1976-1995

The 1-inch tape format is a professional reel-to-reel analog recording system introduced by Ampex and Sony in 1976, which became widely adopted in the professional video and broadcast industries worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. 1-inch Type C VCRs record a full frame with one revolution of the video head using a video head, which made the format useful for computer animation, as it allowed still images to be played back without a frame store or video memory. The tape wraps almost completely around the VTR's video head, known as alpha wrap. 1-inch C provides very high video quality.

The 1-inch C system was a mainstay of television for almost 20 years due to its quality and reliability, before being supplanted by more compact videocassette formats such as Betacam and Digit Beta.

We have a fully functional Sony BVH 3100 PS VTR in excellent condition. The last Type C machine made by Sony. It is almost impossible to find a working 1 inch device like this these days.