Word: videodiscs
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...most sophisticated videodisc players currently available are Magnavision, a joint venture of the Dutch electronics firm Philips and the American entertainment company MCA, and LaserDisc, a product of the Japanese electronics firm Pioneer. Both use playback machines that read pictures and sound from a metallic record via a laser beam that never physically touches the platter. With LaserDisc the viewer can select which of the up to 54,000 frames on the record he wants to see by pushing buttons on a keyboard; each frame has its own number. For instance, on a disc that contains images of art masterpieces...
...believes that it has four advantages in selling its videodisc system: lower price, easier operation, a vast selection of programs and marketing strength. The less complicated SelectaVision machines will sell for $499.95, or nearly $300 less than laser systems. RCA will immediately offer 100 programs that range from the movie Rocky to demonstrations on baby care narrated by Dr. Benjamin Spock. Finally, SelectaVision will be sold in 5,000 stores under the RCA label, and a compatible system is being marketed by Zenith, Sears, Radio Shack and Hitachi under their own brand names...
Next fall a third videodisc system, VHD, will be introduced by Japan Victor Co., a subsidiary of the giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., and other firms. Although it uses a diamond stylus, like the RCA system, it will have the random access features and stereo sound capability similar to the laser systems. These machines will be priced somewhere between SelectaVision and the laser systems and sold in the U.S. under the Panasonic, JVC, Quasar and General Electric brand names...
...Videodisc machines are marvelous instruments, but is there a market for them? Industry experts believe that videodiscs will initially be used primarily for old Hollywood movies. Says RCA Executive Vice President Herb Schlosser. "Motion pictures will make up at least 50% of the business at the beginning." Yet many observers wonder whether Americans will spend up to $30 to own their personal copy of a film that they will view only once or twice. Says Richard Ekstract, publisher of Video Review magazine: "You can watch Gone With the Wind or The Wizard of Oz more than two or three times...
Another unknown is how the videodiscs will fare in competition with videotape recorders. Machines like Sony's Betamax or Panasonic's OmniVision, which will record and replay movies or anything else shown on television, cost from $700 to $1,500. They were introduced in 1975 but only recently have begun to catch on. Some 2 million of them have now been sold, and sales last year jumped by 69%. Another 1.5 million are expected to be sold this year. Six-hour blank videotape cassettes, which can be used over and over again, cost only about $20, although tapes...