Rädda Banden

Digitalisera video- och ljudband

1 Inch Type C Videotape Digitization Across the EU

1 inch Type C video tape digitization in EU

Archive standard 1 inch Type C video transfer in Sweden by experienced technicians

Professional 1 Inch Type C Digitization €230 per reel including Swedish 25% VAT. Will be deducted if you have a EU VAT number.

• 1 Inch Type C videotape digitization for archives, broadcasters and production companies within the European Union.

• No customs, no import duties and insured shipping within the EU. We book door to door shipment with DHL for you unless you prefer another carrier.

• We operate both a Sony BVH and an Ampex VPR 1 Inch Type C videotape recorder in fully restored, excellent working condition.

• Original built in TBC:s for line stage sync, external full frame TBC from Snell & Wilcox or Datavideo TBC-3000.

• AJA Kona capture card.

• We are among the very few studios in Northern Europe operating both a Sony BVH and an Ampex VPR in professionally restored working condition.

Our Ampex VPR is equipped with a 14-inch reel adapter kit, enabling playback of reels with a running time of up to three hours.

Our machines support recordings with Dolby A, Dolby C and Dolby SR noise reduction.

Unless otherwise agreed, your recordings are delivered as Apple ProRes 422 files.

For long-term preservation, we also offer digitization in accordance with IASA archival recommendations. Master files can be delivered as:

• Uncompressed 10-bit QuickTime (.mov)

• Losslessly compressed Matroska (.mkv) using the FFV1 codec

Please contact us for a quotation if you require archival master files.

• We also have extensive experience in baking videotapes affected by Sticky Shed Syndrome (SSS) using our purpose-built, temperature-controlled tape oven. This treatment is often essential for the safe playback of deteriorated Ampex 456 tapes and other susceptible tape formulations before digitization.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions, big or small.

✉️ info@raddabanden.nu
📞 +46608 22 20

We’re located in Vendelsö 20 km south east of Stockholm City. The studio is run by experienced broadcast engineers who work regularly with Sveriges Television (SVT), Swedish Radio, and the majority of Swedens television and production companies. In addition to these, museums and archives are also among our clients for media digitization services. We have one foot left in the old analogue technology, while the other is at the frontier of the digital domain.

The name “Rädda Banden” roughly translates as “Save the Tapes” and is a play on the Swedish name of Save the Children, “Rädda Barnen”. The organisation gets an annual donation from us for their important work around the world.

digitalisera videoband hos rädda banden

1 Inch Type C open reel video

1″C History

1 Inch Type C was a professional open-reel analogue videotape format developed and introduced by Ampex and Sony in 1976. It replaced the previous broadcast standard, the 2-inch Quadruplex format. It also superseded the unsuccessful Type A format, developed by Ampex, and largely displaced the Type B format, developed by Bosch Fernseh, throughout Europe.

Compared with Quadruplex, 1 Inch Type C offered a more compact format, simpler handling and slightly improved picture quality. One of its major advantages was the ability to perform trick-play functions such as freeze frame, shuttle and variable-speed playback, including slow motion.

As a result, 1 Inch Type C became widely used in television production, particularly for sports broadcasting where it enabled instant slow-motion replays. The machines were considerably smaller, more reliable and easier to operate than their 2-inch predecessors, representing a major technological breakthrough for the broadcast industry.

Their reduced size also allowed outside broadcast (OB) crews to deploy multiple machines on location, making significantly more sophisticated editing workflows possible during live and near-live television production.

Image Quality

1 Inch Type C delivered exceptionally high picture quality and a far more reliable video signal than contemporary cassette-based analogue formats such as U-matic. As a result, it became the preferred format for storing and delivering broadcast master tapes.

One reason for its superior reliability was the higher tape speed compared with cassette formats: 24.4 cm/s for NTSC and 23.98 cm/s for PAL. The higher tape speed provides a more stable recording, making 1 Inch Type C tapes easier to digitize with fewer dropouts and playback errors than many other analogue video formats of the same era.

The outstanding picture quality and reliability of 1 Inch Type C made it a cornerstone of television production and post-production for almost two decades. It remained the broadcast industry standard until it was gradually replaced by digital videotape formats such as Digital Betacam and, to a lesser extent, D2.

Because 1 Inch Type C tapes were expensive and primarily used for programme masters and other valuable recordings, they often contain material of considerable historical or commercial importance.

Whatever is recorded on your reels, we’d be delighted to help you preserve it. Contact us today for professional 1 Inch Type C videotape digitization.