JVC GR-C1

Last updated
GR-C1 camcorder. This Japanese-labelled model features the "Victor" brand (as used in the company's home market), rather than the "JVC" name used outside Japan. JVC Victor GR-C1 camcorder side rear view.jpg
GR-C1 camcorder. This Japanese-labelled model features the "Victor" brand (as used in the company's home market), rather than the "JVC" name used outside Japan.
Front view of the Victor GR-C1 camcorder JVC Victor GR-C1 camcorder front side view.jpg
Front view of the Victor GR-C1 camcorder

The JVC GR-C1 was a camcorder released in March 1984 by JVC and was notable as the first all-in-one VHS-C camcorder, as opposed to earlier portable systems in which the camera and recorder were separate units linked by a cable.

Contents

It used a 30-minute VHS-C video tape, which could be played back in a standard VHS VCR using an adapter. The camera was also capable of playback in the viewfinder or through a composite video cable. A separate RF modulator was available to enable connection to the aerial socket of domestic televisions. By comparison, the camera's nearest competitor at the time, Sony's Betamovie, could record but not play back. JVC invented the VHS format and released the first VCR of that type, the JVC HR-3300, in 1976.

Unlike later CCD-based camcorders, the GR-C1 uses a 1/2" Saticon pickup tube. [1]

It was also released under license and in a black finish by German company Telefunken as the 890 Movie and in a dark red by German company SABA as the VM 6700. [2]

The GR-C1 was voted one of the top 100 gadgets of all time. [3]

The JVC GR-C1 was famous as Doc Brown's video camera (operated by Marty McFly) in the film Back to the Future . [4]

It also featured in Stranger Things season 2 (set in 1984), as the camcorder Bob Newby hands over to Jonathan Byers to use when he takes Will and the other kids trick-or-treating and is used to record the Mind Flayer. [5]

The JVC GR-C1 was the subject of an episode of Marques Brownlee's YouTube Originals series 'Retro Tech'. [6] [7]

It's shown in S7E13 of The Goldbergs titled: "Geoff the Pleaser". The "other" Adam Goldberg places it on the display towards the end of the episode.

Related Research Articles

Video Electronic moving image

Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which were later replaced by flat panel displays of several types.

VHS Consumer-level analog video tape recording and cassette form factor standard

VHS, officially called the Video Home System, is a standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes.

DV Magnetic tape-based consumer and broadcast videocassette format for camcorders and video codec

DV refers to a family of codecs and tape formats used for storing digital video, launched in 1995 by a consortium of video camera manufacturers led by Sony and Panasonic. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DV was strongly associated with the transition from analog to digital desktop video production, and also with several enduring "prosumer" camera designs such as the Sony VX-1000. DV is sometimes referred to as MiniDV, which was the most popular tape format using a DV codec during this time.

Videotape Magnetic tape used for storing video and sound simultaneously

Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) or, more commonly, videocassette recorders (VCRs) and camcorders. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram.

JVC Japanese international electronics corporation

JVC is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation and formerly by the Victor Company of Japan, Limited. Founded in 1927, the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for developing the Video Home System (VHS) video recorder.

S-VHS Improved version of VHS

S-VHS (スーパー・ヴィエイチエス), the common initialism for Super VHS, is an improved version of the VHS standard for consumer-level video recording. Victor Company of Japan introduced S-VHS in Japan in April 1987 with their JVC-branded HR-S7000 VCR, and in certain overseas markets soon afterward. Shortly, later in the same year of 1987, first S-VHS VCR models from other competitors included Hitachi VT-2700A, Mitsubishi HS-423UR, Panasonic PV-S4764, RCA VPT-695HF, and Toshiba SV-950.

Betamax Consumer-level analog video tape recording and cassette form factor standard

Betamax is a consumer-level analog-recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, followed by the US in November of the same year.

Camcorder Video camera with built-in video recorder

A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swappable battery facing towards the user, hot-swappable recording media, and an internally contained quiet optical zoom lens.

Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself.

Videotape format war Period of competition

The videotape format war was a period of competition or "format war" of incompatible models of consumer-level analog video videocassette and video cassette recorders (VCR) in the late 1970s and the 1980s, mainly involving the Betamax and Video Home System (VHS) formats. VHS ultimately emerged as the preeminent format.

8 mm video format Magnetic tape-based videocassette format for camcorders

The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats for the NTSC and PAL/SECAM television systems. These are the original Video8 format and its improved successor Hi8, as well as a more recent digital recording format known as Digital8.

HDV Magnetic tape-based HD videocassette format for camcorders

HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon, and Sharp. The four companies formed the HDV Consortium in September 2003.

VHS-C Magnetic tape-based format

VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format, introduced by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) in 1982, and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter. Though quite inexpensive, the format is largely obsolete even as a consumer standard and has been replaced in the marketplace by digital video formats, which have smaller form factors.

U-matic Videocassette format; the first of its kind

U-matic is an analogue recording videocassette format first shown by Sony in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a cassette, as opposed to the various reel-to-reel or open-reel formats of the time. The videotape is 34 in (19 mm) wide, so the format is often known as "three-quarter-inch" or simply "three-quarter", compared to open reel videotape formats in use, such as 1 in (25 mm) type C videotape and 2 in (51 mm) quadruplex videotape.

D-VHS Magnetic tape-based format meant for the distribution of digital HD movies

D-VHS is a digital video recording format developed by JVC, in collaboration with Hitachi, Matsushita, and Philips. The "D" in D-VHS originally stood for "Data", but JVC renamed the format as "Digital VHS". Released in 1998, it uses the same physical cassette format and recording mechanism as S-VHS, but requires higher-quality and more expensive tapes and is capable of recording and displaying both standard-definition and high-definition content. The content data format is in MPEG transport stream, the same data format used for most digital television applications.

Combo television unit

A combo television unit, or a TV/VCR combo, sometimes known as a televideo, is a television with a VCR, DVD player, or sometimes both, built into a single unit. These converged devices have the advantages of saving space and increasing portability. Such units entered the market during the mid-to-late 1980s when VCRs had become ubiquitous household devices. By this time, the VHS format had become standard; thus the vast majority of TV/VCR combos are VHS-based.

Betamovie

Betamovie is the brand name for a range of consumer grade camcorders developed by Sony for the Betamax format. By "camcorder" is understood a single unit comprising a video camera and a video recorder.

Videocassette recorder Device designed to record and playback content stored on videocassettes, most commonly VHS

A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. Use of a VCR to record a television program to play back at a more convenient time is commonly referred to as timeshifting. VCRs can also play back prerecorded tapes. In the 1980s and 1990s, prerecorded videotapes were widely available for purchase and rental, and blank tapes were sold to make recordings.

A 3D camcorder can record 3D video.

Marques Brownlee American tech YouTuber

Marques Keith Brownlee, also known professionally as MKBHD, is an American YouTuber and professional ultimate frisbee player, best known for his technology-focused videos as well as his podcast Waveform. As of December 2021, he has over 15 million subscribers and over 2.7 billion total video views. Vic Gundotra, a former Senior Vice President of Google, called Brownlee "the best technology reviewer on the planet right now". The former name of his YouTube channel is a concatenation of MKB and HD.

References

  1. "First Look: JVC VideoMovie GR-C1U Camcorder". Popular Photography. Vol. 91, no. 9. September 1984. p. 78.
  2. "Kamera Nostalgie - Community - Google+". plus.google.com. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  3. "Rewind Museum. A museum of vintage camcorders. Betamovie, VHS C, first camcorders from Sony and JVC". www.rewindmuseum.com. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  4. "Total Rewind". www.totalrewind.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16. Immortalised in Back To The Future [..] The GR-C1 was still a tube-based camera, and the incredible sensitivity of today's CCD camcorders [..] was still a distant dream.
  5. "Spotern Stranger Things". spotern.com. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  6. RETRO TECH: CAMCORDER, archived from the original on 2021-12-19, retrieved 2019-12-02
  7. Desk, TV News. "YouTube Premieres RETRO TECH, a New Learning Series Featuring Marques Brownlee". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-12-02.