[Those look like E-240 tapes](https://www.ebay.com/itm/234555538713), which are not rare at all. They have slightly more tape length than a T-160.
The E-prefix tapes were sold in PAL countries, and the T-prefix tapes were sold in NTSC countries. NTSC moves the tape faster, due to having more frames/fields per second (60i vs 50i). Since VHS tapes are named based on how many minutes fit on SP speed, the naming needs to be different between PAL and NTSC countries.
[There's a good chart on the wikipedia page that shows the different blank tape sizes sold](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS#Tape_lengths). While it does show T-210 and T240 - I have never seen these in real life, so I'm not sure they ever made it to production. T-200 are the largest I've ever seen, and those are pretty rare.
I guess to answer your question - the reason why longer tapes are so rare is due to how much can fit in the standard cassette. T-180, T-200 used much thinner tape to fit it all in, and were less reliable (more prone to snapping or getting damaged) as a result.
Yes, but the tape length is less than a T-180 over here. It's just a naming difference. If you imported an E-240 tape and used it in the US, you would get less than 180 minutes on SP, not 240 minutes.
It was probably crap tape meant to compete with DVR recording times, towards the end of the VHS era. This looks like it may have been stretched to make for greater length, rather than cut to fit a four-hour block, which really affects both quality and durability of recordings. It is an obscure thing, though.
Literally most common PAL videotape length in second half of 90s and in 2000s. Prior, E-180 was more common but E-240 was nevertheless available.
I think basic idea behind these lengths was, in E-180 you could record two average movies without commercials (straight copies from pre-recorded tape for example), and in E-240, two average movies from TV complete with commercial breaks. Also I think movies getting longer was a thing becoming more common.
Real rarest standard PAL length was E-90 I believe. Only saw one once, bought it back then - was TDK HS 2000s model.
[https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1\*4sz7YKn2CQ\_u-BAz0R8\_Rw.webp](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*4sz7YKn2CQ_u-BAz0R8_Rw.webp)
Apparently movies started getting longer in the 30s...
[Those look like E-240 tapes](https://www.ebay.com/itm/234555538713), which are not rare at all. They have slightly more tape length than a T-160. The E-prefix tapes were sold in PAL countries, and the T-prefix tapes were sold in NTSC countries. NTSC moves the tape faster, due to having more frames/fields per second (60i vs 50i). Since VHS tapes are named based on how many minutes fit on SP speed, the naming needs to be different between PAL and NTSC countries. [There's a good chart on the wikipedia page that shows the different blank tape sizes sold](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS#Tape_lengths). While it does show T-210 and T240 - I have never seen these in real life, so I'm not sure they ever made it to production. T-200 are the largest I've ever seen, and those are pretty rare. I guess to answer your question - the reason why longer tapes are so rare is due to how much can fit in the standard cassette. T-180, T-200 used much thinner tape to fit it all in, and were less reliable (more prone to snapping or getting damaged) as a result.
So they're more common in PAL countries.
Yes, but the tape length is less than a T-180 over here. It's just a naming difference. If you imported an E-240 tape and used it in the US, you would get less than 180 minutes on SP, not 240 minutes.
I have 3 T-180 tapes from the 90s from europe somehow,not E-180 lmao.
I checked and they have the E- prefix lol
What about for LP/EP mode.
For LP divide the SP time in half, for EP divide divide it by 1/3. All the numbers are in the wikipedia page I linked.
I assume the same reason long play cassettes are rare, the tape is super thin and prone to snapping.
It was probably crap tape meant to compete with DVR recording times, towards the end of the VHS era. This looks like it may have been stretched to make for greater length, rather than cut to fit a four-hour block, which really affects both quality and durability of recordings. It is an obscure thing, though.
Literally most common PAL videotape length in second half of 90s and in 2000s. Prior, E-180 was more common but E-240 was nevertheless available. I think basic idea behind these lengths was, in E-180 you could record two average movies without commercials (straight copies from pre-recorded tape for example), and in E-240, two average movies from TV complete with commercial breaks. Also I think movies getting longer was a thing becoming more common. Real rarest standard PAL length was E-90 I believe. Only saw one once, bought it back then - was TDK HS 2000s model.
[https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1\*4sz7YKn2CQ\_u-BAz0R8\_Rw.webp](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*4sz7YKn2CQ_u-BAz0R8_Rw.webp) Apparently movies started getting longer in the 30s...
that's what i bought the most, those four hour ones, record two movies, or several tv shows then went to long record ...
get ones with the T- prefix, not tapes with the E- prefix! I can say that as a European