On 2025/6/5 10:3:12, NY wrote:
"J. P. Gilliver" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:101he4j$215h6$[email protected]...
I'm aware magnetic video recording really only became practical when
someone thought of moving the heads - Mr. AMP initially, then whoever
thought of the helical (tape-wrap) method.
However, there _were_ linear systems: the most famous (or infamous)
being the BBC's VERA, which ran at 200 IPS. (_Not_ on metal tape - it
used conventional tape, though ½" rather than the more common ¼"; the
confusion arises because VERA used a lot of the _mechanics_ of the
very old audio recorder that _had_ used steel strip.)
The VERA system looked bloody dangerous. 200 ips is about 11 mph and the edges of the reels would have been moving fast: touch one of those by accident and I bet you'd know about it. There was also the problem with
the tape getting tangled if the take-up mechanism developed any sort of problem.
(I _think_ it had glass doors.) Your mention of the edges of the reels
reminds me of an explanation I heard of why computer CD drives topped
out at about 48 or 50 × speed (if you remember when such drives were
common, the speeds ramped up from ×1 - i. e. same as a CD player -
through ×4, ×8, and so on; beyond I think somewhere around ×12 they
switched from fixed factor to maximum, since the actual rate varies from
inner to outer, or didn't with the faster drives). The explanation I
heard was that it wasn't the mechanics of the drive that was the limit,
it was that much above 50×, the chance of the CDs themselves shattering increased. I have no idea whether there's truth in it (or where I
heard/read it, now).
I think any danger in VERA pales into insignificance compared to the
original use of a large part of the mechanics from which VERA was built,
which was a (very) early audio recorder, which used steel tape rather
than paper/plastic tape with rust stuck to it. (I don't know what
speed.) Editing involved welding, and if there _was_ a snap, you had
ends of steel band scything around … the machine had a room to itself,
for that reason! (Again, I can't remember where I read about it, though
I'm pretty sure of it, as I read someone pointing out that the idea that
VERA used steel band was a fallacy, and explaining how the
misunderstanding arose.)>
And the results were pretty ropy, judging by the famous Richard Dimbleby demonstration of it on Panorama - though I've always wondered how much quality was lost in making the film recording of the programme which is
all that we can see nowadays. Certainly there is a very noticeable
difference between the live and the VERA playback of the same scene.
Agreed on all points. I don't think the film transfer would explain much
of the ropiness, in that surely if it did, it would have the same effect
on both the before and the after: OK, sync might have been better on the "live", but from what I remember the VERAd example was also lower
bandwidth.>
There may have been more than one amateur system; I remember seeing
one shown, that recorded - I think about 5 minutes on a reel of tape.
It was a novelty item on something light-hearted, such as Nationwide
or some similar programme, so little in the way of technical details
were given. But I'd still like to see it again; does anyone have it
(or know its YouTube location)?
Seems nobody else here saw that item! I realise it doesn't help that I
can't remember what I saw it on - I have a feeling it was something light-hearted like Nationwide or similar, not technical - nor what year (decade!). From what I _remember_, the transport looked like that from
an ordinary home tape recorder (Grundig or similar); I think it might
have been fixed to the top of a set. (_Not_ the more
professional-looking one, that used big reels, that's already been
discussed in this thread.)>
There was apparently some abomination that recorded very low-res, low frame-rate video onto audio cassette, as a children's toy. That was
probably designed for 525/30 since it was made by Fisher-Price. https:// fisherprice.fandom.com/wiki/PXL-2000 Mind you, it ran the tape at 16
7/8 ips rather than the normal 1 7/8 ips. 120x90 pixel sensor in the
camera - told you it was low-res ;-)
Also covered in this thread; now becoming popular (FSVO popular) with
"retro" type people, the sort who will use 8mm film cameras for the sake
of it (and I presume less bother - _if_ they can get hold of one of
these toy cameras, they can use it without having to find somewhere to
supply and develop film).
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
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