VideoPlus+

Forgotten Technology · 1991–2010

Published 21 August 2026

VideoPlus+ was the UK-branded form of Gemstar’s programme-recording scheduling system. A viewer entered the code printed beside a programme in a television listing, and compatible equipment converted it into the recording details instead of requiring manual entry of the date, channel, time and duration. The related system appeared as VCR Plus+ in North America and G-Code in Japan. British trade and business reporting places the UK rollout in late 1991, while later DVD/VCR combination equipment continued to document VIDEOPlus+ operation.

Why It Mattered

It made timer recording far less fiddly: a row of digits in a TV guide could replace several separate settings on a video recorder. For households recording programmes around broadcast schedules, that was a practical shortcut built into the ritual of reading the listings.

VideoPlus+ was a scheduling system, not a broadcast signal. It was separate from PDC/VPS, although compatible recorders could provide both functions.

What the Code Set

- A PlusCode could automatically set a programme’s date, times and programme position.
- Gemstar Japan describes the compressed information as date, channel, start time and duration.
- Code length varied by implementation: G-Code could use up to eight digits, while a Philips VIDEOPlus+ manual refers to up to nine.

Listings to Recorder

- Philips instructed users to enter the VIDEOPlus+ code printed beside a programme’s start time in a TV guide.
- A Los Angeles Times report of 16 November 1990 recorded VCR Plus on sale for about US$60, with participating newspapers and TV Guide to publish codes.
- A 26 July 1992 UK report said VideoPlus had been introduced eight months earlier and had sold at the preceding Christmas for nearly £70.

Separate From PDC/VPS

- VIDEOPlus+ set recording details from scheduled listing information.
- PDC/VPS was a separate broadcast-control feature intended to let compatible recorders respond to actual transmission timing.
- A recorder could offer both VIDEOPlus+ and PDC/VPS.

Associated With

Dr Henry Yuen / Gemstar - inventor, developer or manufacturer

Defining Feature

Printed TV-listing codes converted into recording date, channel, time and duration

Status

Discontinued - Obsolete in mainstream recording practice

Primary Records

- **G-Code History and Chronology — Gemstar Japan**
- **Philips VR175/05: PDC/VPS and Programming With VIDEOPlus+**
- **Sony SLV-E730EX/UX: Recording TV Programmes Using VIDEO Plus+**

Image Sources

- **Image 1**
- **Image 2**
- **Image 3**
- **Image 4**
- **Image 5**

Rights Notice

Images are included for historical and archival reference.

Rights holders may contact Forgotten Archive through the publishing account to request a credit correction or removal.

Gallery

Retail packaging for the black VideoPlus+ Instant Video Programmer, UK Version, is photographed on a red-and-white checked cloth. The window shows a handheld keypad device surrounded by printed television-listing columns. — Source
Credit
VideoPlus+ retail packaging; listing photograph supplied via eBay, photographer not identified
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
The handheld VideoPlus+ programmer offered a shortcut around entering channels and recording times separately, making printed programme codes into a consumer product.

Source

Credit

VHS recorder photograph; original photographer and source page not established

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

A VHS recorder carrying the VideoPlus+ mark shows how the code-based recording system became a feature of everyday television hardware.

Close-up of the front of a silver Daewoo VHS/DVD recorder. Text beside the VHS cassette door includes “VideoPlus+,” and the display reads “VCR GO PLAY.” — Source
Credit
Daewoo recorder product; listing photograph supplied via eBay, photographer not identified
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
VideoPlus+ appeared alongside the controls of combined VHS and DVD machines, surviving into a period when home-video formats overlapped.

Angled overhead photograph of the cover of a Times television guide dated 27 November–3 December 1993, resting on a kitchen appliance beside a power strip. The cover carries the text “with VideoPlus+ codes” along the top and shows three Coronation Street actors beneath several cover lines. — Source
Credit
The Times television-guide cover, 27 November–3 December 1993; photograph supplied via eBay, photographer not identified
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
The Times guide advertised VideoPlus+ codes on its cover in late 1993, signalling that an ordinary listings magazine could now help programme a recorder.

Photograph of a TV Times England listings page for Sunday 16 November, arranged in columns for Five, BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4, with programme times, titles and multi-digit codes; a Channel 4+1 advertisement appears near the bottom. — Source
Credit
TV Times listings page; photograph preserved by an Internet Archive contributor not identified
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary and research. Fair dealing under the UK CDPA 1988 applies only where its conditions are met. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
VideoPlus+ numbers sat alongside programme titles in TV Times, translating a choice made on paper into a timed recording at home.