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Original
RCA Selectavision Video Disc (CED)
MGM Musical Singing in the Rain
with Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds
copyright 1981
Disc size: 14 1/4 inches high X 13 inches wide
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The Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) was a video playback system developed by RCA, in which video and audio could be played back on a TV using a special analog needle and high-density groove system similar to phonograph records.
First conceived in 1964, the CED system was widely seen as a technological success which was able to increase the density of a long playing record by two orders of magnitude. Despite this achievement, the CED system fell victim to poor planning, conflicts within RCA, and technical difficulties that stalled production of the system for 17 years until 1981, by which time it was outmoded by the emerging Betamax and VHS videocassette formats. Sales for the system were nowhere near projected estimates, and by 1986, RCA had discontinued the project, losing an estimated $600 million in the process.
The format was commonly known as "videodisc", leading to much confusion with Laserdiscformat, which is mutually incompatible with this format.
The name "SelectaVision" was RCA's brand name for the CED system. It was also used for some early RCA brand VCRs, and other experimental projects at RCA.
How much did CED players and software titles cost when they were new?
RCA priced some of their players at $499.95 when first introduced-- this was the retail price of the SFT100 in March 1981 and the SJT400 in October 1983. The SGT250 was introduced in May 1982 at a price of $399.95, at which time RCA reduced the remaining stock of SFT100 players to $299.95. After RCA canceled player production prices began to plummet. A brochure from October 1984 lists these prices:
SJT090 at $149, SJT100 at $159, SJT200 at $169, SJT300 at $229, and SKT400 at $249.
CED disc titles commonly retailed from $14.98 to $39.98. The $14.98 price was rare and used only for some cartoons, sports, and documentaries. Movies ranged from $19.98 to $34.98 for 1-disc titles, and $34.98 to $39.98 for 2-disc titles. The 4-disc "Jesus of Nazareth" boxed set was originally priced at $99.98. One 2-disc title, "Conan the Barbarian," was priced at $44.98, but the backlash from customers and dealers resulted in this being the only title released at that price.
History
Beginnings and Release
RCA began videodisc research in 1964, in an attempt to produce a phonograph-like method of reproducing video. Research and development was slow in the early years, as the development team originally comprised only four men, but by 1972, the CED team at RCA had produced a disc capable of holding ten minutes of color video (a portion of the Get Smart episode entitled "Lum Fong").
The first CED prototype discs were multi-layered, implementing a nickel substrate within the platter. However, premature failure of the multilayer discs, usually from separation of the layers and resulting in damage to the player if a disc in such condition was played, forced RCA to search for solutions to the problem or alternative materials for constructing the disc. The final disc would be crafted using PVC blended with carbon to allow the disc to be conductive. To preserve stylus and groove life, a thin layer of silicone was applied to the disc as a lubricant.
CED videodiscs were originally meant to be handled by hand, but during testing, it was shown that people were likely to accidentally touch the signal surface of the disc, causing signal degradation at the touched area. Thus, an idea was developed in which the disc would be stored and handled in a caddy from which the CED would be extracted by the player.
After seventeen years of research and development, the first CED player (model SFT100W) was released in March 1981. A catalog of approximately 50 titles was released at the same time. Fifteen months later, RCA released the SGT200 and SGT250 players, both with stero sound Models with remote controls and random access hit the market in spring and fall, 1983, respectively.
Demise
Several problems doomed the new CED system almost from the start. From an early point in the development of the CED system, it was clear that VCRs and home videotape - with their longer storage capacity and recording capabilities - would pose a threat to the CED system. However, development pushed ahead; to dispose of all the work done at RCA would have cost the company millions of dollars. Once finally released, sales for the new CED system were slow; RCA had expected to sell 200,000 players by the beginning of 1982, but only 100,000 had been sold, and throughout 1982 and '83, sales did not improve much.
Lable in good condition some nicks and dings in paper
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