How Do The 2View Limited Viewing VHS Tapes Work?

batosai writes "I recently read an article about a video cassette that will allow 2 viewings from a pre-recorded source which can them be recorded over and used like a regular video cassette tape. I haven't been able to find anything about how this works. I was hoping someone here might be able to enlighten me." Interesting idea here, and for those that find themselves going thru a lot of video tapes in a month, probably worthwhile. Tapes using this technology are due to hit the Netherlands sometime in May and the indicators point to a possible US release as well although no date is mentioned. An interesting fact from the article: "Introduction of a limited-play cassette has been attempted on several occasions over the past 15 years in the United States without success." What technology was behind those earlier attempts and why did they fail?

Comments

Re:Video Tapes

[SEWilco]

Hmm.. That erase-after-viewing magnet might be the basis of this 2-play tape system.

It would be easy to put the magnet on a mechanism that would move the magnet into erasing position the first time the tape is rewound or the first time the tape plays past a certain point.

When the tape is played the second time, the tape would past that magnet which damages/erases the recording. The same mechanism which moved the magnet would move it away from the tape to a permanently locked position, thus allowing the tape to be used normally.

Re:Video Tapes

[JediTrainer]

If I had moderator privileges, I'd moderate this as insightful. That's probably how the darned thing works.

Now the catch is - what's to prevent a movie pirate from removing the magnet? All you need is a screwdriver, right? Cheap way to get a permanent movie; it'd probably cost about $5 to "rent", versus the $20-odd to purchase. Maybe someone would even turn around and sell the "fixed" tapes on the street.