Why old Black & White films and TV seem to have better picture resolution than stuff filmed in the 80s and 90s?

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Why old Black & White films and TV seem to have better picture resolution than stuff filmed in the 80s and 90s?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Shows recorded in 80’s used magnetic tape either as main recording medium or as “transport” medium. Some budget shows survived in achieves only in the form of magnetic tapes.

Used the U-matic format (3/4″ wide) that had poor horizontal resolution compared with film. Initially had 250 lines, improved later to 330 lines.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-matic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-matic)

In time that magnetic tape recordings lost even more of the qualities, and usually the color was the first to go, because of the way it was recorded (lower frequency carrier).

For comparation, the home versions of 1/2″ tape VHS had 240 lines and Betamax 250 lines of horizontal resolution.

PS: Movies were not regarded as museum pieces, so many didn’t get stored properly.

Interesting story about video mixes:

[https://web.archive.org/web/20140727225102/https://www.mixonline.com/mag/audio_apocalypse_redux/](https://web.archive.org/web/20140727225102/https://www.mixonline.com/mag/audio_apocalypse_redux/)

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