RCA put so much into it they had no choice but to try to recoup the loss. The system would have been "ready" by the end of the 60's had they actually went forward with some effort perfecting the prototypes. If they could have released it then, it would have been a hit because there was no competition.I have a freind who bought one of these when they came out. I always wondered why it was even made when VHS was already the standard. After a few plays the picture degrades, color bloom and loss of focus. We did rent discs for it though. Getting one that skipped kind of sucked. You knew someone popped it open just to see what was in the cartridge. My friend still has it along with a working Quasar top loading VHS machine.
Sort of like the giant cassette tapes. Putting RTR quality recordings on a large cassette. It died a quick death also and was revived in a smaller, cheaper lower fidelity version.RCA put so much into it they had no choice but to try to recoup the loss. The system would have been "ready" by the end of the 60's had they actually went forward with some effort perfecting the prototypes. If they could have released it then, it would have been a hit because there was no competition.
They still thought they had a fighting chance in '81 since the level of precision to build a CED player was less than that of a VCR, meaning it could be cheaper to manufacture, and cheaper for the end user, about $100 less than the cheapest VHS deck. The movies themselves were cheaper to make too, and roughly a third of the price of a VHS pre-recorded, since they could use existing record stamping tooling. Too little too late, though.
GuyK said:Is that one of the CED machines? As in analog video?
Yes analog audio also... I have been looking for one for along time and cant find one..... Looking for a good MONO unit
All people seem to have on ebay are ones that dont work. (For parts for other ones)
Ill look again maybe sometime....