Video 2000

Philips named the videotape standard Video Compact Cassette (VCC) to complement its landmark audio Compact Cassette format introduced in 1963, but the format itself was marketed under the trademark Video 2000. Despite the name, VCCs are marginally larger than VHS cassettes—shorter, but thicker and deeper. They have two co-planar reels containing half-inch (12.5 mm) wide chromium dioxide magnetic tape. The format used only half (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 tape width. The cassette can then be flipped over to use the other half of the tape, thus doubling playing time. Additionally, the cassettes can be recorded onto using an “XL” recording mode (similar to VHS’s LP and Betamax’s βII modes), which doubles the playing time again. Tape lengths ==Format and features==

Dynamic Track Following (DTF) eliminated the need for a separate control track and enabled the video heads to accurately follow the recorded tracks on the tape during playback. Therefore, by design V2000 machines do not require a video tracking control. == Launch ==

A key intention of the V2000 format, thanks to DTF, was tape compatibility. A tape from any machine should play perfectly on any other machine. However, when 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 Video 2×4 (Grundig V1600). This meant that the sound would be out of sync with the picture when played back on the other type of machine. Both manufacturers' hastily moved the audio head 1.25 mm to a common position, but compatibility issues remained for recordings made on the first generation of machines. == Machines ==

• Philips VR2020 • Philips VR2022 • Philips VR2026 (PAL/SECAM tuner—recorded SECAM as PAL) • Philips VR2340 • Philips VR2324 • ITT VR681 == References ==