Re: [AV Media Matters] MII Revisited

[Jim Wheeler <Jimwheeler@aol.com>]

Charles

That must have been the M format that I was thinking of.  I remember
that it was a much shorter cassette time than the Sony.  As I said,
I believe that politics was a big factor in Ampex adopting the
Betacam-SP.

Jim Wheeler

Moderators Comment:
Ah yes - I remember that format - I had the distinct misfortune to
try to do single field animation on it - I was WAY ahead of this
particular technology's ability to do such things. It was marketed
by both Panasonic and RCA (the late great). We got an RCA flavor
machine - and that poor technician lived in our offices for weeks
trying to get it to work. Panasonic did the design of the machine -
RCA had some of the patents - and so a deal was struck (at least
that was the story). M format did in fact use VHS shells with
different tape. Of course these tapes were MUCH more expensive - but
using VHS shells turned out to be a mistake on many levels.  M2
really had little to do with M format (AKA Recam??? or was it
Hawkeye or was it both). Actually I would love one of these for the
museum - anyone got??

James Lindner