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Show new video By Joe Saltzman The home video industry is still reeling over RCAs sudden announcement that it will no longer manufacture the CED videodisc machine it pioneered. It was a shocking announcement from a company that as recently as last month was boasting about CEDs potential. Since the system was launched in March 1981, with one monaural player model (priced at $499) and a catalogue of 100 titles, consumers have bought more than 500,000 videodisc players and 11 million CED videodiscs. Today there are more than 1,200 CED titles available and four RCA models, including the brand-neTCA SJT-40a much 0, touted interactive CED player. RCA officials say the company will continue to manufacture CED discs. But who will make the machines? Originally RCA was joined by Elmo, Radio Shack, Sanyo, Toshiba, Sears and Hitachi in manufacturing CED videodisc machines. By 1984, only RCA, Sears and Hitachi were left. About 140,000 RCA players are still in stock. RCA alone has shipped more than seven million videodiscs under its own label. It also presses thousands of discs for other home video labels. From the beginning, critics have carped that the CED (for capacitance electronic disc) system was an idea updated for the video . revolution. It uses a technology similar to that of conventional audio information recorded onto grooves. A unique packaging concept made it possible for consumer to never touch the disc. RCA invested more than $150 million in research and production to bring the CED to market three years ago. The CED videodisc was imcompati-blwith a more advanced videodisc system, the LV (for LaserVision or ) system, one of the most exciting pieces of video hardware yet made available for the home. LaserDiscs use a laser beam of light to pick up coded signals embedded e Laser-Optical- in the disc surface. LaserDiscs of- fered the first videodiscs on the market. The software, however, left much to be desired only 600 LV titles - compared to the 1,200 CED and 4,500 videotape titles. Video distributors have been reluctant to support videodiscs because they believe videodiscs are not truly competitive with videotape recorders (VCRs). The major reason is that VCRs can record as well as play back material. There are also more titles available on videotape and cheap rental of videotapes also has cut into the videodisc market. The unique potential of interactive videodiscs has been slow to develop. What should the consumer who owns a CED machine and an extensive CED videodisc library do now? promises to continue pressing videodiscs and there is still a good supply of CED machines in the Well, RCA stores. The RCA CED machine is still the perfect movie machine for the average family. RCA has one of the least expensive and best libraries of old motion pictures available. Stripped-dowCED machines sell for under n $150 and classic films, such as "The Big Sleep, Casablanca, Rebel Without a King Kong," Cause," "The Maltese Falcon," and hundreds of others are available for less than $20 apiece. The picture and sound are vastly superior to videotape. CED videodisc sales have always surpassed expectations. RCA counted on a mass-marke- t audience to make the CED system work and some experts felt, in time, that the concept would work. What will happen now? Other com- panies may start producing the machines, but RCA's CED videodisc appears to be the first major casualty of the home video revolution. One expert put it this way: Player sales will slow down until the dust clears and we see who, if anyone, will pick up the slack. The discs will probably sell more. Everyone who owns a CED machine will want to go out and buy every disc they can get their hands on." Not a bad idea. In 50 years, a CED collection could be worth its weight in gold. And that CED machine may become as valuable an antique as those original Edison talking machine. Videotapes. Meanwhile, videocassette recorder sales are racing along moving from a specialty item to a t appliance. VCR sales for the first three months of the year are up 84 percent over the mass-marke- year before. Dealers have already bought more than a million units. By the end of the year, experts are predicting that there will be almost 17 million American households owning at least one VCR. That would break the 20 percent penetration mark, the number most experts say takes an item from the specialty category and catapults it into the mass market. Optimistic estimates were that more than five million VCRs would sell this year. That would have been about a 40 percent increase ovei 1983. But now, the figures indicate that nearly 10 million machines will be sold. By any count, that is an explosion bringing the home video revolution into the lives of one of every four Americans. 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