Vidicord Teleplayer

• "The Vidicord Teleplayer was first demonstrated in London on 27 October 1969. It took cassette-loaded conventional Super 8 film and displayed it on a conventional television receiver, into which the player was plugged via the aerial socket. It could output in either 625-line 25 fps or 525-line 30 fps standards, with a bandwidth of about 4MHz. A colour version was promised for early 1971 and was still being promised in September 1971 when a new monochrome model—the Projectel series, priced at £360—was announced, featuring automatic threading and automatic rewind to any predetermined point on the film. Instead of feeding only to a television set, this one allowed for direct optical projection of the film onto a screen. A 16mm version, which would have given better quality pictures, was also said to be in the pipeline. Because a number of films were available on Super 8 format for the amateur market, there was a ready-made supply of programming. The typewritten catalogue included a number of feature films—among them Stagecoach and To Be Or Not To Be. Most of the list, however, comprised early Charlie Chaplin shorts, travelogues and cartoons, although there were such attractions as the 1966 World Cup Final. Kodak came up with a similar teleplayer, announced in October 1971, as did Fuji Photo Film (for launch in June 1972) but the simple idea of playing back global-standard Super 8 film on any TV set did not catch on". The Quest for Home Video: Vivicord, http://www.terramedia.co.uk/media/video/index.htm, 2012.

• "Here's how it woks: You thread your film into the machine as you would with any projector. A low-temperature light source behind the film projects a crisp image through the focusing lens onto the sensitized target plate of the vidicon camera tube. The cold light will not warp or burn the tiny 8-mm frame even when stopped for a sill. The tube scans teh image and its amplified output modulates a microwatt RF oscillator to produce the video signal. For sound, there is a magnetic pickup head. Oscillators operate in one of the UHF bands, and are turned to the frequency of an unnused channel on your TV. The combined signals are wired into the set through a coaxial cable, so you just twist the selector to the change over from broadcast programs to your own closed-circuit one". Popular Sciencie, June 1970, page 23.

• "The Vidicord Teleplayer is a portable tv transmitter for educational use which uses normal exposed Super 8mm film with magnetic strip to play black and white pictures and sound through a tv screen on the co-axial principle. Film is either loaded from spool to spool via a projector or can be used from an endless-loop cassette, and in either case the film can be stopped and held, or moved from frame to frame manually. The Teletape also has a microphone for recording purposes. It is boxed in an 18in x 14din x 12in melamine wood veneer cabinet and weighs 421b. Made by Vidicord Ltd, Union House, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Tel: 0892 31127, price £300." Design Journal, 1971.

• "Meanwhile, a new industry of feature film cartridge projection systems has developed to compete with the videotape market. By 1971 Kodak, Bell & Howell, Fairchild, Technicolor and others will introduce new movie cartridges for home projection. For example, Vidicord Holdings, Ltd., of England will market a home movie projector that operates through any TV set in Super 8mm fonnat for $600. Their black-and-white version will he priced at $400." Video Cassette Image Publishing,by Gene Youngblood.

Above, Leonard Cassini, director of Vivicord, adjusts the "telecine" device he originated. Popular Sciencie, June 1970, page 23.

Below, picture of original prospectus (1969).