View source for Quadruplex videotape

{{Short description|First practical, commercially successful analog recording video tape}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox media
| name = Quadruplex videotape
| logo = 
| image = 2-inch Quad Tape Reel with miniDV cassette.jpg
| caption = A reel of 2-inch quadruplex videotape compared with a [[miniDV]] videocassette
| type = [[Magnetic tape]]
| encoding = [[NTSC]], [[PAL]]
| capacity = 
| read = Quadrature scan
| write = Quadrature scan
| standard = 
| owner = [[Ampex]]
| use = [[Video production]]
| dimensions = 
| extended from = 
| extended to = 
| released = {{Start date|1956}}
}}
[[File:Ampex VR-2000 20131126.jpg|thumb|right|Ampex VR-2000]]

'''2-inch quadruplex videotape''' (also called '''2" quad video tape''' or '''quadraplex''') was the first practical and commercially successful [[analog recording]] [[video tape]] format.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/vid_guide/6/6.html|title=Chapter 6 - All About Videotape|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref> The format uses {{Convert|2|in|mm|-wide|adj=mid}} [[magnetic tape]] and was developed and released for the [[broadcast television]] industry in 1956 by [[Ampex]], an American company based in [[Redwood City, California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://quadvideotapegroup.com/QuadHistory-PageIndex.htm|title=Quad Videotape Group-Quad History-Page Index|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref> The first videotape recorder using this format was built the same year. This format revolutionized broadcast television operations and [[television production]], since the only recording medium available to the TV industry until then was [[motion picture film]].

Since most United States network [[broadcast delay]]s by the [[television network]]s at the time used [[kinescope]] film that took time to develop, the networks wanted a more practical, cost-effective, and quicker way to [[time shifting|time-shift]] [[television program]]ming for later airing in Western time zones than the expensive and time-consuming processing and editing of film. Faced with these challenges, broadcasters sought to adapt magnetic tape recording technology (already used for audio recording) for use with [[television]] as well. By 1954 the television industry in the US was consuming more film stock than all Hollywood studios combined.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.earlytelevision.org/kinescope.html|title = Kinescope Recording}}</ref>

The term "quadruplex" refers to the use of four magnetic record/play heads mounted on a headwheel spinning transversely (width-wise) across the tape at a rate of 14,386 [[Revolutions per minute|RPM]]<ref>Corrected math: 14400/1.001=14385.61</ref> (for 960 recorded stripes per second) for [[NTSC]] [[480i|525 lines/30fps]]-standard quad decks and at 15,000 RPM (for 1,000 stripes per second) for those using the [[PAL]] [[576i|625 lines/25fps]] video standard. This method is called quadrature scanning, as opposed to the [[helical scan]] transport used by later videotape formats. The tape ran at a speed of either {{convert|7.5|or|15|in|mm|1|abbr=on}} per second; the audio, control, and cue tracks were recorded in a standard linear fashion near the edges of the tape. The cue track was used either as a second audio track, or for recording [[cue tone]]s or [[time code]] for [[linear video editing]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/vid_guide/5/5.html|title=Chapter 5 - The VTR |access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

The quadruplex format employs segmented recording; each transversely recorded video track on a 2-inch quad videotape holds one-sixteenth (NTSC) or one-twentieth (PAL)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/format.html|title=Videotape Formats|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref> of a field of interlaced video. (For NTSC systems, the math suggests 15 transverse head passes, each consisting of 16 lines of video, are required to complete one field.) This meant that 2-inch quad did not support "trick-play" functions, such as still, shuttle, and reverse or variable-speed playback. In fact, the quadruplex format could only reproduce recognizable pictures when the tape was playing at normal speed.<ref>[http://winkhackman.com/blog/gone-quite-forgotten/ Wink Hackman blog; training for MVS users] Retrieved September 17, 2015</ref> However, it was capable of producing extremely high-quality images with a horizontal resolution of about 400&nbsp;[[Television lines|lines per picture height]], and remained the ''de facto'' industry standard for television broadcasting from its inception in 1956 to the mid-1980s, when newer, smaller, and lower-maintenance videotape formats such as [[Type C videotape]] superseded it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/museum/index.html|title=Equipment Museum|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

There were three different variations of 2-inch quad:
*Low-band, which was the first variety of quad introduced by Ampex in 1956,
*High-band, which used a wider bandwidth for recording video to the tape, resulting in higher-resolution video from the [[video tape recorder]] (VTR), and
*Super high-band, which used a [[pilot tone]] for better timebase stability, and higher [[coercivity]] tape.

Most quad machines made later in the 1960s and 1970s by Ampex can play back both low and high-band 2-inch quad tape.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/vid_guide/9/9.html|title=Chapter 9 - VTR Interchangeability |access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

==History==
<!--Text here that is not related specifically to 2-inch quad tape should go into [[videotape]].-->Time-shifting of television programming for the [[Central Time Zone|Central]], [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain]],  and [[Pacific Time Zone]]s by the networks in the 1950s (in order to broadcast their programming at the same local time in each time zone) using [[kinescope]] films was quite a rushed and perilous ordeal. This was because there was minimal time for the local TV stations to receive video for the programming from the East Coast (live via leased microwave relay or coaxial cable circuits provided by the phone company, [[American Telephone & Telegraph|AT&T]]), to record it to kinescope films, and to develop the film to be aired. This usually meant the kinescope was aired almost immediately after it came straight out of the developing equipment, still warm from the film dryer. These were referred to by the networks as "hot kines". By 1954, the networks used more raw film stock for kinescopes than all of the Hollywood film studios combined, spending up to $4,000 per half hour.<ref name="racetovideo"/><ref name="historyoftape">{{cite web|url=http://www.tvhandbook.com/History/History_recording.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603152849/http://www.tvhandbook.com/History/History_recording.htm|title=History of Tape Recording Technology|archive-date=3 June 2004|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

Ampex, seeing the impracticality of prototype [[video tape recorder]]s from [[Bing Crosby Enterprises]] (BCE) and [[RCA]], started to develop a more practical videotape format with tape economy in mind, as well as providing a solution to the networks' West Coast delay woes. Starting in 1952, Ampex built the Mark I prototype VTR,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/mark1.jpg|title=Mark I head from lionlamb.us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/archead.jpg|title=Mark I head and chart}}</ref> using {{convert|2|in|mm|abbr=on|adj=on}}-wide tape. Ampex decided that instead of having the tape move at high speed past a stationary head to record enough bandwidth for video (as how the aforementioned prototype VTRs from BCE and RCA functioned), the head would be made to move rapidly across the relatively slow moving tape. This resulted in the Mark I using [[wikt:arcuate#English|arcuate]] scanning, which consisted of a spinning disk with a face (where the heads were mounted) which contacted the tape (as opposed to the edge of the headwheel with transverse quadrature scanning). This resulted in an arc-shaped track being recorded across the width of the tape.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.danalee.ca/ttt/images/12/TransverseQuad2.gif|title=danalee.ca|website=www.danalee.ca}}</ref> Arcuate scanning resulted in a head-to-tape speed of about {{convert|2500|in/s|mm/s|0|abbr=on}}, but problems with timebase stability of the reproduced video signal from the tape led Ampex to abandon arcuate scanning in favor of the more reliable transverse scanning system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terramedia.co.uk/media/television/ampex_VTR.htm|title=Ampex demonstrates videotape recording|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/vid_guide/14/14.html|title=Chapter 14 - Maintenance, Troubleshooting, and Minor Repairs |access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

Ampex continued through the mid-1950s with the Mark II<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/mark2.jpg|title=Mark II from lionlamb.us}}</ref> and Mark III prototype recorders.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/mark3.jpg|title=Mark III}}</ref>

The Mark IV<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/mark4.jpg|title=Mark 4}}</ref> was the machine first publicly demonstrated at the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (now the [[National Association of Broadcasters|NAB]]) convention (the [[NAB Show]]) in [[Chicago]] on April 14, 1956. After William Lodge of CBS finished his speech, the Mark IV replayed his image and words almost immediately, causing "pandemonium" among the astonished attendees.<ref name="racetovideo">Wolpin, Stewart. "[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1994/2/1994_2_52.shtml The Race to Video] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110404045940/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1994/2/1994_2_52.shtml |date=April 4, 2011 }}". ''Invention & Technology'', Fall 1994.</ref> The earlier Mark III was given some cosmetic improvements, and was also demonstrated at Ampex headquarters in Redwood City the same day. Both demonstrations were a success, and Ampex took $2&nbsp;million in orders for the machine in four days.<ref name="racetovideo"/>
[[File:Ampex VR 1000-B.JPG|thumb|The VR 1000-B model (1961)]]
[[File:Quadruplex.svg|thumb|The quadruplex system]]

Ampex later released the first models of quad VTR based on the Mark IV which were also prototypes, the VRX-1000,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/vrx1000.jpg|title=VRX-1000 being made at Ampex}}</ref> of which 16 were made. Machines made afterward were the final production models, and were designated as the VR-1000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.akdart.com/vtr/vtr3.html|title=The First Videotape Machines at KRLD-TV|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref> The advertised price for the Ampex Videotape Recorder in late 1956 was $45,000 ({{Inflation|US|45000|1956|fmt=eq|r=-3}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-10-15-Quarter-Century-BC.pdf|title="How Much Should a Tape Recorder Cost? <nowiki>[Ampex ad]</nowiki>" Broadcasting-Telecasting, 15 October 1956, 220.}}</ref>

In 1957, shortly after Ampex's introduction of the 2-inch quad format, RCA introduced a quad-compatible VTR, the [[TRT-1A]]. RCA referred to it as a "Television Tape Recorder", since the word "videotape" was a trademark of Ampex at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/knackers/behind.html|title=The Knacker's Yard - Control|website=www.meldrum.co.uk}}</ref>

Ampex developed and released updated and improved models of their quad decks, beginning with the VR-1000B in mid-1959. At that time, Ampex advertised that some  360-plus VR-1000s had been sold worldwide, more than 250 in the U.S.—roughly 30 at each network, 100 by independent stations, and 20 by production companies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1959/1959-06-22-BC.pdf|title="Announcing the New Ampex VR-1000B," Broadcasting-Telecasting, 22 June 1959, 58-59.}}</ref> The second-generation VR-2000<ref name="VR-2000">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/vr2000_2.jpg|title=VR-2000}}</ref> appeared in 1964. followed by a scaled-down economy version, the VR-1200, in 1966 and the AVR series of VTRs, AVR-1, AVR-2, and AVR-3 in the 1970s. The AVR-2 was the most compact of quad VTRs, using conventional 120&nbsp;volt (V) [[single-phase]] household-type AC power to operate, rather than the 208 or 220&nbsp;V [[three-phase]] AC power required by larger quad machines. RCA released later models of quad VTRs as well, such as the TR-22, TR-70, and TR-600.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

[[CBS]] was the first television network to use 2-inch quad videotape, using it for a West Coast delay of ''[[CBS Evening News|Douglas Edwards and the News]]'' on November 30, 1956.<ref name= "nasginsburg">"[http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4779&page=84 Charles P. Ginsburg]". ''Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering'', Vol. 7. 1994: The National Academies Press, Washington DC.</ref> The CBS show ''[[Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts]]'' on December 24, 1956, became the first entertainment program to be broadcast live to the nation from New York and taped for a time-delayed rebroadcast in the [[Pacific Time Zone]].<ref>Val Adams, "C.B.S. Shows Off Tape-Recorded TV", ''New York Times'',  Dec 21, 1956, p. 43.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sophia.javeriana.edu.co/~ochavarr/computer_graphics_history/historia/images/1956_VR1000_OnAirAtCBS.jpg|title=CBS, 1956, VR-1000 in use photo from javeriana.edu.co}}</ref> On January 22, 1957, the NBC game show ''[[Truth or Consequences]]'', produced in Hollywood, became the first program to be broadcast in all time zones from a prerecorded videotape.<ref>"Daily N.B.C. Show Will Be on Tape", ''New York Times'', Jan. 18, 1957, p. 31.</ref>

The engineers at Ampex who worked on the development of 2-inch quadruplex videotape from the Mark I to the VR-1000 were [[Charles Ginsburg]],<ref name="nasginsburg"/> [[Alex Maxey]], [[Fred Pfost]], [[Shelby Henderson]], [[Charlie Anderson (engineer)|Charlie Anderson]], and [[Ray Dolby]] (who later went on to found [[Dolby Laboratories]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.terramedia.co.uk/media/television/Ampex_team_1956.JPG|title=terramedia.co.uk Ampex Team Photo 1956}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu353/james_backtor/wwwfernsehmuseuminfo_ampex-emmy-dre.jpg|title=Ampex Team Photo with Emmy from photobucket.com}}</ref>

As two inch machines became more reliable, they began to see use in outside broadcast (OB) production. The massive machines required their own truck to house and were incredibly labour-intensive requiring considerable on site maintenance. Despite this, these machines allowed for OB video engineers to provide instant replays and generate opening sequences over which captions could be added.<ref>Ellis, John; Hall, Nick (2017): ADAPT. figshare. Collection.https://doi.org/10.17637/rh.c.3925603.v1</ref>

==Product models==
===Ampex===
*VR-1000 (1956) (VRX-1000) [[Frequency modulation|FM]] Low band, three racks of [[Vacuum tube|tubes]], [[monochrome]]. No [[timebase correction]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/17903031@N00/5590815226/in/set-72157626430941252|title=VR-1000 VTR|work=Flickr - Photo Sharing!|date=4 April 2011|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sophia.javeriana.edu.co/~ochavarr/computer_graphics_history/historia/images/1956_VR1000.jpg|title=Alex Poniatoff (Ampex) introduces the VR1000, Photo from javeriana.edu.co}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8096369/ampex-video-recorder-vr1000-video-recorder|website=Science Museum Group Collection|title=Ampex Video Recorder VR1000|publisher=Science Museum Group|access-date=4 May 2020}}</ref>
*VR-1000 "Allen" or "Allenized" update kits (made for Ampex by Steve Allen at [[Allen Electronics]]) to color solid state, [[Frequency modulation|FM]] high band updateable, solid state servo system.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.quadvideotapegroup.com/category/visualallen/|title=Visual/Allen &#124; The Quad Videotape Group|date=November 12, 2014}}</ref>
*VR-1001  VR-1000 with the transport vertical.
*VR-2000 (1964) Solid state, first color-capable quad VTR with high band. Optional Editec, Dropout compensation. Mark 10 [[Recording head|head]]. Analog [[timebase correction|TBC]].<ref name="VR-2000"/>
*VR-1100E (1966) Solid-state VR-1000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.torridheatstudios.com/ftp/share/pictures/Ampex%20MM-1000/Ampex%20VR-1000E.jpg|title=VR-1000E.jpg photo}}</ref>
*VR-1195 (1966) VR1100 with many Ampex updates.
*VR-1200 (1966) Solid state, color high-band. Analog TBC. Optional Editec.  Scaled-down economy version of the VR-2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wn.com/Ampex_2_inch_helical_VTR|title=Ampex 2 Inch Helical Vtr|work=World News|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://newhorizonbroadcast.com/images/Ampex_VR1200_VTR.jpg |title=Photo|website=newhorizonbroadcast.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403214437/http://newhorizonbroadcast.com/images/Ampex_VR1200_VTR.jpg |archive-date=3 April 2012 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>
*VR-3000 (1967) Portable VTR with a Mark 11 ball-bearing head. All-format VTR (NTSC/PAL/SECAM, 15 IPS/7.5 IPS, high-band/low-band). Digital TBC was possible, but required extensive mechanical modifications to the basic unit. Battery- or line-powered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labguysworld.com/Ampex_VR-3000-Anniversary.htm|title=LabGuy's World: Ampex VR-3000 Portable Quadruplex VTR 40th Anniversary!|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>
*VR-3000B Portable VTR Improved version of VR-3000. Digital TBC was available as a plug-in accessory, and required no modifications to the basic unit. Improved batteries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techaworld.com/42000-ampex-vr-3000-camcorder-from-1967/|title=$42,000 Ampex VR-3000 Camcorder from 1967|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>
*AVR-1 (1973) Very fast VTR, [[vacuum column (tape drive)|vacuum column]]s, vacuum capstan, air transport. [[NTSC]]/[[PAL]] switchable. Analog TBC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.quadvideotapegroup.com/images/Don%20Kent-photos%20from%20KTLA%20news%20video/Kent%20playing%20Astaire%20show.jpg|title=AVR-1 from quadvideotapegroup.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.quadvideotapegroup.com/images/Don%20Kent-photos%20from%20KTLA%20news%20video/Astaire-Kent-Runs-AVR1.jpg|title=AVR-1 from quadvideotapegroup.com}}</ref>
*ACR-25 (1974) Cart VTR, with two AVR-1 type decks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/watvhistory/3364670839/in/photostream/|title=1979 ACR Hemingway|work=Flickr - Photo Sharing!|date=15 June 2005|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>
*ACR-25B (1975) Cart VTR, ACR-25 with AVR-2 [[Digital data|digital]] TBC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/Acr-25b.jpg|title=ACR-25B photo}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/watvhistory/3423120103/|title=1995 - Lisa Fillingham with ACR-25 (VC2)|work=Flickr - Photo Sharing!|date=11 January 2009|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>
*AVR-2 (1974) Digital TBC, compact Quad used in studios and remote trucks. Uses 110-volt [[single-phase]] AC (other quad models require 220-volt or [[3-phase]] AC service, although the AVR-2 can be wired for either 110- or 220-volt service).
*AVR-3 (1975) Last Ampex Quad, digital TBC. Vacuum capstan. Super high band.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/ampex.html|title=Ampex Quad Catalog|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Ampex-Am-Tech-Color-Tech-Proc-Amp.jpg|thumb|Ampex VR2000 Amtec, Colortec and Procamp at DC Video, [http://www.dcvideo.com/],]]
[[File:Ampex-avr3.jpg|thumb|right|Ampex AVR 3]]
The VR-2000 & VR-1200 (and the VR-1100E & VR-1195, as well as some updated VR-1000 VTRs) used modules to correct the playback time base errors of the videotape.<ref>[[:File:Ampex-Am-Tech-Color-Tech-Proc-Amp.jpg|Photo of Ampex correct units, wikipedia]]</ref>

===RCA===
*TRT-1A (1957) Tube VTR, 4 racks of [[Vacuum tube|tubes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/17903031@N00/5590226391/in/set-72157626430941252|title=RCA TRT-1 VTR|work=Flickr - Photo Sharing!|date=4 April 2011|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.davesieg.com/?p=140|title=Dave's Blog » Confessions of a Tape Head|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.digitrakcom.com/literature/RCA%20TRT1%20AD.pdf|title=TRT-1A 1957, add}}</ref>
*TRT-1B (1959) Tube VTR, three racks. An available option for color expanded this machine to six racks, which included the color processing equipment and color monitor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/watvhistory/3365477858/in/photostream/|title=1971 VT area - Peter Partridge|work=Flickr - Photo Sharing!|date=11 March 2009|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/watvhistory/3335316705/in/photostream/|title=RCA TRT-1B VIDEO TAPE|work=Flickr - Photo Sharing!|date=30 October 2006|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>
*TRT-1AC Prototype<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/dig_mig/images/rca-trt1_lg_v3.jpg|title=videopreservation.conservation-us.org NBC TRT-1AC Room}}</ref>
*TR-2 (1960) Tube VTR with some solid state. Low band or [[monochrome]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://watvhistory.com/2009/04/video-editing/|title=Western Australian Television History (WA TV History) » Blog Archive » Video Editing|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>
*TR-11 (1961) Tube VTR with solid state PS-[[Power supply]].
*TR-22 (1961) Monochrome low band, later color version.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://keyproductionstv.com/Television/kool/RCA-VCR.jpg|title=Kool TV Tr-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/tr22_1.jpg|title=TR-22}}</ref>
*TR-22C (1964) High-band color.
*TR-2 (1964) Record-only solid state.
*TR-3 (1964) Playback-only solid state.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/17903031@N00/5590815048/in/set-72157626430941252|title=RCA TR-3 VTR|work=Flickr - Photo Sharing!|date=4 April 2011|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/tr3_1.jpg|title=TR-3}}</ref>
*TR-4 (1964) Both, solid state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ae5d.com/pix.html|title=A K Dart dot com - 404 Error|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/rcatr-4.jpg|title=TR-4}}</ref>
*TR-5 (1964) Console portable solid state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://watvhistory.com/2009/07/the-ron-dingo-reddingius-story/|title=Western Australian Television History (WA TV History) » Blog Archive » The Ron (DINGO) Reddingius Story|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/rcatr-5.jpg|title=TR-5}}</ref>
*TR-22D (1966)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.digitrakcom.com/literature/RCA%20TR-22D.pdf|title=TR-22D add}}</ref>
*TR-70 (1966) Solid state, high/low band with dropout compensation. High-band & low band color or monochrome. RCA's multi-standard machine<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ezinemark.com/|title=EzineMark|website=EzineMark}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/tr70b_1.jpg|title=TR-70B}}</ref>
*TR-70C (1967) TR-70 with digital TBC.
*TR-50 (1967) TR-4 high band.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/museum/|title=Equipment Museum|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/tr50.jpg|title=TR-50}}</ref>
*TR-60 (1969) High-band & low band color or monochrome. TR-60 is an updated TR-50. RCA's multi-standard machine 405/525/625 lines. The TR-60 and TR-70 were used in a master/slave configuration with the TCR-100 cart machines timesharing the video processing circuitry of the TR-60 and TR-70 machines when a SPU was not installed with the TCR100.
*TCR-100 (1970) Dual-deck video cartridge machine. SPU-100 was the signal processing unit. Had many air-operated mechanisms<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.taoofcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/Tcr100.jpg|title=TR-100}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oldradio.com/archives/hardware/TV/rca-tcr100x.jpg|title=TRR-100 Photo from oldradio.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/Tcr100.jpg|title=TCR-100}}</ref>
*TR-61 (1972) High-band color, digital [[Servomechanism|servo]] system, [[NTSC]]/[[PAL]] switchable, TR-60 is an updated TR-50.
*TPR-10 (1975) High-band color portable. Larger than a VR-3000, Had color playback, US air force use a few.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/tpr10.jpg|title=TPR-10}}</ref>
*TR-600 (1972) Last RCA Quad. Digital TBC, compact quad used in studios and remote trucks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/manano/331392048/|title=RCA tr 600|work=Flickr - Photo Sharing!|date=20 May 2006|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/rca.html|title=RCA Quad Equipment Catalog|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref>

===Bosch Fernseh===
*BM-20 B&W Quadruplex tube TVR (1963–1970).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fernsehmuseum.info/fese-bm-20.html|title=Fernsehmuseum1- Sie sind im Bereich : Fese BM-20 - 1963|author=Dipl. Ing. Gert Redlich Wiesbaden|access-date=28 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.com/attachments/20090602/64463c7d/attachment-0003.jpe|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418171205/http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.com/attachments/20090602/64463c7d/attachment-0003.jpe|url-status=dead|title=BM-20 B&W Quad TVR photo|archivedate=April 18, 2015}}</ref>
*BCM-40 (1970–1972) Solid state, analog TBC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.broadcasting101.ws/colorvtr_1970.jpg|title=WEBSITE.WS - Your Internet Address For Life™|website=www.broadcasting101.ws}}</ref><ref>[http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/fernseh_magnetbandanlage_bc_m_40a.html radiomuseum.org] Magnetbandanlage BC M 40A, 1966</ref>
*BCM-40C (1972–1976) Updated BCM-40<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fernsehmuseum.info/fese-bcm40c.html|title=Fernsehmuseum1- Sie sind im Bereich : Fese BCM 40C 1972|website=www.fernsehmuseum.info}}</ref>

===Комета ([[Novosibirsk Precision Engineering Plant|Kometa]]), [[Soviet Union]]===

*Кадр-1 (Kadr-1) - B&W, tubes (1964);<ref>{{cite web |title=Кадр-1 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Кадр-1 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
*Кадр-1Ц (Kadr-1Ts) - Prototype unit, modified for color recording testing (1964);<ref>{{cite web |title=Кадр-1Ц |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Кадр-1Ц |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
*Кадр-2 (Kadr-2) - Prototype unit, B&W, solid state (1966);<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Лишин |first1=Л. Г. |title=Репортажный видеомагнитофон "Кадр-2" |journal=«Труды ВНИИРТ»: сборник научных трудов. |date=1966 |issue=1 |pages=13–15 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Файл:Репортажный_видеомагнитофон_Кадр-2_.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Кадр-2 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Кадр-2 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
*Кадр-3 (Kadr-3) - Color, solid state (1967);<ref>{{cite web |title=Кадр-3 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Кадр-3 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
*Кадр-3П (Kadr-3P) - 2-racks version intended for [[production truck]]s (1969);<ref>{{cite web |title=Кадр-3П |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Кадр-3П |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
*Кадр-3ПМ (Kadr-3PM) - Modified for [[timecode]]-based editing (1980);<ref>{{cite web |title=Кадр-3ПМ |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Кадр-3ПМ |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
*Кадр-5 (Kadr-5) - Fast editing VTR, [[vacuum columns]] (1976).<ref>{{cite web |title=Кадр-5 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Кадр-5 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>

===ЛОМО ([[LOMO]]), [[Soviet Union]]===

* КМЗИ-1 (KMZI-1) - Prototype unit, B&W, tubes. The first soviet VTR. Based on Quad format, but used 70-mm tape instead of 2-inch (1959);<ref name="vn_prikl">{{cite journal |last1=Баланин |first1=Л. Н. |title=Видеомагнитофоны для телевизионного вещания и прикладных ТВ систем |journal=Вопросы радиоэлектроники, серия Техника телевидения |date=2010 |issue=1 |pages=84–88 |url=https://koko.vin/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/vn_prikl.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=КМЗИ-1 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/КМЗИ-1 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
* КМЗИ-4 (KMZI-4) - Production version of КМЗИ-1, was used for regular broadcast (1960);<ref>{{cite web |title=КМЗИ-4 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/КМЗИ-4 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
* КМЗИ-6 (KMZI-6) - B&W, tubes. The first mass-produced VTR. Was used for the first experimental colour recording in [[SECAM]] encoding (1962); {{r|vn_prikl}} <ref>{{cite web |title=КМЗИ-6 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/КМЗИ-6 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
* КМЗИ-12 (KMZI-12) - B&W, tubes. Had an interchangeable head block for compatibility with 2-inch tape (1965); {{r|vn_prikl}} <ref>{{cite web |title=КМЗИ-12 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/КМЗИ-12 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
* Электрон-2 (Electron-2) - B&W, solid state, fully compliant with Quad format (1966); {{r|vn_prikl}} <ref>{{cite web |title=Электрон-2 |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Электрон-2 |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>
* Электрон-2М (Electron-2M) - Color version (1966).<ref>{{cite web |title=Электрон-2М |url=https://vidachestvo.ru/Электрон-2М |website=Видачество - история видеотехники|date=24 November 2024 }}</ref>

===Others===
*Sony made an experimental 2" VTR in 1958, after seeing an Ampex VTR at [[NHK]], but never sold any 2" quadruplex VTRs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/dig_mig/images/sony_2in_VRT2_exp1958_lg.gif|title=Sony TVR 1958}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/sonyhistory-d.html|title = Sony Group Portal - Product & Technology Milestones−Recorder & Player}}</ref>
*The VA-50 and VA-100 sold by Visual Electronics, USA. (1965-1970) by Jim Tharpe. Use many parts from Steve Allen, these at first were Allenized VR-1000s, sold as RB 1000. Then Visual switch to Allenized Bosch BM-20, colorizing them as VA-50 and VA-100.<ref name="auto"/>
*WZT (Warszawskie Zakłady Telewizyjne, Poland) made VTR MW-623 (prototype in 1963) then improved to MW-645 (1965, commonly used in Polish Television) and finally 100% solid state MW-700C (1971). The VTRs were never sold abroad.<ref>[http://polkart.com.pl/old/PLIKI/Pierwsze%20O%9Crodki%20TV%20z%20foto%20pa%BFdiernik%202012.doc.pdf The history of Polish Television (document in Polish)]</ref>

==2-inch quad fate==
[[File:BOSCH 2 ZOLL QUADRUPLEX BCM 40.jpg|thumb|Bosch Quad VTR Model BCM 40]]
[[File:Ampex-AVR-2-Quad-TVR.jpg|thumb|Ampex AVR-2]]
[[File:Ampex-quad-video-head.jpg|thumb|Ampex AVR-2 Video Head]]

2-inch quad is no longer used as a mainstream format in TV broadcasting and video production, having long ago been supplanted by easier-to-use, more practical and lower-maintenance analog tape formats like [[1" type C videotape|1" Type C]] (1976), [[U-matic]] and [[Betacam]]. Television and video industry changes to digital video tape ([[DVCAM]], [[DVCPro]] and [[Digital Betacam]]) and [[High-definition video|high-definition]] ([[HDCAM]]) made analog tape formats increasingly obsolete.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cool.culturalheritage.org/videopreservation/vid_guide/5/5.html|title=Chapter 5 - The VTR|website=cool.culturalheritage.org}}</ref>

Operation of VR-1000-era machines required the skills of a highly trained [[video engineer]]. When a tape was changed, the operator spent as much as half-an-hour, "lining-up" the VTR—that is, carrying out specialized technical adjustments to calibrate the machine to the tape before it was ready for playback.  From VR-1200/2000 onward, improvements in head manufacturing/refurbishing tolerances, timebase correction, and greater thermal stability of solid-state electronics made tape changes possible in under a minute and needed servo calibrations only once per shift. From AVR-1 onward, servos were self-calibrating and tape changes were as fast as the operator could articulate threading.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/tvstudy.pdf|title=LOC, TELEVISION AND VIDEO PRESERVATION 1997 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] }}</ref>

The few quadruplex VTRs which remain in service are used for the transfer and/or restoration of archival 2-inch quad videotape material to newer data storage formats, although mainstream TV serials from the 1950s to late 1960s have mostly already been remastered onto more modern media some years ago, even digitized within the last decade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://opentext.wsu.edu/com101/chapter/9-1-the-evolution-of-television/|title=7.1 The Evolution of Television – COM_101_01_TestBook|website=opentext.wsu.edu}}</ref>

==Specifications==
* 2 Inch open reel to reel analog video system
* Vacuum guide to support videotape for record 
* Tape speed 15 ips. (381&nbsp;mm/s) [7.5 ips in half speed mode)
* Video record FM signal
* One analog control track (240&nbsp;Hz) 20 mils [bottom of videotape]
* Two analog audio tracks: 2 audio tracks or one audio and one cue tone track or one audio track and one linear timecode track
* Analog audio track 70 mils  [top of videotape]
* Analog audio cue track 20 mils 
* Video track angle 89.5 deg.
* Video track height/length  ~ 1.82 inches, ~ 46.2mm 
* Four video record/play heads at 90 deg.  (rotary transformer – Ampex, rotary brush – RCA)
* Drum dia. 2 inches – (5.08mm)
* Video penetration ~ .002 inches – 50 micron
* 525-lines video has 32 video tracks
* 625-lines video has 40 video tracks  
* Video scanner rotation: 525 line 14,400 rpm (240 rps) (1,000 stripes per second), 625 15,000 rpm
* Video head write speed: 525 line 1508 ips (38.3&nbsp;m/s),  625 39.9 m/sec (1570.8 ips)
* Video track width 10 mils – .25&nbsp;mm 
* Video track pitch 15.6 mils – .40&nbsp;mm 
* 16.4 horizontal lines per head in 525. (64 lines recorded per rotation of the head drum assembly)
* Video track per second 960.
* Studio reel ~60 minutes, 4,800 feet.
* Video FM modes: Low band, High Band, B&W, Super High Band<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.totterslane.co.uk/tech/quad.htm|title=2" Quad Tape|website=archive.totterslane.co.uk}}</ref>

The tape used in quadruplex machines may have magnetic particles oriented transversely, to increase the magnetic field strength of the tape when read transversely. This allows for higher signal to noise ratios and the possibility of reducing linear or longitudinal tape speeds. The particles are oriented by applying a strong transverse magnetic field during manufacturing after the particles are applied but before the tape is baked to fix the particles in place.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US3775178A/en|title=Dual-layer quadruplex video recording tape}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2gKS4qV4ixAC&dq=quadruplex+tape+particles&pg=PA1462|title=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office: Patents [microform].|first=United States Patent|last=Office|date=June 18, 1973|publisher=The Office|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSHSqWQXm3oC&dq=quadruplex+tape+particles&pg=PA1442|title=The Electronics Handbook|first=Jerry C.|last=Whitaker|date=December 23, 1996|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9780849383458 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Video tape recorder|VTR]]
*[[Videotape]]
*[[Ampex 2 inch helical VTR]]
* Contrast with [[helical scan]] recording
*[[Erhard Kietz]]'s work at Ampex
*[[Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project]], recovered still images from physically similar tapes

==References==
===General references===
* TV Broadcasting, by [[Harold E. Ennes]], 1971, Chapter 8, Page 356 to 388
* [http://mail.quadvideotapegroup.com/pipermail/quadlist_quadvideotapegroup.com/2010-July/002966.html quadvideotapegroup.com, Quad VTR on Planes]

===Inline citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://doi.org/10.17637/rh.6159680.v1 Former OB video engineer discussed the differences between 2 inch machines and 1 inch video machines]
*[http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/theory.html Video systems theory], with expanded information on the history of 2-inch Quad.
*[http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/acr225.html Quadruplex Park, Museum of 2-inch Quad VTRs].
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050329031732/http://www.ev1.pair.com/edsel/edselshow1.html ''The Edsel Show''] was the first TV entertainment program originating from the West Coast to be delayed for the West Coast on videotape.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040603152849/http://www.tvhandbook.com/History/History_recording.htm The History of Recording Technology], with a section with pictures on 2-inch quad and Ampex's development and introduction of it.
*[http://www.labguysworld.com/VTR_BirthOf.htm The Birth of Video Recording].
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060612201442/http://televisiontape.tv/ Promotional kinescope] extolling the benefits of producing commercials on videotape instead of film.
*[http://www.cedmagic.com/history/ampex-commercial-vtr-1956.html CED Magic's page on 2" quad].
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060206115435/http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/rca-nbc_firsts.html Color Television History] page about early Color VTR.
*[http://www.broadcasting101.ws/colorvtr_1970.jpg Bosch 2" VTR 1970].
*[http://www.oldradio.com/archives/hardware/TV/RCA-TV.htm RCA VTRs].
*[http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/rca.html RCA VTR details].
*[http://quadvideotapegroup.com Quad Videotape Group], helping to preserve the content, machines and the knowledge to use them in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Has historical information and discussion list.

===Patents===
*{{US patent|2866012}} "Magnetic Tape Recording and Reproducing System", Ampex patent filed May 1955, issued December 1958.

{{Homevid}}

[[Category:Videotape]]
[[Category:Film and video technology]]
[[Category:Audiovisual introductions in 1956]]
[[Category:American inventions]]
[[Category:Discontinued media formats]]
[[Category:1980s disestablishments]]
[[Category:Composite video formats]]