Info about Audio Video
The Audio Video: The Happy Fusion of Sound and Sight
The birth of commercial television broadcast took place in the US in the 1950s. The enormous problem faced by the technicians was to find an easy substitute for the cumbersome cinematography for quick and timely broadcast of news, events and entertainments. In science and technology we stand on the shoulders of others. So the present audio video as the name indicates is only an offshoot of the handy audio that was used profusely in all the production studios of all the major broadcasting houses ever since the Germans popularized the technology by about 1934.
The first patent in the area of visual recording was achieved by Bing Crosby Enterprises in 1950; it was a video recording method. By about 1953 RCA gave demonstration of recording of television pictures on magnetic tapes. It was the Ampex Corporation that gave a spectacular demo of magnetic recording equipment in 1956.
The principle of magnetic tape is pretty old and dates back to 1898 to the invention of Vladimir Poulsen. In his discovery when steel wires or tapes are moved fast an electromagnet connected to a transmitter of sounds the wire or tape experiences magnetic vibrations which are recorded on them and can be reproduced by passing the wire or tape near the same electromagnet. The same principle is used in the recording of the video. What has been stated, sounds simple. But the scientists had to face a truck load of problems before video recording was successful. Light contains a broad spectrum of different colors and recording them and re-producing them in all its spectacular beauty was an ultimate challenge. It was not possible to record light using the same magnetic head used for recording sound.
Audio Video combines the magnetic audio recording skills with videotape recording skills. In an audio tape sounds are recorded from microphones, radio receivers or from other audio devices. In an audio video there is provision for recording both sounds as well as video tracks. Like audio tapes, audio video can be recorded and reproduced with out further processing.
Just as in the history of audio recording, no one at that time thought that audio video would become a house hold object. No body thought of the potential of home entertainment at that time. Today, audio video is part of home entertainment. Both tapes and equipments were needed for this purpose. Just as there are tape recorders that are portable and audio video equipment became the dream of many. The dream was easily fulfilled in the form of video cassette recorder which was a rage in all house holds of US and Europe and most affluent homes in other parts of the world.
Though audio tapes had an evolution in the spool format to cassette format, audio video first appeared in cassette format. Recently the popularity of the audio video has been somewhat eclipsed by the advent of computers and the infinite storing and retrieving possibilities it offers. However, as a great invention in the onward march of technology, audio video will have always a great place.