RCA SelectaVision
History[edit]
RCA SelectaVision originated as a line of certain device classes when RCA Corporation introduced the first VHS VCR in North America on August 23, 1977. Prior to this, during the 1960s, RCA was in the process of developing the CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc). Basically, it was a disc where video and audio could be played back on a television set using a special stylus and high-density groove system similar to vinyl records (also called phonograph records). RCA waited too late until 1981 to officially launch the format and called it the SelectaVision VideoDisc.
Players[edit]
The players themselves were manufactured by three companies besides RCA, such as Hitachi Co., Ltd., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation. They were sometimes sold under the brands of seven other companies.
Market reception[edit]
The format's competitors, Koninklijke Philips N.V. and Pioneer Corporation, developed and manufactured optical discs read with lasers called LaserDiscs instead. On April 4, 1984, after the sales of only 550,000 units, RCA announced that they were discontinuing the players. As a result of the huge financial losses, RCA was reacquired by General Electric Company (which originally owned the company between its 1919 foundation and 1932) in 1986 and by that point, the SelectaVision name was discontinued. In late 1987, General Electric Company sold its GE Consumer Electronics division, including the rights to use the RCA brand on consumer electronics permanently and the GE brand on consumer electronics for a decade, to Thomson S.A.; the division was subsequently renamed Thomson Consumer Electronics in early 1988.
Distributed libraries[edit]
- 00100: 20th Century-Fox
- 00200: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- 00300: National Telefilm Associates
- 00400: RKO Pictures
- 00500: ITC Entertainment
- 00600: Paramount Pictures
- 00700: Walt Disney Productions
- 00800: Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation
- 00900: New World Pictures
- 01000: The Rank Organisation
- 01100: Castle Hill Productions
- 01200: NBC Enterprises, Inc.
- 01300: United Feature Syndicate
- 01400: United Artists Corporation
- 01500: Viacom International
- 01600: NFL Films
- 01700: ABC Video Enterprises
- 01800: Cinema 5 Distributing
- 01900: Filmways Pictures
- 02000: Miscellaneous, including:
- Blue Marble Company
- British Home Entertainment
- Chrysalis Records
- Community Television of Southern California
- Corporation for Entertainment and Learning
- The Cousteau Society
- Dome Productions
- Don Kirshner Productions
- Fantasy Films
- Grateful Dead Productions
- Hartwest Productions
- The Jackson Company
- Learning Corporation of America
- Major League Baseball Productions
- MTM Enterprises
- Quinn Martin Productions
- RBC Films
- Scholastic Productions
- Special Events Entertainment
- Survival Anglia Ltd.
- Tomorrow Entertainment
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- 03000: Columbia Pictures
- 03100: Warner Bros.
- 03200: National Geographic Society
- 03300: Universal Pictures
- 03400: United Artists Corporation (continued)
- 03600: Paramount Pictures (continued)
- 04000: Columbia Pictures (continued)
- 07000: Demo discs
- 08000: New World Video
Library[edit]
1981[edit]
| Catalog number | Title | Country of origin | Original year | Length | Version | MPAA rating | Film format | Disc count | Sound | Color | Released | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00201 | Adam's Rib | USA | 1954 | 101 min | Standard version | NR | Academy | 1 | Mono | Color | March 22, 1981 | TBD |
| 00701 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | USA | 1954 | 118 min | Standard version | G | CinemaScope | 1 | Mono | Color | March 22, 1981 | TBD |
| 00702 | The Absent-Minded Professor | USA | 1961 | 92 min | Standard version | G | Matted 1.75 | 1 | Mono | Color | March 22, 1981 | TBD |