Found tapes while clearing out, with no label at all? Or marked „Misc“, „TV“ or just a question mark? It is a suspenseful moment. It might be your first Christmas – or three hours of a grainy film taped off the television in 1998.

The trouble is that these days there is no way to look at home. VHS players stopped being made years ago, and the old ones often cannot be connected to a new television. At Záloha vzpomínek we have a solution for these mystery tapes too.

Why you cannot just play the tape yourself

Many people think of buying an old recorder second-hand. We strongly advise against it:

  1. Risk of destroying the tape: old, unserviced machines have perished belts and can chew up and crumple your only copy beyond recovery.
  2. Technical barriers: even if the recorder works, connecting an analogue output (SCART/RCA) to a modern 4K television is often impossible without special converters.

Do not risk destroying the recording out of curiosity. Leave it to professional equipment.

The content identification service: how it works

Because VHS digitising is done in a studio with professional equipment, checking the contents follows a set procedure. It cannot be done on the spot in the doorway – each tape has to be loaded gently, wound through and checked in several places. The procedure is as follows:

  1. You hand the tapes over in person in Prague or send them by post (see Contact).
  2. We go through the tapes in the quiet of the studio and establish whether they contain family videos (weddings, celebrations, holidays) or merely television recordings (films, news, series).
  3. We call you with the result – for example „three tapes have family footage, two have football off the television“.
  4. We agree which ones you want digitised.

What this service costs

Our time and the wear on professional equipment cost something, even if nothing ends up being transferred:

  • If you order the digitising: checking the contents is part of the process and costs nothing extra – you pay only the standard price for the minutes transferred, per the price list.
  • If you decide against the digitising: we charge an identification fee from 300 CZK, depending on the number of tapes and the time spent.

It is a fair way to learn the truth about your tapes without buying an expensive and unreliable second-hand recorder.

Tips: reading a tape without a player

Before you come to us, you can try a little detective work. A tape often gives itself away by its appearance:

  • A broken-out record tab: look at the spine of the cassette. A snapped-off plastic tab (or one taped over) means somebody wanted to protect the recording from being taped over – often a treasured family video.
  • The type of cassette: rental films are printed, while blank home-recording cassettes are marked E-180, E-240 and so on.
  • The label: handwritten marker pen usually means a home recording.

Whether you have a hunch about what is on the tape or it is a complete mystery, have a look at our frequently asked questions or write to us through the contact form. At Záloha vzpomínek we will help you uncover the contents and transfer them safely to USB.