Sat Jun 4, 2022, 08:37 PM

RCA's 1981 video disk system used a needle riding in a groove.

Like something out of The Flintstones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance_Electronic_Disc

It was intended to be a component in RCA's "Dimensia" TV/hi-fi system.

Yes, that's right. "Dimensia."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_Dimensia

All patented and trademarked.

What a disastrous evolutionary dead end for RCA.

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5 replies	Author	Time	Post
RCA's 1981 video disk system used a needle riding in a groove. (Original post)	Frasier Balzov	Jun 2022	OP
Oh man, I just had a blast from my past	Docreed2003	Jun 2022	#1
The Smithsonian may be contacting you soon!	Frasier Balzov	Jun 2022	#2
That TV was top of the line back in its day	Docreed2003	Jun 2022	#3
I had one of those videodisc players.	mockmonkey	Jun 2022	#4
I worked on advertising for those in the early 80s	Auggie	Jun 2022	#5

Response to Frasier Balzov (Original post)

Sat Jun 4, 2022, 08:51 PM

Docreed2003 (15,032 posts)

1. Oh man, I just had a blast from my past

We had an RCA Dimensia TV in the late 80's/early 90's. On the Wikipedia page the second remote they show was the exact wedge shaped remote we had.

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Response to Docreed2003 (Reply #1)

Sat Jun 4, 2022, 08:58 PM

Frasier Balzov (1,661 posts)

2. The Smithsonian may be contacting you soon!

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Response to Frasier Balzov (Reply #2)

Sat Jun 4, 2022, 09:08 PM

Docreed2003 (15,032 posts)

3. That TV was top of the line back in its day

It was in a big wood-grain console. Think my dad had that up until his first LCD TV in the late 90's.

Seeing that big ass remote was a welcome sight tonight. Thanks for sharing.

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Response to Frasier Balzov (Original post)

Sun Jun 5, 2022, 09:37 AM

mockmonkey (2,673 posts)

4. I had one of those videodisc players.

I bought it from Sears back in the 80's. I returned it the next day, it was awful.
The disc player skipped a lot with brand new discs.

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Response to Frasier Balzov (Original post)

Sun Jun 5, 2022, 10:31 AM

Auggie (29,493 posts)

5. I worked on advertising for those in the early 80s

Retail stuff, full-page newspaper. We didn't sell the machine or its quality but the available software to own, up to hundreds of films at one time -- big releases like Star Wars ($79.00, equivalent if about $250 today). Our competitors were VHS and Betamax. VHS won out because it wasn't proprietary tech like Sony's Betamax and allowed a recording option unlike RCA.

Still have boxes of VHS tapes to recycle.

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