Despite streaming and digital alternatives, the classic vinyl record continues to gain traction, with more than 7.5 million records sold during the first half of the year in the United States alone. Its value for audio enthusiasts is almost unquestionable... but what about video? All arrows point to an old company called VinylVideo and its platform for storing video on analog records, which lets us experience something akin to unrestored silent movies... and for less than 200 euros, the modern version of that hardware can be yours.
Store video on records? Of course, but not the modern formats or the classic Video CD, but analog solutions. One of the first examples that comes to mind is the CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc), a 20-year experiment that cost RCA more than 600 million dollars in losses. I would also be remiss to forget the Video High Density that JVC launched in the Japanese market in the early '80s... but what brings us together here today is even more basic: using a standard vinyl turntable as if it were a kind of... 'videoturntable'? Actually, the name I'm looking for is VinylVideo.
The Technology and History of VinylVideo
Inspired by the old Phonovision format, developed in the late 1920s as a proof of concept, VinylVideo is a creation of artist Gebhard Sengmüller, and was presented to the public in various interactive exhibitions, museums, and galleries between 1998 and 2003. Each VinylVideo-compatible disc stores mono audio (of quality similar to traditional AM radio) and a very low-definition black-and-white video signal. As you might imagine, the frame rate also leaves much to be desired, but the point is that any turntable can assume the role of a player, as long as it is accompanied by a decoder box that handles separating, processing, and converting the signals to compatible outputs.
The Modern Version
The best part? There is a modern version of VinylVideo, sold by the company SuperSense. Currently no units are available, and it only offers four or five compatible discs, but the decoder box has a market value of 200 euros, nothing too extreme for one of the rarest pieces of audiovisual technology around.
