Posted by Dave Platt on 07/23/06 02:40

In article <6e55c25iog9i44ubd7nigain7q41cj856m@4ax.com>,
Mark Lloyd <mlloyd@5xxxmail.com5xxx> wrote:

>>They could have used any value for the head room, but chose this specific
>>number as it was connected to broadcast video.

>Would that be to simplify equipment that handles both video and
>digital audio?

As I understand it, the data rate was chosen during the development
process for the Sony PCM-1 system, which actually used a Betamax video
recorder as the storage medium. This data-sampling rate was chosen to
allow the PCM-1's 14-bit samples to be framed into a standard
video-signal format and recorded on Beta video tape. Using existing
videotape recorders for storage was seen as a lot more practical than
having to invent a whole different family of digital-tape recorders,
at that point in digital's development process.

--
Dave Platt <dplatt@radagast.org> AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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