Ampex 2 inch helical VTR

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From 1963 to 1970,

audio tracks recorded on the top edge of the tape, with a control track recorded on the tape's bottom edge. The 2-inch-wide video tape used was one mil (0.001 in or 0.0254 mm) thick. The VTRs were mostly used by industrial companies, educational institutions, and a few for in-flight entertainment
.

The

broadcast television industry at the time.[1]

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

Neiman-Marcus department store for about $30,000, and was featured in their 1963 catalog. The Signature V console containing all the equipment was nine feet long and weighed 900 pounds; only one was sold.[4][5]

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

TV applications. Its list price in 1963 was $14,500.[citation needed
]

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+78 inches (75.9 cm)
    • Depth: 17+38 inches (44.1 cm)
    • Height: 14+58 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+12 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+12 inch reel (3600 feet)
    • d. 300 minutes (5 h) for a 12+12 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

References