FORMAT: VHS-C     DATE: 1982 PRICE: £? [2005: £?] 24x18x7 cm 2.6 kg

In 1982 JVC released the VHS-C format -- a miniature format which was fully compatible with their existing full-size VHS system.
The tape and the recording made on it was normal VHS, but the cassettes were about 1/3 the size. The really clever part was that the cassettes were slightly thinner, so that they could be fitted completely inside a cassette adaptor the same shape as a full-size VHS cassette. Motorized pins pulled the tape out of the VHS-C casette and across the front of the adaptor; as far as the VCR was concerned, it was playing - or even recording - a normal VHS cassette.
One of the compact cassette's spools is driven directly by the VCR, but the other has a toothed gearwheel which is exposed on the edge, so that the adaptor can drive it from the other spool. A remarkably clever solution to the problem of introducing a new, compact format, without alienating your customer base!

VHS-C cassettes were initially limited to 20 minutes, because there wasn't room for any more tape in the cassette. As plastics technology advanced, thinner tape became realistic and 30 minute VHS-C cassettes became the standard size - using 15 micron tape rather than the standard 20 micron. Later still, in 1990, 45 minute C-format cassettes appeared, using even thinner tape. This may seem short, but for portable - and later camcorder - use, short tapes are fine. It's unusual to record more than 45 minutes at a single event, and as VHS-C was never meant as a home format, it doesn't need to fit a whole movie!

The Sharp VC-220N was the first VHS-C machine. It's a pretty neat unit, with a camera connector on the front, and the main controls (which are electronic soft-touch buttons) are under a sliding flap, to prevents accidental presses. Audio dub mode is available, while A/V input and output sockets on the side and a mechanical counter completes the control panel. Unusually, the tracking control is on the front of the machine, with the main buttons. Naturally, there's no aerial input or RF output, and no timed recordings.

Internally, the mechanism was a pretty standard VHS system, which limited the possible reduction in size and weight. To truly take advantage of the compact cassette, a reduced mechanism would be required, and indeed all later VHS-C VCRs and camcorders use a radically different system. The next exhibit describes how this was achieved...