U-Matic

U-matic is the name of a 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 open-reel formats of the time. Interestingly, unlike most other cassette-based tape formats, the supply and take-up reels in the cassette worked in opposite directions during playback, fast-forward and rewind: one reel would run clockwise while the other would run counter-clockwise. As part of its development, in March 1970, Sony, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Victor Co. of Japan (JVC), and five non-Japanese companies reached agreement on unified standards.
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