Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Type C videotape

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Media type
  
Magnetic Tape

Read mechanism
  
Helical scan

Developed by
  
Sony

Encoding
  
NTSC, PAL

Write mechanism
  
Helical scan

Usage
  
Television production

Type C videotape

1 inch Type C (designated Type C by SMPTE) is a professional reel-to-reel analog recording helical scan videotape format co-developed and introduced by Ampex and Sony in 1976. It became the replacement in the professional video and broadcast television industries for the then-incumbent 2 inch Quadruplex videotape (2 inch Quad for short) open-reel format, due to the smaller size, comparative ease of operation (vs. 2 inch) and slightly higher video quality of 1 inch type C video tape recorder (VTR). 1 inch type C required less maintenance downtime than Quadruplex videotape, and did not require time base correction to produce a stable video signal.

Contents

1 inch Type C is capable of "trick-play" functions such as still, shuttle, and variable-speed playback, including slow motion. 2 inch Quadruplex videotape machines lacked these capabilities, due to the segmented manner in which it recorded video tracks onto the magnetic tape. Also, 1 inch Type C VTRs required much less maintenance (and used less power and space) than did 2 inch machines.

1 inch Type C records composite video at a very high video quality that is superior to contemporary color-under formats such as U-matic, and of comparable quality to analog component video formats like Betacam and MII. Both analog component formats were notoriously fussy and trouble-prone, so in practice Type C gave a stable, more reliable picture than the broadcast quality analog cassette-based videotape formats. Because television was broadcast as a composite signal, there was no real downside to Type C in television broadcasting and distribution.

The quality and reliability of 1 inch Type C made it a mainstay in television and video production in television studios for almost 20 years, before being supplanted by more reliable digital videocassette formats like DVCAM, D-1, D-2 and DVCPro. 1 inch Type C was also widely used for the mastering of early LaserDisc titles. It was replaced in that role by the digital D-2 videocassette format in the late 1980s.

Some Ampex models

  • VPR-2 1976, studio model
  • VPR-20 1977, Portable
  • VPR-2A studio model
  • VPR-2B studio model
  • VPR-80 studio model
  • VPR-6 studio model
  • SMC-60 slow Motion system
  • VPR-3 studio model, with air system like AVR-1
  • XVR-80 wideband VTR
  • VPR-5 portable made in jointly with Nagra
  • Some Marconi models

  • MR2 studio model
  • Some Sony models

  • BVH-1000 1979 studio model
  • BVH-1100 with Dynamic head Tracking- DT, with digital TBC Model BVT-2000
  • BVH-500 portable
  • BVH-2000 studio model
  • BVH-2180 3-hour record / play capability
  • BVH-2500 Delta Time VTR
  • BVH-2800/2 VTR With PCM Audio
  • BVH-2830 VTR with PCM Audio and 3-hour record / play capability
  • BVH-3000 Studio model
  • BVH-3100 Studio model without sync channel record / play capability
  • Some Hitachi, Ltd. – Shibaden models

  • HR-200 Studio model
  • HR-230 2 and 3 hour Record/Play Studio model
  • HR-100 portable model, 42 pounds
  • Some NEC models

  • TT-7000 Studio VTR ($38,000 new in 1987)
  • Some RCA models

  • TH-100 was a re-badged Sony BVH-1000.
  • TH-200A was a re-badged Sony BVH-1100A.
  • TH-50 was re-badged Sony portable.
  • TR-800 was an RCA engineered and built VTR, likely why it has the "TR-" designation, as all the RCA Quad recorders did. While the TH-800 was developed by RCA, the scanner assembly and upper drum could be replaced with Sony BVH-1100A parts.
  • In 1983, RCA turned to Ampex for supply of Helical VTRs.

  • TH-400 was a re-badged Ampex VPR-80
  • TH-900 was a re-badged Ampex VPR-3
  • TH-700 was a re-badged Ampex VPR-6
  • Some 3M models

  • TT-7000 (built by NEC)
  • Some NZTM models (Soviet Union)

  • Кадр-103СЦ ( Kadr-103STs ), 1985 studio model with DSP
  • References

    Type C videotape Wikipedia


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