Video cassette with optical output of information

Apparatus for providing an electronic read-out of information stored in a record housing, said apparatus comprising, in combination, encoding means in said housing for encoding said information into a coded form consisting of electrical signals;

• optical means responsive to said electrical signals for producing corresponding coded optical signals, said housing having access means to permit detection of said optical signals from outside of said housing by an optical code detection device, in which said housing is a video tape cassette which contains video tape and at least one tape reel to wind said video tape on, detecting means for detecting each time when the tape has been placed for substantially one full play of a program recorded on said tape and creating a corresponding output signal, means in said cassette for counting and storing said output signals over a period of time, and delivering a signal representing the total count to said encoding means.

Apparatus for providing an electronic read-out of information stored in a record housing, said apparatus comprising, in combination, encoding means in said housing for encoding said information into a coded form consisting of electrical signals;

• optical means responsive to said electrical signals for producing corresponding coded optical signals, said housing having access means to permit detection of said optical signals from outside of said housing by an optical code detection device, in which said housing is a tape cassette with a tape reel having a drive hub with a drive socket, in which said optical means is located at the center of said hub, said access means being located in said drive socket so as to be accessible to a code-reading probe from outside of said cassette.

Apparatus for providing an electronic read-out of information stored in a record housing, said apparatus comprising, in combination, encoding means in said housing for encoding said information into a coded form consisting of electrical signals;

• optical means responsive to said electrical signals for producing corresponding coded optical signals, said housing having access means to permit detection of said optical signals from outside of said housing by an optical code detection device, in which said electrical signals are formed into a series of pulses, said optical means being adapted to produce pulses of optical radiation from a single source and simulate a bar-code when read by a bar-code scanner, and said optical code detection device is a bar-code scanner.

Apparatus for providing an electronic read-out of information stored in a record housing, said apparatus comprising, in combination, encoding means in said housing for encoding said information into a coded form consisting of electrical signals;

• optical means responsive to said electrical signals for producing corresponding coded optical signals, said housing having access means to permit detection of said optical signals from outside of said housing by an optical code detection device, in which said optical means comprises means for changing the reflectivity of a surface in response to said electrical signals, in which said optical means comprises a liquid crystal display device adapted to produce a display selected from the group consisting of an array comprising a bar code capable of being scanned by a bar-code scanner, and a single spot capable of changing its reflectivity in response to a series of times signals so as to simulate a bar code to a stationary bar-code scanner.