Is your big day a bit of a blur? If it's on video, it could be very soon

FAMILY memories are not the only thing that fade over time. Experts warned yesterday that the quality of footage on ageing VHS tapes is also deteriorating, with well-loved videos of weddings, christenings, birthdays and holidays at risk of becoming unplayable.

About 30 years after the video format was introduced, film technicians say people should transfer their precious footage to DVD before it is lost for ever.

John Callan, a media technician at Paisley University's Craigie campus, said playing videos on VCRs which are not used regularly could also damage the tapes.

"The coating of the film or tape is an oxide which is magnetised in certain ways so that the magnetic patterns can be read by the VHS player," said Mr Callan. "Over time, as the tape passes over the recording and playing heads, it will deteriorate.

"Then there is the mechanical effect of the tape itself going around the player, which can cause wear and tear."

He went on: "There must be many people who have spent a considerable amount of money getting their wedding on VHS, and they may not be able to watch it because their VHS deck has deteriorated through lack of use."

Mr Callan said sprockets that move the tape can also come loose over time. "We have had people bring in tapes which have split down the middle," he said. "Sometimes it's possible to repair them with Sellotape to make a copy on a new cassette.

"If it is your own film of your wedding, there are no copyright issues. You own the copyright. However, it's more contentious if you are copying from a tape you made of a TV programme."

Mr Callan said DVD recorders that link to VHS decks are available on the market to transfer between formats. Some branches of high-street retailers, such as Boots, also offer transfer services. "There must be a lot of people with VHS footage who have no way of watching it now. It makes sense to transfer it to DVD," he said.

Chris Childs, a photo-transfer specialist from Cornwall, said: "VHS was developed in Japan and launched in 1976. Within a few years, it became the standard format for recording and viewing, and throughout the late 1980s and 1990s VHS was the main format used by everyone.

"Now, a decade or so later, all this footage is deteriorating quite fast. This year, there's been a marked increase in people calling in despair after finding their wedding and other films have become unusable.

"We have seen a dramatic rise in calls from people who are finding their videos are playing with blurred edges, poor colour and lagging sound."

Wedding Video Scotland, of Glasgow, was among the first to offer a film service about 25 years ago.

Janice Boyle, the owner, said: "We gave up the VHS format two years ago. No-one wants VHS tapes any more.

"Everyone has moved up to DVD, which provides better quality and is easier to store."

A spokesman for the electrical store Currys in Princes Street, Edinburgh, said: "We sell combi units which allow you to transfer VHS tapes to DVDs. They cost about 200. How well the DVD turns out depends on the quality of the original tape."

• AS MANY as 90 per cent of silent movies are thought to have been lost forever.

Footage in the first half of the 20th century was filmed on unstable, highly flammable nitrate film stock, which required careful preservation to stop it decomposing over time.

Most of these films were considered to have no value after they were shown and were carelessly preserved, if at all. Over the decades their prints crumbled into dust.