Ampex 2 inch helical VTR
From 1963 to 1970,
The
VR-8000
On March 14, 1961, Ampex introduced the first helical scan video recorder, the VR-8000, which recorded video using helical scan recording technology on 2-inch tape. The VR-8000 was made using a similar chassis used by Ampex's 2-inch quadruplex VTRs. Unlike the VR-660, it used only one video head on the scanner with a full alpha wrap. The first unit was working in January 1961.
Only four VR-8000s were manufactured, sold, and delivered to customers. The units had a number of problems, so they were later replaced with the VR-1100, a quadruplex-format machine. The VR-8000 was advertised by Ampex as being ideal for closed-circuit video, and for educational and training applications. Employees of Ampex at the time reported that the company kept a VR-8000 hidden behind a wall at the 1960 National Association of Broadcasters convention, kept hidden just in case a competitor showed a helical scan VTR (they could then reveal the VR-8000 if the scenario arose, as a competing product). No other companies at NAB showed a helical scan VTR, so the VR-8000 stayed hidden.[2]
VR 1500
VR 1500 was first shown in December 1962. It was the first consumer-marketed VTR commercially available, and was also packaged as part of a high-end home entertainment center for consumers as the Signature V.[3]
Signature V
The Signature V system came with a VR-1500 VTR, a black and white
VR 660
The VR-660 VTR was first introduced in December 1962, and was the professional version of the VR-1500. Its weight was 130 lbs and it was 1/4 the cost of a 2-inch quad VTR. Continental Airlines used the VR-660 for movies shown as part of their in-flight entertainment system. For Apollo 11, NASA installed a VR-660 as part of a slow-scan video system for recording at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Australia. The slow-scan television video transmitted from Apollo 11 had a resolution of 250 TV lines at 10 frames per second, which was then converted using equipment at the tracking station to standard 525-line 30-frame-per-second NTSC video, and then recorded to the VR-660.
The
Joint efforts with Sony and then Toshiba
Ampex worked with Sony in 1960 on helical VTR agreements; this joint effort did not work out as Ampex had hoped. In September 1964 Ampex entered into joint venture with Toshiba.[6][7][8] In 1961 Sony showed a 2-inch helical VTR, the model SV-201. Only a few were made, and the 1962 cost for a SV-201 was $10,000.00. The SV-201 was the first VTR to have stop and one frame at a time playback. It did not meet U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) specifications for broadcastable videotape formats for television at the time. The SV-201 was a vacuum tube-based unit and had a total weight of about 440 pounds (200 kg). The PV-100 was Sony's second model of 2-inch helical VTR, and was released in September 1962. The PV-100 was solid state and had a total weight of about 132 pounds (60 kg). It found use in the airline industry as a replacement for 8mm and 16mm film stock, which were used for in-flight entertainment.[9][10][11] The VR-420 VTR was one of the Toshiba-Ampex's joint venture VTRs.[12][13]
General specifications of the VR-1500
- Dimensions
- Length: 29+7⁄8 inches (75.9 cm)
- Depth: 17+3⁄8 inches (44.1 cm)
- Height: 14+5⁄8 inches (37.1 cm)
- Weight: 100 pounds (45 kg)
- Power requirements: 105—125 VAC, 60 Hz, 4 A peak (VTR furnished with one 117 VAC utility outlet, rated at 100 W maximum)
- Tape speed: 3.7 inches per second (9.4 cm/s)
- Recording time
- a. 40 minutes for a 6+1⁄2 inch reel (750 feet)
- b. 90 minutes (1 h 30 min) for an 8-inch reel (1650 feet)
- c. 195 minutes (3 h 15 min) for a 6+1⁄2 inch reel (3600 feet)
- d. 300 minutes (5 h) for a 12+1⁄2 inch reel (5540 feet), at 25 pounds (11 kg).
- Frequency response: ±3 dB, 10 Hz—3 MHz
- Signal-to-noise ratio: 40 dB or better on interchange tapes, p-p video to RMS noise
- Winding: B-wind tape comes off the right side reel, with the oxide surface facing out
See also
- Type A videotape
- 1 inch type B videotape
- 1 inch type C videotape
- IVC videotape format about the IVC 2-inch helical VTR, Model 9000
- Video tape recorder (VTR)
References
- ^ VR-8000 lionlamb.us
- ^ The Time Line of Extinct Video Tape Recorders
- ^ VR 1500
- ^ Signature V metafilter.com/
- ^ Signature V photos, cedmagic.com
- ISBN 9780786432431– via Google Books.
- ^ "LabGuy's World: Labguy's Electronics and video projects". www.labguysworld.com.
- ^ terramedia.co.uk Photo and text of Toshiba VTR
- ^ "Sony Videoflight". www.smecc.org.
- ^ "Sony Group Portal - Sony History Chapter14 The Aiborne VTR". www.sony.com.
- ISBN 9780786748556– via Google Books.
- ^ "LabGuy's World: Extinct Ampex Video Equipment". www.labguysworld.com.
- ^ "Ampex VR-420 Half Inch EIAJ VTR". www.labguysworld.com.