What was the difference between an RCA videodisc and a CED videodisc?

Question

Hi,

What was the difference between an RCA videodisc from a CED videodisc and could both a RCA and a CED videodisc be played in the same player or did they need a different kind of player for each? Because I'm writing a period piece set in the early 1980's, with a scene where a character is watching movies in these formats, and I just want to get it historically right. Thanks.

Answer 1

They are one-in-the-same… The Capacitance Electronic Disc (or CED) system was developed by RCA and marketed under the names “RCA SelectaVision” and “RCA VideoDisc” during the early ‘80s. The system, having several similarities to long-playing phonograph records, utilized a special capacitively-coupled stylus/needle assembly to electromechanically extract the analog composite video signal from a high-density spiral groove formed on each side of a 12-inch conductive vinyl platter.



The video format that ultimately sealed the fate for CED was video tape cassettes, i.e., VHS and Betamax. Furthermore, it didn’t help matters for CED proponents that the overwhelming majority of enthusiasts and videophiles preferred the 12-inch electro-optical video disc format known as DiscoVision (more popularly known as LaserDisc) as the high performance pre-recorded video distribution format of choice, especially when digital audio was introduced to the LaserDisc format in the mid-80s. For many of us who had long dealt with the shortcomings of vinyl records (as well as video tape cassettes) it came as a welcome relief—as it did when Compact Disc technology was introduced—that a video format such as DiscoVision/LaserDisc, with its non-contact electro-optical pickup design, offered a superior alternative to the electromechanical pickup technology used by CEDs.



################ RESOURCES ################



Wikipedia: Capacitance Electronic Disc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance...



CED Magic: Capacitance Electronic Disc

http://www.cedmagic.com/selectavision.ht...

CED Magic: CED FAQ

http://www.cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html



Wikipedia: Laserdisc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc

 

MCA DiscoVision

http://www.oz.net/~blam1/DiscoVision/ind...



The History of Discovision

http://www.discovision.com/DVA/History