I don't remember any of these formats but I do recall a machine made by
Roberts (or Akai) that used 1/4" tape to record video (B/W only) with a
fixed head. I believe speed was 11 ips.

joe salerno


On 4/10/2012 6:34 AM, Tom Fine wrote:
> [Cross-posted to the Ampex List]
>
> Interesting reading the 1965 "Annual Issue On Tape" of High Fidelity
> Magazine.
>
> Ampex content first. Mention is made on pages 39 and 104 of the Ampex
> VR-303, "a video recorder that
> runs at 100-ips and uses 1/4-inch tape." The article describes the
> machine as using a 12" reel of
> tape capable of 25 minutes in each direction, with auto-reverse. The
> machine is described as using
> fixed heads. Anyone have one of these machines? Any more details? Scans
> of literature?
>
> The same article describes the Norelco EL-3400 machine, which used
> 1-inch tape "reeled off at 9 ips
> past a rotating head - the result is a scanning speed of 1086 ips." The
> machine is further described
> as using 8-inch reels capable of 42 minutes recording time and costing $65.
>
> Both the Ampex and Norelco machines are described as costing $3950 -- in
> 1965 dollars!
>
> Interesting side note -- Norelco apparently loaned one of these units to
> Andy Warhol in 1965,
> wanting him to write an article about using it. See the description of
> its short life in The Factory
> about halfway down this page, under the heading "Outer and Inner Space."
> http://www.warholstars.org/filmch/filmchro.html
>
> Anyone have more details on the Norelco machine? Were they produced for
> retail sale? How long was
> this format in use? It seems to be a forerunner of the Japanese 1/2"
> reel to reel video recorders of
> the early 70's.
>
> Finally, in the High Fidelity magazine, on page 31, "High Fidelity
> Newsfronts," a section describes
> Westinghouse's Videodiscs, a form of LP records "gets up to 400 still
> shots and 40 minutes of sound
> ... playing at 33 rpm." Further: "the video and audio information in the
> record groove is picked up
> by the stylus of an ordinary audio cartridge, and fed to the scan
> converter, which decodes sound and
> picture and feeds them to the TV set." Also: "the technique involves
> multiplexing audio and video
> information onto the normal 20-kc bandwidth of a microgroove disc." I'm
> assuming this is slow-scan
> video, since it's still pictures? Was this ever commercialized?
>
> -- Tom Fine
>

--
Joe Salerno