Sony 2" Helical Format Information:

Videotape Format: Sony 2" Helical

In use: 1963-1975

Recording mode: Analog audio/video. Helical scan, non-segmented picture, with one video head and one sync head. One drum rotation per field of video. Two audio tracks.

Tape width: 2"

Features: Less costly than quad. Provided a means of video recording for many purposes.

Existing machine longevity: Extremely rare.

Videotape longevity: Very low.

Prior usage: Primarily industrial, educational institutions and airline in-flight movies.

Notes on the Sony 2" Helical... Machines such as the Sony PV 120A provided approx. sixty minutes of record time on a reel length of 1800’ on a 7” reel, with a linear tape speed of 5 ¾” inches per second. There was another model, PV120U, that could provide one hour and twenty minutes of record time, with a linear tape speed of 4 ¼” per second. However, each of the above recordings were not inter changeable with each other (same model # could only play the same model#’s tape).

In 1964 Sony supplied the airline industry with in-flight movie playback utilizing these machines. They were color capable with an external adapter.

Sony 2” helical machines were also seen in a major university language lab in Texas in the early 1970’s.