Glimpses of the 1970s
Four-channel stereo, first reported by Edward Tatnall Canby in the September 1969 issue of Audio Magazine ("4 on Tape," page 27) , is producing tremors within the industry. Four-channel equipment designs have gone beyond the prototype stage in some instances since Vanguard Records demonstrated its four-channel "Surround Stereo" system, which utilizes magnetic tape--Both Crown International and Telex, for example, have introduced four-channel tape machine models; H. H. Scott has a four-channel, 35-watts (rms) / channel integrated amplifier, the Model 499 "Quadrant." Vanguard's demonstration was quickly followed by a four-channel broadcast (utilizing two stereo FM stations) at Tanglewood, Mass., with Acoustic Research, Inc. being one of the sponsors. AR thereupon set up a four-channel system in its Grand Central Station exhibit room for all to hear. Reports are that CBS is producing the demo tapes.
New York City, too, has had four-channel broadcasts with the cooperation of multiple broadcast stations. Even more exciting, however, are prototype designs of equipment that will enable one FM broadcast station to transmit four-channel stereo through use of the SCA piggyback frequency.
Adapters have already been designed to convert conventional stereo ( two-channel) FM receivers to four-channel receivers. The FCC is now mulling this one over. And to top it all, Time Magazine reports that an enterprising inventor has created a four-channel system for LP discs! Meanwhile, speaker manufacturers might have an opportunity to double sales again should the new concept be accepted.
The world of video, too, is being shaken up a bit by events. For example, RCA unveiled a laboratory model of a color TV tape player, called "SelectaVision," built around lasers and holography.
According to RCA spokesmen, the unit will be designed to attach to any standard Color TV set, will play full-color programs recorded on tapes made of the same inexpensive plastic material used in supermarkets to wrap and display meats ( which will cost only about 1/ 10th as much as conventional-type films), and is expected to be ready for home use in the early 1970s. Target price for the "SelectaVision" players is under $400, while target price for a half-hour prerecorded cartridge videotape is about $10. Interestingly, the tapes are said to be dust-proof, scratch-proof, and can be moved at any speed to achieve slow-motion effects or even be stopped completely for viewing a single frame.
The CBS "Electronic Video Recording" system introduced much earlier seems destined to run smack into the new RCA system. Its price is substantially higher ( $800 for the player, for example) . But EVR is moving fast. A Canadian company who has marketing and distributing rights for CBS' EVR film process has acquired world-wide EVR rights to the Hal Roach Film Library, for example, which includes some 500 comedies ( Laurel & Hardy, Harry Langdon, et al). With the above video systems using cartridges, and with the tremendous consumer acceptance of cartridge ( and cassette) audio tapes, could cartridges for conventional video tape recorders be far behind? The Japan Broadcasting Corp. has begun some experimental broadcasts of two sound channels for television, we learned. Westinghouse had developed a "stereo-sound TV" ( experimentally ) some years ago, of course. But advocates of stereo FM sound for TV are gaining strength.
If the past Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ( IEEE) Chicago Spring Conference was any indication of things to come in home entertainment electronics, expect to see more and more digital tuning through pushbutton and thumbwheel controls.
Further, we expect active equalizers to make considerable headway in 1970, both for enhancing speaker performance and to modify sound output to meet the need of a particular environment.
A. P. S.
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(Audio magazine, 11/1969)
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