LabGuy's World: Extinct Sony CV/DV series 1/2" Helical VTR's (1965-70)
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Sony CV-2000D. B/W, skip field, omega wrap, helical scan VTR. FILTHY!
Sony CV-2000D. B/W, skip field, omega wrap, helical scan VTR. PRETTY!		 CV-2000: Updated Photo! 02.10.06 CV format, the first official consumer format VTR. Used 7 inch reels with 2400 feet of 1/2 inch tape that ran for 60 minutes at 7.5 IPS. Recorded in B/W, using the skip field method. The CV-2000D was housed in a walnut cabinet. Developed by Mr. Nobutoshi Kihara and his team, at Sony in 1964, introduced in the U.S. in 1965. The first photo is of the CV-2000 as it appeared on Ebay. Note the 25 years of dust crusted on the machine. The second photo is of the same machine after a good cleaning. Don't hate me for winning this machine for only one dollar! It proves the old axiom, "You snooze, you lose"! Did I mention that it is fully functional, after twenty seven years, as well? Photos: LabGuy. 
1. Sony CV-2000 Prototype Videocorder cover closed
2. Sony CV-2000 Prototype Videocorder Glamour Shot
3. Sony CV-2000 Prototype Videocorder rear connectors view		 CV-2000 Prototype Videocorder: New! 02.10.05 Circa: 1965. This is an authentic engineering prototype of the CV-2000 product. Hand built by the design engineers. Quite likely, Mr. Kihara himself may have demonstrated this very machine to Sony management. Howard Katz tells me that this transport is built up from a Sony audio tape deck. That makes perfect sense to me. Photos and info: Howard Katz

A Mystery Solved! 02.10.06 Many months back, I had posted a photo of a mystery VTR found on Martijn's site, De Historie Van De Video!, shown in his Sony section. Martijn's photo is of this machine. However, somewhere in image processing the photo became mirror reversed, left to right. This is the [PHOTO] from martijn's site. 

Another Mystery Solved!02.10.06 The model number SV-300 turned up during the process of researching what VTR this was. According to a supplement sheet found in a CV-2000 service manual, the SV-300 was a CV-2000 that had been equipped with "proffessional" connectors and an integral audio amplifier and speaker. The connector panel was changed as well. There was the addition of two sets of input jacks as well as changing the audio connectors to the XLR variety. It is possible that only a few, or even no, SV-300s were ever produced and sold. Feel free to prove me wrong. ~LabGuy~

NEEDED: Photos of an SV-300 Videocorder.
1. Sony CV-2000 PreProduction Prototype Glamour Shot
2. Sony CV-2000 PreProduction Prototype front circuit boards		 CV-2000 PreProduction Prototype: New! 02.10.05 Circa: 1965. No longer an engineering project and not necessarily a salable product. This is a machine that came from the process of starting up an assembly line for the CV-2000 series of VTRs. These two pictures are of a later prototype (without cabinet or shield covers), more closely resembling the production model. The first production units used a friction type servo, which failed rather quickly. Fortunately, this was caught pretty early. Later machines used an electromagnetic servo that lasted forever. Friction servo machines that were still in inventory were modified for the newer servo -- an all day job. And any friction servo machine in the field that was ever returned for service (for any reason) was modified for the improved servo at no charge. (That was the Sony way!) Observe the incredible product quality of the early 1960s Japanese technology. This goes contrary to the opinion of the day (in the USA).  At the very least, this is a technical work of art!  Photos and info: Howard Katz
TCV-2010/2020: The first CV format VTR sold in the U.S. about Sep. 1965. It contains a CV-2000 VTR and CVM-51UW pull-up monitor. The TCV-2020 had a walnut cabinet and a clock/timer for unattended recording. [Click here to view the specifications] Info: Howard Katz, Photo: D. Witt.
CV-2100 skip field VTR CV-2100: Corrected Photo! 02.10.06 This was your basic, second generation, 1/2" skip field record and playback VTR deck. Info: Howard Katz, Photo: Source Unknown, LabGuy's Archive.
TCV-2110 skip field deck with built in monitor TCV-2110: This is composed of a CV-2100 VTR and a "pull-up" 9 inch B/W monitor / receiver. Photo: Carter
Sony CV-2200. B/W, skip field, omega wrap, helical scan VTR CV-2200:  Another in the line of consumer skip field VTR's. Introduced in 1965. Essentially a CV-2100 with an additional direct dubbing feature. For dubbing, a pair of 2200's could be tied together  through the VDC-1 Video Duplicating Adapter. Info: Howard Katz / Photo: Dave Sica.
DV-2400. skip field, RECORD ONLY portapack VIDEO ROVER DV-2400: New Photo! 02.10.05 The legendary VIDEO ROVER, the first video portapack. B/W, skip field, Pre-EIAJ, 1/2 inch tape, reel to reel, record ONLY portapack VTR outfit. Recording time was 20 minutes on 4-1/2 inch reel of 1/2 inch videotape. So limited in function, that a small hand crank was included for rewinding the tape! The controls consist of an OFF / STANDBY switch and the Record / Pause button. The head drum contains a mechanical sync generator that provided H and V drive pulse to the camera that precisely track the head rotation. This allowed the machine to record a stable picture even if the operator was walking or moving abruptly in some manner. The matching camera is the [DVC-2400]. The complete ensemble was called the DVK-2400. Check out this photo of Akio Morita, CEO of Sony for over forty years, [Demonstrating (or just posing with?) the DVK-2400]. Photos: LabGuy
CV-2600 1/2 skip field VTR CV-2600: Howard Katz describes the CV-2600 as a smaller, lighter and user-friendlier VTR which carried the CV line into the early '70s until the introduction of the AV-3600. Note the distinct resemblance between this VTR and the AV-3600. Photo: www.eBay.com
1. Sony CV-5100 Color Preproduction Prototype VTR
2. Sony CV-5100 rear connector panel.		 CV-5100: New Photos! 02.10.04 In 1966, Sony brought approximately 25 color CV format VTR's into the US to show at the IRE (now IEEE) show. These machines were never sold and most of them were destroyed . . . Spec's: Color, 1/2" tape, 2 heads, 12 IPS, 40 minutes on 7" reels / 2400' tapes, 66 pounds. The first photo shows the deck itself. The second photo is the rear connector panel of the CV-5100.  Spec's: Electronics World Magazine - November, 1966.   Info and photos: Howard Katz
1. Un-named model. Marked: Sony Videocorder Color
2. Un-named model. Marked: Sony Videocorder Color		 CV-5100 Prototype: New! 02.10.04 These two photos show some unnamed model, just marked "Sony Videocorder Color". It looks like a TCV-2010 that has color-adaptor circuitry installed in place of the pull-up monitor. (Also note the two extra Edit Buttons next to (red) and below (gray) the red Record Button.)    Info and photos: Howard Katz
1. Sony CV-5600 PAL color CV format VTR
2. Sony CV-5600 PAL color CV format VTR rear panel		 CV-5600: New! 02.10.04 The first photo shows the deck itself. The second photo is the rear connector panel of the CV-5600. It has manual or  AGC level controls, insert and assemble editing, is compatible with the CV-2100ACE in B/W, records 40 minutes in color on a V-30 tape and weighs 28Kg (62 lbs). The unit pictured here operates on the European PAL video format. This beauty belongs to Bruno Merlier. It is very likely that this model was never marketed in the United States. Does anyone know if this or a similar model was sold in the NTSC format? Photo & info: Bruno Merlier. 
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Last updated: January 11, 2005