By the start of the 1980s we had begun the conversion to one inch C format - a process that was thought might take several years. In fact withinn six months one inch had taken over, although tape development would lag behind for a little while. The mainstay were the Ampex VPR2s, with the occasional Sony BVH1100, BVH2000 and BVH3100 later in the decade. From the mid 1980s VPR6s would appear, although never as standalone editing machines (except in Mexico, World Cup 1986). Sony Beta SP became an important format following its success at the Summer Olympics in Seoul in 1988, but an even greater revolution was just around the corner in the next decade.
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Ampex VPR2
VT34, an Ampex VPR2 pair, in Area 2
Sony BVH1100
Sony BVH1100 in Area 2. Three of these were used with some success under the control of a Convergence ECS103 edit controller (as seen in the photograph above).
VPR6
An unusual installation of a pair of Ampex VPR6s in Edit Suites G & H
VPR3
An Ampex VPR3 - seen here in VT5 - which replaced the HS100 Video Disc.
Sony Beta SP
A trio of Sony Beta SPs in Edit Suite B on the Fourth Floor
Sony HDD1000
Unusual visitors -two Sony HDD1000s in the control room of TC1
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