Sony Corporation Releases Videocorder

June 8, 1965 - The Sony Corporation of America took the lead today in home video tape recording.

The American branch of the Japanese electronics company introduced a $995 portable unit called a Videocorder, said to be as easy to operate as an ordinary tape recorder.

Akio Morita, president of the American subsidiary, said the new units, combining both a video tape recorder and a television receiver, would be available in eight weeks. He said he foresaw “a very great potential” for the device and expected sales to reach “a couple thousand a month in the very near future.”

“This equipment,” he said, “should find a good market here for politicians. They can film and study their talks and distribute them to local television stations for future use.”

The Videocorder is a combination TV receiver and a companion audio-video recorder. It is housed in a single cabinet made in the United States. The receiver can be used separately as a TV set.

The recording unit can be operated during a telecast and will not distort the viewing picture. It can then be replayed as any audio tape and will give both a black-and-white picture and sound through the receiver. Certain models have timing devices that can be preset to turn on automatically to record programs while the owner is away.

Sony has also developed a companion camera kit that will use the video tape, take black-and-white motion pictures and sound, show them simultaneously, and record as well. It sells for $350.

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