JVC Report

Jan 17, 2000

"VHS Clear" Cassette Specifications Standardized

VHS Cassette Evolves from Black to Color and even Transparent Versions

Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.(JVC) has developed technical specifications for "VHS Clear" cassettes and added them to the VHS system standards. The new specifications will enable the VHS video cassette, the premiere video recording media in markets around the world, to be produced with transparent housings.

VHS cassettes have traditionally been manufactured in black or dark colors because the VHS system uses photo sensors to detect the end of the tape, and brightly colored and transparent packages can cause malfunctions.

Recent years, however, have seen more colorful personal computers and audio equipment come on the market and gain widespread support. As home products become more colorful and fashion-oriented, users and artists alike are seeking color and transparent VHS cassettes.

JVC has investigated the technology for achieving these demands, and has successfully developed the technology to prevent hardware malfunctions by adding a light shade to the body of the VHS cassette (see page 4 for details). (Five intellectual property applications are now pending.)

The new "VHS Clear" cassette standard will enable more colorful, fashionable blank and prerecorded VHS cassettes to be delivered to the world's markets, adding yet another dimension to the VHS system and making significant contributions to the invigoration of this market.

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Attachment

<VHS Cassette Coloring Development>

(Development Concept)

The VHS video system was developed in 1976 for the home market. It has established itself as the de facto standard for home video tape recorders capable of recording television programs, playing back prerecorded tapes, and recording and playing back home videos. During the intervening twenty-three years, a total of more than seven hundred million VHS decks have been sold, along with almost thirty billion cassettes.

Recent years have seen home products become more colorful and fashion-oriented, prompting JVC to study technologies for bringing color and transparency to VHS cassette housings.

There were two reasons why color and transparent VHS cassettes were not possible in the past.

1) The VHS system uses a photo sensor to detect the end of a video tape. A brightly colored cassette can cause reflections and other extraneous light, leading the deck to misjudge the end of the tape and prematurely halt recording and playback.

2) Industrial tape dubbing equipment uses photo sensors to identify and detect cassettes. Brightly colored cassettes can cause this equipment to malfunction.

JVC successfully developed technology to prevent hardware malfunctions by adding original light shades to the body of VHS cassette. This technology has been named "VHS Clear" cassettes and has been added to the VHS system standard. (Five intellectual property applications are now pending.)

The VHS Clear Cassette standard will bring several new benefits to users:

* The ability to change cassette colors according to the genre or use of the programming.

* The ability for musicians and artists to add their own original colors and distinctive, fashionable designs to their cassettes.

* The ability for cassette manufacturers to add value by developing new colors and designs for their cassettes.

* The ability for deck manufacturers to develop products that allow uniquely-designed VHS cassettes to be seen from the outside.

We are confident that these innovations will make significant contributions to the invigoration of the entire market for VHS systems.

<Major technical specifications for the "VHS Clear" cassettes>

(1) Attachment of two light shades near the photo sensor holes on the left and right side of the VHS cassette, thereby enabling the photo sensor on home video decks to function properly.

(2) Attachment of light shades and/or processing of the cassette wall into an array of fine prisms to enable sensors to function properly on industrial dubbing equipment.

(3) Specifications applicable to VHS, S-VHS, and D-VHS cassettes.

<The concept of light shades for the "VHS Clear" cassettes>

The picture shows the "VHS Clear" cassette