Video 2000

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Note: This article is about the format sometimes known as 'VCC' or 'Video Compact Cassette'. It should not be confused with Philips's earlier (and incompatible) videocassette format called 'VCR' or 'Video Cassette Recording'.

Video 2000 (or V2000; also known as Video Compact Cassette, or VCC) was a consumer VCR system and videotape standard developed by Philips and Grundig to compete with JVC's VHS and Sony's Betamax video technologies. Distribution of Video 2000 products began in 1979 and ended in 1988; they were marketed exclusively in Europe and Argentina.

Philips originally named the videotape standard Video Compact Cassette (VCC) to complement their landmark Audio Compact Cassette format introduced in 1963. However Philips chiefly marketed the system under the trademark Video 2000, while Grundig initially used the name 2x4, reflecting the maximum recording capacity of 2 x 4 hours. VCC/V2000/2x4 succeeded Philips's earlier VCR, VCR-LP and Grundig's SVR formats.

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[edit] Technological innovations

Video 2000 offered several innovative features unmatched by the competing standards, VHS and Betamax:

  • All Video Compact Cassettes store video and audio on one side of the tape. The V2000 scans half the tape, and by flipping the tape it scans the other half of the tape, thus doubling playing time.
  • Because of its Dynamic Track Following (DTF) technology (involving an advanced, movable video head tip), V2000 did not require video tracking control. Note that a few V2000 models lacked DTF.
  • All V2000 VCRs sported an auto-rewind function (later matched by VHS and Betamax)
  • Superior dynamic noise (tape hiss) reduction
  • Inclusion of a data track alongside the video track

Thanks to DTF, V2000 was able to play both fields of the image in still frame mode, allowing full vertical resolution, whereas VHS and Betamax could only reproduce one field, giving only half of the normal vertical resolution. This was actually more an annoyance than an advantage, as for non-film material fields are spaced in time and displaying them together (without modern digital correction) causes flicker. A real advantage of DTF on many V2000 models was the ability to carry out picture search without mistracking lines across the screen, a feature which no domestic VHS or Betamax machine was ever able to completely match.

Significantly, Philips and Grundig, having agreed on a common tape format, came up with machines that were radically different mechanically. The first Grundig machine featured a Betamax-style loading ring to rotate the tape around the video heads, while Philips utilised an "M-wrap" similar to that used in VHS machines.

Not long before the end of Video 2000 production, Philips introduced a long-play mode, the V2000 XL or Extra Long, doubling the capacity of the recording time, making it possible to store 16 hours (eight hours per side) on one single tape. Philips also created a prototype of a more compact V2000 cassette (analogous to VHS-C) that was playable in existing units using a full-sized cassette adaptor, but Philips retired Video 2000 before the development was ready for market.

Though linear stereo sound was available on some models, Hifi sound was never marketed. Both VHS and Betamax offered HiFi stereo sound with near-CD sound quality by the mid 1980s.

[edit] Construction of the Video Compact Cassette

Despite the name, VCCs were marginally larger than VHS cassettes—5 mm narrower, but a millimeter taller and 6 mm deeper.[1][2] They had two reels containing half-inch (12.5 mm) wide chrome dioxide magnetic tape. The format utilized only a quarter-inch (6.25 mm) of the half-inch tape on a given side, and so it is occasionally referred to as a quarter-inch tape format despite its physical width.

VHS and Beta tapes allow the user to break off a tab on the cassette so that recordings cannot be erased or overwritten. Once broken, the cavity left by the missing tab must be covered or filled before the tape can be reused. VCCs were more flexible; instead of a tab VCCs had a switch to indicate the length of time a recording should be kept, a technique later used on Video8, MiniDV and MicroMV cassettes.

[edit] Video 2000 and the videocassette format war

Philips released the first Video 2000 VCR, the VR2000, in 1979. Several other models distributed by Philips, Grundig and Bang & Olufsen followed, but manufacturing ceased in 1988. Video 2000 eventually lost the videotape format war, and Betamax followed soon after.

The Philips VR2020 was the first mass-marketed model of the Video2000 format sold in the UK.
The Philips VR2020 was the first mass-marketed model of the Video2000 format sold in the UK.

V2000's failure may be partially attributable to its late entrance to market (slowed by problems in the development of the DTF system). Also, although it was technologically superior to the competition in several ways, it could not compete with VHS and Betamax's key advantages:

  • VHS and Betamax already had established market share and ample prerecorded video libraries
  • VHS and Betamax sported slightly better display resolution
  • VHS and Betamax VCRs were reputedly more reliable.
  • Betamax camcorders arrived at market first
  • VHS and Betamax enjoyed international distribution

A key intention of the V2000 format, particularly those sporting the DTF feature, was tape compatibility: A tape from any machine should play perfectly on any other machine. Unfortunately, when the first Philips machine - the VR2020 - reached the shops, it was discovered that its audio head was 2.5 mm out of position compared to that on Grundig's 2x4 VCR, which had already been on sale for a year. Subsequent models from both manufacturers moved the audio head 1.25 mm to a common position, but compatibility issues remained for recordings made on the first generation of machines.[3] Furthermore, the required close tolerances and fragility of the DTF system resulted in significant inter-machine compatibility issues which were never fully resolved.

By the latter half of the 1980s, Philips had already begun producing their own VHS-compatible VCRs.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ "V2000 PALsite" accessed January 3, 2007, lists the VCC dimensions: 183 mm × 26 mm × 110 mm
  2. ^ VHS_e.htm "VHS Community: VHS 1976" accessed January 3, 2007, lists the VHS cassette dimensions: 188 mm × 25 mm × 104 mm
  3. ^ Dean, Richard. Home Video (Newnes Technical Books, 1982), page 18

[edit] External links