Definitions for "Helical scan"
Keywords:  diagonal, vcr, tape, drum, stripes
A method of recording video information diagonally on a tape, used in home and professional VCRs. High speed rotating video heads scan these diagonal video tracks, giving an effective tape speed much higher than the actual tape speed allowing more information to be recorded on a given length of magnetic tape.
Recording system used on all camcorders and VCRs. It uses a rotating head to write the picture signal in diagonal stripes along the moving tape. Also used for Hi-fi audio tracks on some camcorders.
A technique for recording data onto magnetic tape where the data is stored in a series of diagonal stripes on the tape. Basically it’s a derivative of VCR technology but highly modified for data recording devices to reduce tape wear, improve reliability, etc. The technique was originally planned for use in the Magstar, but IBM engineers could not figure out how to avoid having to replace the tape head every month, so it was scrapped for good old fashioned parallel tracks which run along the length of the tape. The technique has long been used in the mid-range and PC markets (e.g., in the IBM 7208), but only started to come into the mainframe market with StorageTek’s Redwood device.