Technicolor reel...

[Bobby Brady]

Does anybody know what type of machine plays this?

[orthophonic]

It looks like a 2" Quadraplex tape, the broadcast standard from the late 50's to
the early 80's. It would need to be played on
a 2" Quadraplex VTR. These were made by
Ampex and RCA and are huge. Some TV
stations still have one or two around and also
some older video duplication facilities.

[Bobby Brady]

I wanted to buy it but I suspect it would be a long time before I can get use of such a machine!
I think it's very interesting that the machine to play that was from the '50's.
I wonder if the TV commercials on that reel would have been movie film transferred to the 2" or if it was more likely that the commercials were recorded on video?
Thanks

[orthophonic]

Hello again,
It could be either way, film transfer or tape. Back then
it was most common to run an edited film print on a
Telecine while video stayed video.
Starting in the late 70's up to the present, most national
and regional spots are shot on 35mm and the negative
is transferred and color corrected to video tape, then edited
and distributed on tape. first with 2" in the 70's, 1" in
the 80's, BETA SP and D-2 in the early 90's and digital
betacam and HD from the mid 90's to present.
Most local spots are still shot and edited on tape.

Technicolor was the name of a large Tape duplication co.
back in the 70's and early 80's.

[Sandy G]

For a bit more info on videotape formats 'n' stuff, go to www.labguysworld.com . I think we oughta give this guy an invite to join AK...Whaddya think ?...

[labguy]

Hello. Labguy here. Thanks for the invite to join. I can answer all questions related to video tape recorders from the 50s to the late 70s.

What is not apparent in the photo of the tape, is which way the tape feeds off of the reel and which side is the oxide on. I will bet it feeds from the left with oxide in making it quadruplex format.

If it feeds off the right side, with oxide out, then the tape would be a two inch helical type for the Ampex VR-660 and, even more rare, the Ampex VR-1500. Though quads outnumbered these smaller machines by hundreds to one.

If you want to get it played and or copied, the guys at the Yahoo OLD VTRs discussion forum can help. Find them at: groups dot yahoo dot com slash group slash oldvtrs slash.

Labguy