NEC DX-5000U
Little is documented about the NEC DX-5000U beyond a detailed test report in High Fidelity (December 1987, p.45). It was a standard-VHS deck, not a Super VHS machine, and it leaned on digital processing to reduce video noise and improve special effects. The review credited it with a number of home-video firsts. One was Delayed Segment Recording, which could postpone the start of a recording by up to 24 hours without explicit programming. Another was digital field memory, which cleaned up still frame, strobe action, and slow motion compared with earlier 6-bit systems. Nearly every function could be controlled remotely, short of loading a tape.
The same magazine's lab work (December 1987, p.49) judged video recording performance excellent at the fastest speed for a standard-VHS deck. Audio output was line-level, with automatic level control limiting output to 0.26 volts. Output impedance was considered fine for any application. A-weighted noise measured 37-39 dB below reference without Dolby, and improved when the deck's noise-reduction system was engaged. Edge-track low-frequency distortion, measured 10 dB below reference, just topped 2 percent.
Beyond that, the record is thin. No pricing, production dates, or NEC documentation for the DX-5000U have surfaced in the Archive's sources. The December 1987 review remains the most complete account of what this machine was and how it performed.
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