
Videotape recording
35
The last decade has seen an astonishing improvement
in the data capacity of magnetic disks. It is now feasible
to record many hours of highly compressed digital
video on fairly inexpensive disks. However, magnetic
tape remains the mainstay of video recording.
Figure 35.1 A
videotape
recorder (VTR)
or videocas-
sette recorder (VCR) wraps
magnetic tape around a drum
that is tilted at several degrees.
The video head scans a diagonal
swath across the slow-moving
tape. This sketch
shows
a scanner having 180 ~ wrap and
two heads (on opposite sides of
the drum). Some scanners have
two stationary ...