FORMAT: SVR     DATE: 1979 PRICE: £730 [2005: £2520] 57x32x15cm 16.5 kg

The VCR format had yet another incarnation after VCR-LP, which was developed by Philips' German associates Grundig, and called SVR for Super Video Recording. SVR cassettes were identical to those of the earlier VCR and VCR-LP systems, but used chrome-dioxide tape with finer particles and better magnetic properties. This allowed the tape to be run even more slowly than VCR-LP; an SVR machine could record for over three hours on the equivalent of a 60-minute VCR cassette. In fact four-hour SVR tapes were available, and five-hour cassettes were promised "soon". But the different coating meant that the systems were incompatible - VCR and VCR-LP tapes couldn't be used for SVR recording. The SVR 4004 was an amazingly sophisticated machine for 1979, with fully electronic controls, search-and-store tuning, and a timer which could be set up to ten days in advance - though only for a single recording.

The design of the machine is very different from the earlier Philips VCR and VCR-LP series machines, although there are some similarities - most notably the tilting "pop-up" cassette carriage and sloping front fascia. Grundig originally developed this machine as a VCR-LP model, the VCR4000, which looks identical. The changes for the SVR version are all inside, in the electronics.

	The controls, like all Grundigs, are unusual: Cassette means unlace (with a strange-symbolled indicator light to show whether a tape is inside), Playback rather than Play, and FF Wind to match Rewind. The power button, counter and eject buttons are on the top, as is a curious knob in the centre of the case - which controls picture sharpness...
One unusual feature is an analogue channel meter on the front of the machine, to show where in the band the tuner has reached; curiously this is labelled in German, even on this British machine...

The 4004 had a reputation for being unreliable -- difficult to set up and keep properly aligned. It also seemed to be affected by temperature; a recording would play perfectly immediately after it was made, but play it a few weeks later and the machine would have "shifted" slightly, and would distort the picture. Similarly, SVR recordings made on one machine might not play well on a different one.

The format was mainly sold in Europe, but was available in the UK for about a year. However, with Betamax and VHS also on the market, and Philips and Grundig already working on the revolutionary Video 2000 format, SVR was an evolutionary dead end, and was effectively obsolete the moment it arrived. This particular machine (which is actually a clone, from ITT) came from its original owner, who bought two at a greatly reduced price in 1979 - from a dealer who obviously saw the writing on the wall for SVR, and was keen to get rid of them...