Oxford Duplication Centre

Broadcast Video Tape to High Quality 10-bit, AVI or Pro-Res Files

Transfer your Professional NTSC and PAL tape formats - DVCAM, MiniDV, HDV, Betacam (SP, SX and DigiBeta), Sony IMX, HDCAM, DVCPRO (25/50/100) tapes - U-Matic 3/4", and Sony open reel 1/2" and 1" video tapes. Videotapes to Digital MP4 video file available. Editable DV files with timecode (for PC or Mac) available upon request. 7-10 day average delivery time.

When Ampex developed the quadruplex magnetic tape video recording system in 1956, it had certain limitations, perhaps the most important of which was the lack of pause or still frame capability, because the picture signal was segmented, or broken down into discrete segments to be recorded on the tape individually (only 16 lines of the picture in each segment). Thus, when tape motion was stopped, only a single segment of the picture recording was present at the playback heads. 

The helical-scan system overcame this limitation. Toshiba introduced helical-scan technology to the television industry in 1959. During the 1960s and 1970s, helical-scan recording machines were introduced by many manufacturers and marketed all over the world. The technology rapidly took over the market for video recording, due to its reduced complexity, greater reliability, lower manufacturing and servicing costs, lighter weight, lower energy consumption, and more versatile features, when compared to the quadruplex system. These factors also made it possible eventually to bring video recording to users at home, in a cassette format.