The Evolution of Consumer VTRs--Technological Milestones

The last half decade has seen dramatic growth in video tape recorder (VTR) technology, the VTR industry, and most remarkably in its non-broadcasting and consumer-oriented sector. The video cassette recorder and its related industry have risen, during this short span of years, to play one of the most important roles in the worldwide electronics industry today.** Who but David Sarnoff [1.04], back around 1965, when 'home VTRs' were making their initial appearance on the market, had thought of today? Indeed, their growth has been somewhat logarithmic. Although exact figures are yet hard to truly identify, 1983 sales of consumer VCRs in the U.S. have been reported as reaching 4.1 million units [TV Digest, Jan. 16, 19841, and for another example, total Japanese production of home VCRs during last year was reported in other sources as already being above 18 million units. It has also been predicted that production will reach 22 million units in 1984 as shown in Figure 1.