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CED Digest Vol. 4 No. 33 • 8/21/1999 |
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 04:08:55 -0700 To: digest@cedmagic.com From: Tom Howe <ceds@teleport.com> Subject: CED, 1990's Style Hello All: One of the things that has interested me since my early days of collecting CED's is occasionally going to the Government Documents Library and looking up CED patents. These patents (about 700 in all) contain a wealth of info about the CED System, not just on the system as manufactured, but on developments during the design phase that never materialized ( like RCA's digital audio CED format), and directions the system may have taken if RCA hadn't canceled it. Looking up patents was always a hassle, because first the desired patent number had to be determined, and from that the librarian had to retrieve the correct bound volume from behind-the-shelves storage. But the Internet has changed all that, as the full text and images of patents back to the early 1970's can now be viewed with a web browser. This is the new section I'm working on for CED Magic that will include a table listing the title and issue date for all the CED patents along with clickable links to the full text and images. Another addition will be a "Featured Patents Section" that will discuss a few dozen of the more interesting patents. A couple of the patents in the featured section will concern a 1990's version of the CED system that differs from RCA's original system in storing digital data and having a 3.5 inch form factor. I never even considered looking for CED patents dating from the 1990's until I came upon these using the advanced patent search tools now available on the Internet. Here's a description of this new version of the CED, along with links to their web pages at the US Patent and Trademark Office: US PATENT #5175724: CAPACITANCE DISC INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p =1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='5175724'.WKU.&OS=PN/5175724&RS=PN/5175724 US PATENT #5285439: HIGH DENSITY CED DATA STORAGE http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml /search-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&p=1&S1=5285439.WKU.&OS=PN/5285439&RS=PN/5285439 This patent (HIGH DENSITY CED DATA STORAGE) filed in 1992 describes the method of storing digital data on a CED, while the accompanying CAPACITANCE DISC INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM filed in 1991 describes the design of a player used to play the discs. The player is quite similar in design to the original SelectaVision units of the 1980's, but considerably smaller, due to the 3.5" form factor of the discs. This updated version of the CED system was not specifically intended for the viewing of video, but rather was intended as a computer peripheral for the storage of digital data. It might seem odd to read digital data with a stylus, but the original CED system did this with the DAXI code on the discs, and this patent states: "The present invention capitalizes on existing technology in analog capacitive video disc recording (CED) by developing new techniques to provide digital data storage having theoretical storage density that is unsurpassed by all other disk media including optical and magnetic technology". The new system could achieve this high density by using a technique called M-ary angle modulation in which during the mastering process groups of three data bits are phase modulated into eight separate levels in the disc groove corresponding to the eight combinations of logic 0's and 1's possible with three bits. During playback of the finished discs a phase comparator reads the levels recorded on the disc and feeds the readout to an analog-to-digital converter which then outputs the digital stream. This technique, at least from a 1991 perspective, could yield a higher data density than, for example, a magnetic disk that reads off a continuous stream of unmodulated 0's and 1's from the disk surface. So with its high capacity why hasn't this new CED system been marketed? Well, the system would still require considerable development work to reach the point of being manufacturable, and it would have to compete with CD-R, DVD-RAM, and the cheap magnetic disc technology we have today, all of which have the ability to record with consumer versions. Since the CED Cutter requires an absolutely vibration free environment to accurately cut the groove, it's unlikely a consumer mastering setup would be available. And the 5-inch optical disc has the potential of still being backwards compatible to CD Audio and CD-ROM as its capacity continues to increase with the shorter wavelength blue and ultraviolet laser diodes that are being researched. --Tom ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "Butch Thomas" To: <ceds@teleport.com> Subject: CED Discs & Players For Sale Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 12:59:38 -0700 1. The horse soldiers 2. Gentleman Jim 3. High noon 4. The wild geese- 2 disc set 5. The charge of the light brigade 6. On golden pond 7. Sweet dreams 8. Gremlins 9. The quiet man- 2 disc set 10. Kelly’s heroes- 2 disc set 11. She wore a yellow ribbon 12. Sands of iwo jima 13. Sinbad and the eye of the tiger 14. The Muppet movie 15. Cat ballou 16. Bell, book, and candle 17. Elvis- on tour 18. Elmer gantry- 2 disc set 19. The Birds 20. Tootsie 21. The making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller 22. The Big Chill 23. The summer of 42 24. Staying Alive 25. Bronco Billy 26. Paternity 27. It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad world 28. Fail Safe 29. American Graffiti 30. The rear window 31. The Graduate 32. The Magnificent seven- 2 disc set 33. Twelve o’clock high- 2 disc set 34. Patton- 2 disc set 35. Air force 36. Run silent, run deep 37. Apache 38. Dr. Strangelove 39. Vertigo- 2 disc set 40. Starting over 41. Run 42. Young Frankenstein 43. The world according to Garp- 2 disc set 44. Fun with Dick and Jane 45. Diana Ross- in concert- this disc is in the original plastic, never been opened 46. Excalibur- 2 disc set 47. Eye witness 48. Gentlemen prefer blondes 49. Eddie and the cruisers 50. The electric horsemen 51. Fame- 2 disc set 52. The kids from Fame 53. Gorky park 54. The duchess, and the dirt water fox 55. Fire fox- 2 disc set 56. Perfect 57. A star is born 58. The bridge on the river kwai- 2 disc set 59. The sound of music- 2 disc set 60. Jason and the argonauts 61. White Christmas 62. The nut cracker 63. White nights 64. The ten commandments 65. The war of the worlds 66. Funny girl- 2 disc set 67. Saturday night fever 68. Rumble fish 69. Star trek- the menagerie 70. Lenny 71. The RCA video disc preview album 72. RCA 1984 video systems- featuring RCA new digital command center 73. Monty python- live at the Hollywood bowl 74. Best Defense 75. The shootist 76. Walt Disney {DTV}- pop, and rock 77. Ordinary people- 2 disc set 78. Dollars 79. Mildred Pierce 80. The postman always rings twice 81. Holocaust- a 4 disc set, these disc’s are in the original plastic, never opened. The box they came in was destroyed 82. The life and works of Michelangelo- you need a random access disc player to watch this disc 83. Achange of seasons 84. Harry and son 85. Hair 86. Walt Disney- {dtv}- golden oldies 87. The best of Judy Garland 88. Three days of the Condor 89. Dolly Pardon- in London 90. HBO presents, The Bette Midler show 91. Close encounters of the third kind- 2 disc set 92. Hello Dolly- 2 disc set 93. Linda Ronstadt- in concert 94. Superman II 95. Lord of the rings- 2 disc set 96. Superman III 97. Thunderbolt and lightfoot 98. Bullwinkel, and rocky, and friends vol I 99. Tank 100. Micki and Maude 101. The champ 102. One flew over the cuckoo’s nest- 2 disc set 103. Oh, God 104. Oh, God you devil 105. Obsession 106. North Dallas forty 107. My dinner with Andre 108. Kiss of the spider woman 109. Klute 110. The hustler- 2 disc set 111. The hobbit 112. Hello dolly 113. Blowout 114. Star trek III- the search for spock 115. Enemy mine 116. I am a fugitive from a chain gang 117. Chitty chitty bang bang- 2 disc set 118. Star trek, the motion picture- 2 disc set 119. Author Author 120. Totally Go Go’s , music video’s 121. Amadeus- 2 disc set 122. A star is born 124. Benji 125. Teddy pendergrass- live in London- this disc is still in the original plastic, never been watched 126. They all laughed 127. They drive by night 128. Red River- 2 disc set 129. Kenny Loggins- live 130. Billy Joel- live from long island 131. Youngblood 132. Silkwood- 2 disc set 133. Code of silence 134. Invasion USA 135. Jaws 136. Jaws II 137. 2010 138. jagged Edge 139. high road to china 140. Time Bandits 141. Birdy 142. The Jewel of the Nile 143. Purple Rain 144. Protocol 145. Psycho 146. Psycho II 147. Baseball fun and games- the greatest world series ever 1975, Reds, and the Red sox 148. Electric light orchestra- live at wembley, this disc is still in the plastic, never been seen 149. Yoga moves with Alan Finger 150. Bullwinkle and Rocky and friends Vol II 151. The bad news bears 152. The seven year itch 153. Culture Club- a kiss from across the ocean, this disc is still in the original plastic, and has never been seen 154. Altered States 155. A week at the races- a interactive video disc game 156. Unfaithfully yours 157. Wargames 158. Heartaches- this disc is still in the original plastic, and has never been seen 159. Star trek II- wrath of khan 160. Stick 161. Star 80 162. Walt Disney {dtv}, rock, rhythm, and blues 163. Lolita- 2 disc set 164. Little house on the prairie 165. Monty Python- life of Brian 166. Exposed 167. The chyna syndrome 168. Thunder birds are go 169. Mel Brooks- history of the world part I 170. The boy’s from brazil 171. Born free 172. Reds- 2 disc set 173. Superman I 174. Yentl- 2 disc set 175. The jewel of the Nile 176. Back to the future 177. Wind walker 178. The karate kid 179. Elvis- aloha from Hawaii 180. The 7th voyage of sinbad 181. Diamonds are forever 182. From Russia with love 183. You only live twice 184. Big Jake 185. The great Muppet caper 186. The adventures of robin hood- Errol Flynn 187. The African Queen 188. Tora Tora Tora- 2 disc set 189. The searchers 190. The dirty dozen- 2 disc set 191. The towering inferno- 2 disc set 192. Mask 193. The big red one 194. The good, the bad, and the ugly- 2 disc set 195. North to Alaska 196. Stagecoach 197. Rio lobo 198. The Alamo- 2 disc set 199. Arsenic and Old lace 200. North by Northwest- 2 disc set 201. The Lords of discipline 202. The electric horseman 203. The Poseidon adventure 204. Cocoon 205. Gone with the wind- 2 disc set 206. The gauntlet 207. The mechanic 208. Barefoot in the park 209. Flashdance 210. Coal miners daughter 211. D.A.R.Y.L 212. Cujo 213. Raise the titanic 214. A chorus line- the movie 215. Moonraker- 2 disc set 216. Thunderball- 2 disc set 217. A shot in the dark 218. Red river- 2 disc set 219. The green berets- 2 disc set 220. The comancheros 221. Pinocchio 222. The wizard of Oz 223. Fire Fox- 2 disc set 224. The Muppets take Manhattan 225. Jane Fonda’s work out 226. Dumbo 227. Rocky 228. Rocky II 229. Rocky III 230. Rocky IV 231. SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT 232. MY TUTOR 233. THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW {WITH THE CHUCKELS THE CLOWN EPISODE} 234. ARTHUR 235. SILVERADO- 2 DISC SET 236. RED DAWN 237. ANIMAL HOUSE {NAT. LAMPOON} 238. TEEN WOLF 239. THE KILLING FIELDS 240. BAD BOY’S {SEAN PENN} 241. SHARKY’S MACHINE 242. ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ 243. THE TERMINATOR 244. THE END 245. GOTCHA 246. MOUNTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL 247. THE MOUNTAIN MEN 248. AIRPLANE 249. JEREMIAH JOHNSON 250. NAT. LAMPOON VACATION 251. THE KENTUCKIAN 252. PLAYBOY VIDEO- CANDY LOVING VOL. 2 253. PLAYBOY PLAYMATE REVIEW 254. PLAYBOY VIDEO VOL. 3 255. PLAYBOY VIDEO VOL. 4 256. THE ENFORCER 257. RAMBO I 258. RAMBO II 259. CANNONBALL RUN II 260. SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT II 261. BEVERLY HILLS COP 262. DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN 263. MISTER ROBERTS 264. LOVE ME TENDER 265. BUS STOP 266. THE LONGEST DAY- 2 DISC SET 267. THE MISSOURI BREAKS 268. THE DEFIANT ONES 269. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT 270. MISSING IN ACTION II 271. THE BLACK HOLE {DISNEY} 272. WAR LOVER 273. SIX WEEKS 274. STRIPES 275. MISSING IN ACTION 276. THE LONGEST YARD 277. HOOPER 278. INYO THE NIGHT {JEFF GOLDBLUM, MICHELLE PFEIFFER} 279. ST. ELMOS FIRE 280. STAR MAN 281. AGAINST ALL ODDS 282. ROMANCING THE STONE 283. SPRING BREAK 284. FLETCH 285. CADDYSHACK 286. SEMI-TOUGH 287. TRADING PLACES 288. MAGNUM FORCE 289. SUPER BOWL XIV {STEELERS AND THE RAMS} 290. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK 291. BEST FRIENDS 292. SHANE 293. ]GOLDFINGER 294. PRIVATE BENJAMIN 295. THE CINCINNATI KID 296. THE BOAT {DAS BOOT} 297. WEIRD SCIENCE 298. BEANY AND CECIL VOL. I 299. THE MAN WITH 2 BRAINS 300. BLUE THUNDER 301. BACK TO THE FUTURE 302. URBAN COWBOY- 2 DISC SET 303. TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER 304. RUNAWAY {TOM SELLECK} 305. BODY HEAT 306. THE WOMAN IN RED 307. SILVER STREAK 308. LASSITER {TOM SELLECK} 309. 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA {DISNEY} 310. THE WAY WE WERE 311. LOVE AT FIRST BITE 312. THE RIGHT STUFF- 2 DISC SET 313. PLAYBOY PLAMATE REVIEW II 314. THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN 315. REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER 316. OCTOPUSSY- 2 DISC SET 317. BULLWINKLE, AND ROCKY, AND FRIENDS VOL. II 318. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY- 2 DISC SET 319. HOMBRE 320. GREASE 321. OLIVIA- IN CONCERT 322. DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES, ROCK-N-ROLL LIVE 323. A BRIDGE TOO FAR- 2 DISC SET 324. HE MAN MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE VOL. II 325. PAPILLON- 2 DISC SET 326. POLICE ACADEMY I 327. POLICE ACADEMY II 328. PLAY BOY VIDEO VOL. 2 329. SIXTEEN CANDELS 330. PLAYBOY VIDEO VOL. 4 331. A VIEW TO A KILL- 2 DISC SET 332. THE LAST STAR FIGHTER 333. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF 334. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME 335. DR. NO 336. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN 337. ALL THE RIGHT MOVES 338. THE PINK PANTHER 339. THE RCA VIDEO DISC PREWIEW ALBUM 340. LIVE AND LET DIE 341. AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN- 2 DISC SET 342. COMMANDO 343. HANG EM HIGH 344. ANGEL HEAT {MARILYN CHAMBERS} 345. THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE 346. RIO BRAVO- 2 DISC SET 347. THE GREAT ESCAPE- 2 DISC SET 348. THE SHOOTIST 349. THE NATURAL- 2 DISC SET 350. THE BREAKFAST CLUB 351. WERE NO ANGELS 352. THE HUSTLER- 2 DISC SET 353. M.A.S.H- GOOD BYE, FAREWELL, AND AMEN 354. M.A.S.H. 355. GHOSTBUSTERS 356. THE BUGS BUNNY ROAD RUNNER MOVIE 357. DIRTY HARRY 358. 10 359. FOOTLOOSE 360. SPLASH 361. SERGEANT YORK 362. STAR WARS 363. STAR WARS- EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 364. STAR WARS- RETURN OF THE JEDI- 2 DISC SET** 365. THE SURE THING 366. DOCTOR DETROIT 367. ALL OF ME 368. MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON 369. CLOAK AND DAGGER 370. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN- 2 DISC SET 371. STALAG 17 372. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK 373. SUDDEN IMPACT 374. THE GREAT SANTINI 375. PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE 376. VISION QUEST 377. ROBIN HOOD {DISNEY} 378. GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN 379. THE SHINING- 2 DISC SET 380. THE BLUES BROTHERS- 2 DISC SET 381. LADYHAWKE 382. MURPHY’S ROMANCE 383. TIGHTROPE 384. CITY HEAT 385. THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER 386. WITNESS 387. THE MAIN EVENT 388. THE STING- 2 DISC SET 389. FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH 390. TRUE GRIT- 2 DISC SET 391. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT 392. RISKY BUSINESS 393. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE- WITH GEORGE CARLIN {PREMIERE SHOW}**** 394. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE WITH "THE BLUES BROTHERS" VOL. II 395. CRIMES OF PASSION 396. PALE RIDER 397. BLACK MOON RISING 398. PLAYBOY PLAYMATE REVIEW 399. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID 400. EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE YOU MAY NOTICE THAT THERE ARE A FEW THAT ARE LISTED MORE THAN ONCE, THIS IS NOT A MISTAKE, I HAVE SEVERAL MOVIES IN DUPLICATE {SOME THAT FRIENDS BOUGHT ME, AND I ALREADY HAD}. ALL THESE MOVIES ARE FOR SALE, AND I WILL TAKE THE HIGEST BID FOR THEM. I KNOW THAT STAR WARS IS IN GREAT DEMAND {RETURN OF THE JEDI}, SO LET THE BIDDING BEGIN!!. JUST TO ADD, I HAVE A FEW PLAYERS THAT ARE BROKE, AND I WOULD SELL THE PARTS FOR SCRAP, I HAVE 2- SJT 200 MACHIENE'S. I HAVE A SJT-090. I HAVE A ZENITH VP2000, WHICH STILL WORKS. AND I HAVE 2 OTHER ONES IN STORAGE {THEY ARE BROWN, AND MADE BY RCA, I CANT REMEMBER THE MODEL}. IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING WHY I AM GETTING RID OF THESE, I AM REALLY BIG INTO DVD, I ALREADY HAVE A HUGE SELECTION OF DVD MOVIES, AND WANT TO GET MORE. BUTCH THOMAS <mailto:Thomsac@forcomm.net>Thomsac@forcomm.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "Matt Hawthorne" To: "Tom Howe" <ceds@teleport.com> Subject: Re: CED Digest Vol. 4 No. 32 Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 18:04:10 -0400 How do I properly clean discs? I took a very "skippy" disc out of the caddy and placed it in the bathtub to clean the dirt and dust off. I left the disc tanding up right for about 10 mins. and took at look at it. The entire disc was now covered in water streaks and dots. I put the disc back in the caddy and inserted it in the player. The disc was now worse than it was before. What the hell happened? How can I get rid of streaks and spots? Please help. Thanks, Matt Hawthorne hawthorn@bconnex.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 06:04:14 -0700 To: digest@cedmagic.com From: Tom Howe <ceds@teleport.com> Subject: RE: What is it ? >I was sorting over some of the CED players the other day and came across a >player that was a RCA Selectavision But it is a VCR player what is it RCA intended to use the SelectaVision trademark for all their home video products, and it was in use long before CED hit the market. The first product was SelectaVision Holotape (a play-only tape format) that RCA developed in the late 60's but abandoned in the early 70's in favor of VideoDisc (see CED Digest Vol. 2 No. 50 for more info on Holotape). The next SelectaVision product was the VBT200 VHS VCR which came out in October 1977 with the effective ad slogan "Four Hours, $1000, SelectaVision". RCA applied the trademark to their VCR's until 1984, when it was withdrawn due to possible negative associations with the abandonement of CED. I recently restored one of these VBT200's as close as possible to new condition, and the recorded playback is still pretty sorry compared to a decent CED. It's easy to see how RCA could claim "superb picture quality" when talking about CED back in the early 80's. --Tom ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "Peter Veach" To: "Tom Howe" <ceds@teleport.com> Subject: Belts Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 18:02:27 -0500 Ran into something interesting regarding changing the turntable belt in my SGT250. I ordered a complete set of belts from Tom. After replacing all the belts, I found that the player would not work any longer. Seems the extra tension of the new turntable drive belt prevented it from coming up to/and maintaining full speed. I cleaned the old belt and all is well. -Pete ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "Gordon Lupien" To: <ceds@teleport.com> Subject: "The Last Video Disk" - I have it! Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 22:14:53 -0400 Hello, About four years ago, I purchased 100+ disks and a couple players off of one of the engineers that worked in the Carrollton, GA plant that manufactured these disks. In that bunch of disks I have a ton of engineering evaluation disks with blank carriers or disks in carriers with the wrong label (also evaluation disks). I had about 7 sealed engineering samples of Star Wars (totally blank white carriers) and I have sold 5. I just had to open the others because I didn't know what they were... Oh well... One of the disks that I had was one of Tom's vaporware disks (at the time), "The Story of "O". He was not too sure it actually existed. I traded it with him for a player that allowed direct access and had a wireless remote. (I should have held out for one of the '400s though ;-). At any rate, also in this assortment was the last disk ever pressed at the Carrollton, GA. plant. I'm not so sure I necessarily need to keep it because I am not as into this as some folks. If you are interested in it, please let me know and maybe we can work something out. The disk is the movie "Meatballs" with Bill Murray, and is still sealed in its original shrinkwrap and inside the shrinkwrap is a typewritten piece of paper with the following inscription: "THE LAST VIDEO DISK" Carrollton, Ga. THE LAST: PRESSED POST TREATED WELDED LABELED CADDIED SKINWRAPPED "We Made It Better" I was going to hang it up in my home theatre in a frame, and I probably still will if no-one is interested enough. <mailto:glupien@cyber1.servtech.com> glupien@cyber1.servtech.com - GLupien ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Tencton Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 15:26:17 EDT Subject: Repairs in NY Area To: ceds@teleport.com Hi! I recently got a defective Halloween II CED that broke in my SGT-250 machine. While I was unable to unload it, it will now not fully take in a disc. Does anyone know anyone in the New York City area who might still repair this machine, even though it is 17 years old? If anyone knows, please email me. Thanks alot! mike ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 04:17:49 -0700 To: digest@cedmagic.com From: Tom Howe <ceds@teleport.com> Subject: RE: March 22, 1981 Hello All: Nobody guessed the reason why RCA chose March 22nd, 1981 as the intro date for the CED system, but you may have surmised that it had something to do with CED patents. Ten years earlier, on March 22nd, 1971 RCA filed three patents that for the first time described the CED system in detail. One of these, US PATENT #3842194: INFORMATION RECORDS AND RECORDING/PLAYBACK SYSTEMS THEREFOR can be considered the mother of all CED patents, as it is mentioned in hundreds of the CED patents that followed over the years. In a week from now I'll have the Table of CED Patents available on the CED Magic site, with the Featured CED Patents section soon to follow. --Tom
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