From: bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion)
Subject: Re: Help!
Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 23:08:11 GMT

In article <1992Nov18.185115.17816@tellab5.tellabs.com> chrz@tellabs.com (Peter Chrzanowski) writes:

>BTW, stereo records were first manufactured in 1957.
>
>BBTW, in 1974 or thereabouts they made four-channel records.  They
>had an ultrasonic carrier on the left and right channels (similar
>but not identical to stereo FM) which contained (front minus back)
>information.  To hear all four channels you had to have a special
>cartridge, a decoder box, and four channels of amplification.

What you describe above is the RCA/JVC CD-4 technology.  It was
one of 6 methods used to try to bring >>!!! QUADRAPHONIC !!!<<
to the mass consumer market.

The first home quad attempt was on 1/4" tape with pre-recorded
tapes released by Vanguard, and the first quad tape machine
from Crown.

This inspired the record companies to try to develop QAUD for
the home.

There was (as mentioned above) the RCA/JVC CD-4 system.

There were two phase encoded systems the SQ - from CBS and
friends and the QS from Sansui and friends.  (I may have
swapped those two designations).   These were pretty shaky at
startup and offered thrilling (I used that word sarcastically)
separation of from 3 to 6db per channel.

This really was just a small step above the first "Dynaco" quad
which really just put an extra speaker between the hot leads of
a stereo amp.   The Beach Boys produced the first commercial
album designed to use the Dynaco method.   I want to say it was
"Smiley Smile" - but I don't think so.  It was on their new
label that had and Indian on horseback.

After working on the phase encoded devices they got pretty
decent at the end.  Just when the consumer had given up trying
to figure out 3 competitive commercial format. 
Tate came out with an IC that did a very good job.
But it was too little - too late.

Oh - you say I forgot the 5th format.    Well, it was a quad
cassette.  Philips was quite farsighted in the original compact
cassette design.  By keeping the tracks in the same relative
position - not interleaved as in reel-reel stereo, Philips quad
entry was compatible.  Quad played on stereo and played on
mono.

They just made the tracks narrower so that 4 audio track (8
across the width of the tape) fit where 2 stereo and one mono
did.

The left-front and left-rear tracks were played by the left
head in a stereo system.

I don't know if this ever made it to the marketplace, but it
existed in protype form.    Philips also had one of the first
digital reel to reel systems.   Quarter-inch tape, 7.5 ips, and
stereo.    Each audio track used 7 digital tracks in parallel -
so in essence they had a 1/4 head that laid down 14 tracks.

I do not remember if this was a reversible tape - or whether it
played in one direction only.   I heard the talk on this at an
AES convetion about 12-15 years ago.

But all was not lost.  This wonderful "quad" technology is
enjoying a boom - and it doens't look like it's going to stop.

Of course no one could sell 'quad' after the above debacle, so
the phase encoded quad system was renamed to live on in all
it's glory as "Dolby Stereo".

>Amazing what can be done with primitive technology.

Sometimes the ideas are there but the existing technology isn't
up to fulfilling the dreams.

After all video disc players are just coming into their own now
- 1992.  That's only 64 years after the first video disk.

And here's another piece of trivia.   The first television - eg
visual signals transmitted by electiral means - although quite
crude - was invented many years before A.G. Bell came up with
the telephone.   

-- 
Bill Vermillion - bill@bilver.oau.org  bill.vermillion@oau.org
                - bill@bilver.uucp 
                - ..!{peora|tous|tarpit}!bilver!bill