The kinescope was the standard machine used during the early years of prerecorded broadcast television.  Kinescopes involves using a mounted camera to create a recording of a live television program on a video monitor.  In the 1950s, broadcasters sought out an alternative to the kinescope and turned to the emerging technology of magnetic videotapes.

On this day April 14th, in 1956, the first professional quality vdeotape machine was introduced by Ampex at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Chicago.  Magnetic videotape recording had been introduced early in the 1950s, but were considered unfeasible to replace kinescopes for broadcasting.  Ampex’s product, the quadruplex vdieo tape machine, used two-inch tape and was first used by CBS Television in November of 1956.  For the next 20 years, quad videotape became the standard for the television industry.

The popularity of Ampex’s quad tape led to several advancements in videotapes in the following decades.  Type C and Type B tapes gained popularity in the 1970s with the use of smaller, one-inch tape.  Cassettes would eventually become the dominant form of videotape. In addition to becoming a standard for broadcast television, the cassette would spawn a consumer market of its own, that lasted well into the 2000s.