Videocassette recorder

The videocassette recorder, VCR, or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. Use of a VCR to record a television program to play back at a more convenient time is commonly referred to as timeshifting. VCRs can also play back prerecorded tapes. In the 1980s and 1990s, until the VCR was superseded by the DVD player and PVR, prerecorded videotapes were widely available for purchase and rental, and blank tapes were sold to make recordings.