M (videocassette format)
| Media type | Magnetic Tape,½-inch |
|---|---|
| Encoding | NTSC,PAL |
| Standard | Interlaced video |
| Developedby | Panasonic,RCA |
| Usage | Video production |
Mis the name of a professionalanalogvideocassetteformat created around 1982 byMatsushitaandRCA.Developed as a competitor to Sony'sBetacamformat, M used the same videocassette (and the same oxide-formulatedmagnetic tapestock) asVHS,much the same way that Betacam was designed to take advantage of cheap and readily available Betamax videocassettes,
Like Betacam, M recordedcomponent videoand used a much faster linear tape speed. A cassette that would yield 120 minutes on a VHS VCR at SP speed would only yield 20 minutes on an M VCR.
The format was called "M" due to the shape of the threading path of the tape around thehelical scanvideo head drum, which resembles a letter M. (This is also how theU-maticformat got its name, for its U-shaped tape path in the VCR.) The M-shaped tape path was retained fromVHS.An example M VCR is the Panasonic AU-300B,[1]also sold as the Ampex ARC-40, and the M format was also sold byAmpexas the ARC format.[2]
M had a similar 4-head recording system to Betacam, but thechrominancesignals were recorded as two FM subcarriers of the main chrominance trackFM carrier.
 | This paragraphpossibly containsoriginal research.(November 2019) |
M found little success in the professional/industrialvideo productionmarket. This might have been due toRCA's Broadcast Products division, which marketed the M format in the United States under the "Hawkeye" brand name, going out of business in 1984. ThusNBCwas one of the few broadcasters to use the format. Weak marketing by Matsushita for M might have been a factor as well.
M was also marketed byPanasonic(a division of Matsushita) under the Recam (REcording CAMera) name, and by RCA as Hawkeye.[3][4][5][6]
M was succeeded in 1986 by theMIIformat developed byPanasonic,using a similar-sized cassette with completely different signal processing and ametal-particle tapeformulation.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Panasonic AU 300 B Decoder Circuit ( SL 1) "service manual
- ^"Ampex Recorder"(PDF).tvcameramuseum.org.Retrieved3 July2023.
- ^"The HR-1 Recorder"(PDF).tvcameramuseum.org.Retrieved3 July2023.
- ^"VideOlson Videotape Formats".
- ^"Obituary".SMPTE Journal.94(11): 1210–1213. November 28, 1985.doi:10.5594/J03353– via IEEE Xplore.
- ^Panasonic AU-100A Operating Instructions & Service Manual
Sources[edit]
- lionlamb.us List of videotape formats past and present, with a mention of the M format
- mediacollege The M Format
- ultimatewebdesigning List of videotape formats past and present, the M format listed
- Sony Betamax Case Report
- DC Video on M
- The History of Television, 1942 to 2000, page 194, By Albert Abramson, Christopher H. Sterling
- Encyclopedia of television, Volume 1, page 251, By Horace Newcomb
- The History of Television, 1942 to 2000, page 214, By Albert Abramson, Christopher H. Sterling, NBC use