|
|
This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Trivia question - what does VHS stand for?
|
Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!
Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000
|
posted 02-27-2005 06:37 PM
Heh heh, my favorite of portable VTRs was the Ampex VR-3000 (quad, not Type C!):
Built into a suitcase, weighed 55 lbs. Battery or AC power. Built-in compressor for the vacuum tape guide, roller ball bearings for the head wheel. Could record high-band on 20 minute reels of 2" tape. No erase heads, so only blank tape could be used. No time base correction, just raw demodulator output, so playback was not legal for air but you could patch a monitor to it to verify the recording. At TAV we used to use these for location recordings at places where our 40' production trucks would've been too unwieldy.
Type C records high band. So even though it is a helical system it doesn't need to use color-under.
Color-under downconverts just the color subcarrier from 3.58 MHz (NTSC) down to 629 kHz for VHS and S-VHS, well within the passband of these machines. The video carrier frequency remained unchanged. Not very high quality, but it was an ingenious way to get some kind of acceptable color in a consumer format.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Monte L Fullmer
Film God
Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004
|
posted 02-28-2005 12:50 AM
Okey, for the early home video units that had to come from across from the "land of the rising sun", I found this Roberts VR1000 in almost mint condition (outside of the slightly weatherbeaten case), and being fully functional....for $35.00
Unit is both an open reel stereo recorder, plus a reel video recorder, which has only B/W playback only.
This pict below is of the unit with the tape laced through the video section of the head assemblies for picture taking purposes..(of course, I would NEVER use audio tape as video tape..lol). The helical head layout was set at an angle since the tape path was straight across, not with one reel higher than the other as with other open reel helical scan decks, as did the SONY, JVC, HITACHI..et.al. . Head rotational speed was 1440rpm.
When rewinding or fast forwarding the tape, it was best to take the tape out of the drumhead area and just have the tape pass over the top roller, thus saving the wear on the heads, and allow less tension during the fast movement of the tape.
This pict below is of the unit in actual video playback. Tape speed at 11.5ips, and the 5inch reel holds 25minutes. Video playback is the "baseband", or unmodulated using RCA I/O connections to the TV. Special video tape was used for this machine.
Audio is the standard 3.75ips and the 7.5ips speeds.
I call this unit, the "LEVIATHAN", being that it weighs in at 85lbs!
Unit was released in late fall of 1969 and continued until late 1970. Price with B/W camera and special monitor (being that the connection cable had it's own jack and socket assembly-like 8 mini cables with one cable) to play back the tapes, was $1300.00 Tapes alone were about 20 bucks a roll for the 5inch size.
With the usage of both kinds of tape, both audio and video, the amateur user would use audio for the video section, and with the abrasiveness of audio tape, ate the video heads in an alarming rate.
One might say, with the advanced design of this unit and what 1969 had to offer in electronic devices where the public wasn't ready for this, this unit sooned disappeared.
Also, this unit being made by AKAI, didn't follow the EIAJ standards, thus this machine was only compatible with their portable VT-100 units.
-thx Monte
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
Printer-friendly view of this topic