[ChrisW6ATV]

I followed the D-VHS story closely through its original time, and now I am the owner of a couple of these machines. As others have said, D-VHS is a "digital data recording format", such that there is no loss at all in the playback video. This "digital format" also means that the conversion/decoding of the digital data does not necessarily happen in the D-VHS VCR itself.

I know of six models of D-VHS VCRs; there may be more. Panasonic made one, Mitsubishi made two, and JVC made three models. The Panasonic and both Mitsubishis are all intended to be companions to ATSC tuners or TV sets with bidirectional IEEE1394 ("Firewire") connectors, such that the VCR records digital TV shows (data streams) from the outboard tuner and then plays back the recordings into the tuner or TV set which actually does the MPEG decoding into audio and video. Tuners that should be compatible include the original Panasonic one from 1998-1999 (I no longer remember its model number), one or more Samsungs (SIR-T160 and/or a model 240 maybe?), and one made by MIT, plus several Mitsubishi TV sets that had 1394 connectors.

The JVCs were different. The first was the combo Dish receiver/VCR combo, that could only record standard-def shows due to its bit rate being lower. Their next one was the HM-DH30000U mentioned above, which supported the "D-Theater" format of encrypted HD pre-recorded tapes as well as 1394-based recording and playback, and it also included component-video HD output connectors for TV sets without the IEEE1394 connector (for playing only). There is also an HM-DH40000U model, and either that one or another later model has an HDMI output and may also have a built-in ATSC tuner.