Increased Value of Video Assets: New Technologies for the Automatic Transfer and Digital Preservation of Analog Videocassettes

Abstract

Millions of videocassettes are still stored on shelves, carrying valuable content waiting to be transferred into files before decomposing. Time is running short: not only does tape stock decay, but videotape recorder (VTR) availability becomes critical, and VTR service experts are becoming rare. As it is the final transfer, a technology for highly automated large-scale and lossless transfer that recovers and retains the original signal on tape is required. Direct tape transfer is a new technology that directly converts the off-tape signal from analog videotapes into digital files without passing through conventional playback circuits and its quality-degrading multiple analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversions of standard video playback equipment. By digitizing the radio frequency (RF) tape signal directly, all subsequent signal processes can be done by software with a much higher resolution than any that conventional VTR allows. Intelligent signal regeneration by smart dropout prevention and digital concealment algorithms allows signal recovery far beyond the possibilities of traditional dropout compensation circuitry. The paper explains the technical details of direct tape transfer technology, which was developed in a joint research project by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS and Cube-Tec International GmbH.