CVC was a short-lived video cassette format introduced in the early 1980s by Technicolor and Funai. The format used small video cassettes, only very slightly larger than an audio cassette, containing quarter-inch wide tape.
The format was something of a flop, apparently in no small part due to the video camera supplied with the machines having very poor low-light performance, and the low quality of the tape stock used in the cassettes making dropouts problematic.
Very few machines were ever made for the format. The most common is the Funai-built Technicolor 212 portable model. These were sold under a number of different brand names; known variants include:
- Technicolor 212 (by far the most common)
- Funai F-812 (NTSC) / F-612 (PAL)
- Siemens Videocord FM500
- Canon VR-100 (most common variant in Japan)
- Uher CVC 200
- Universum Revue PVR 23150 (probably sold in Germany only)
The Canon variant looks slightly different from all the others; the tape transport keys are of a different design, the front and top panels are arranged slightly differently, and a shroud is added around the Power supply connector. This model was also bundled with a different camera, presumably of Canon’s own design.
Although it looks superficially similar, the Grundig VP100 is a different machine using a more compact mechanism, making for a slightly smaller unit overall.
As for tapes, as well as the Technicolor-branded ones, I have seen Muntz, Siemens, Grundig, Funai and Canon media (and I would assume Uher and Universum media also exist). These are presumably all made by the same company, but I do not know who actually manufactured the tapes. I have never seen any CVC tapes from the brands more commonly associated with blank media (TDK, Maxell, Scotch etc.). If the format had been more successful, we would undoubtedly have seen media from all of the major manufacturers.
Technical information about CVC machine is very scarce, and I was unable to find any information on belt sizes required to replace those that had disintegrated in my machines.
So, here are the sizes of the belts that I fitted to my machines. I hope this information will prove useful to anyone else trying to service or repair these rare machines. Note that these are not necessarily identical replacements for the originals, but they fit and seem to work fine.
- Capstan Belt: 93.5mm diameter x 5mm x 0.5mm flat
- Main Serpentine Belt: 80mm diameter x 1.3mm square section
- Loading Belt: 33mm diameter x 1.1mm square section
- Reel Drive Belt: 33mm diameter x 1.1mm square section
- Tape Counter Belt: 59mm diameter x 1.2mm square section
(Yes, the loading belt and reel drive belt are identical.)
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