Archives have strived to digitise all their Quadruplex tapes before the format becomes completely obsolete due to lack of equipment and loss of skills. Despite their best efforts, many tapes remain locked in their vault, their content untouched, and the worldwide supply of spare parts and heads is quickly dwindling.
For archives engaging in digitising their remaining quadruplex tapes, many upended questions, with fewer people able to answer them, arise: Who still has the capacity to play back 2inch tapes? How to deal with the multiple sub-types and standards? What would be the cost and resources needed to embark in such a project? Can new digital tools compensate for lack of equipment?
This discussion panel, which aims to be the launching pad of further exchanges, will be led by experts (to be selected) from various backgrounds, such as archive institutions or service providers - all confronted to the challenge of quadruplex obsolescence in different ways.
