Micah's Video Grades

In my trades, I've found it is often not clear what someone means by, for example, a "B-quality video". In an effort to provide a consistent guide, I'm listing what I use. Use this guide as you see fit -- link it to your page if you use it so visitors know how you're defining the quality of your videos -- or define your own. Please just don't grade your videos without stating somewhere what the various grades mean.

The criteria:

A:	Top-quality copy. Within a generation or so from a fansub master made from a high quality commercial (non-broadcast) source. TV broadcasts are rarely A quality.
B:	Very good copy. Either a number of generations from a master, or within a couple of generations from a clear TV broadcast recorded in SP or equivalent.
C:	OK copy. Obviously many generations from the original, or recorded in a low-resolution format, such as VHS EP. Picture will be washed out a bit and a little fuzzy, but subtitles are still clear. Sound may or may not have some problems -- usual problems are a little bit of static or music may sound slightly "off" -- but will be understandable.
D:	Marginal copy. Can still read subtitles, but picture will be fairly washed out, noticeable in particular with faces. Sound is more likely to have some static or music distortion, but will be understandable. Though I would still label the copy as watchable, it will be only a few generations away from no longer being such.

What if I record the show myself when it's broadcast? A source tape can vary, though it's typically around a B+ if the signal is good. If you think your original tape is A-ish, watch a commercial tape or DVD and really compare the quality to what you recorded. Usually commercial sources are better than anything you can record, but if you think your tapes stack up, list them as A or A-.

What if I use SVHS? SVHS is obviously limited to the quality of the original source, but it does have the advantage of making copies that look much closer to the original. This is especially noticable with SVHS EP, which looks much better and makes much better copies than VHS EP. However, SVHS EP has many of the same limitations and problems as VHS EP. The worst problem with SVHS EP is that, as with VHS EP, the vertical hold is weak and can result in a picture that gets "jerky" in only a few generations. I also suspect (but haven't confirmed) that SVHS EP has the same problem as VHS EP with the vertical hold degrading in only a few years, eventually resulting in a tape with a rolling picture.

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