Ruvi

The Sony Ruvi was an analog video and still video camera released in 1998. The Ruvi was considerably smaller than any other camcorder available at the time, at 124 × 66 × 44.1 mm and 380g. "Ruvi" is an abbreviation of "Recording Unit by Video".

The small size was achieved by making the tape essentially non-removable. A miniature "video cartridge" contained 30 minutes of Hi8 tape permanently loaded around a conventional helical scan record head. The head itself was part of cartridge, negating the need for a loading mechanism. Although user-replaceable, the cartridge was intended to be a service part and not a form of removable media.

The Ruvi had several innovative features. It could record up to 350 stills on the cartridge, and a search function would display them all in sequence. An End Search button automatically located the end of recorded material, ready for new recordings.

Only one model was ever produced, the CCD-CR1, before the system was discontinued in 1999.

Popular culture

In Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, the head of CERN uses a Ruvi in the climax to record the Camerlengo's confession.