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Video 2000

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"Video Compact Cassette" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Compact Video Cassette.

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 most European countries, Brazil and Argentina.

Philips named the videotape standard Video Compact Cassette (VCC) to complement their landmark Audio Compact Cassette format introduced in 1963, but the format itself was marketed under the trademark Video 2000. Video 2000 succeeded Philips's earlier VCR, VCR-LP and Grundig's SVR formats.

Technological innovations

At the time of its launch Video 2000 offered several innovative features unmatched by the competing formats VHS and Betamax:

  • Only half of the tape is scanned during each side pass. The cassette can then be flipped over to use the other half of the tape, thus doubling playing time.
  • The tape was totally enclosed when not in use. Unlike competing formats that had spaces for the tape loading mechanism to be inserted, thus exposing the delicate magnetic tape surface, VCCs had a retractable sheath that covered such space. The sheath was retracted as a tape is inserted into the machine and only then can the tape cover be raised to expose the tape.
  • Because of its Dynamic Track Following (DTF) technology (involving an advanced, movable video head tip), V2000 did not require a video tracking control. However, some late models lacked DTF.
  • All V2000 VCRs sported an auto-rewind function (later matched by VHS and Betamax)
  • Dynamic Noise Suppression to reduce tape hiss
  • Provision of a data track alongside the video track
  • channel selection and timer programming were undertaken by a 0-9 numeric keypad

Thanks to DTF, V2000 was able to play both fields of the image in still frame mode, providing 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 non-film material fields are spaced in time and displaying them together (without modern digital correction) causes flicker. A real advantage of DTF on all but the very first V2000 models was the ability to provide picture search without noise bars across the screen, a feature domestic VHS or Betamax machines were only ever able to approach by introducing complex multiple head drums.

Although Philips and Grundig agreed on a common tape format, they came up with machines that were radically different mechanically. The Grundig machines 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 production Philips introduced a half-speed mode, the V2000 XL or eXtra Long, doubling capacity and making it possible to store 16 hours (eight hours per side) on one single tape. This was featured in Philips VR2840 and Grundig's Video 2x8 machines.

Though linear stereo sound was available on some models, both VHS and Betamax were offering hifi stereo sound with near-CD quality by the mid 1980s.

Construction of the Video Compact Cassette

Despite the name, VCCs were marginally larger than VHS cassettes — 5 mm shorter, but a millimeter thicker 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 erroneously as a quarter-inch tape format despite its physical width.

Whilst VHS and Beta tapes have a break-off tab to protect recordings from erasure (as in audio Compact Cassettes and, once broken, the cavity left by the missing tab must be covered or filled before the tape can be reused), VCCs employed a more elegant solution: a switch on the tape edge was turned to red to protect the recordings, and back to black/brown (depending on the colour of the cassette housing) to re-record. The switch covered/uncovered a hole along the tape edge, which was detected by a sensor in the machine.

The tape edge featured six such holes along each side of the tape, detected by sensors on the cassette's underside. The left-hand cluster included the write-protection hole. The right-hand cluster of three was used (by various permutations of open/closed status) to tell the machine the total tape running time. This was employed in later machines such as Grundig's Video 2x4 Super to provide a real-time tape counter: upon insertion of the tape the machine would move the tape forward and then backward by a small amount and monitor the comparative angular speed of the reels. This was looked up in a data table for the known total tape length and the hours and minutes used were then displayed. A similar technique was later used on Video8, MiniDV and MicroMV cassettes.

NOTE: when Grundig started marketing VHS their GV280 machine employed barcoded stickers attached to the tape edge, indicating the total tape length to the machine so that it could calculate the time used.

Machines

Recorders in the format were manufactured by Philips and Grundig and marketed additionally by Pye, Bang and Olufsen and ITT in the UK, with Radiola, Siera and Siemens in Europe).

  • Philips VR2020 basic recorder (also Pye 20VR20, Siera 20VR20, B&O Beocord 8800)
  • Philips VR2021 as VR2020 with minor cosmetic changes to bring into line with VR2022, and incorporating several of that machine’s upgraded componentry (also Pye 20VR21)
  • Philips VR2022 as VR2021 with added noiseless Picture Search at 7x forwards and 5x reverse (Pye 20VR22, B&O Beocord 8802)
  • Philips VR2023 redesigned fascia and remote control as standard
  • Philips VR2024 as VR2023 with added linear stereo
  • Philips VR2025 rebranded Grundig Video 2x4 Super
  • Philips VR2220/VR2120 two-part (recorder/tuner-timer) portable machine (also Pye and Radiola 22VR20)
  • Philips VR2324 basic series II compact machine (Pye 23VR24, Siera 23VR24)
  • Philips VR2334 as VR2324 with added remote control and trick play
  • Philips VR2350 front-loading MatchLine model
  • Philips VR2840 as VR2334 with added 16-hour XL recording mode
  • Philips VR2414 basic series III compact machine
  • Grundig Video 2x4 basic recorder (also ITT 480, Siemens FM204)
  • Grundig Video 2x4 plus – as 2x4 with added trick play
  • Grundig Video 2x4 Super – series II machine with noiseless Picture Search at 7x forwards and 5x reverse (also Philips VR2025, Siemens FM404)
  • Grundig Video 2x4 Stereo – as 2x4 Super with added linear stereo
  • Grundig Video 2x4 1600 – basic series III machine, the only V2000 not to feature DTF
  • Grundig Video 2x8 2080 – series III machine featuring 16-hour XL recording mode

Format developments

As with so many Philips developments, Video 2000 was ahead of its time. It aimed to correct the failings of the VHS and Betamax formats whilst providing the potential for exciting developments. The prototype Video Mini Cassette was a compact version of the VCC (analogous to VHS-C) that was playable in existing machines using a full-sized cassette adaptor. Published photos clearly show the nomenclature VMC120, suggesting that 60 minutes per side were intended, but Philips retired Video 2000 before the development was ready for market.

Hifi sound was never marketed although rumours persisted shortly before the format's demise of a hifi machine which utilised the data track. This would have offered the format another trump over VHS/Beta as the hifi track would be independent of the visuals, and so could be re-recorded or dubbed as became possible later with Video8.

Rumours also circulated in the press of an auto-reverse machine shortly before the format was retired. Technically this would have been a major challenge since a single head drum would not have been able to scan both "sides" of the tape correctly.

Alongside the write-protect hole were two that were never used. One was slated to indicate the tape formulation as higher coercivity tapes were to be introduced for the "Super 2000" hi-band version of the format. The flexibility of this system also allowed for metal tape to be introduced for the digital version "Digital 2000", also in the early stages of development as the format was canceled. Internal documents suggested the cassette abbreviations VSC and VDC to be used, respectively, for the two developments.

Video 2000 and the videotape format war

Main article: Videotape format war

Philips released the first Video 2000 VCR, the VR2020, in the UK in 1979. Philips models were re-badged as Pye and even re-skinned as Bang & Olufsen, whilst Grundig models were re-badged as ITT. Both marques were subsequently re-badged by numerous companies throughout Europe. Manufacturing of Video 2000 ceased in 1988 and Betamax some time after, both having lost the videotape format war to VHS.

The Philips VR2020 was the first mass-marketed model of the Video 2000 format sold in the UK.
Video 2000 cassette

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
  • Betamax sported slightly better display resolution[citation needed]
  • VHS and Betamax VCRs were reputedly more reliable.
  • Betamax camcorders arrived at market first
  • VHS and Betamax enjoyed worldwide 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. This meant that the sound would be out of sync with the picture, when played back on the other type of machine. 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 (manufactured by Panasonic but with front panels and casings altered). Reportedly they later experimented with their own VHS mechanism, an adaptation of that used by Betamax and Grundig's Video 2000 machines, but they reportedly discovered occasional tracking errors with recordings made on a M-loading VHS machine (or vice versa) so development was discontinued.

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
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