Beta sucked?

I believe Michael was trying to stay in the same general time frame by mentioning U-Mats and 1" C. Digital machines came a few years later.

Today I was working on a 1" C machine, earlier this week an AVR-1 quad machine and a Beta SP. There are still some dinosaurs.

G=B2

I was a TV broadcast engineer. When I started, a VTR still used 2" tape. U-matic was just showing up at the US Army bases for their ETV systems. It had a tektronix nameplate, but was built by Sony. There was no digital storage at that time, so your comment is moot.

The old 2" Ampex machines had a decent video quality for an all analog format, but a 1" VTR with a good TBC was excellent. I had three, with TBCs and a good editing system at WACX in Orlando. Used with the RCA TK-46 cameras, the in house video quality was better than what I've seen of OTA HD. Of course, I was watching it on a $7,000 monitor with the original triangular RGB CRT. All the other color monitors were trinitron CRTS, and didn't have the same quality of video. By the time it was sent to the transmitter on a 7 GHz microwave STL and transmitted to crappy consumer TVs, most of the quality was lost.

No

Then you might have enjoyed the AVR-3 which was still a quad but with a digital TBC. Put it in Super High Band Pilot and have zero velocity error as 1.5 SC is recorded with the video - analog equivalent of digital clock. The place with the AVR-1s gave away the AVR-3s last Christmas - before I worked there. 2 weeks ago my boss asked if we could play a Super High Band Pilot tape and I told him they gave away the machines.

G=B2

I left the industry about 20 years ago, so I missed a lot of the interesting equipment. :(

I did get to use the Vital Industries Squeeze Zoom, and video switcher. It was one of the first digital Special Effects systems built in the '80s. :)

The only commercial Video Tape equipment I worked with were '60s vintage Ampex 2" at Ft Rucker, Alabama. They were being replaced by the Sony/tektronics U-matics in 1973.

I only had 16 mm film and 35 mm slide projectors at the AFRTS/AFRN/AFN station at Ft Greely Alaska. it was probably the last B&W only station in the US.

Sony U-matic (In a LaCart automation system) and 1" Sony were used at WIYE/WACX in Orlando.

MT > Beta sucked. =A0I preferred U-matic or 1" broadcast video tape. =A0No MT > surprise that you chose the losing format.

G > You preferred an analog format to a digital format? G > You must have REALLY loved open reel video tape then! G >

G > In what capacity were you exposed to these?

MT > =A0 =A0I was a TV broadcast engineer. =A0When I started, a VTR still used 2" MT > tape. =A0U-matic was just showing up at the US Army bases for their ETV MT > systems. =A0It had a tektronix nameplate, but was built by Sony. =A0There MT > was no digital storage at that time, so your comment is moot.

Did you buy a Blue Ray player? LOL Does it make you pine for the Pioneer Laser Disk player?

No. Why should I?

No. Does anyone need a demo disk?