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Posted by Gary on 03/22/06 01:05
"Adam Rice" <MY_NAME@NO_SPAMgmail.com> wrote in message
news:habm125gmupo4aba05m0gi5i62t9cp5q1k@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:28:05 -0000, "Paul"
> <paul02@katpawmynuts.f9.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Hi all. I have been given some old Philips 1 hours tapes from the 70s.
>>They
>>are chunky square tapes with 1 spool by the looks of it. Well, there is
>>one
>>big hole in the middle of the tape underneath for the tape to rotate
>>around.
>>
>>Anyone any ideas what type of player I would use for this? I will look on
>>eBay if I knew what to search on.
>>
>>Someone suggested it might be the 'Video 2000' systems but I'm not sure it
>>is.
>
> Could be N1500 (standard play) or N1700 (long play - i.e. 2 hours per
> tape).
>
> As far as I know, the N1500 and N1700 machines used the same tapes,
> but you couldn't play a N1500 recording on a N1700 VCR (or vice
> versa). Unless the tape is clearly marked, there's probably no way of
> knowing which type of machine it was recorded on until you try it.
>
> The N1500 is not bad for its time (1972!) The picture quality is
> pretty awful by today's standards - it's slightly worse than even VHS,
> I think - but it was the best thing you could get for home use in the
> early 70s.
>
> Some episodes of '70s TV programmes (such as "Pipkins"!) actually only
> survive because they were taped off-air on a N1500 VCR, so these old
> recordings can sometimes be pretty important from a TV history point
> of view.
>
> The N1500/N1700 were phased out by about 1980 (?) to make way for the
> Video 2000 format.
>
> Do you have any idea what is on the tapes, by the way - e.g. are they
> recordings of TV programmes, or something more mundane?
>
> --
> A
the picture quality was far better than VHS at the time , it was a real
format that had not been fiddled with to get running time out of tapes.
However they were very very unreliable.
the format also evolved into the SVCR marketed by grundig which gave a 4
hour playback on the same length of tape. The picture quality on properly
adjusted machines was superb. far better than any other format at the time.
i.e. VHS BETA but the machines were so temperamental they needed tracking
every play. and cleaning the tape transport guides every 4 hours or so.
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