# What does VHS stand for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-vhs-stand-for/158204 "2003-02-28T19:09:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-vhs-stand-for/158204/41 "2003-03-03T02:54:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*Who was that comment directed at, **Derleth**? If it was me, JVC invented the technology, so I’d think they would know. If not me, then carry on. \*\* It wasn’t directed at anyone. I invented the expansion `Inferior Blowup Machines’ in a moment of creative genius and I attributed it to DEC because I’m a VAX freak and I wish DEC had beaten IBM to the punch with PCs. Because then, ya know, early PCs would have had VAX emulation modes instead of IBM minicomputer emulation modes. And that would have ruled. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-vhs-stand-for/158204/42 "2003-03-03T04:21:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*I think “vertical” is meant to mean the the orientation of the rotational axis of the head drum, in this case. In any case, the heads aren’t vertical, the drum is. \*\* All 3 of my VCRs have heads (drums? whatevers the part is that actually TOUCHES the tape) that are sideways slightly. Tilted just about 20 degrees or so to the left as I look in the flap. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-vhs-stand-for/158204/43 "2003-03-03T04:38:10Z")
I was referring to the vertical-mounted head drum in the old Ampex machines, **AcidKid** was talking about. Yes, you are correct, **Muldoon** , the video head drums in modern VCRs and VCPs are tilted. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-vhs-stand-for/158204/44 "2003-03-03T05:11:57Z")
Baird says that [VHS](http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/third/baird/) stands for _Vertical Helical Scan_. Here’s the relevant quote from that page: > [@](#): > > Both Betamax and the JVC rival, VHS, were launched in 1978 in the United Kingdom. VHS, or Video Home System (a less daunting rendering of the original acronym, which stood for Vertical Helical Scan) had a major advantage over Betamax: it had three-hour tapes; Sony Beta initially had only 60 minutes to offer. _Vertical_ refers to the orientation of the head, as opposed to horizontal, as the previous tape players were. _Helical Scan_, as opposed to Linear Scan, allows much greater bandwidth with lower tape speeds. Let’s look at it this way: Linear technology relies on the media moving very fast past a stationary head, whereas helical scan technology moves the tape very slowly past a rotating head. To put the speeds into perspective, a helical scan tape drive moves tape at around 1 inch per second and a linear tape drive moves tape at 160 inches per second, resulting in the same effective tape speed. In effect, linear head technology would take 1 mile of tape to record 6 1/2 **minutes** of video, while that same mile of tape would record over 16 **hours** of video utilitizing helical scan. My money is on the Vertical Helical Scan designation. Besides, that’s what I was taught in my TV production class at college. [Here is a graphic on helical scan technology.](http://www.screensound.gov.au/glossary.nsf/Pages/Helical+Scan+Recording?OpenDocument) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-vhs-stand-for/158204.md?page=2)