Patent ID: 7130147

Claim:
A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus comprising: a rotary drum including first and second heads having azimuth angles different from each other and arranged along a periphery of said rotary drum, for recording data in a track oblique to a longitudinal direction of a magnetic tape, and for reproducing the data on said track, said first and second heads not being close to each other; a sync-signal generator for generating a recording synchronizing signal to be recorded on said magnetic tape, and for outputting said recording synchronizing signal to said first and second heads; a sync-signal time difference detector for detecting a time difference between reproduced synchronizing signals reproduced from said magnetic tape and output from said first and second heads, respectively; and a capstan-motor controller for controlling rotation of a capstan motor advancing said magnetic tape based on said time difference output from said sync-signal time difference detector, wherein said sync-signal generator outputs said recording synchronizing signal to said first and second heads substantially simultaneously, and wherein said sync-signal time difference detector includes a target tracking time difference detector for calculating a target synchronizing signal time difference between the reproduced synchronizing signals if a number of the reproduced synchronizing signals is equal to a predetermined number or more, or if an error rate is equal to a predetermined level or less.