View source for Type C videotape

{{short description|Broadcast magnetic tape-based videotape format}}
{{Infobox media
| name = Type C videotape
| logo = 
| image = SONY BVH 2000.jpg
| caption = Sony BVH-2000 1-inch VTR
| type = [[Magnetic tape]]
| encoding = [[NTSC]], [[PAL]]
| capacity = 
| read = [[Helical scan]]
| write = Helical scan
| standard = 
| owner = [[Ampex]] and [[Sony]]
| use = [[Television production]]
| dimensions = 
| extended from = 
| extended to = 
| released = {{Start date|1976}}
}}

'''1-inch Type C Helical Scan''' or '''SMPTE C''' is a professional [[reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel]] [[analog recording]] [[helical scan]] [[videotape]] format co-developed by [[Ampex]] and [[Sony]] in 1976. The format uses {{Convert|1|in|mm|-wide|adj=mid}} tape and became the replacement in the professional [[video]] and [[broadcast television]] industries for the then-incumbent {{Convert|2|in|mm|-wide|adj=mid}} [[quadruplex videotape]] open-reel format. Additionally, it replaced the unsuccessful [[Type A videotape|type A]] format, also developed by Ampex, and primarily in mainland Europe, it supplemented the [[Type B videotape|type B]] format, developed by the [[Fernseh]] division of [[Robert Bosch GmbH|Bosch]].

==Technical detail==
Compared to Quad, Type C had a smaller size, comparative ease of operation, and slightly higher [[video]] quality. 1-inch Type C is capable of "trick-play" functions such as still, shuttle, and variable-speed playback, including [[slow motion]]. 2-inch quadruplex videotape machines lacked these capabilities, due to the segmented manner in which it recorded video [[Recording head|tracks]] onto the [[magnetic tape]]. 1-inch Type C VTRs required much less maintenance and used less power and space than did 2-inch machines.

1-inch Type C records [[composite video]] at a very high video quality that was superior to contemporary color-under formats such as [[U-matic]], and of comparable quality to analog [[component video]] formats like [[Betacam]] and [[MII (videocassette format)|MII]]. Both analog component formats were notoriously fussy and trouble-prone, so in practice Type C gave a stable, more reliable picture than the broadcast quality analog cassette-based videotape formats. Because television was broadcast as a composite signal, there was no real downside to Type C in television broadcasting and distribution. It had approximately 300 [[Television lines|lines of resolution]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tech-notes.tv/Standards-Practices/TVTapeformats.htm|title=VIDEOTAPE FORMATS|website=www.tech-notes.tv}}</ref> and a [[Bandwidth (signal processing)|bandwidth]] of 5&nbsp;MHz, with recording being done with the heads moving across the tape at (a writing speed of) 1,008 inches per second,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.labguysworld.com/Museum002.htm#:~:text=This%20is%20a%20late%20production,at%201%2C008%20inches%20per%20second!|title = LabGuy's World: One Inch Format VTR's}}</ref> or 25.59 meters per second for [[525 lines|NTSC]] signals, and 21.39 meters per second for [[625 lines|PAL]] signals. As for linear tape speeds, type C VTRs could run at 24.4 centimeters per second for NTSC, and 23.98 centimeters per second for PAL.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web
|author=Sony
|title=BVH-3000/3100 series
|url=https://www.broadcaststore.com/pdf/model/5292/5292.pdf
|access-date=14 November 2023}}</ref>

Type C VTRs can record a single complete video field in a single revolution of the drum, using a single video head, which made the format useful in computer animation and allowed for stills without frame stores or buffers. The tape is almost completely wrapped around the drum of the VTR in what is known as an omega wrap. Because the omega wrap only wraps the tape 346° around the drum, the [[vertical blanking interval]] of the video signal is lost, a problem solved by using a "1 1/2 head" system in which a secondary head scans or reads a narrow strip with the vertical blanking interval when the video head is not reading a video track on the tape.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8YDOAwAAQBAJ&dq=omega+wrap+helical&pg=PA468|title=Broadcast Engineer's Reference Book|first=E. P. J.|last=Tozer|date=November 12, 2012|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781136024184 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdruCAAAQBAJ&dq=omega+wrap+helical&pg=PA465|title=Magnetic Recording Handbook|date=December 6, 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789401094689 |via=Google Books}}</ref> 

Sometimes in interlaced video a field is called a frame which can lead to confusion.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gj4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=vertical+blanking+interval&pg=PA23 | title=InfoWorld | date=11 June 1979 }}</ref> The NTSC and PAL formats recorded by Type C VTRs are interlaced video formats and thus there is a vertical blanking interval after every field of video.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UoZIoTSXaxYC&dq=progressive+video+vertical+blanking+interval&pg=PA36 | title=A Broadcast Engineering Tutorial for Non-engineers | isbn=978-0-240-80700-3 | last1=Jones | first1=Graham | date=2005 | publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kp5J7G8kXN4C&q=Pal+video+timing | title=Video Demystified | isbn=978-0-7506-7822-3 | last1=Jack | first1=Keith | date=2005 | publisher=Newnes }}</ref>

The format is almost immune to dropouts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nfsa.gov.au/preservation/preservation-glossary/video-tape|title=Videotape|date=8 July 2010}}</ref> PAL Type C VTRs may have higher writing speeds to achieve higher bandwidth given PAL's 5-6&nbsp;MHz bandwidth versus NTSC's 4.2&nbsp;MHz. In practice, type C VTRs may have a bandwidth of 4.2 MHz for NTSC, and 5 MHz for PAL.<ref name="auto"/> Type C VTRs may have flying video erase heads mounted on the drum, allowing for individual frames to be erased.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.labguysworld.com/RCA_TH-50A.htm|title = LabGuy's World: 1978? RCA TH-50A One Inch Type C VTR}}</ref> Some Type C VTRs could support reels with enough tape for 126 minutes of playback with NTSC, and 128 minutes with PAL, with 11.75 inch reels.<ref name="auto"/>

==Usage==
1-inch tape gained numerous uses in television production including outside broadcasts where it was used for instant replays and creating programme titles. 1-inch machines were considerably smaller and more reliable than preceding two-inch versions and were seen by operators as a major technological breakthrough. Due to this smaller size, it was possible for OB crews{{huh|date=July 2024}} to transport and use multiple machines, allowing for much more complex editing to be done on site for use within the programme.<ref>Ellis, John; Hall, Nick (2017): ADAPT. figshare. Collection.https://doi.org/10.17637/rh.c.3925603.v1</ref> The quality and reliability of 1-inch Type C made it a mainstay in television and [[video production]] in [[television studio]]s for almost 20 years, before being supplanted by more reliable digital [[videocassette]] formats like [[Betacam#Digital Betacam|Digital Betacam]], [[DV (video format)#DVCAM|DVCAM]], and [[DV (video format)#DVCPRO|DVCPRO]]. 1-inch Type C was also widely used for the mastering of early [[LaserDisc]] titles. It was replaced in that role by the digital [[D-2 (video)|D-2]] videocassette format in the late 1980s.

==Ampex models==
Models include:
* VPR-1 1976, studio model
* VPR-2 studio model
* VPR-20 1977, Portable<ref>[http://www.adsausage.com/electronics/broadcast/ad.cfm?id=15603 adsausage.com] VPR-20 Ad</ref>
* VPR-2A studio model
* VPR-2B studio model<ref>[http://www.adsausage.com/electronics/broadcast/ad.cfm?id=15611 sausage.com] VPR-2B studio model ad</ref>
* VPR-80 studio model
* VPR-6 studio model
* SMC-60 slow Motion system
* VPR-3 studio model, with air system like AVR-1
* XVR-80 wideband VTR
* VPR-5 portable made in jointly with [[Nagra]]

<gallery mode="packed">
Image:Ampex VPR6.jpg|Ampex VPR6 VTR
Image:Open reel tape, Type B.jpg|1 inch reel to reel tape
Image:Ampex logo.jpg|Ampex logo
</gallery>

==Marconi models==
Models include:
*  MR2 studio model

==Sony models==
Models include:
[[File:Sony BVH-500 20070914.jpg|thumb|right|Sony BVH-500 portable VTR with a flying erase head, used to erase video fields (or in this case frames,) individually, for visually clean cuts in editing]]
* BVH-1000 1976 studio model
* BVH-1100 with Dynamic [[Recording head|head]] Tracking- DT, with digital [[timebase correction|TBC]] Model BVT-2000
* BVH-1180 with Dynamic [[Recording head|head]] Tracking- DT, with digital TBC Model BVT-2000
* BVH-500 portable
* BVH-2000 studio model
* BVH-2180 3-hour record / play capability
* BVH-2500 Delta Time VTR
* BVH-2800/2 VTR With [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] [[Sound recording and reproduction|Audio]]
* BVH-2830 VTR with [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] [[Sound recording and reproduction|Audio]] and 3-hour record / play capability
* BVH-3000 Studio model
* BVH-3100 Studio model without sync channel record / play capability

==Hitachi, Ltd. – Shibaden models==
Models include:
[[File:HITACHI 1 ZOLL C.jpg|thumb|1976 Hitachi portable VTR, for Sony [[1" type C videotape|1" type C]]]]
* HR-200 Studio model
* HR-230 2 and 3 hour Record/Play Studio model
* HR-100 portable model, 42 pounds<ref>[http://www.adsausage.com/electronics/broadcast/ad.cfm?id=15596 adsausage.com] HR-100 portable ad</ref>

==NEC models==
Models include:
* TT-7000 Studio VTR ($38,000 new in 1987)

==RCA models==
Models include:
* TH-100 was a re-badged Sony BVH-1000.
* TH-200A was a re-badged Sony BVH-1100A.
* TH-50 was re-badged Sony BVH-500 portable.
* TR-800 was an RCA engineered and built VTR, likely why it has the "TR-" designation, as all the RCA Quad recorders did. While the TR-800 was developed by RCA, the scanner assembly and upper drum could be replaced with Sony BVH-1100A parts.

In 1983, RCA turned to Ampex for supply of Helical VTRs.
* TH-400 was a re-badged Ampex VPR-80
* TH-900 was a re-badged Ampex VPR-3
* TH-700 was a re-badged Ampex VPR-6

==3M models==
Models include:
* TT-7000 (built by NEC)<ref>[http://www.adsausage.com/electronics/broadcast/ad.cfm?id=15603 adsausage.com] 3M TT-7000 VTR ad</ref>

==[[Novosibirsk Precision Engineering Plant|Kometa]] models ([[Soviet Union]])==
Models include:
* Кадр-103СЦ (Kadr-103STs), 1985 studio model with [[Digital signal processing|DSP]] and Цифра-101 (Tsifra-101) digital [[Time base correction|time base corrector]]

==See also==
* [[Type A videotape]]
* [[Type B videotape]]
* [[IVC videotape format]]
* [[Ampex 2 inch helical VTR]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [https://doi.org/10.17637/rh.6159680.v1 Discussion and demonstration of 1 inch tape in outside broadcast use and comparison with 2 inch machines]
* [https://doi.org/10.17637/rh.5990818.v1 Demonstration of use of 1 inch tape to create captions in OB production]
* [http://www.labguysworld.com/Ampex_VPR-1.htm Information on a 1 inch Type C VTR, the Ampex VPR-1].
* [http://www.vtoldboys.com/arc08.htm# VPR-2]
* [http://www.labguysworld.com/Ampex_VPR-1.htm labguysworld.com Ampex VPR]
* {{YouTube|TJIIaMi2Hig|Sony BVH-3100}}
* {{YouTube|LY7yyG5Qmow|Ampex/Nagra VPR-5」 NTSC 1-inch type-C portable VTR}}
* {{YouTube|vc8zQ5B2pfY|Labguy checks out his Ampex Nagra VPR-5}}
* {{YouTube|LRJGJKM5aXE|YouTube.com Ampex VPR 3}}
* {{YouTube|z7ZAZDgiMg|Close-up of the Ampex VPR 3 in operation}}
* {{YouTube|hnkRbVtRcV8|History of Ampex}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=vIgN0vFsI4cC&dq=Type+c+VTR&pg=PA45 Video editing and post-production: a professional guide, page 45, By Gary H. Anderson]
* [http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/ampex1.html lionlamb.us Ampex List]
* [http://www.montreuxsounds.com/?a=ad&v=89 montreuxsounds.com Sony "C"]

{{Video storage formats}}
{{Sony Corp}}

[[Category:Products introduced in 1976]]
[[Category:Composite video formats]]
[[Category:Television technology]]
[[Category:Television terminology]]
[[Category:Videotape]]