PCM encoder visualization with various test tones

The purpose of this video is to demonstrate the various patterns that appear when running various test tones into a PCM encoder (also called a PCM adaptor).
This video was made by capturing the video output of the Sony PCM-501ES into a Canopus ADVC110. Ideally it would be captured at 60fps but for now I am only able to capture at 30 fps. Another note is that since this is SD the highest resolution possible is 720p without an upscaler. Also, the nature of digital video compression maks video like this not look great when one of the lower resolutions is autoselected, so select 720p for the best quality. The audio is direct from the test tone file that was created to see the visualizations, not from a decoded recording.
If you have a VHS or Betacam tape that looks like this but has no audio it is a digital audio tape recorded with a PCM encoder recorded on the video track. You can contact us to have your tape decoded into stereo wav files.
Three bands represent the left channel and three more represent the right channel. You may notice that each band for one channel is offset vertically from the next. The offsent and the multiple bands are a redundancy measure since any tape defects would cause distortion horizontally. The last band in a checksum. The rest of the area, the pattern that looks like noise, on the right, is data as well.

[@SO_DIGITAL]

Oh cool! I did something similar.

[@deepsignalstudios]

Learn more at www.deepsignalstudios.com/audio-services/pcm-encoded-vhs-beta-digital-audio-tapes