Video: Decisions, Decisions

Choosing a VCR can be a daunting venture. Currently, retail electronics shelves teem with some 40 different brand names affixed to about 150 models. Innovations seem to happen overnight, and a wide array of options is available, from remote-control devices to one-touch recording buttons. Prices start at a bargain-basement $240 for the older, simpler models and go as high as $1,500 for the newer, more elaborate ones.

The first decision for the bewildered consumer is whether to purchase a Beta (from Sony's Betamax) or VMS (from Video Home System) format machine. Both use half-inch tape, but they are incompatible: Beta programs cannot be played on VHS machines and vice versa. Sony markets only Beta machines; RCA, GE and Panasonic, among others, market only VHS. Sears sells both. Many videophiles insist that Beta produces a slightly sharper image, but most people cannot see any difference in technical quality. Although Beta was introduced first, VHS has been far more successfully marketed: three out of every four machines now sold are VHS. The major disadvantage of buying Beta is that video rental stores often stock smaller inventories of prerecorded Beta cassettes.

The next question is whether to buy a so-called cable-ready machine. Cable-ready, or cable-capable, as it is now called, describes VCRs that have electronic tuners capable of receiving more than 100 channels directly from a cable-TV system. Buying a cable-capable machine, however, does not mean that the VCR will automatically receive cable programs, only that it may not need an extra cable box or a complicated switching system once cable has been installed. Actually, this feature will eventually become a thing of the past. As more and more basic-cable operators scramble their signal to prevent video piracy, virtually all VCRS will require a decoding box. To clear up consumer confusion, the National Cable Television Association recommends that those contemplating the purchase of cable-capable equipment consult their local cable company.

Before buying a machine, consumers might do well to figure out whether they want a VCR primarily to record television programs or to play prerecorded movies. If the latter, a VCR with "multievent programmability" is unnecessary. If the primary use is to be time shifting (recording a television program at one time for viewing at another), then multi-event programmability is desirable. The most advanced machines will record as many as eight programs over a 21-day period. RCA has a couple of models that will even program up to a year in advance. As a rule, the fewer the features, the lower the price.

Another option is a remote-control device. It generally allows a viewer, without leaving the LaZBoy, to stop and start the tape, pause, fast-scan in forward and reverse, or watch in "double speed," which is slower than fast-scan but faster than normal. Two types are available: those connected to the VCR by a long wire and the detached, infrared devices, which are less cumbersome and more expensive.