2" Quad Information:
Videotape Format: 2” Quadruplex
In use: 1956-1985 approx. (much longer in some smaller markets)
Recording mode: Analog audio/video. Transverse scan, segmented picture.
Videotape Width: 2"
Features: Good quality analog video. Mono audio (although some third generation machines had stereo capability). Had a cue channel/time code track. Costly to purchase, operate, and maintain. Required skilled operators.
Existing machine longevity: Very low.
Videotape Longevity: Very low.
Prior usage: Broadcast and closed circuit mastering, duplication, field recording, & post production. Was the first and only viable broadcast standard for over twenty years.
Notes on 2" Quad...With an immediate need to replace filmed kinescope recordings, the Ampex Corporation introduced the two inch quad machine in 1956 (the VR 1000). The enthusiasm for this new invention was overwhelming, and machines could not be manufactured fast enough. The “miracle of videotape” had been born. RCA started building prototypes ( TRT X) in 1957, and eventually Toshiba and Bosch-Fernseh also manufactured their own. Early machines tended to have maintenance issues, incompatibly problems, but improvements were made in leaps and bounds. RCA demonstrated color capability in 1958. All machines recorded a low band video standard, eventually leading to a low band color standard (which suffered through limitations), but not before RCA had experimented with its own color recording standard, which was incompatible with Ampex. In 1964, Ampex introduced high band color in the second-generation machines (VR 2000), which greatly improved performance. With the widespread use of color broadcasting, and the growth of video tape productions and commercials, among other uses, two inch quad videotape continued to gain popularity with quality and operational improvements, well into the late 70’s, when one inch type C finally became a workable alternative for many of quads production and post production tasks. The last of the 2" quad use generally was considered to be the random access capability of the commercial quad cart machines (Ampex ACR 25, RCA TCR 100), some of which continued to operate well into the 1990’s.
DC Video specializes in remastering archival, rare, obsolete and old video tape formats to modern media formats. We also provide services such as: video noise reduction, video enhancement, videotape cleaning, image improvement, video tape reformatting, videotape digitizing, archival video tape assessment, video editing, and videotape duplication.