Sony U-matic VO-5850

Sony U-matic VO-5850 recorder-player. Used for video editing with a control panel and a sister unit. A switcher was used with U-matic video decks to edit footage. Two video decks were connected to the switcher, allowing for switching between them. After recording to the U-matic tape in the video camera, the tape was removed and placed into the video deck. Using the editing deck, the footage was edited and transferred to a blank tape on the other recorder. U-matic is a ¾-inch video format. It was a common working format in television production and documentary filmmaking from 1975 until the late 1980s.