Rotary head drum arrangement including a dummy erase head

A rotary head drum arrangement including a dummy erase head, comprising:

• a rotary drum having an outer periphery,
• a first video recording head pair including a pair of video recording heads,
• a first erasing head pair including an erasing head and a dummy head,
• a first audio recording and reproducing head pair including a pair of audio recording and reproducing heads,
• a first video reproducing head pair including a pair of video reproducing heads,
• a second video recording head pair including a pair of video recording heads,
• a second erasing head pair including an erasing head and a dummy head,
• a second audio recording and reproducing head pair including a pair of audio recording and reproducing heads, and
• a second video reproducing head pair including a pair of video reproducing heads,
• the first video recording head pair, the first erasing head pair, the first audio recording and reproducing head pair, the first video reproducing head pair, the second video recording head pair, the second erasing head pair, the second audio recording and reproducing head pair and the second video reproducing head pair being angularly spaced from each other by a first equal angular distance on the outer periphery of the rotary drum and the heads in each pair being spaced from each other by a second equal angular distance.

A rotary head drum arrangement including a dummy erase head, comprising:

• a rotary drum having an outer periphery,
• a recording head set disposed on the outer periphery of the rotary drum and including a plurality of recording heads for recording a signal in accordance with a helical scanning system onto a tape wrapped around and fed along the rotary drum,
• a reproducing head set disposed on the outer periphery of the rotary drum and including a plurality of reproducing heads equal to the number of the recording heads for reproducing the signal recorded on the tape in accordance with the helical scanning system, and
• an erasing head set disposed on the outer periphery of the rotary drum and including an erasing head for erasing record tracks on the tape and a dummy head disposed so that said erasing head set produces an impact error equivalent to an impact error produced by any of the recording head sets and the reproducing head sets, the recording head set, the reproducing head set and the erasing head set being disposed on the outer periphery of the rotary drum such that positions of impact errors produced on the record tracks by the heads of the head sets upon recording the signal are the same as positions of impact errors produced on the record tracks by the heads of the head sets upon reproduction of the signal.