The Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED)

File:Ced disk.jpg
The CED
You have probably never heard of the Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED), but this technology was way ahead of its time, at least at the time of its initial invention. Unfortunately, corporate politics and scientists themselves delayed the launch to the point that it was obsolete at the time of release, as it was competing with VCR. I was inspired to write about the CED due to a series of YouTube videos by Technology Connections about the topic.

The CED was an analog video format inspired by vinyl records. Unlike modern discs that are read by a laser, the CED uses a stylus, similar to the vinyl records previously mentioned. The CED was started by RCA in 1964 by a group of four scientists. Eventually, it became named the "SelectaVision," which was also, confusingly, used as a name for a few other RCA products. The CED went through several iterations before a PVC-Carbon blend (carbon added to make the disc conductive.) One big advantage of the CED was that the discs could be stamped, like vinyl discs, meaning that production could happen much faster and at a lower cost. Each side of the SelectaVision held 60 minutes of audio and video, with both sides combining for a total of 120 minutes, which most movies were under.

The SelectaVision used a stylus with a tiny titanium electrode applied to the diamond stylus and as the stylus went over the grooves in the disc, the capacitance would change, which the player's circuitry would use to decode the signals into audio and video. The tiny grooves made the SelectaVision especially sensitive to dust, which could severely impact the disc's performance and even damage the disc.

Now, after many years of corporate politics, the SelectaVision CED was released in 1981, and virtually already obsolete. The VCR was already available and with the VCR you could actually record video with them as well. Additionally, the LaserDisc was also available, which were not nearly as susceptible to the dust damage as the LaserDisc was a digital format versus an analog video format that the CED was utilizing, in addition to being read via a laser, not a stylus. VCR tapes were also able to hold complete movies, without requiring any sort of flip.

However, the SelectaVision was not a complete flop. Due to players, on a basic level, being modified record players it them much more affordable than VCR players and LaserDisc players. This gave SelectaVison a short-lived niche market. There were quite a few films available on SelectaVision too, by companies such as Paramount, Disney, MGM.

Ultimately, the SelectaVison CED only lasted around 5 years after it's initial 1981 launch, with discs ceasing production in 1986. It was a 600 million dollar loss for RCA and arguably led to RCA's downfall. While a promising technology at the beginning if it's creation, it was released too late too succeed.

Sources-
The Technology Connections YouTube Channel
http://cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html

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