Ancient Web: LabGuy Collected Videotape Machines Before VHS

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

If you think the history of home video begins with Betamax and VHS, LabGuy's World has several hundred strange metal boxes to show you first.

Visit LabGuy's World

The site identifies its curator as Richard N. Diehl, a collector of early video recording technology. Its footer says it has been online since October 1997. Diehl also says the pages were originally made in Netscape Composer and are now maintained with Microsoft Notepad. In this case, the antique web design is entirely appropriate to the contents.

The front page offers museums of extinct video recorders and cameras, a catalogue of formats, technical articles, people in recording history, project reports, and questions from other enthusiasts. The subject is chiefly equipment from before domestic home video became standardized.

The machines still have names and personalities

The recorder museum is indexed by manufacturer. It lists Akai/Roberts VT-100 and VT-110 quarter-inch portable units, Ampex VR-1500 and VR-6000 machines, Cartrivision, and dozens of obscure formats. Individual labels include estimated manufacturing years, tape widths, and whether the machine remains in the collector's possession.

Diehl explains that he leaves the articles online even if an item is later sold. In other words, the website is a preservation project separate from the owner's physical storeroom.

A technical essay on EIAJ-1, updated January 11, 2005, explains why standardization of half-inch open-reel machines around the late 1960s was important. Before that, videotapes might be incompatible even with recorders from the same manufacturer. The page gives precise head-drum dimensions, scanning angles, and tape speeds.

The site's historic timeline is equally sprawling, stretching from early experiments to forgotten commercial systems. It credits much of the compilation to David Fisher of Terramedia, and warns that contradictory sources or errors remain. The author does not pretend every historical date is certain.

Other galleries show repair work and electronics projects, revealing how a collector learns from equipment by actually trying to restore or operate it.

This is the sort of documentation that becomes precious after a format has disappeared. You can read a model name in a manual, but a picture of the real machine with the owner's notes gives it context.

Explore the recorder museum and the EIAJ-1 format guide.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.