VTR vs VCR. Before the days of VCRs (Video cassette recorders), there were machines called VTRs (Video tape recorders).. The VTRs -- video tape recorders -- were similar to reel-to-reel audio tapes, with large spools of multi-track magnetic tapes, from 1/2" to 2" wide by 7,000 feet long, moving at high lineal tape speed (20 to 30 feet per ...