The inventors of VHS make a good SVHS unit.

Buying a big-screen rear-projection television is certainly changer the way you perceive video sources. HDTV and DVDs look amazing, the small defects in regular broadcasts seem more apparent, and VHS recording look unbearably bad. VHS is an old standard; over 20 years ago when it was developed, the typical TV was 19 or 20 inches diagonal, and the 230 lines of resolution that VHS records was sufficient to produce an acceptable picture.

Stretch that over a 50-inch screen, and you’re in for some rather awful sights however. A modern HDTV-capable projection can display over 1000 lines of resolution; taking the 230 lines of the VHS tapes and applying and displaying it on such a TV will invariably lead to utter disappointment.

This is where SVHS steps in. While enjoying much less popularity than the standard VHS, SVHS has a great advantage over VHS in terms of resolution. SVHS records 400 lines, so in theory, it could record and cable or broadcast program with virtually no loss of quality, but this will require the really good SVHS tapes, as not all SVHS tapes are equally good, and their price is 3 to 5 times that of VHS tapes. With 400 lines of resolution, SVHS recordings look much better on a large TV than regular VHS recordings, although they will never rival DVD in terms of quality. So if you want ultimate quality, a DVD recorder may be the way to go.

So that’s the theory behind SVHS, and why you need it if you have a large TV. On with the particular model I purchased, the JVC HR-S3911U. This is JVC’s mid-range consumer-oriented SVHS unit. There is a 2911U VCR which is about 30$ less expensive that the 3911, but its lack of S-Video inputs and outputs is inexcusable in my opinion. The 5911 has features that are quite useful for editing such as a flying erase head, and front panel S-Video input, and costs about 35$ more than the 3911. So if you want the best signal quality but won’t be doing any editing, the 3911 is the way to go. There are also some high-end JVC SVHS VCRs for professional use, but their price places them in a totally different class as the models I mentioned.

The features on the 3911 are quite complete, and include some that are SVHS specific. It features SVHS ET recording, which increases the quality of recordings on regular VHS tapes, although you shouldn’t expect anything near SVHS quality. It’s still a nice feature to have if you run out of SVHS tapes and need to record something immediately.

The 3911 has varying rates for forward and reverse speeds, from still frame to full-on fast-forward and reverse. This can be controlled by a shuttle dial on the unit itself, or the pad at the bottom of the remote. I can see this feature being more useful on the 5911 with it’s flying erase head, but someone might want to see a particular part in slow motion, and it’s possible.

Auto video calibration and picture stabilization perform well with recordings, and you have the option of choosing whether to record in sharp or soft mode (soft mode will mask noise but also hide picture detail). I had to turn the picture stabilization to play a pre-recorded VHS tape however, as it was causing some skipping in the picture. This feature seems to be designed for tapes recorded by the VCR itself.

I can record in SP and EP modes, but since the point of buying a SVHS VCR is to increase picture quality, I doubt many users will find the EP mode useful. Unless I need to record an extremely long program, I stick to SP mode for the best quality.

One great feature is the 3911’s ability to control cable boxes via an infrared transmitter. This transmitter is not included with the VCR, but there is a mail in card to request one for free. With this small transmitter connected to the VCR and placed in front of your cable or satellite box, it will automatically change the channel on the cable according to the program entered in the VCR. This works quite well, and is especially useful with the increasing popularity of DBS and digital cable systems. It can control all major brands of digital boxes, and it works with my Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3100HD without a hitch. This system is not perfect however; it can’t tune channels past 199. My digital cable system uses many channels above the 200 mark, including premium movie channels and timeshifting channels. To record from those channels, I push program the digital cable box to tune itself to the correct channel before the recording starts. That’s an extra step I could have done without.

On the subject of programming, the 3911 features VCR , which is very useful, but only if you have regular analog cable or a broadcast reception antenna. For users of digital cable like me or for satellite users, VCR is pretty much useless. Fortunately, manually programming the 3911 is extremely easy because it uses 4 separate buttons to set the start time, end time, date and channel. There is no need to go through menus. You simply hit program, and then use the start time button up/down to choose your start time, then move to the end time button and select the end time, and to the same to choose the day and channel. It may seem like a step back to use 5 keys to program a single event, but the fact that there’s no need to “next” and “back” or “enter” keys make the process simple and quick.

The remote control is not one of the stronger points of the 3911 however (the 2911 and 5911 use the same remote also). It’s simply too small and packs too many buttons. This makes it rather awkward to handle, as the most frequently used buttons are at the bottom of the remote. Many buttons are also too small to be used intuitively. I’ve programmed all the functions I use into my Philips Pronto touchscreen universal learning remote control, so the remote control has been relegated to the bottom of a storage drawer.

Aesthetically, the HR-S3911U has a silver front place with an orange-colored LED display. This isn’t really conventional, and some people might not like it. It’s a matter of personal opinion. Also, the casing of the VCR is almost entirely plastic. While this probably goes a long way in making the unit affordable, it makes the unit feel cheap and light. I don’t doubt its durability, but if I were to move it or ship it, I would make sure to pack it well.

In the end, I’m quite satisfied with my HR-S3911U, as it delivers the image performance I was looking for at a reasonable price. If you don’t have a universal remote control and plan on using the remote a lot, or the silver color does not fit in with your tastes, you might want to take a look at similar units from Panasonic, which only cost a few dollars more.