ABSTRACT
Developed at the urging of television networks as a method of recording live programming for delayed broadcast, the first practical videotape recorder was introduced by the Ampex Corporation in 1956. This chapter describes the video recording formats that are commonly used in video production, post-production, and distribution, with specific reference to their advantages and limitations. A digital disk recorder is a video recorder that uses a computer-style rotating magnetic disk as the recording medium instead of spools of magnetic tape. Digital formats represent the technology in magnetic video recording and can provide the best quality recording. In digital recorders, the video signals are recorded not as varying analog electrical voltages, but as a numerical value in a code much like that used in computer data storage. In analog recording systems, the signal is applied to an electromagnetic recording head that is in direct contact with the moving tape.
