I’ve always wondered about a curious behavior I’ve witnessed on numerous occasions.
If you have a poor television signal with interference, a television will often display a fuzzy image, but if you then put the TV on the appropriate channel (usually 3), and turn the VCR’s VTR function on to see its output, you can usually see the aforementioned channel but it will be clear or at least significantly less fuzzy.
Why is that?
Is the VCR removing interference like a UPS cleans up a power line? Does it amplify a low signal? Do VCRs have some sort of anti-static function?
I have seen this happen with different TVs and VCRs and in different houses with different cable lines.