videocassette recorder: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	VCR • video cassette recorder

Photos

Videocassette recorder.

The home videocassette recorder (VCR) operates after a cassette has been inserted into the loading door (upper left). As the tape is fed through the machine, two magnetic recording heads, located on opposite sides of a rotating drum, rapidly trace a series of diagonal recording tracks (as shown at greatly reduced speed in the animation, lower left). This helical-scan method allows the wide range of frequencies present in a video signal to be recorded on a slow-moving tape.

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Topics

VHS Betamax camcorder television video recording videodisc video tape recorder flight recorder tape recorder

Key People

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Morita Akio

Japanese businessman