Apparatus for searching a piece of information recorded on a magnetic tape

摘要

Apparatus and method for determining if a particular piece on a magnetic recording medium is to be played back or not. The medium includes plural pieces having starting locations randomly positioned and spaced along the length of the medium. Successive pieces from the medium are played back at higher speed than one can be perceived by an operator. From each piece played back at the higher speed there is sensed when a magnetic flux transition to none of the flux variations occurs between the end of each piece and the beginning of the next piece. In response to the sensed transition the speed of the medium is reduced to a normal playback speed for the operation. The normal playback speed is maintained for a predetermined interval at the beginning of the next piece. The interval is long enough to enable the operator to make a decision regarding the next piece. When the interval is completed, high speed playback is normally automatically resumed until the completion of the next piece.