First post, by Jo22
- Rank
- l33t++
Hi everyone,
There's something that just crossed my mind while browsing through my small VHS collection.
Is there, by any chance, an equivalent to an electric audio cassette?
I mean these passive AF to cassette devices containing a recording tape head.
Video is understandable more complicated, also because it has higher bandwidth and uses helical recording. 🙁
Also, a physical tape or ribbon must be available of some sort, because the video head drum is deep inside the VCR, in stark contrast to the playback head of a cassette player.
But technically speaking, would it be possible to build something like this? And how?
In principle, I mean. I'm not going to attempt to make one.
I mean, in theory, there are two approaches that come to mind.
a) to install a miniature, record-only VCR inside the tape chassis. It writes the actual video on a physical endless tape (loop).
It's entirely analogue and fed by an external source over a flat cable (like the audio cassette equivalent).
Problem is the helical recording. How can this be done, considering the height limitations?
A normal helical drum wouldn't fit inside, sadly.
b) Use of an hypothetical electrical tape that's not moving. It has a fixed lenght and just covers the video head drum/playback head, like a real tape.
Not sure how this hypothetical tape may work, though.
Maybe like a long, flexible version of a VCR write head.
Maybe like an magnetic version of a CCD chip.
Or a ribbon with set of miniature coils that are individually controllable.
It doesn't need to be the whole size of the dummy video tape, I assume.
Just long enough to cover the video head drum/the playback head accordingly.
The low resolution nature of VHS would even suit the project, maybe.
That being said, this is just a thought experiment.
Any ideas or thoughts welcome. ^^
Best wishes,
Jo22
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
//My video channel//