Video tape comeback (well kind of...)

[Scotness]

Here's an interesting article - it's mainly about tape back ups for computers

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/it-pro/ ... 1ynuo.html

But then this bit caught my eye

Late last year, IBM and Fox Networks Group jointly won an Engineering Emmy Award for innovation. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said improvements using LTFS tape in a broadcast environment included reduced costs in capturing and storing media content and providing dramatic enhancements in transfer rates, storage density and automated workflow.

Can't see it being used in acquisition for cameras though....but who knows!

Scot

[Andersens Tears]

Interesting read.

I still use tape. Not exclusively but a modest percentage of the work that I do.

[wado1942]

Tape can't make a "comeback" as it's still the #1 way to acquire and store pro video. It allows convenient, safe, stable storage of high quality analogue and digital video.

[BAC]

It is making a comeback for movie collectors! Read this article: http://theweekender.com/stories/VHS-The ... nyl,151130

[wado1942]

That's interesting. I guess it's a good thing I just got a free VHS dubbing deck! It makes sense with Phillips compact cassettes coming back as well. A friend of mine has become a big cassette collector because he can buy almost any album he wants, without ear-shattering limiting/clipping for $0.50. I've forsaken both formats in favor of Blu-Ray and Laserdisc. I was always hesitant with DVD because the sound sucks.

[Angus]

I am a vinyl junkie...not just because it defines the sound of my childhood but because I genuinely find it sounds better than other formats.

As for VHS, there must be some nostalgia factor but really the format was always such a compromise between what was practical enough for a home user, cheap enough (in the 70's) to sell to the user...and acceptable quality. Frankly the picture quality from VHS was always crap. I don't see myself getting all dewey eyed anytime soon about the chance to watch VHS again.

I still have a VHS machine and some off-air tapes I made years ago of stuff that likely won't be repeated or released on future formats. But that's it for me and VHS.

I did buy some audio cassettes recently, it's such an easy to use format and is capable of good audio - however generally the professionally released cassette albums were crap quality. You could get better by recording the LP or CD to a blank cassette if you had a decent cassette deck. These days I use cassettes mostly with vintage computers

[Scotness]

These days I use cassettes mostly with vintage computers

Ha now you're talking! At the risk of getting too far off track here - what kind of computer are you running? I recently bought a Spectravideo 328 off eBay - and too my joy found virtually all my old tapes from when I had one in the 80's still load. I had to buy some new blank tapes as well and found my local Woollies still stock them

Scot

[Angus]

I was a Sinclair boy.....I had a ZX81 and then a ZX SPectrum.

I've found a lot of my old tapes, though probably less than half, in my mother's attic and have been pleasantly surprised how many of them work. The ZX81 was notoriously fickle with tape loading but if the original tape doesn't work, often it can be brought to life by digitising and boosting certain frequencies.

I have a Commodore 64, Atari ST and Mac Color Classic in storage too.

It's off topic I suppose, but I don't imagine we are the only people who have an interest in 80's computers. And as with film...I prefer to use the real thing rather than an emulator (though I did enjoy 3D Monster Maze on my Android phone during my lunch break today)

[wado1942]

Speaking of which, I have an Amiga with no cables or accessories in case anybody's interested.

[Scotness]

Angus you're right about emulators -- often I get together with a few friends and we dig out the various 8 bit machines and have a nerd day - emulators are strictly banned. My first computer was actually a ZX80 -- don't even know whatever happened to it But what a feat of engineering that was -- I used the ZX81 and Spectrum a fair bit too -- I think the Spectrum - had the best physical design/appearance out of all of the 80's computers --> it's funny how that kind of thing influences you, and you see it in Super 8 camera designs too - Beaulieu and Bolex released some rippers (why they had to look that way I don't know!)

Wado - what model Amiga is it? Not that it would be any good to me though as it would be NTSC - but I would love to get my hands on an Amiga 500 one day.

Scot

[wado1942]

It IS a 500! I got it at a garage sale and never even got the parts together to test it. They kept it all these years, so I'd assume it was retired in working condition. I do have a couple of 1701 monitors though. I use them for video editing. Still missing some other key components like power supply.

[BAC]

All this talk about old computers reminds me of our families first, a Sinclair ZX81made around 1981. For a monitor we hooked it up to our old black and white TV which was the type that used vacuum tubes (non solid state). I think we used cassette tapes to store data. It was pretty exciting to be able to type words on the TV. I think he may still have it as well as our old Pong video game, my first and last video game console. :lol:

[Angus]

I know this is off topic....

There is a vibrant Sinclair userbase to this day, new software and even hardware is available. The ZX81 is well supported with a lovely piece of kit available new now to give storage by SD card instead of cassette, 32K RAM and optional joystick support. There is even a ZX81 web browser available, IRC chat client and ethernet adaptor.

A slight word of warning for anyone with a dusty ZX81. They often don't work well with modern TV's. The PAL (or NTSC) signal is very basic and missing a 'back porch' which wasn't important with early 80's or earlier TV's but makes for a very poor picture on most modern equipment.

However there are fixes

[Scotness]

It's pretty amazing how parallel the whole 8 bit computer thing is to the Super 8 world - both old technologies by modern standards - kept alive by people who love them.

Now to find that ZX81 web browser......I once found on youtube a clip of someone who had gutted a ZX Spectrum - and put a micro PC board in there, then installed a Spectrum emulator running on Linux - they had even mapped the keyboard inputs -- it was pretty funny I thought - it would be like gutting a Super 8 camera to put a digital camcorder in there and getting it to run in some digital Super 8 FX mode....which would be sacrilegious of course :lol:

And I don't know why but I have a compulsive urge to write a Wordperfect 5.1 knock off for the Spectravideo 328 -- couldn't be of any use (unlike a ZX81 browser!!!)

Scot

[wado1942]

The two worlds DO go together, just look at these guys!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6BDNATEIvc