It isn’t about tension. In order to display a paused image, the head must continuously rotate and scan that section of the tape. You can literally overheat and

It isn’t about tension. In order to display a paused image, the head must continuously rotate and scan that section of the tape. You can literally overheat and wear the tape out in that spot because there is a spinning piece of metal against it. Only specialized VCRs such as high end professional/broadcast or security recorders have something like a framebuffer.