Editing Phonograph record (section)

== New sizes and materials after WWII ==
<!--"Vinyl record" redirects here.-->
{{see also|LP record}}
[[File:Cartridge macro shot.jpg|thumb|A 12-inch LP being played. The stylus is in contact with the surface.]]
[[File:12in-LP-Vinyl-Record-Macro-Grooves.jpg|thumb|Grooves on a modern 33&nbsp;rpm record]]
[[File:Columbia7inch 001.jpg|thumb|Uncommon Columbia 7-inch vinyl {{Fraction|33|1|3}}&nbsp;rpm ''microgroove'' ZLP from 1948]]

[[CBS Laboratories]] had long been at work for [[Columbia Records]] to develop a phonograph record that would hold at least 20 minutes per side.<ref>Goldmark, Peter. ''Maverick inventor; My Turbulent Years at CBS''. New York: Saturday Review Press, 1973.</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ben Sisario |author-link=Ben Sisario |title=Howard H. Scott, a Developer of the LP, Dies at 92 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/arts/music/howard-h-scott-a-developer-of-the-lp-dies-at-92.html |quote=Howard H. Scott, who was part of the team at Columbia Records that introduced the long-playing '''vinyl record''' in 1948 before going on to produce albums with the New York Philharmonic, Glenn Gould, Isaac Stern and many other giants of classical music, died on Sept. 22 in Reading, Pa. He was 92. ... |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=6 October 2012 |access-date=8 October 2012 }}</ref>

Research began in 1939, was suspended during World War II, and then resumed in 1945.<ref name=Billboard6.26.48>{{cite web |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/40s/1948/Billboard%201948-06-26.pdf |title=Columbia Diskery, CBS Show Microgroove Platters to Press; Tell How It Began |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine) |Billboard]] |url-status=live |page=3 |date=26 June 1948|access-date=22 June 2022 |archive-date=22 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122051256/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/40s/1948/Billboard%201948-06-26.pdf }}.</ref> [[Columbia Records]] unveiled the LP at a press conference in the [[Waldorf-Astoria]] on 21 June 1948, in two formats: {{convert|10|in|cm|abbr=off}} in diameter, matching that of [[Gramophone record|78&nbsp;rpm]] singles, and {{convert|12|in|cm|abbr=off}} in diameter.<ref name=Billboard6.26.48/><ref name="LoC">[https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2019/04/inside-the-archival-box-the-first-long-playing-disc/ ''The First Long-Playing Disc''] Library of Congress (Congress.gov) (accessdate 21 June 2021)</ref><ref>Marmorstein, Gary. ''The Label: The Story of Columbia Records.'' New York: Thunder's Mouth Press; p. 165.</ref>

[[File:RCA 45 rpm phonograph and record Arthur Fiedler 1949.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Boston Pops]] conductor [[Arthur Fiedler]] demonstrating the new RCA Victor 45&nbsp;rpm player and record in February 1949]]

Unwilling to accept and license Columbia's system, in February 1949, RCA Victor released the first 45&nbsp;rpm single, 7&nbsp;inches in diameter with a large center hole. The 45&nbsp;rpm player included a changing mechanism that allowed multiple disks to be stacked, much as a conventional changer handled 78s. Also like 78s, the short playing time of a single 45&nbsp;rpm side meant that long works, such as symphonies and operas, had to be released on multiple 45s instead of a single LP, but RCA Victor claimed that the new high-speed changer rendered side breaks so brief as to be inconsequential. Early 45&nbsp;rpm records were made from either vinyl or [[polystyrene]].<ref>Peter A Soderbergh, "Olde Records Price Guide 1900–1947", Wallace–Homestead Book Company, Des Moines, Iowa, 1980, pp. 193–194.</ref> They had a playing time of eight minutes.<ref name="Williams">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Trevor I. |title=A Short History of Twentieth-Century Technology, c.&nbsp;1900&nbsp;– c.&nbsp;1950 |url=https://archive.org/details/B-001-000-137/page/n1 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1982 |isbn=0-19-858159-9 }}</ref>

At first the two systems were marketed in competition, in what was called "''The War of the Speeds''".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://atlasrecords.co.uk/blogs/all-about-vinyl/the-war-of-the-speeds | title=The War of the Speeds | date=16 August 2022 }}</ref>  

=== Speeds ===
====Shellac era====
[[File:45rpminsert.jpg|thumb|[[Columbia Records|Columbia]] and [[RCA Victor]]'s competition extended to equipment. Some turntables included [[45 rpm adapter|spindle size adapters]], but other turntables required snap-in inserts like this one to adapt Victor's larger 45&nbsp;rpm spindle size to the smaller spindle size available on nearly all turntables.<ref name="spindle">{{cite web |url=http://arcmusic.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/the-45-adaptor/ |title=The 45 Adaptor |website= ARChive of Contemporary Music, or "Would You Take My Mind Out for a Walk" |date=20 March 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310142228/https://arcmusic.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/the-45-adaptor/ |archive-date=10 March 2016 }}</ref> Shown is one popular design in use for many years.]]

The older 78 rpm format continued to be mass-produced alongside the newer formats using new materials in decreasing numbers until the summer of 1958 in the U.S., and in a few countries, such as the [[Philippines]] and [[India]] (both countries issued recordings by [[the Beatles]] on 78s), into the late 1960s. For example, [[Columbia Records]]' last reissue of [[Frank Sinatra]] songs on 78&nbsp;rpm records was an album called ''Young at Heart'', issued in November 1954.<ref name="ReferenceA">''(Book)'', "Frank Sinatra: The Columbia Years: 1943–1952: The Complete Recordings", unnumbered at back.</ref>

====Microgroove and vinyl era====
[[File:1959 Seeburg 16 rpm record.jpg|thumb|left|1959 [[Seeburg Corporation|Seeburg]] 16&nbsp;rpm record (label only)]]

Columbia and RCA Victor each pursued their [[R&D]] secretly.<ref name="Popular Science 1949">{{Cite journal |last=Gorman |first=Robert |title=What's What in the Platter Battle |journal=Popular Science |volume=154 |issue=5 |pages=132–133 |date=May 1949 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZiQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA132 |issn=0161-7370 |publisher=Bonnier Corporation}}</ref> 

The commercial rivalry between RCA Victor and Columbia Records led to RCA Victor's introduction of what it had intended to be a competing vinyl format, the 7-inch (175&nbsp;mm) 45&nbsp;rpm disc, with a much larger center hole. For a two-year period from 1948 to 1950, record companies and consumers faced uncertainty over which of these formats would ultimately prevail in what was known as the "War of the Speeds" (see also [[Format war]]). In 1949 Capitol and Decca adopted the new LP format and RCA Victor gave in and issued its first LP in January 1950. The 45&nbsp;rpm size was gaining in popularity, too, and Columbia issued its first 45s in February 1951. By 1954, 200 million 45s had been sold.<ref>Soderbergh, p. 194.</ref>

Eventually the 12-inch (300&nbsp;mm) {{Fraction|33|1|3}}&nbsp;rpm LP prevailed as the dominant format for musical albums, and 10-inch LPs were no longer issued. The last [[Columbia Records]] reissue of any [[Frank Sinatra]] songs on a 10-inch LP record was an album called ''Hall of Fame'', CL 2600, issued on 26 October 1956, containing six songs, one each by [[Tony Bennett]], [[Rosemary Clooney]], [[Johnnie Ray]], [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Doris Day]], and [[Frankie Laine]].<ref name="ReferenceA" />

[[File:45rpm.jpg|thumb|45 rpm vinyl record from 1965]]

The 45&nbsp;rpm discs also came in a variety known as [[extended play]] (EP), which achieved up to 10–15 minutes play at the expense of attenuating (and possibly compressing) the sound to reduce the width required by the groove. EP discs were cheaper to produce and were used in cases where unit sales were likely to be more limited or to reissue LP albums on the smaller format for those people who had only 45&nbsp;rpm players. LP albums could be purchased one EP at a time, with four items per EP, or in a boxed set with three EPs or twelve items. The large center hole on 45s allows easier handling by [[jukebox]] mechanisms. EPs were generally discontinued by the late 1950s in the U.S. as three- and four-speed record players replaced the individual 45 players. One indication of the decline of the 45&nbsp;rpm EP is that the last [[Columbia Records]] reissue of [[Frank Sinatra]] songs on 45&nbsp;rpm EP records, called ''Frank Sinatra'' (Columbia B-2641) was issued on 7 December 1959.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

The [[Seeburg Corporation]] introduced the [[Seeburg 1000|Seeburg Background Music System]] in 1959, using a {{Fraction|16|2|3}}&nbsp;rpm 9-inch record with 2-inch center hole. Each record held 40 minutes of music per side, recorded at 420 grooves per inch.<ref>{{Cite news |last = Biro |first = Nick |title = Seeburg Background Music Move Part of Diversification Program|newspaper=Billboard|location = New York|page=67|date=20 July 1959 }}</ref>

From the mid-1950s through the 1960s, in the U.S. the common home record player or "stereo" (after the introduction of stereo recording) would typically have had these features: a three- or four-speed player (78, 45, {{Fraction|33|1|3}}, and sometimes {{Fraction|16|2|3}}&nbsp;rpm); with changer, a tall spindle that would hold several records and automatically drop a new record on top of the previous one when it had finished playing, a combination cartridge with both 78 and microgroove styli and a way to flip between the two; and some kind of adapter for playing the 45s with their larger center hole. The adapter could be a small solid circle that fit onto the bottom of the spindle (meaning only one 45 could be played at a time) or a larger adapter that fit over the entire spindle, permitting a stack of 45s to be played.<ref name="spindle" />

RCA Victor 45s were also adapted to the smaller spindle of an LP player with a plastic snap-in insert known as a "[[45 rpm adapter]]".<ref name="spindle" /> These inserts were commissioned by RCA president [[David Sarnoff]] and were invented by Thomas Hutchison.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

[[Capacitance Electronic Disc]]s were [[videodisc]]s invented by RCA, based on mechanically tracked ultra-microgrooves (9541 grooves/inch) on a 12-inch conductive vinyl disc.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html#onethree |title=RCA SelectaVision VideoDisc FAQ |website=Cedmagic.com |access-date=7 May 2015 }}</ref>

===High fidelity===
{{Further|High fidelity}}

The term "high fidelity" was coined in the 1920s by some manufacturers of radio receivers and phonographs to differentiate their better-sounding products claimed as providing "perfect" sound reproduction.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZmjkJwxyWcC&pg=PA94 |page=94 |title=Sound recording: the life story of a technology|last=Morton|first=David L. Jr.|publisher=JHU Press |year=2006 |isbn=0-8018-8398-9|series=Greenwood technographies |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510065232/https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZmjkJwxyWcC&pg=PA94|archive-date=10 May 2016 }}</ref> The term began to be used by some audio engineers and consumers through the 1930s and 1940s. After 1949 a variety of improvements in recording and playback technologies, especially stereo recordings, which became widely available in 1958, gave a boost to the "hi-fi" classification of products, leading to sales of individual components for the home such as amplifiers, loudspeakers, phonographs, and tape players.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MwHCqVcERYC&pg=PR15 |page=xv–xvi |title=Audio signal processing and coding |last1=Spanias |first1=Andreas |first2=Ted |last2=Painter |first3=Venkatraman |last3=Atti |publisher=Wiley-Interscience |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-471-79147-8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511021926/https://books.google.com/books?id=6MwHCqVcERYC&pg=PR15 |archive-date=11 May 2016 }}</ref> [[High Fidelity (magazine)|''High Fidelity'']] and [[Audio (magazine)|''Audio'']] were two magazines that hi-fi consumers and engineers could read for reviews of playback equipment and recordings.

===Stereophonic sound===
[[File:Plattenschrift en.svg|thumb|Decoding the left channel]]

A [[stereophonic]] phonograph provides two channels of audio, one left and one right. This is achieved by adding another vertical dimension of movement to the needle in addition to the horizontal one. As a result, the needle now moves not only left and right, but also up and down. But since those two dimensions do not have the same sensitivity to vibration, the difference needs to be evened out by having each channel take half its information from each direction by turning the channels 45 degrees from horizontal.<ref name=VRS>{{cite web|url=http://www.vinylrecorder.com/stereo.html|title=Stereo disc recording|access-date=4 October 2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925145519/http://www.vinylrecorder.com/stereo.html|archive-date=25 September 2006}}</ref>

As a result of the 45-degree turn and some [[vector addition]], it can be demonstrated that out of the new horizontal and vertical directions, one would represent the sum of the two channels, and the other representing the difference. Record makers decide to pick the directions such that the traditional horizontal direction codes for the sum. As a result, an ordinary mono disk is decoded correctly as "no difference between channels", and an ordinary mono player would simply play the sum of a stereophonic record without too much loss of information.<ref name=VRS/>

In 1957 the first commercial [[stereo]] two-channel records were issued first by Audio Fidelity followed by a translucent blue vinyl on Bel Canto Records, the first of which was a multi-colored-vinyl sampler featuring A Stereo Tour of Los Angeles narrated by [[Jack Wagner (announcer)|Jack Wagner]] on one side, and a collection of tracks from various Bel Canto albums on the back.<ref>Reed, Peter Hugh (1958). ''American record guide'', p. 205.</ref>

===Noise reduction systems===
A similar scheme aiming at the high-end audiophile market, and achieving a noise reduction of about 20 to 25&nbsp;dB(A)<!-- for a maximum dynamic range of up to 100 dB -->, was the [[Telefunken]]/[[Nakamichi]] [[High-Com II]] [[Audio noise reduction|noise reduction]] system being adapted to vinyl in 1979. A decoder was commercially available<ref name="Nakamichi_High-Com_II" /> but only one demo record<ref name="Nakamichi_1979_NAK-100" /> is known to have been produced in this format.

The availability of encoded disks in any of these formats stopped in the mid-1980s.<ref name="Taylor_2017" />

Yet another noise reduction system for vinyl records was the [[UC compander system]] developed by {{lang|de|Zentrum Wissenschaft und Technik}} (ZWT) of {{ill|Rundfunk- und Fernmelde-Technik{{!}}''Kombinat Rundfunk und Fernsehen''|de|Rundfunk- und Fernmelde-Technik}} (RFT).<ref name="Hohmuth_1987" /> The system deliberately reduced disk noise by 10 to 12&nbsp;dB(A) only<ref name="Milde_1987"/> to remain virtually free of recognizable acoustical artifacts even when records were played back without an UC expander. In fact, the system was undocumented yet introduced into the market by several East-German record labels since 1983.<ref name="Milde_1987" /><ref name="Wonneberg_2000" /><ref name="Mueller_2018" /> Over 500 UC-encoded titles were produced<ref name="Wonneberg_2000" /> without an expander becoming available to the public. The only<ref name="Mueller_2018" /> UC expander was built into a turntable manufactured by {{lang|de|Phonotechnik Pirna/Zittau}}.<ref name="Seiffert_2013" />