Capn Pickard,
With a composite video connection, an S-VHS VCR is capable of up to 400 lines of horizontal resolution at its fastest recording speed vs. 240 lines of regular VHS. If you recorded off-air live broadcasts at SP on an S-VHS VCR, there was little or no difference in picture quality between the tape and the live broadcast. No match for DVD, of course, but a visible improvement over mediocre VHS.
The playback quality was similar in sharpness and video noise to the old laserdisc format. S-VHS tape was more expensive than regular videotape, but then several manufacturers introduced S-VHS machines that would yield S-VHS picture quality using regular tape.
Regards,
