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Technology

How Do The 2View Limited Viewing VHS Tapes Work? 16

Posted by Cliff from the view-twice-and-record-many-times dept.
batosai writes "I recently read an article about a video cassette that will allow 2 viewings from a pre-recorded source which can them be recorded over and used like a regular video cassette tape. I haven't been able to find anything about how this works. I was hoping someone here might be able to enlighten me." Interesting idea here, and for those that find themselves going thru a lot of video tapes in a month, probably worthwhile. Tapes using this technology are due to hit the Netherlands sometime in May and the indicators point to a possible US release as well although no date is mentioned. An interesting fact from the article: "Introduction of a limited-play cassette has been attempted on several occasions over the past 15 years in the United States without success." What technology was behind those earlier attempts and why did they fail?
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How Do The 2View VHS Tapes Work? More

How Do The 2View VHS Tapes Work?

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  • I guess it's a neat idea in a way in the case of a video store which doesn't want to bother collecting video tapes from rentals, but isn't it correct that this could have a harmful effect on the environment?

    I guess it's nice to have the video tape to keep when you rent a movie, but in my case I rent a lot more movies than I record stuff, so I'd end up with lots and lots of extra video tapes. So from my perspective, I paid extra for these tapes (since after all, the extra costs will be passed on to the consumer) which I don't need, which I will likely just throw out.

    On the other hand, if I like the movie I can shelf it for a little while and then watch it again, perhaps a couple of months/years later when I'm interested. In this case, it's kind of nice. I have no idea how it'll work, however.

    Is it also possible that these tapes might become as famous as the free AOL floppies? Perhaps if companies in a marketing campaign were to distribute the movie trailers on videotape to you, and you'd end up with the free tape later, that'd be pretty cool. But then again - why not just use regular videotape in that case? Seeing this, it looks like the only market is rentals, where people want to keep the tape.

    I don't know - if I'm interested, I can always rent it again. I'm not sure if I'd be willing to pay the extra $2 or $3 (CDN) to keep the tape in this case. I'd rather take my chances that if I want to see the movie again, I'll just go back to the store and rent it another night.

    I don't think of this the same way as the DivX standard, though, because we're not ending up with useless coasters after we've watched our movie. At least the tape can be used, even if most people might not want or need it.

  • I'd be _very_ hesitant to go for something like like this without having much more information and hearing some testing results. There seem to me to be too many variables:

    - What if the phone rings, and I stop the tape and start it again? Does this set the counter at my "second" viewing? What if its just a long movie and I want to watch the rest later?

    - What if I forget to stop the tape when the phone rings, and I need to rewind and watch that part again?

    - Even though its supposedly reusable, I generally tend to give some thought to the quality of the blank tapes I'm buying. Considering it's already been (bulk-) recorded, and viewed twice, what type of quality could I get re-recording on the tape?

    - Is something physical going to "happen" to the tape after a viewing? Could that "thing" leave some residue, dust, or otherwise degrade my VCR playback?

    - What if I have a ton of these lying around them I'm just going to thow away. Are they reactivatable? Can I bring them back to the store and get a partial rebate -- like I can in some states for soda cans?

    - I can just see this being pressed one-time in bulk and then going out of print once a movie is no longer popular. If these do catch on -- and rental stores change their stock or go out of business, or companies raise the price on "real" videos/dvds of movies due to less demand -- could it impact my ability to obtain older or less-popular movies?

    --craig
  • I remember the "play once" tapes I used to get from consumer research firms. They had a magnet embedded that erased the tape after it had passed over the head. I'd be curious to know how they are doing the reusable tapes

  • Play once... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    About 7-9 years ago not quite sure. I had an encounter with a play once VHS tape. It was a treasure hunt type game, you could only view the tape once and then had to do some thing(I don't rember what). Not knowing it could only be played once since I skiped reading the letter with it I missed alot of the needed information. I cracked the thing open to see why it wouldn't rewind even manualy. How it was very simple the gears were made to be one way. After removeing a lever that stoped the wheel I was able to manualy rewind it and then place the lever back. unfortunatly I didn't win the contest hench the reason I don't rember much besides the childhood 'hack'.
  • I recently came across an ultra cheap VHS given away free with a magazine. I was only good for a few plays because of the quality of construction. The top and bottom where stamped out of thin plastic sheet. The body was cut from a block polystryene foam to which the top and bottom sheets where glued. There was no front flap or reel locks. I was a bit worried that once inserted in the VCR it might never come out !

  • Re:Video Tapes (Score:4)

    by SEWilco ( 27983 ) on Sunday February 25, 2001 @06:15AM (#405369) Journal
    Hmm.. That erase-after-viewing magnet might be the basis of this 2-play tape system.

    It would be easy to put the magnet on a mechanism that would move the magnet into erasing position the first time the tape is rewound or the first time the tape plays past a certain point.

    When the tape is played the second time, the tape would past that magnet which damages/erases the recording. The same mechanism which moved the magnet would move it away from the tape to a permanently locked position, thus allowing the tape to be used normally.

  • I see a few problems with this. a: How can an erasure system erase the videotape and allow you to rerecord and not erase what you recoded after 2 watchings? b: I dont see it taking long at all before pirates figure out how to bypass the 2 plays thing and broadcast it over the net c: Blockbuster tried something like this with software: you installed a game CD that you bought as a rental and the software didnt let you play after a few days unless you bought it. Problem was, if you patched the game, the copy protection went away as it was just a patch to the .exe file. It soon failed.

  • Re:Video Tapes (Score:3)

    by JediTrainer ( 314273 ) on Sunday February 25, 2001 @07:19AM (#405371)
    If I had moderator privileges, I'd moderate this as insightful. That's probably how the darned thing works.

    Now the catch is - what's to prevent a movie pirate from removing the magnet? All you need is a screwdriver, right? Cheap way to get a permanent movie; it'd probably cost about $5 to "rent", versus the $20-odd to purchase. Maybe someone would even turn around and sell the "fixed" tapes on the street.
  • I suspect that rental chains will be unaccepting of this new technology.

    Blockbuster makes a full night's rental from me every time I forget to take a movie back on time.

    They could never collect late fees if this technology was used, which, I suspect, would hurt their income, significantly.
  • It'd also be easy to remove the magnet. But am I violating the DMCA if I do this? Would I be doing the same if I showed others how to do this by means of a web page?

    - A.P.

    --
    * CmdrTaco is an idiot.

  • I don't know what kind of lifespan this idea would have; I mean, we're already moving to DVDs, and will presumably get to directly transferred digital in the next few years, so I don't know who would invest in this.
    --
  • If it's going to be a Disney thing, then of course, it's been patented. After a bit of searching on Delphion [delphion.com], I found:

    US5023741:Programmable limited play video tape cassette [delphion.com]

    US5199663:Limited use video cassette [delphion.com]

    US4763784:Devices for preventing unauthorized use of video-cassettes [delphion.com]

    US4660115:Video tape cassette with internal tape erasing means [delphion.com]

    US4660116:Video tape cassette with internal tape erasing means [delphion.com]

    Along with a short list [delphion.com] of other patents that reference that last one. Seems that people have been busy on this one. Even though a few of the claims do acknowledge the possibility of disassembling the cassette and removing the content protection scheme, unless the casing is made of titanium, there's nothing to stop anyone with a hammer and a replacement VHS shell [rti-us.com] or DIY instructions [uwaterloo.ca] from making their own free-use cassette out of it if they like.
    Tough call as to wether or not the DMCA really applies, as it's not a program or electronic device that you'd use. But I'd bet some MPAA hired gun could get the government to ban hammers, rocks, and other blunt instuments as they could be used to circumvent copy protection schemes.

  • Blockbuster makes a full night's rental from me every time I forget to take a movie back on time.
    Yeah, especially since they started giving us those "extra days". You know, the extra day that means you have to have it back by noon on that day... They did that just to get the late fees, I know it...
  • This won't go anywhere. DivX was the same thing but with more protection and additional features. I think it's more likely for DivX to return than this to continue.
  • The videotape case will probably be glued shut, so if you're going to use a screwdriver it will have to be very sharp. It would be easier to just copy the movie onto another tape. Oh dear, does my mentioning that possibility violate the DCMA?
  • I guess it's a neat idea in a way in the case of a video store which doesn't want to bother collecting video tapes from rentals, but isn't it correct that this could have a harmful effect on the environment?

    The answer:

    Debuting with Coyote Ugly, the so-called "2view" cassette will allow VCR consumers in The Netherlands up to two full plays of the film at a retail price of U.S.$6.50. After the two plays, the cassette can be recorded over repeatedly as a blank tape. Dutch rental shops anticipate big retailers will discount the 2view to a street price of about U.S.$4.

    It's a reusable blank tape after that. Hopefully, the quality will be acceptable. And it won't erase itself twice.


    --
    ALL YOUR KARMA ARE BELONG TO US

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