I've mentioned the CED video format in two posts so far, but I didn't really elaborate much on what it is. Essentially, it's a 12" vinyl record containing both video and audio information, rather than just audio like a conventional LP.
RCA's CED technology enabled them to write data to a disc at a density two orders of magnitude higher than that of a phonograph record. It's read by a stylus, much like a phonograph record, although of course the needle has to be much more of a precision instrument in this case. The disc is also spun at a higher speed--instead of the standard 33 1/3 RPM or 45 RPM for phonograph records, CEDs spin at 450 RPM for NTSC and 500 RPM for PAL. Each side of a disc holds up to one hour of video.
Since the discs are very sensitive to dirt, dust and smudges, they're kept in protective plastic caddies that are not intended to be opened by hand. The entire caddy is inserted into the player, which then extracts the disc. After the now-empty caddy is removed, the disc begins to spin and the stylus is advanced to read the disc. After playback of that side is completed, the caddy is reinserted and the player puts the disc back into it for storage.
So what does all of this get you? As it turns out, not a whole lot. Video quality is about on par with VHS; the discs are bulky and heavy by comparison even with LaserDisc (due to the protective caddy); discs and styli wear out over time; and there's virtually no content available on CED that wasn't released on other, more accessible formats. Most of the exclusive material is CED promotional stuff.
Working players tend to be fairly expensive nowadays, and they're a bit fragile to ship. If shipping locks aren't properly installed before mailing a unit, it probably won't work when you get it. Additionally, the belts used to drive the turntable and other functions will almost certainly have degraded into a thick black sludge, so they'll need to be replaced. It's also likely that the stylus will need to be cleaned and/or rebuilt, which only one company on the planet (CEDatum) is still qualified to do. You absolutely must be comfortable popping off the cover and monkeying around inside the player if you want to watch CEDs.
To top it all off, CEDs were only manufactured between and 1981 and 1986, so anything released after that year is unavailable. Due to the limited lifespan of the technology, a whole bunch of stuff released before then didn't get released on CED either.
Why on Earth would anybody want to collect this format then? Well, unless they just think the technology is cool, they probably won't. Seriously. There's almost no reason to own CEDs these days. And this is coming from someone who does have a CED collection. I think it's neat, and that's literally the only justification I can give.
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