RCA Selectavision Videodisc Production Tour PT1

[@Madness832]

I love how he holds the door open for 10-15 seconds while explaining that he's entering the ECA.

[@redmercer4158]

The access code to the plant is 3891

[@steadfastcoward]

It was abandoned 33 years ago.

[@CorporalDanLives]

@@steadfastcoward That means security should be light

[@askhowiknow5527]

What night are we going?

[@thaddeusmcgrath]

I have a RCA Selectavision mounted in my van along with the under dash 8-track player to impress the ladies at the camp site!

[@herrgolf]

I have lived in Bloomington, IN for a few years; I take care of a ton of medicaid recipients who worked for RCA. I had no clue that RCA based its Selectavision disc and player assembly in Indiana.

[@obamasucks2734]

It brought the company to its knees.

[@CorporalDanLives]

This old dude is pretty smooth

[@mackpines]

Technology Connections brought me here. Would’ve never had known about this interesting and yet notorious format. Thanks, Alec!

[@cstemshorn]

Until recently this very large building was standing abandoned since the 80s. I have seen this same building in extreme dismay. Very very cool place. Lots of old paperwork still remained. Sadly it was torn down 6 months ago and all that remains of the once massive plant is a gravel lot.

[@ericcindycrowder7482]

Rush's Exit...Stage Left concert video originally was an exclusive on RCA selectavision. The same time the Laser Video Disc came out which was superior to the RCA, but you couldn't watch Rush on laser.

[@RobotronZone]

VideoDiscs are basically video's recorded onto a disc(like a record). The VideoDisc Players play the videodiscs using a needle , just like a record player.

[@steadfastcoward]

Not exactly. Record needles ride in the groove and travel side to side AND up and down in the case of stereo. CEDs are read from a groove that moves up and down and a signal is created from the capacitance differences, hence the name Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED).The STYLUS used in a CED player is hardly the same as a record needle. It approximates it in name and such but it's a beast of different stripes.

[@msgeek703]

Yes, a long time ago we used to build things, like videodiscs and videodisc players.

[@Angie2343]

We still make things, like robots!

[@mcramp20]

Love these old videos !

[@wildbilltexas]

Fascinating to me that RCA was using record presses to make CED discs. But that was the biggest problem with them. In the early 80's my Junior College bought a couple Selectavision players and a bunch of classic movies for the dormitory TV lounges for us students to watch movies. After a year most of the disks were badly skipping to unplayable.

[@megabojan1993]

+wildbilltexas No wonder those CED discs wore out so easily. They spin too fast and the friction between the disc and the needle it's just too great and the needle with each pass damages the disc little by little until it becomes unreadable. Audio records switched from 78 rpm to 33 rpm for that particular reason (and to store more songs )

[@steadfastcoward]

The stylus did not travel in the groove! It rode the up and down movement of the grooves. It uses the changes in CAPACITANCE to create the electrical signal. A lot of you completely misunderstand the RECORD analogy...first of all it's not at all like an LP audio record. Secondly the stylus does wear out but the CEDs themselves are still working over 35 years later in some cases. I have dozens, and come collectors have gone for the entire set of over 1,000, minus the really rare titles. And what you also don't realize is that Asian markets had a similar system called VHD for Video High Density that lasted into the 90s. It's not compatible but discs for both systems are still out there and work. The disc itself was in a 'caddy' and covered in a lubricant for protection. If you touched the disc surface you were certain to damage it, hence the protective caddy. If you want to know more than you ever thought you'd want to go to cedmagic.com and visit either the main site or come join us on the forum...member kitchensynch

[@Eternyl_bliss-nj9se]

@@steadfastcoward Its still similar uses a stylus with grooves which is in the same catagory as a record. If vinyl didn't exist i doubt this wouldn't of came to light.

[@davidriegler9170]

All that multi-million dollar hardware, all those gadgets, snd they couldn't make a disc or player that didn't skip like crazy sooner or later!

[@mottbone]

Note: If you wish to visit the 'Environmentally Controlled Area, just press 3-8-9-1

[@knightmareKnight1]

stfu

[@Eternyl_bliss-nj9se]

its amazing that this tech even made it to the public... back in the day companies took chances and there was always something new coming out. Today only on sites like Kickstarter are doing similar but new aspiring companies are not shy on their prices. I own one of these players and a stack of mainly horror movies. Its really cool tech showing they were able to do audio and sound running from a stylus. Although if you see one of these players out in the wild don't pay too much because it will probablly not work. The discs need to be in mint shape also or the movie will skip or sometimes the styus will go straight through the entire movie in seconds. They are really finicky. I own like 6 that need repaired. I have a nice one for my collection. Its the stereo version with remote. In working condition these are highly collectable and fetch a lot of money. Maybe someday I will find the masters of all my fave 80s horror movies at a garage sale.

[@tdrewman]

I remember reading bad reviews about Selectavision around 81-82...

[@lilconnerpeterson4764]

This is actually very refreshing

[@elpatriotaLX]

:( I always liked having the physical media. Even for Video Games.

[@CorporalDanLives]

1:11 WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING???

[@DISIDENCIAGALACTICA]

Mi habitación está ambientada como la sección de horror de un videoclub ochentero-noventero, con posters, promocionales y las revistas “En Video” y “Cine en Video”, la mayoría de las películas están en formato VHS pero también hay algunas en formato BETAMAX y CED VIDEODISC (RCA-SELECTAVISION). IGNACIO MARTELL

[@edroseman3137]

Now we know the secret code to get into the RCA Video Disc Lab... Eureka!!!

[@databits]

Yes, I go in there on the weekends and play with all the test equipment. ;)

[@JPogiChannel1]

CEDs were now discontinued production in the USA, and then continued in the Philippines right after the defunction of USA production in 1986.

[@steadfastcoward]

No, that was VHD, not the same thing, developed by JVC.

[@organicspirals]

1:40 to 1:55- ok mr Rogers 😂 🥼

[@Angie2343]

Actually, that's the voice of Dr. Benton Quest!

[@stever4899]

3:50 Little did he know how big a deal masks would become in 2020!

[@Angie2343]

DOESN'T HE SOUND FAMILIAR? =D

[@SebisRandomTech]

The creation of a selectavision disc is actually quite similar to that of a vynl record.

[@Lurker1979]

Thanks for the upload.

[@steadfastcoward]

Yes, it's pretty cool.

[@mctv6486]

i wonder if its possible to make a new disc today?

[@Nortekman]

Space age technology!!

[@MrJ0mmy]

THX FOR UPLOADING VERY HAPPY TO WATCH THIS

[@dan1701a]

Damn. And now we can burn HD Blu-Ray discs on computer. My, how times have changed. Also hard to believe this was nearly 30 years ago. RIP Selectavision, VHS, BetaMax, LaserDisc, HD-DVD, and soon CD and DVD. Even Blu-Ray will be obsolete in the next five years or so.

[@Eternyl_bliss-nj9se]

Not obsolete to future collectors. These will be even more popular in the future. Same with vintage videogames Nintendo (NES/SNES) is probably more popular now than it was when it was available at the stores.

[@DougMcDave]

The players are made in Indiana, not Japan or China!

[@TheRanblingjohnny]

Do you know what help keep lint and dust out? Not holding the door open like that!

[@albear972]

I know his code to break into the CED factory! 3891! 2:19

[@susanlineberry6360]

was this in Bloomington Indiana or the RCA on Sherman Drive inn Indianapolis? My dad was an electircal engineer who worked on this in Shermn Drive RCA in Indiapapolis In

[@thegreatbungholio21]

I wonder what the guy hosting this video is doing right now. And - 2:44 "Mastering Control" - I'm detecting TRON like undertones in this video.

[@Angie2343]

Well, it WAS the 1980s.

[@steadfastcoward]

I'm pretty sure he's dead.

[@RingoYote71]

Digital Downloads, netflix, renting from iTunes. already is.

[@SO_DIGITAL]

it almost looks easier to just have a bank of video recorders making copies....oh wait

[@redmartian]

I tried 3891 but I couldn't get in.. anyone got the new codez?

[@james_fisch]

+Redmartian 0000

[@vincenzoridente9994]

I can't understand how the ced players didn't make it the quality looked pretty good

[@cessnafun5385]

While the CED was cheaper than VHS, it could not record television programs. Also, VHS was already out when the CED was released, meaning that this thing was at a major disadvantage when it was released. It was supposed to be released a few years before VHS, but legal issues within RCA and technical problems resulted in the late release of the system.

[@SleezyPizza]

Anyone know if those copper masters are for sale anywhere?

[@Quad8track]

He was fired for revealing the secret code to the factory.

[@databits]

Quad8track Yes, and they even shut the factory down!

[@realgroovy24]

databits probably because the access code was 3891

[@dooplon5083]

Wait, what?

[@Batben90]

Thus JVC, Pioneer, MCA, and Philips infiltrated, stole secrets and reversed engineered them. Thus creating Laserdisc and VHS that drove RCA into bankruptcy.

[@Angie2343]

That is correct. Thanks to Dr. Quest.

[@allie4483]

What years were the SGT 100 and SGT 200 released?

[@OlegKostoglatov]

But technology created these same jobs which did not exist before that. From the 1970s on back the only way to see a movies was to go to a theater or through a movie projector if you had one.

[@kinmanyuen]

secret code: 3891 rofl

[@Dev850]

I wonder where all those masters ended up..... probably destroyed or in a dumpster if I were to guess

[@Quad8track]

At 2:20, secret access code number 3891. I'm going bust in there and still their shit!

[@gmodkid1]

Not yet

[@OlegKostoglatov]

They were probably creating a lot less environmental damage then similar industries do in China today, which is where many of the electronic gadgets come from now. Forty of the most polluted cities on Earth are in China, the standards may have been less they they are now in the early 80s but at least they had some, China really has none at all.

[@RingoYote71]

no it's not...with the digital download buisiness booming, it creates jobs in IT to maintain those servers.

[@EdWood2006]

No wonder they lost $600 million.

[@kneebush]

Think of the jobs this created that simply no longer exist. Technology is putting us out of business.

[@KerryManderbach]

Tsk tsk, not wearing protective foot coverings...

[@RingoYote71]

though...you need a college degree, and with many people not being able to afford college..mcdonalds is taking jobs...but, it's better than nothing

[@steadfastcoward]

The people who worked at Videodisk were everyone from PhDs to common but very talented folks like you or I.

[@georgepalermo4278]

youlikeguystv.sinthe1980.sornow