Google goes retro: YouTube VHS mode.

Google goes retro: YouTube VHS mode. Photo: Google

If you long for the days of speckled images and crackling sounds, head to YouTube because it's now letting users relive the era of cassette tapes with a "VHS mode".

The new mode, which will only be around for one day, gives YouTube videos a shaky feel and grainy look – reminiscent of what the images on a VHS tape would look like after being played too often. At times, the bottom right of the image curves inward, distorting the picture, and if you hit pause, the whole video starts to shake.

VHS mode won't work with every single video on the website, but on videos that do have it, users can turn it on by clicking on the VHS tape icon on the bottom bar, located to the left of the gear icon that is used for choosing video quality.

YouTube said it added the new mode to honour the 57th birthday of the first commercially available cassette recorder. That piece of technology is the Ampex VRX-1000, which was released in 1956 at a huge price of $US50,000.

"Not too long ago, the video tape was the media of choice for living rooms around the world," YouTube said on Google+ on Sunday night.

VHS mode is a neat little feature that's good for a laugh, but more importantly, it'll probably make you appreciate current video technology a whole lot more.

Los Angeles Times