Abstract: A device for supporting and guiding a collimator, particularly for a collimator designed to be installed on the ceiling of an aircraft. A collimator follows a complex predefined trajectory in a three-dimensional space (X, Y, Z ) with up to six degrees of freedom, between a given operational position and a stored position. The device includes a first structure (3) attached to the aircraft having three guiding grooves, a first central groove (30) following a plane trajectory in a first plane (X, Y), and two lateral grooves (31, 32) on opposite sides of the central groove which follow second and third trajectories located in two planes perpendicular to the first plane. A second structure (4) rigidly attached to the collimator (1) moves along grooves by means of rollers (8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10), the number and shape of which enable the second structure to have six degrees of freedom along the complex trajectory.

Abstract: A method for recording and reproducing compressed data to improve the utilization of the storage capacity of a moving recording medium. The data are compressed prior to a recording step. Prior to reproduction the data are expanded to retrieve the original data signal. To increase the storage capacity of the recording medium even further, the velocity of the recording medium is regulated as a function of the degree of compression. With a high degree of compression, a smaller velocity of the recording medium is selected, than with a low degree of compression.

Abstract: A two channel circuit and method for the automatic edit optimization of a recording medium which is operable with a recorder such as a video tape recorder or a disc recorder, utilizes a first channel means including an automatic scan tracking playback head and a second channel means including a record head. First and second rf peak signals indicative of variations in the stored data patterns in the medium are generated for the two channels. The gain of a variable gain amplifier coupled to the automatic scan tracking playback head is adjusted in accordance with a first correction signal derived from the generated first rf peak signal. The gain of a variable gain amplifier coupled to the record head is adjusted in accordance with a second correction signal derived from the generated second rf peak signal.