BUYING TAPE: THE BIG PLAYBACK OR PAY BACK?

Confused about blank videotapes? Join the crowd.

It isn’t just a matter of deciding which brand of tape to buy. That’s a tough enough step right there, since audiotape companies (such as Maxell, TDK and Memorex), VCR brands (like JVC and RCA) and film-stock firms (Kodak, Polaroid and Fuji) are all in on the game.

But then consider that each of those companies has three or more grades of tape. And the differences between these grades are as arbitrary as the manufacturers want to make them.

Lab tests done for video magazines, in fact, have shown that there is often little difference in quality between one line’s least expensive tape and its next-highest grade. Sometimes the lab results even show that a factor like “dropouts” (those momentary horizontal glitches) can be a bigger problem on the more expensive tape. And while those top-of-the-line tapes--”Gold,” or “Hi-Fi” or whatever--may actually have somewhat stronger bindings or finer particles, lab tests have not found such an improvement that it seems worth paying twice as much (or sometimes more) than the line’s basic tape--except perhaps for camera or camcorder use.

(Incidentally, any acceptable tape is OK for hi-fi machines, though a tape that actually gives a marginally better picture may also provide marginally better sound.)

The consensus of the experts seems to be: If you want to avoid graininess, dropouts and other home-taping problems without paying an arm and a leg every time you want to keep a program, use the lowest-priced tape of any name-brand manufacturer and tape at your machine’s fastest speed (SP, or standard play). If the program you wish to keep runs more than two hours--the maximum length at SP--switch to the next fastest speed, which on most VHS machines is LP (long play).

If you can’t see any difference between that slow-moving, six-hour-capable EP (extended play) speed and SP, you might as well use that setting--or get an eye exam.

One other note: Look for stores that sell name-brand bottom-of-the-line tapes for $5 or less. Plenty do, either regularly or in frequent sales. But avoid unfamiliar, super-cheap brands, especially those without the licensed VHS or Beta designation you’re accustomed to seeing on name-brand videotape packages.

“HQ” has long been short for “headquarters” in our language, but now the initials have taken on a new meaning in the abbreviation-crazy video world. HQ (which stands for “high quality” here) is the VHS format’s answer to the Beta format’s SuperBeta. Both systems provide a somewhat improved picture--sharper edges, less graininess, purer colors.

But anyone interested in purchasing a model with HQ should know that there are two types. Some machines are equipped with all of the features that constitute HQ: a white-clip level expansion circuit (basically a signal booster), a luminance noise-reduction circuit, a chroma (color-signal) noise-reducer, and a detail-enhancing circuit.

However . . . the VHS manufacturers have agreed to allow companies to advertise a VCR as an HQ deck if it has the white-clip circuit and only one of the other circuits. And, surprisingly, even some of the most expensive and respected firms are doing just that.

NEC’s recent N961U model is an example, drawing this reaction from the CBS Technology Center (which tests equipment for Video Review magazine): “The deck earns (a) demerit for its HQ circuitry. NEC included the least amount of picture-enhancing circuitry allowed under the current definition of HQ. As a result, the VCR’s picture, though good, is not as good as the pictures of other HQ VCRS we’ve tested. While this is still a very good VCR, we feel that anyone paying top dollar for an HQ recorder deserves all the picture quality possible.”

Amen.