RCA SelectaVision Mono Service Alignment Disc
This Service Alignment Disc was created to troubleshoot problems with the SelectaVision player, which was created by RCA (Radio Corporation of America) in the 1960s and marketed to the public from 1981-1986. This machine was an analog system created to view video through capacitance electronic discs (CEDs) called VideoDiscs; it was essentially a vinyl record player that would generate moving pictures as opposed to music when connected to a television. Unlike vinyl records, SelectaVision VideoDiscs are housed within an outer plastic shell (what is seen in the included photos) that cannot be removed by users, only by the machine once it is fully inside the appliance. Engineers designed the discs this way to ensure that they would have little exposure to dust, as this could cause skipping in playback. The designer for the outer caddy of the Service Alignment Disc pictured here is unknown.
The Service Alignment Disc would run through various segments of set video and audio signals when inserted into the machine. This allowed for anyone servicing a broken SelectaVision player to determine what was wrong with their machine, as they could reference the information for the “Stereo/mono Service Alignment Disc Content” on the back of the disc, locating the information under the “Service Application” column on the far right when the content for the segment did not align with what was listed for the section’s properly functioning video and audio content.
Due to the introduction of the more user-friendly VCR, RCA’s SelectaVision player and VideoDiscs became obsolete quickly and cost the company a large amount of money; RCA discontinued their production in 1986.
