Functions of an Analog Videocassette Recorder

Analog Video Recording

The physical and electronic components designed to record and play back video and audio signals have been refined over the last 30 years to an amazing level of quality for an equally amazing level of cost, whether the signal is analog or digital. As the video and audio signals pass from the camera to the recorder, the audio signal is fed to a recording head similar to the recording head on an audio tape recorder. The recording head is in a fixed position, and the audio signal is recorded in a longitudinal or continuous path on the edge of the tape stock. On the opposite edge of the tape, a signal generated inside the camera, called the control track, is also recorded using a fixed, longitudinal track. The audio signal may be embedded within the digital video as a PCM track. Because the video signal is a much more complex signal and is recorded at much higher frequencies than either the audio or the control track signal, a different method of recording must be used. To record the high video frequencies, the relative speed of the record head passing the tape must be at a much higher speed than it is practical to record in a longitudinal or straight-line manner. Instead, the tape is wrapped around a drum containing one or more video recording heads that rotate inside the drum in the opposite direction from that taken by the tape as it is moving around the drum. The video heads barely project from the drum, touching the tape just enough to record the video signal in a series of slanted tracks across the tape. The tape is wrapped around the head in a helical shape, which is the source of one of the two common names for this type of recording: helical recording. The other term is slant track, an obvious reference to the pattern of video laid down on the tape. Each video track contains all of the signals necessary for one field; therefore, if the tape deck is paused at any point, whichever field is wrapped around the drum is visible as the output of the recorder. In the pause position, audio cannot be heard and control track pulses cannot be counted because the tape must be moving across the playback heads for these two signals to be reproduced. Because it takes two fields to make a complete frame, when the picture is in pause, it is not an accurate reproduction of the recorded signal but it is sufficiently clear for editing purposes. If the re-coding is in the progressive mode, then each frame is visible in pause.

48

49 Analog Video Recording

Functions of a Digital Videocassette Recorder

Digital Video Recording

The function of a digital videocassette recorder (VCR), whether as a separate unit from the camera or attached to the camera making a complete unit or camcorder, is to store the electronic impulses that represent the sound and picture created by the camera and microphone in the form of 1s and 0s, rather than as a continuously varying stream of electrons. The storage for a digital signal is not that much different than for an analog signal, but in many ways it is a much simpler signal to record. Despite its simplicity, the digital signal must be recorded in such a manner that the digital impulses may be easily retrieved in as close to their original form as possible. Digital recorders, whether they are recording an audio or a video signal, produce checking and compensating signals designed to correct any errors that may inadvertently have been recorded. Before the video and audio signals pass from the camera to the recorder, they are converted into digital equivalents of the original signals. The audio signal is fed to a linear head, similar to the recording head on an audio tape recorder, or the signal is recorded with the video signal by extra audio heads mounted on the record drum. The audio signal then becomes a segment of the video signal. The control track, as in analog recordings, is recorded as a fixed, longitudinal track. As in analog recorders, the tape is wrapped around a drum containing one or more video recording heads that rotate inside the drum in the opposite direction from that taken by the tape as it is moving around the drum. The video heads touch the tape just enough to record the video and audio signals in a series of segmented, slanted tracks across the tape. A digital tape in the pause mode appears the same as in an analog deck. A single field of each frame is viewed. Because a digital signal is much more easily manipulated in both the editing and special effects operations, there may be a variety of built-in special effects in a digital camera that are not available on an analog camera. Some cameras allow editing dissolves and wipes within the camera, adding pixilation or other special effects while shooting. Most digital cameras are smaller, because the digital circuits are smaller and digital tape formats tend to be narrower, requiring smaller recorders. The development of disc recorders and digital camcorders allows instant entering of picture and audio directly from the camera to a computer equipped with a nonlinear editing program. High-definition television (HDTV) and standard definition (SD) vary in that an increase in the bandwidth is necessary to record HDTV, and there also is a difference in aspect ratio and line rate of the frame.

50

LINEAR & PCM AUDIO TRACKS Linear Audio Track 1 Linear Audio Track 2 or Cue P4 P4 P2 P2 P3 P3 P1 P1 P2 (PCM=Digital audio tracks) P2 P4 P4

V0

V1 V0 V1

V0

V1

P1 P4 P3 P1 P4 P3 P2 P3 P1 P2 P3 P1 Control Track Time Code Track PCM & Linear Audio Tracks on Digital Videotape

51

Digital Video Recording