HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

> but there are no VHS cassettes that can match the clarity of 1080p or higher.

A rare VHS format from 2002 called D-VHS could do 1080p on VHS tapes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4lDU-QLUY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiu0LPeLQPE

Here is some HD footage of NYC in 1993...close enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4lDU-QLUY

This was way before HD was a common tech (this was during VHS's height right?). This was a demonstration tape of JVC's commercial HD cameras played back on D-VHS which never really took off (Digital HD video on VHS)

Some interesting things of note:

Clear images of the Twin Towers The guy wearing an SS t-shirt trying to block the camera at 1:42 Did people have differing dental standards back then? Seems like something has changed in the culture(3:58) Camel advertisement at 4:12 And finally....Ponytail guy making a quick peek at 0:58 :)

⬐ kevin_thibedeau

Brooklyn bridge isn't crammed with pedestrians.

Here's some authentic high-resolution video from the past: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fT4lDU-QLUY

⬐ strictnein

I really enjoy video from that time period for one particular reason: no cell phones. Seeing people walk not hunched over anything.

One of my favorite music videos (of sorts) is just a song over what appears to be a Mountain Dew street team passing out free soda on a random night outside bars, while filming their efforts.

Apologies in advance, as they definitely focus on a particular gender, but it's still an interesting slice of life in the mid 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7sYupd5dng

⬐ bartread

Uploaded by one of my favourite YouTube channels, Techmoan.

There are a few clues to the era in this video - older vehicles and suchlike - but the most striking difference between now and then to me is the absence of smartphones.

Crowds of people going about their business and not staring at their phones is such a bizarre sight nowadays.

Apparently VHS came out with an HD format in the early 1990’s.

Here’s a sample clip from 1993 of NYC: https://youtu.be/fT4lDU-QLUY

It’s amazing. It so...looks like today, but it’s not. I don’t know how to describe the realness of image quality that looks like it was filmed earlier this afternoon but is in fact over 20 years ago. Unsettling yet beautiful.

⬐ dsego

Discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16085603

⬐ boobsbr

The quality is amazing. It's better than a ton of HD devices that came out in the 2000's, and even some from the 2010's.

⬐ jrumbut

Thanks for sharing this, it's very uncanny to watch, brings back memories of seeing the world when it actually looked this way.

Something similar from also 1993: D-VHS HD demo tape shot of NYC

https://youtu.be/fT4lDU-QLUY

⬐ None

None

⬐ Nelkins

First thing that struck me - no earbuds.

Reminds me of this funky dance video my uncle made in the early 90s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0opXVKNgfM

⬐ vatys

And everybody looking straight ahead rather than down at a smartphone

⬐ meatsock

youtube username 'youtube pedant' is actually techmoan, and hes done a great video all about DVHS and its context here: https://youtu.be/jiu0LPeLQPE

⬐ kemiller

Is it a sign of age that it doesn’t look that dated to me?

⬐ ghaff

As others have said, the main thing is the lack of smartphones. The date is late enough that you're past obviously 80s hair styles etc. I'm guessing people are dressier than if you shot equivalent scenes today but it's Manhattan so people maybe being a bit more dressed up doesn't jump out at you.

⬐ nailer

Women's hair is getting shorter and straighter in this 1993 video, but there's still a lot of 80s big volume going on - it's an interesting mix between 80s dynasty and 90s flat part.

⬐ kemiller

I guess what I mean is that the presence of smartphones still stands out for me, and the absence looks normal.

⬐ jaysonelliot

I'd say it's a sign of the quality of the video.

Much of the reason we think the past seems so far away is that the media it was recorded on was either not so good to begin with, or has deteriorated over time.

⬐ nailer

One of the odder experiences in the last week has been seeing an early 90s style dance video at 60FPS in HD.

If you remember the early 90s, particularly In Living Color, check out https://youtu.be/LsoLEjrDogU

⬐ starpilot

Reminds me of the Cowboy Bebop movie opening: https://youtu.be/ofSLCFxJ8Jo

⬐ aleyan

It does. I believe both DVHS Demo reel and Cowboy Bebop film opening were influenced by opening sequence of Manhattan (1979). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrPedKkNsh4

⬐ Top19

If you want a really retro experience, look up terms on youtube like “high school video yearbook 1997”. My class didn’t do one of these, but apparently lots did. Shows you all the trendy trends for high school that year. Weird knowing what all these kids will likely go through later in their lives...

https://youtu.be/lsBLXMEjMNQ

⬐ mmansoor78

Wow. Love the colors.

⬐ luisobo

The track needs more cowbell.

It’s weird to see no cellphones.

⬐ purple-dragon

I can't tell if it's supposed to be a strict instrumental take on Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" or a clever mash-up of the bridge from Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and the former. Either way, I dig it.

⬐ brooklyn_ashey

It's "elevatorized" Stevie don't you think? I blame Seinfeld for making everyone so cracked out on the slap bass back then. I feel like people would re-record tunes just to throw slap bass in there. It felt like popular music had rubber bands in it all the time. Oh, and wall to wall alto sax solos (thanks 80s and George Michael!) Also: note the period-accurate very smooth jazz aiming for a glam jazz feel. This was everywhere back then too. But the cool thing was NYC was much more of a jazz city throughout- I'll never forget one of the first times I took the subway- a guitarist was playing and singing "Ribbon In The Sky" - he was incredible, and I thought... I guess I'm in the right place.

⬐ purple-dragon

Hah! It's funny that you say that; I nearly mentioned Seinfeld in my original comment. I guess we were thinking along the same lines. It's true that it is a bit "elevatorized" but I guess I was enjoying it from my 2018 perspective as almost a knowing and satirical nod (i.e., half-parody, half-pastiche) to that era.

⬐ brooklyn_ashey

definitely

⬐ mc32

The opposite of weird!

It's nice to see people aware of their surrounds paying attention to where they are and who and what is around them. I like it. Photography is now so much more boring when it has people in them because their focus is often on their phones.

⬐ khazhoux

Weird means unusual, strange.

⬐ hungerstrike

Yes, as in - we are living in a weird time where humans all stare into plastic squares instead of looking where they're going as they've usually done for thousands of years.

⬐ xattt

This is in contrast to a cartoon collection released semiannually (Soviet/Russian cartoon studio) until 2000 that looked exactly like the first 1960s release. All are available on their YouTube channel.

⬐ OJFord

DVHS was great, it just came too late at too high of a price for much adoption.

⬐ ch4ck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiu0LPeLQPE

⬐ ashleyn

What technology was this filmed with? D-VHS wasn't commercially available until 1998. Was this made with a prototype?

⬐ jaak

The description on the YouTube page says the original footage came from a Japanese high definition demo (probably a HiVison MUSE system). HiVision MUSE has development going back to 1979 according to Wikipedia [1].

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sub-Nyquist_sampling_...

⬐ SN76477

Big glasses, bigger shoulder pads.

Why is this on Hacker News at all though?

⬐ rhapsodic

> Why is this on Hacker News at all though?

Because it is technology-related, is my guess.

⬐ dang

The only criterion is intellectual curiosity. This has that.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

⬐ pessimizer

Somebody probably submitted it, and other people probably enjoyed it.

⬐ rm999

Beyond the lack of smartphones/earbuds, the two big things that stick out to me:

1. The cars. Sometime in the 90s and 00s cars started becoming a lot less boxy (compare the Camry from 1990 to 2000 to 2010 to see this).

2. Way more formal dress wear. In today's NYC financial district you plenty of jeans, and even a lot of financial professionals have given up the suits and ties. The financial district today also has more tech workers, and I believe more tourists.

⬐ danieltillett

The thing that stood out for me was all the cigarette advertising.

⬐ aje403

You really can't walk through Wall Street without getting hit in the face by a selfie stick in summer.

It's a residential area now. Most of the jobs moved out of the immediate area as exchanges became electronic (not to imply that there is not a huge finance presence down there still).

⬐ romeoEtJoliet

Another difference to me is the lack of cabs. When comparing this shot: https://youtu.be/fT4lDU-QLUY?t=127 and any number of Google Maps images of the same location (looking North towards St. Patrick's) https://www.google.com/maps/@40.756666,-73.9786279,3a,75y,27... it's striking how there are way more black cars and fewer taxis today.

yes and no. there is dvhs. But even though the medium looks like a standard vhs cassette it is a different technology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-VHS

Here is a video recorded on a dvhs in 1993. It aged rather well I think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4lDU-QLUY