I need an brief idiot's guide to lineage/generations please

[Salva Veritate]

Does VHS > VHS count as a generation because of tape degradation? For example, if the lineage goes VHS > VHS > VHS > DVD, what generation is it?

Is the original tape called master, 1st gen, or both? How significant is the quality loss between generations?

Is there any way I can tell or any program I can use to find out the generation, other than asking the trader? (this is probably a dumb question, but I noticed that people use a program to find out if a file is lossy-sourced or not and I was wondering if they have a similar program for lineage ID)

[saltman]

There is no way to definitively tell generations in analog media. There are clues such as how it is degraded, degree of head switching noise, etc. The only way is to know where you got it from and that person knows where he got it from until you know who recorded it.

original is master.

first copy is called VHS2. a copy of that would be VHS3.

Digital media does not have generation loss like analog media. The tenth copy of a DVD should be exactly the same as the original unlike analog media. There is no need to keep track of digital generations.

[Salva Veritate]

And what generation are VHS2 and VHS3 considered?

[AAR.oner]

Originally Posted by Salva Veritate

And what generation are VHS2 and VHS3 considered?

2nd gen & 3rd gen respectively

[AAR.oner]

Originally Posted by saltman

Digital media does not have generation loss like analog media. The tenth copy of a DVD should be exactly the same as the original unlike analog media. There is no need to keep track of digital generations.

*if* you have a checksum to prove it

but "generational loss" does occur in certain regards, like bad burns that introduce glitches/stutters/etc -- especially evident in all the DVD-Video disc traders who don't include checksums

[just thought i'd clarify a bit Salt for those who might mistake what yer saying and then never worry about keeping/trading md5s]