Videodisc Update

Latest developments in both mechanical and laser-optical systems for videodisc recording are discussed while at least five incompatible systems are being made ready for the marketplace. Although one of the new technologies that contributed to the presently evolving practicability of videodiscs emerged in 1956 with the binary technique of frequency modulation of a video signal carrier for magnetic tape recording, the first principles can be traced to John L. Baird in 1927. Characteristics and future potentials of five different present systems being developed are described, weighed and discussed: freeze-frame, slow motion, information-storage and retrieval capacities, playing time, replication techniques, costs and durability indications.

Print ISSN

0036-1682

Published

1977-03

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J13221