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It seems strange to me that they would be re-purposing video tape for digital audio, given that digital tape technology was used in computers since UNIVAC in th

by csense 12y ago

It seems strange to me that they would be re-purposing video tape for digital audio, given that digital tape technology was used in computers since UNIVAC in the 1950's [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_storage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_storage

th0ma5 12y ago
Tape is tape, and VHS was a popular platform. I do remember people wanting "higher grade" Super VHS for some digital audio recording platforms, but for the most part you could even use regular VHS in a pinch.
Theodores 12y ago
The key innovation is 'helical scan': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helical_scan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helical_scan This came along for video applications. Up until then the idea of tapes for audio or data was to put as many linear tracks on them as possible. With video some new thinking was needed, hence the helical scan. As it turned out helical scan was the future for data and audio storage too.
- cjensen 12y ago
  Quad recording [1] preceded helical. In Quad, the mag stripes are across the tape almost perpendicular to the tape's movement. The head spun at an insane speed -- 14,400 RPM in open air. Helical was originally invented as a lower-cost recorder. Once helical gained the ability to do slow-mo and still-frame, Quad died. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadruplex_videotape https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadruplex_videotape
chiph 12y ago
I used to use VHS set on 6-hour EP recording speed along with dbx noise reduction (compression/expansion, really). I used dbx because the bandwidth & sound quality was so bad on the slower speeds -- until the HiFi audio technology was introduced later on. I'd get the play time of a reel-to-reel in a device that I already owned, and so no additional space was needed on my shelf.
guard-of-terra 12y ago
Turns out you can store data on VHS too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArVid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArVid
ArkyBeagle 12y ago
Video tape was vastly less expensive than tape drives used for nine track data storage and all. You could actually buy a decent Beta or VHS machine for 1) less than $2k for a while and 2) less than a kilobuck later ( before DVD drive it down ) .

by csense 12y ago

th0ma5 12y ago

Tape is tape, and VHS was a popular platform. I do remember people wanting "higher grade" Super VHS for some digital audio recording platforms, but for the most part you could even use regular VHS in a pinch.

Theodores 12y ago

The key innovation is 'helical scan': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helical_scan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helical_scan This came along for video applications. Up until then the idea of tapes for audio or data was to put as many linear tracks on them as possible. With video some new thinking was needed, hence the helical scan. As it turned out helical scan was the future for data and audio storage too.

cjensen 12y ago
Quad recording [1] preceded helical. In Quad, the mag stripes are across the tape almost perpendicular to the tape's movement. The head spun at an insane speed -- 14,400 RPM in open air. Helical was originally invented as a lower-cost recorder. Once helical gained the ability to do slow-mo and still-frame, Quad died. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadruplex_videotape https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadruplex_videotape

chiph 12y ago

I used to use VHS set on 6-hour EP recording speed along with dbx noise reduction (compression/expansion, really). I used dbx because the bandwidth & sound quality was so bad on the slower speeds -- until the HiFi audio technology was introduced later on. I'd get the play time of a reel-to-reel in a device that I already owned, and so no additional space was needed on my shelf.

guard-of-terra 12y ago

Turns out you can store data on VHS too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArVid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArVid

ArkyBeagle 12y ago

Video tape was vastly less expensive than tape drives used for nine track data storage and all. You could actually buy a decent Beta or VHS machine for 1) less than $2k for a while and 2) less than a kilobuck later ( before DVD drive it down ) .