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CED in the History of Media Technology

RCA applied for three patents on the CED system on March 22, 1971, exactly ten years to the day prior to the market introduction of RCA VideoDiscs in 1981. Of the three patents, US Patent No. 3842194: INFORMATION RECORDS AND RECORDING/PLAYBACK SYSTEMS THEREFOR can be considered the seminal CED patent, as it is referenced in hundreds of the approximately 700 CED patents that followed. These patents are all listed in the CED Patents Table.

The above image contains Figures 1 and 2 from the original patent, and illustrates how the stylus rides in the hill-and-dale groove of the VideoDisc. This patent was applied for by Dr. Jon Clemens of RCA Laboratories, who was one of the original CED pioneers, and went on to receive many more patents on the CED system.