Formats – Image & Sound

The following types of formats can be digitized / transferred to DVD, Blu-Ray, computer file on USB stick / hard disk / internet / cloud:

If your format is not listed, please inquire about the possibilities.

VCR

The first consumer video system. Video Cassette Recorder. Consumer version of, for example, the professional Ampex. This predecessor of the Video 2000 system is very reliable and the quality is often good. VCR has the VCR-1500 and VCR-1700 as sub-systems. Players are for example the VCR N1502 and VCR N1700.

Video Floppy (VF-50)

A video floppy is a storage medium in the form of a 2″ magnetic floppy disk for storing digital photos (analog composite video). A video floppy (VF disk) can hold 50 interlaced photos or 25 progressive format photos. The VF discs can be recorded in PAL or NTSC format.

The United States Patent US4816935 describes the principals of the “Video floppy system”. This patent was assigned by Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, JP).

At this moment we can transfer PAL video floppy discs.

8-track

The 8-track cassette (also called 8-track) is a cassette containing an eight-track magnetic tape that was developed in 1956. In the 60s of the 20th century, these cassettes were popular for recording and reproducing music, especially in car radios. The cassette takes its name from the fact that the tape has eight audio tracks, allowing four stereo recordings to be recorded in parallel. By moving the magnetic heads perpendicular to the direction of movement of the tape, it is possible to switch between the four recordings. The cassette is wound on a coil and the ends are welded together, creating an endless tape. A metal strip is attached to the weld, which actuates a contact that switches the heads cyclically to the next recording. Most playback equipment has a manual switch button. Friction on the coil stretches the tape and varies its speed, which does not improve sound quality. Still, the cassettes were popular for a while, especially for use in the car, where the sound quality is less important than in the house. The 8-track cassette disappeared from the scene in the early 1970s to make way for the more popular compact cassette.

PCM Multi audio

The Sony EV-S900 (Hi8), Sony EV-S800, Sony EV-S700U, and Pioneer VE-D77 (Video8) all supported a mode called “PCM Multi Audio Recording”. While other 8mm decks supported stereo PCM recording, these units provided five additional stereo PCM tracks that were recorded in the video area of the signal. This allowed 8mm tapes to hold 6 “parallel” tracks of audio, each up to 4 hours long (in LP mode). Only one stereo track could be recorded or listened to at a time, and tracks were selected with the “PCM Multi Audio” selector button.

For digitizing with Multi PCM audio tapes we use the Sony EV-S700ES recorder and the TASCAM DA-98HR.

You can find more information on Wikipedia and Totalrewind