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U-matic is an
analogue recording Analog recording is a technique used for the recording of analog signals which, among many possibilities, allows analog audio for later playback. Analog audio recording began with mechanical systems such as the phonautograph and phonograph. L ...
videocassette format first shown by
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a cassette, as opposed to the various reel-to-reel or open-reel formats of the time. The videotape is wide, so the format is often known as "three-quarter-inch" or simply "three-quarter", compared to open reel videotape formats in use, such as
type C videotape 1–inch Type C (designated Type C by SMPTE) is a professional reel-to-reel analog recording helical scan videotape format co-developed and introduced by Ampex and Sony in 1976. It became the replacement in the professional video and broadca ...
and quadruplex videotape. Unlike most other cassette-based tape formats, the supply and take-up reels in the cassette turn in opposite directions during playback, fast-forward, and rewind: one reel would run clockwise while the other would run counter-clockwise. A locking mechanism integral to each cassette case secures the tape hubs during transportation to keep the tape wound tightly on the hubs. Once the cassette is taken off the case, the hubs are free to spin. A spring-loaded tape cover door protects the tape from damage; when the cassette is inserted into the VCR, the door is released and is opened, enabling the VCR mechanism to spool the tape around the spinning video drum. Accidental recording is prevented by the absence of a red plastic button fitted to a hole on the bottom surface of the tape; removal of the button disabled recording.


Development

As part of its development, in March 1970, Sony,
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb s ...
(Panasonic), Victor Co. of Japan (JVC), and five non-Japanese companies reached agreement on unified standards. The first U-matic VCRs were released by Sony in 1971. The first generation of U-matic VCRs are large devices, approximately wide, deep, and high, requiring special shelving, and had mechanical controls limited to Record, Play, Rewind, Fast-Forward, Stop and Pause (with muted video on early models). Later models sported improvements such as chassis sized for EIA
19-inch rack A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...
mounting, with sliding rack rails for compressed storage in broadcast environments, solenoid control mechanics, jog-shuttle knob, remote controls, Vertical Interval Time Code (VITC), longitudinal time code, internal cuts-only editing controls, "Slo-Mo" slow-motion playback, and Dolby
audio noise reduction Noise reduction is the process of removing noise from a signal. Noise reduction techniques exist for audio and images. Noise reduction algorithms may distort the signal to some degree. Noise rejection is the ability of a circuit to isolate an und ...
. U-matic was named after the shape of the tape path when it was threaded around the helical-scan video head drum, which resembles the letter U.
Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
uses a similar type of "B-load" as well. Recording time is limited to one hour. It initially had a resolution of 250 lines. Signals are recorded onto the tape using Frequency modulation (FM modulation). U-matic saw two revisions to improve its image quality. The first was high-band or Hi-band, introduced for PAL countries, with the original revision becoming known as low-band or Lo-band. This was followed by SP (superior performance), for NTSC and PAL countries. Both revisions increased the FM carrier frequencies, increasing the available bandwidth on the tape, hence increasing image quality and the number of lines. SP also introduced chrome dioxide tape. Hi-band U-matic recordings will play in black and white in Lo-band U-matic machines. PAL U-matic hi-band increased the FM carrier frequency to 4.8-6.4 MHz, while U-matic SP increased it even further to 5.6-7.2 MHz, while increasing the color carrier frequency to 924 kHz. U-matic tape moves at 3.75 inches per second, and has a tape writing speed of 8.54 meters per second for PAL or 10.26 for NTSC. This means that the heads on the drums of U-matic VCRs move across the tape at one of those speeds. The drum has two heads, both of which are used for recording video. The drum spins at 1500 rpm for PAL or 1800 rpm for NTSC. U-matic low-band when recording NTSC has a sync tip frequency of 3.8 MHz, a peak white frequency of 5.4 MHz, and a color carrier frequency of 688.373 kHz. NTSC U-matic SP has a peak white frequency of 7 MHz. When recording PAL, U-matic Hi-band had a sync tip frequency of 4.8 MHz, a peak white frequency of 6.4 MHz, and a color carrier frequency of 983.803 kHz, while U-matic Hi-Band SP had a sync tip frequency of 5.6 MHz, and a peak white frequency of 7.2 MHz, retaining the color carrier frequency of regular Hi-band.


Introduction

At the 1971 introduction of U-Matic, Sony originally intended it to be a videocassette format oriented at the consumer market. This proved to be something of a failure, because of the high manufacturing cost and resulting retail price of the format's first VCRs. But the cost was affordable enough for industrial and institutional customers, where the format was very successful for such applications as business communication and educational television. As a result, Sony shifted U-Matic's marketing to the industrial, professional, and educational sectors. U-Matic saw even more success from the television broadcast industry in the mid-1970s, when a number of local TV stations and national TV networks used the format when its first portable model, the Sony VO-3800, was released in 1974. This model ushered in the era of ENG, or electronic news gathering, which eventually made obsolete the previous 16mm film cameras normally used for on-location television news gathering. Film required developing which took time, compared to the instantly available playback of videotape, making faster breaking news possible.


Models

U-matic is also available in a smaller cassette size, officially known as U-Matic S. Much like
VHS-C VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format, introduced by Victor Company of Japan ( JVC) in 1982, and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and c ...
, U-Matic S was developed as a more portable version of U-Matic, to be used in smaller-sized S-format recorders such as the aforementioned Sony VO-3800, as well as the later VO-4800, VO-6800, VO-8800, BVU-50, BVU-100 and BVU-150 models from Sony, among others from Sony, Panasonic, JVC and other manufacturers. To minimise weight and bulk in the field, portable recorders had an external AC power supply, or could be operated from rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. S-format tapes could be played back in older top-loading standard U-Matic decks with the aid of an adapter (the KCA-1 from Sony) which fitted around an S-sized tape; newer front-loading machines can accept S-format tapes directly, as the tapes have a slot on the underside that rides along a tab. The standard cassette employed only one flange for each reel - top flange on the pickup reel and bottom flange on the supply reel. This allowed the reels to overlap like in
Compact Cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otten ...
, making the design more space-efficient. JVC explored similar approach for an early version of VHS cassette, but abandoned it in favor of full-flanged cassette, because such an arrangement created unnecessary friction between the edge of the tape and the inner surface of the cassette. In the U-Matic cassette friction was reduced by the reels, having overlapping flanges, rotating in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, the U-Matic S cassette acquired traditional double-flange reels, which reduced the amount of tape that could be loaded, and as such, the duration of recording. U-Matic S tapes had a maximum recording time of 20 minutes, and large ones 1-hour, although some tape manufacturers such as 3M came out with 30-minute S-tapes and 75-minute large cassettes (and DuPont even managed 90-minute tapes) by using a thinner tape. It was the U-Matic S-format decks that ushered in the beginning of ENG, or electronic news gathering. The price point of the VO series was oriented toward educational, corporate and industrial fields, featured unbalanced audio connectors, and did not typically include SMPTE time code (although one or two companies offered after-market modification services to install longitudinal time code). The VO-3800 was largely metal, which made the unit heavy, but still technically portable. The VO-4800 had the same functionality as the VO-3800, but at a greatly reduced weight and size, by replacing many components with plastic. The VO-6800 added the improvement of a long, thin battery standard ("candy bars") that permitted storage of the batteries in a trouser pocket. Common model numbers for these batteries were NP-1, NP-1A and NP-1B. Th
VO-8800
was the last of the portable VO series to be produced by Sony, and featured solenoid-controlled transport. The Sony BVU series added longitudinal and vertical interval SMPTE time code, balanced audio
XLR connector The XLR connector is a type of electrical connector primarily used in professional audio, video, and stage lighting equipment. XLR connectors are cylindical in design, and have three to seven connector pins, and are often employed for analog b ...
s, and heavier-duty transport features. The BVU-50 enabled recording in the field but not playback, and the BVU-100 permitted both recording and playback in the field. Portable recorders were connected to the camera with a multi-conductor cable terminated with multi-pin connectors on each end. The cable carried bi-directional audio, video, synchronisation, record on/off control, and power. Early studio and all portable U-Matic VCRs had a drawer-type mechanism which required the tape to be inserted, followed by manual closure of the drawer (a "top-loading" mechanism). Later studio VCRs accepted the cassette from a port opening and the cassette was pulled into and seated in the transport (a "front-loading" mechanism). Some U-Matic VCRs could be controlled by external video editing controllers, such as the cuts-only Sony RM-440 for
linear video editing Linear video editing is a video editing post-production process of selecting, arranging and modifying images and sound in a predetermined, ordered sequence. Regardless of whether it was captured by a video camera, tapeless camcorder, or recorded in ...
systems. Sony and other manufacturers, such as Convergence, Calaway, and
CMX Systems CMX Editing Systems (also known as CMX Systems) was a company founded jointly by CBS and Memorex; with help from many individuals such as Ronald Lee Martin, who later became a head of Universal Studios; that developed some of the very first comput ...
, produced A/B roll systems, which permitted two or more VCRs to be controlled and synchronised for video dissolves and other motion effects, integration of the
character generator A character generator, often abbreviated as CG, is a device or software that produces static or animated text (such as news crawls and credits rolls) for keying into a video stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and they can ...
, audio controllers and
digital video effect Digital video effects (DVEs) are visual effects that provide comprehensive live video image manipulation, in the same form as optical printer effects in film. DVEs differ from standard video switcher effects (often referred to as ''analog effects ...
s (DVE). In 1976, Sony introduced the semi backwards-compatible ''high-band''
Broadcast Video U-matic Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...
(BVU) format, with the introduction of the top-loading BVU-200. The original U-matic format became known as ''low-band''. The BVU format had an improved colour recording system and lower noise levels. BVU gained immense popularity in ENG and location programme-making, spelling the end of
16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
in everyday production. By the early 1990s, Sony's
Betacam Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself. All ...
SP format had all but replaced BVU outside of corporate and budget programme making. With BVU 800 series, Sony made a final improvement to BVU, by further improving the recording system and giving it the same "SP" suffix as Betacam. SP had a horizontal resolution of 330 lines. The BVU 800 series Y-FM
carrier frequency In telecommunications, a carrier wave, carrier signal, or just carrier, is a waveform (usually sinusoidal) that is modulated (modified) with an information-bearing signal for the purpose of conveying information. This carrier wave usually has a m ...
was upped to 1.2 MHz giving it wider bandwidth. BVU 800 series also added Dolby audio noise reduction. Sony's BVU 900 series was the last U-matic VTR made by Sony. First-generation BVU-SP and Beta-SP recordings were hard to tell apart, but despite this the writing was on the wall for the U-matic family, due to intrinsic problems with the format.


Problems

A recurring problem with the format was damage to the videotape caused by prolonged friction of the spinning video drum heads against a paused videotape. The drum would rub oxide off the tape or the tape would wrinkle; when the damaged tape was played back, a horizontal line of distorted visual image would ascend in the frame, and audio would drop out. Manufacturers attempted to minimize this issue with schemes in which the tape would loosen around the spinning head or the head would stop spinning after resting in pause mode for a pre-determined period of time. The format video image also suffered from head-switching noise, a distortion of the image in which a section of video at the bottom of the video frame would be horizontally askew from the larger portion. The format also had difficulty reproducing the colour
red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...
, and red images would be noisier than other colours in the spectrum. For this reason, on-camera talent was discouraged from wearing red clothing that would call attention to the technical shortcoming. Copying video from one U-matic VCR to another compromised playback reliability, and levels of head-switching noise, chroma smearing, and chroma noise compounded with every generation. These issues motivated videotape editors and engineers to use work-arounds to minimise this degradation. A time-base corrector (TBC) could be used to regenerate the sync tip portion of the video signal sent to the "recording" VCR, improving playback reliability. The "dub" cable, more formally called "demodulated" (or "demod" for short), was a multi-conductor cable that circumvented a portion of the video circuitry, minimising amplification noise.


Uses

For synchronisation to broadcast or post-production editing house genlock systems, U-Matic VCRs required a
time base corrector Time base correction (TBC) is a technique to reduce or eliminate errors caused by mechanical instability present in analog recordings on mechanical media. Without time base correction, a signal from a videotape recorder (VTR) or videocassette ...
(TBC). Some TBCs had a drop-out compensation (DOC) circuit which would hold lines of video in temporary digital memory to compensate for oxide drop-out or wrinkle flaws in the videotape, however the DOC circuits required several cables and expert calibration for use. U-matic tapes were also used for easy transport of filmed scenes for dailies in the days before VHS, DVD, and portable hard drives. Several movies have surviving copies in this form. The first rough cut of ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella ''Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph Conrad ...
'', for example (the raw version of what became ''Apocalypse Now Redux''), survived on three U-Matic cassettes. Audio quality was compromised due to the use of longitudinal audio tape heads in combination with slow tape speed. Sony eventually implemented Dolby noise reduction circuitry (using
Dolby C A Dolby noise-reduction system, or Dolby NR, is one of a series of noise reduction systems developed by Dolby Laboratories for use in analog audio tape recording. The first was '' Dolby A'', a professional broadband noise reduction sy ...
) to improve audio fidelity. The 2012 film '' No'', set in 1980s Chile, used U-matic tape for filming.


Digital audio

U-matic was also used for the storage of digital audio data. Most digital audio recordings from the 1980s were recorded on U-matic tape via a Sony PCM-1600, -1610, or -1630 PCM adaptor. These devices accepted stereo analogue audio, digitised it, and generated "pseudo video" from the bits, storing 96 bits—three stereo pairs of 16-bit samples—as bright and dark regions along each scan line. (On a monitor the "video" looked like vibrating checkerboard patterns.) This could be recorded on a U-matic recorder. This was the first system used for mastering audio compact discs in the early 1980s. The famous compact disc
44.1 kHz In digital audio, 44,100  Hz (alternately represented as 44.1 kHz) is a common sampling frequency. Analog audio is often recorded by sampling it 44,100 times per second, and then these samples are used to reconstruct the audio signal w ...
sampling rate In signal processing, sampling is the reduction of a continuous-time signal to a discrete-time signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave to a sequence of "samples". A sample is a value of the signal at a point in time and/or spa ...
was based on a best-fit calculation for PAL and monochrome NTSC video's horizontal line period and rate and U-matic's luminance bandwidth. On playback, the PCM adapter converted the light and dark regions back into bits. Glass masters for audio CDs were made via laser from the PCM-1600's digital output to a photoresist- or dye-polymer-coated disc. This method was common until the mid-1990s.


Decline of use

U-matic is no longer used as a mainstream television production format, but it has found lasting appeal as a cheap, well specified, and hard-wearing format. The format permitted many broadcast and non-broadcast institutions to produce television programming on an accessible budget, spawning programming distribution, classroom playback, etc. At its peak popularity, U-matic recording and playback equipment was manufactured by Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Sharp, with many spin-off product manufacturers, such as video edit controllers, time base correctors, video production furniture, playback monitors and carts, etc. Many television facilities the world over still have a U-matic recorder for archive playback of material recorded in the 1980s. For example, the Library of Congress facility in
Culpeper, Virginia Culpeper (formerly Culpeper Courthouse, earlier Fairfax) is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. The population was 20,062 at the 2020 census, up from 16,379 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper Cou ...
, holds thousands of titles on U-matic video as a means of providing access copies and proof for copyright deposit of old television broadcasts and films.


References


Further reading

* Fundamentals of television production, By Ralph Donald and Thomas Spann, Page 188, Ch 9. * The History of Television, 1942 to 2000, By Albert Abramson and Christopher H. Sterling, Page 153, Ch 9.


External links

*
Sony.com Sony History timeline


* ttps://patents.google.com/patent/USD227579 Sony U.S. patent for U-matic videotape cassette filed 1971.
Sony U.S. patent for design of U-matic deck
filed 1971.
U-matic Pal site Type 2 U-matic



Origination Formats and Machines - 3/4" U-matic transfers
in the
Experimental Television Center The Experimental Television Center (ETC) (1969–2011) was a nonprofit electronic and media art center located in upstate New York. History The Experimental Television Center (ETC) was founded in 1971 by Ralph Hocking. The center was the resu ...

R-VCR, History of Videotape U-matic page



Texas Commission on the Arts, Videotape Identification and Assessment Guide

U-matic PALsite information about the U-matic video format.



Trans Diffusion, Tech Mark, From Baird to MPEG, By Martin Fenton


{{DEFAULTSORT:U-Matic Audiovisual introductions in 1971 Discontinued media formats Film and video technology Sony products Videotape