An Experimental Optical Videodisc Playback System

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Publisher: SMPTE
Doc Type: Journal Article
Article Type: research-article
Abstract: An experimental videodisc playback system has been developed using a thin flexible transparent plastic disc as the information carrying medium. The information is read out by transmitting HeNe laser light through the disc. Information is stored on the disc in the form of pitted tracks or hill-and-dale modulated grooves. The player has a simple optical path and servo system. A magnetically driven two-axis mirror controls the light beam independently in the radial and tangential directions, providing excellent radial tracking and time-base correction. Vertical focusing of the light beam is maintained by aerodynamic stabilization of the disc. A high-frequency carrier is frequency modulated with the chroma and luminance information. Luminance bandwidth is equal to that normally used in NTSC receivers. Tentatively, the sound has been put on its own FM carrier at a low frequency. A transcoder converts the disc signal into an NTSC signal on a VHF carrier. Because the disc is transmissive, both sides can be played without crosstalk merely by adjusting the focal plane of the laser light spot; the disc itself need not be repositioned. Track spacings as close as 9,000 tracks/cm (0.39 in), corresponding to a playing time of 4 min 43 s/cm, have been achieved experimentally with acceptable crosstalk between tracks.
Publication Date: 1974-07-01
DOI: 10.5594/J10637
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/J10637
Author(s): George W. Hrbek

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George W. Hrbek; An Experimental Optical Videodisc Playback System, Journal of the SMPTE ( Volume: 83, Issue: 7, July 1974); SMPTE, 1974. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J10637

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George W. Hrbek; An Experimental Optical Videodisc Playback System, Journal of the SMPTE ( Volume: 83, Issue: 7, July 1974); SMPTE, 1974. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J10637

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George W. Hrbek; An Experimental Optical Videodisc Playback System, Journal of the SMPTE ( Volume: 83, Issue: 7, July 1974); SMPTE, 1974. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J10637

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<span class="citation">George W. Hrbek; <cite>An Experimental Optical Videodisc Playback System</cite>, Journal of the SMPTE ( Volume: 83, Issue: 7, July 1974); SMPTE, 1974. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/J10637" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/J10637</a></span>

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George W. Hrbek; An Experimental Optical Videodisc Playback System, Journal of the SMPTE ( Volume: 83, Issue: 7, July 1974); SMPTE, 1974
doi: 10.5594/J10637
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/J10637

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<li>
George W. Hrbek; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j10637">An Experimental Optical Videodisc Playback System</cite>, Journal of the SMPTE ( Volume: 83, Issue: 7, July 1974); SMPTE, 1974
<span class="doi">10.5594/J10637</span>
</li>