The new technology has also made possible a sharp reduction in the cost. Photograph of the MMII, showing, from right to left, the main unit, with the tape platen and sensor head, and the control computer and monitor. In addition, no material is deposited on the tape, as is done with ferrrofluids. This avoids the issue of contamination. The MMII is computer controlled, and its operation can be learned quickly by personnel familiar with the examination of magnetic tape.
Larger areas are available on request.
An example of a scan of a cassette audio tape is shown in Figure 2. The imaged portion of the tape is where the tape was stopped, and includes marks from both the record and erase heads. In the enlargement on the right, the system has automatically increased the contrast to better image the record head stop mark. Scan of a stop event on a standard cassette audio tape. The images shown at top are expansions of the two marks.