How the 90s VHS look works

90s VHS video filters are in fashion right now, and most producers are using the same filter as everyone else. Why does the filter look like it does? To answer that question, I went to talk to the person that wrote it!

(This is not a sponsored video!)

(you can find contact details and social links there too)

[TomScottGo]

I had way too much fun adding the filters to this one.

[eliasblum]

The most 1990s nostalgic part of it was the continuity announcer at the end. That was a very good touch. Well done!

[catfree]

" And over enthusiastic voices ! "
Watch any bad YouTuber, and you'll get a feeling of nostalgia

[lulzdragon]

Don't forget to rewind this video for the next person before moving on.

[HaniiPuppy]

"But next, a programme chosen for you, by: The Algorithm." sounded far more ominous and dystopian than probably intended.

[armyofthewolves]

It's amazing how this filter is so effective at giving "that 90s feel" to video, when almost none of what many of us watched was that bad. I think I had few home videos and a recording of Gulliver's Travels that were comparable, but that's it. Yet it feels correct.

[Lowekinder]

2:23 this man's gentle enthusiasm and mild intellectual curiosity for pushing things to the breaking point speaks less to a mad scientist and more to a sociopathic serial killer. I'm glad he found his interests outside of biology ;)

[SatanicJamnic]

You forgot about crazy zooming. That old cameras had really nice zoom range, and every video made in 80-90 has that close-ups with zoom.

[annekedebruyn]

The funniest thing is that VHS didnt look that bad at all.
It's similar to what people think audio cassettes used to sound like and what it actually sounded like. They weren't bad at all.

[maxximumb]

Tom, you missed a trick. You should have ended with the scrolling white noise revealing an old episode of 'Things You Might Not Know' that was taped over.

[ImaginaryMdA]

"Do a lot of bad things to it." he said excitedly.

[juango]

Tom: *tries to be enthusiastic for once*
Also Tom: *has a stroke*

[JoeBleasdaleReal]

Loved Matt Gray's voiceover at the end 😂

[JordanBeagle]

"Captain Disillusion is going around in circles."
"But next a program chosen for you by, the algorithm."
Gold!

[Cae_the_Kitsune]

"But next, a programme chosen for you by the Algorithm."

Talk about the perfect blend of 2010s internet culture and 1990s television aesthetic.

[DanQuine]

I wrote the several of the original QuickTime filters in the late 90s, including "film noise" which simulated old analog filmstock. It was a lot of fun simulating hairs caught in the gates. Nothing like as sophisticated as this VHS filter, but one of the earliest filters of this type available to consumers.

[MakersMuse]

Those nostalgic feels flooding back guess I'm off to listen to synthwave for the rest of the night.

[HemogIobin]

I like Matt doing the outro, nice work

[JohnSmith-qnob]

I think one of the problems with adding the imperfections is you add too much of them.
The image is going to be soft and the colors will be washed out but when you had a good tape and good VCR you didn't get a lot of "glitches" like the "pop lines" and "scrolling wrinkles".
I recorded plenty of TV shows on VHS and rarely had any of those. Like I said when you had a good tape and good VCR it was rare. The tape would have to be very worn to see those.
Pre-recorded tapes (like movies bought from a store) never really had any of that.

[pugsareawsome]

Only 90s kids will remember. Only 90s kids will ever remember. 90s kids remember everything. They remember the birth of the universe. They remember humanity’s greatest downfalls. They remember things that have not happened, things that might never happen. They can see the death of everything. All of these vivid memories will haunt them forever. Will the 90s kids ever be able to forget?