes still have excellent quality, unlike these tapes. Some of the recordings were taped at the Beta II speed, and others were tapes at the Beta III speed, which I know can make a difference, but they're all the same quality with these tapes.



Does anyone know what the problem is? Physically, they are all in the same good condition as the rest of the tapes. I was also able to rewind, fast-forward, and pause them without any problems. Could they have sticky-shed syndrome, or any design flaw which caused them to not hold up well over the years? I've tried to research them online, but I can't find very much information about them.



If any one is familiar with these particular tapes or knows anything about them, then I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

[B 4204 T3]

I am disappointed that one month has passed, and people have been reading my message, but no one has responded.



This weekend, I played a different Sony Betamax Dynamicron L-750 U.H.G. video tape from this collection, and the video quality is just as bad as the others that I have played, which is frustrating.



Once again, I need help trying to play these old Sony Betamax video tapes. Can anyone help me understand why they are so poor? I only own one Betamax VCR, so I can't test it on another VCR. The reason why I'm asking is because these tapes have unique recordings on them of original broadcasts off the air, with the original advertisements, newscasts, show promos, and station identifications on them, so it would be a real shame to lose them. One tape even has some home movies of their kids on it, and another one has a video of their holiday at a lake taped on it.



I've tried my best to research the problem online, but I can't find any information about these particular Sony tapes online, other than identical new old stock tapes for sale. I would really appreciate any help at all that you can give me.



Thanks!

[Electronic M]

I haven't had that problem with Betamax tapes, but I don't know if any of my Betatapes is that exact type.

One thing I wonder if it could be is sticky shed syndrome. EIAJ format video tapes (Especially Sony EIAJ) were prone to the glue that binds the magnetic dust to the plastic tape absorbing humidity and making the playing surface of the tape somewhat sticky which on VCRs tends to cause excessive drag which slows down the tape and makes good tracking impossible.

Tapes with that problem can be made playable (at least until they soak up more humidity) by baking them at around 140f in a food dehydrator.

[redk9258]

Sorry but I have zero experience with Betamax. Are the heads clean?

[WCV82]

I've had similar issues with VHS tapes, but never anything like that with Beta tapes. Presumably if its from the same person, the tapes were stored in a similar manner and in a similar place (and recorded on the same Beta recorder), so its not storage over time or equipment that caused issues with the tapes, its the tape stock itself. I've heard bad things about Ampex and PD Magnetics Beta tape stock being bad but never Sony so maybe you got a bad batch?

Personally, for VHS I've had issues with mid to late 80s Polaroid tape stock, and any Ampex tape stock. Both brands seem to have sticky shed issues whenever I play the tapes back.

[ARC Tech-109]

I'm perplexed on this whole sticky shed thing. Was there some formulation change in the binders at some point? Reason I ask is I have hundreds of open reels that I made during my days as a broadcast student from 1984 to 1987 and they're all scotch 290 from bulk pancakes. I don't know the actual production of these as they were stacked floor to ceiling in storage but I suspect late 70's given the station history. McCurrdy consoles, Revox PR99MkII's Technics SP-10 tables. So far I've not had one shed anything in my 4010S or issues with any of my Betacam tapes some of which date back to the late 80's under the Sony brand. I do have one 3600ft EIAJ Karex Silverchrome tape but no machine to run it on, just unspooling a few feet and it *looks alright*... a tape I made in middle school I'm not too eager to look at. I also have numerous audio tapes be it Maxell, Memorex and FUJI from that era and so far they play fine, question is what is doomed in the near future?
I recently acquired a one-inch Sony BVH2000 type-c VTR and 50-some tapes that come out of the old CONUS news center, the newest tape is of the 9/11 WTC attack and there are numerous "fresh" rolls in the batch from Sony, 3M and AMPEX-296's still in the bags. If you're not familiar with the type-c format it runs a 5.25" dia head drum at 3600 RPM with a 346 degree wrap to make a 1008 IPS writing speed, a sticking tape is going to make a real mess fast. (see my post below this topic)
Is there some point where the tapes are going to go to s**t regardless of care & environment?

[B 4204 T3]

Thanks for all of your help, and I'm sorry for the late reply. I've had a busy week.



From what I've been able to figure out, I don't know if they have sticky shef syndrome, since my Sony Betamax VCR is still working fine. As far as I know, the heads are still clean. All of the other Betamax tapes are playing without any problems. Sony must have had a design flaw which only affected this particular line of video tapes, which are called the Ultra High Grade tapes. I'm also perplexed about this problem, since I've owned Sony products for years, which have always been very good & reliable, and they have always received good reviews.



All I can figure out is that they must have come from a bad production run that the factory technicians either overlooked or weren't aware of.



I've always heard the term "high grade" tapes, but I've never quite understood what it meant. Were high grade tapes any better than other kinds of tapes, or what it just a fancy marketing term intended to stimulate sales? Did the have a different price than the other kinds of tapes? I'm just curious.



I also took two pictures of the kind of Sony Betamax video tapes that have the problem, in case any one recognises them. One of them is the box, and the other is the actual tape. The tape has some handwriting on the label that I can't read.



Thanks for your insight!

[WCV82]

I've always been leery of the term "high grade" from what I've read over the years Beta and VHS were made in 3, maybe 4 different factories and were just "rebranded" for the various brands (just slapping on packaging and logo), be they some crappy store brand (Blockbuster or CVS or whatever) or Maxell/JVC/Sony. To make matters worse, some brands even would have 3 color grades (low, medium, high) and be priced accordingly. I've opened these up over the years and the guts look exactly the same, with the same internal pieces.

[ARC Tech-109]

I agree, making tape is not cheap and I don't see everyone making their own stuff. Far cheaper and profitable to spec a run from the mass OEMs and call it their own. A work order for say a thousand miles of raw to be slit and packaged might have been a million with a ten fold return, another injection jobber shooting the plastic tape cases on a fire 50-ton Toyo presses at only a few pennies in qty. $4.00/finished to the retailers who marks it by two and people think they're getting a good deal. Same tape in a different box and nobody knows the difference.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Hi-
If you are still trying to test these tapes, I recommend that you try making your own recording on one or more of them, using the BI or BII speed on your VCR. If your own recordings look OK, then you know that the original recordings were just somehow highly incompatible with your machine; this can happen.

One example of mis-matched recording could be a SuperBeta recording (especially in the BIII speed) played on an earlier Beta VCR. They are supposed to be compatible, but maybe they are not.

Let us know what you find out.

[B 4204 T3]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

Hi-
If you are still trying to test these tapes, I recommend that you try making your own recording on one or more of them, using the BI or BII speed on your VCR. If your own recordings look OK, then you know that the original recordings were just somehow highly incompatible with your machine; this can happen.

One example of mis-matched recording could be a SuperBeta recording (especially in the BIII speed) played on an earlier Beta VCR. They are supposed to be compatible, but maybe they are not.

Let us know what you find out.

That you for the suggestion, and I will try it. I only own one Betamax VCR, which is a Sony model SL-100. It is a no-frills Super Betamax model which I know operates at the Beta II & Beta III tape speeds. Do you know if it has the ability to record at the Beta I speed? Should I turn the Super Betamax switch on or off for the test recordings?



I really appreciate the help, and I will let you know what happens.

[ARC Tech-109]

No. What Sony did was made all the machines capable of BI/II/III playback but after the SL-8200 series record was BI/II only. Looking at the date on that tape you posted I'd bet it was recorded on a SuperBeta HiFi deck and those run a higher FM deviation thus making the streaks & grain on a lower end deck.
Your SL-100 is a first gen SuperBeta machine and should have no problem with the playback so what I'm suspecting is either a physical issue with the tape itself be it shedding or a close encounter with a strong magnet at some point or the original deck had some issue with the record current.
I've been poking around on this whole sticky shed thing and yes there was a change in the adhesive binder during the 1980's due to some perceived environmental issue, the details are somewhat sketchy (read BS) but it was urethane based and susceptible to moisture intrusion over time. ME tapes are a direct deposition and not suseptable to this however the mylar itself will break down over time causing the tape itself to flake.
As for the "SuperBeta" switch itself the deck should auto select based on the deviation it sees, my Sanyo VCR-7250 auto selects on its own based on carrier detection (when it decides to work at all).
FYI the Sony SL-7200 was a B-I only deck with the capstan driven off a common synchronous AC motor while the SL-8200 was the B-I & B-II using a DC servo motor to drive the capstan. I had both in my youth and despite being big & clunky they were great for a then 15 year-old. The 7200 survives... somewhere around here.

[Electronic M]

I think you mean that after BIII came out that all later decks could only record in BII/BIII..... Nobody really wanted to record in BII anyway once the faster speeds were out since the recording time it allowed was so short.

[ARC Tech-109]

Yeah once BIII hit the scene BI was gone from all but the pro decks, forgot to add the III. VHS always had the record time advantage and when it came down to the wallet of Joe Consumer only the dollar mattered.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by B 4204 T3

That you for the suggestion, and I will try it. I only own one Betamax VCR, which is a Sony model SL-100. It is a no-frills Super Betamax model which I know operates at the Beta II & Beta III tape speeds. Do you know if it has the ability to record at the Beta I speed? Should I turn the Super Betamax switch on or off for the test recordings?

I really appreciate the help, and I will let you know what happens.

A basic machine will not have BI recording ability, as ARC Tech mentioned.

Regarding your test recordings, I recommend that you try each mode for a minute or two in each recording: BII with SuperBeta off, then BIII with SuperBeta off, then both speeds with SuperBeta on. When you play each of your recordings, remember to try turning the tracking control, and make notes of what it does to the picture quality. Typically, that control has more effect (and is more picky/critical) on BIII tapes versus BII recordings. (The same is true of VHS EP/SLP recordings compared to LP or especially SP ones.)

Let us know what you get.