Why no built-in TBC in 1980+ VCRs?

[DVtyro]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

A clear freeze frame does not explicitly require digital memory at all. Sony did it in 1981 with their SL-5800, using dual-azimuth video heads.

The late 1980s magazines talked specifically about digital features, so it was a digital freeze frame.

Flagging/skewing/hooking is a defect that can originate from mechanical issues, but this is exactly what TBC should be able to fix. This is from 1985. One would expect if not late 1980s then 1990s models to take advantage of digital processing. OTOH, it looks that memory price was decreasing slowly and only dropped significantly by mid-late 1990s.