Ampex 1" type A

[ppppenguin]

C format was developed by Ampex from A format. Sony made C format machines later. In the UK Marconi made (or at least badged) C format machines which looked rather like Ampex. Were there any other makers?

It must have been 1977 or 1978 when I went to a presentation given by engineers from Ampex and Bosch. The B and C machines were brand new at the time and there was massive competition to get them into the market place. The Bosch guy was German and had a fairly strong accent. He made a joke. My apologies for stereotyping German pronunciation and humour.

"Und ve haf ze B format vich ist ze Bosch format. Zey haf ze C format vich ist ze compromise format".

B format with its small drum, 180 wrap and segemented frame was in theory better than C format. That huge drum on C format was always a problem with an awkward wrap, too much inertia and more troublesome interchange. A B portable was fairly easy, a C portable was hard. If you just wanted to record and replay then B should have won easily but C could do still frame, variable speed and still give visible pictures in fast wind/rewind. Until framestore technology became cheap and available this was totally beyond B format. C became universally used in Europe, US and elsewhere. B was confined to a few users.