TRBN VHS — a Video.js v10 skin built as a 90s television with a tape deck.
The left screen is a shelf of tapes, the big screen plays the film, and the deck below is the remote: REW, PLAY, FF, EJECT, a volume knob and a jog knob.
Pick a tape and Skully, the little LED skull who lives in the display, brings it over in his bony hand and pushes it into the front-loading slot. Sometimes he misses the slot. Sometimes the flap sticks and he has to shove it in. Then he watches the film with you and comments on what is on screen.
Nothing jumps: clicking the timeline, pressing J/L or the arrows winds the tape to that spot, with snow bands, tracking wobble and motor sound, like a real VCR. Full screen keeps the curved glass, scan lines and deck instead of showing a bare video.
What is inside:
— built on Video.js v10 custom elements: play, time slider, time, mute, volume, fullscreen, hotkeys, gestures, status announcer, buffering and error states
— 8 public-domain films from the 1920s–60s, starting with Disney's The Skeleton Dance (1929)
— a 3D cassette and hand made in CSS, with deck sounds generated in the browser (no audio files)
— keyboard control for everything, visible focus, screen reader announcements, reduced-motion and high-contrast modes
— a separate phone layout: picture on top, slot and keys under it, shelf below
— all 30 languages of my site, including right-to-left
3 likes · 8 views · Nov 13, 2026
TRBN VHS — a Video.js v10 skin built as a 90s television with a tape deck. The left screen is a shelf of tapes, the big screen plays the film, and the deck b...