DCT (videocassette format)
Encyclopedia
DCT is a digital recording
component
videocassette format developed and introduced by Ampex
in 1992. It was based on the D1
format, and unlike the uncompressed recording scheme of D1, it was the first digital videotape format to utilize data compression
. Like D1 (and D2
), it uses a similar cassette loaded with 3/4" (19mm) width tape.
One of the models of VCR released for the format was the Ampex DCT-1700D.
The type of data compression used by the format, discrete cosine transform
(DCT), shares the same acronym as the format, but the meaning is different for the latter (the format's acronym meaning Data Component Technology).
DST (Data Storage Technology
), a data-only version of DCT, was also developed by Ampex at the same time for the backup and archiving of data from servers and other enterprise-oriented IT systems.
Digital recording
In digital recording, digital audio and digital video is directly recorded to a storage device as a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes in air pressure for audio and chroma and luminance values for video through time, thus making an abstract template for the original sound or...
component
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
videocassette format developed and introduced by Ampex
Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...
in 1992. It was based on the D1
D1 (Sony)
D-1 is an SMPTE digital recording video standard, introduced in 1986 through efforts by SMPTE engineering committees. It started as a Sony and Bosch - BTS product and was the first major professional digital video format.- Format :...
format, and unlike the uncompressed recording scheme of D1, it was the first digital videotape format to utilize data compression
Data compression
In computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
. Like D1 (and D2
D2 (video format)
D-2 is a professional digital recording videocassette format created by Ampex and other manufacturers through a standards group of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and introduced at the 1988 NAB convention as a lower-cost alternative to the D-1 format...
), it uses a similar cassette loaded with 3/4" (19mm) width tape.
One of the models of VCR released for the format was the Ampex DCT-1700D.
The type of data compression used by the format, discrete cosine transform
Discrete cosine transform
A discrete cosine transform expresses a sequence of finitely many data points in terms of a sum of cosine functions oscillating at different frequencies. DCTs are important to numerous applications in science and engineering, from lossy compression of audio and images A discrete cosine transform...
(DCT), shares the same acronym as the format, but the meaning is different for the latter (the format's acronym meaning Data Component Technology).
DST (Data Storage Technology
Data Storage Technology
Data Storage Technology is a 19 mm wide magnetic tape data storage format created by Ampex in 1992. The DST format was also made by Ampex as a digital videotape format, DCT, using the same design of cassette. DST is relatively high capacity and high speed, especially compared to other tape...
), a data-only version of DCT, was also developed by Ampex at the same time for the backup and archiving of data from servers and other enterprise-oriented IT systems.