U-Matic

U-Matic was first released back in 1971 as a means of recording analogue, and is a material that is still found in archive collections today. TownsWeb Archiving’s U-Matic digitisation service uses expert scanning technicians to capture and then convert content to digital. Just like VHS, U-Matic is prone to deterioration as a result of time, continued use, and inadequate storage conditions, and this can greatly impact the quality and content contained within. Turning your U-Matic cassettes to digital is a prudent step in protecting your material and safeguarding it from loss. It also primes it for online publishing and access, which can be achieved through our PastView platform.

DRs Kulturarvsprojekt from Copenhagen, Danmark, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hear what our clients have to say about our digitisation services

For us, knowing that VHS tapes were degrading at such a rate, meant the loss of crucial, firsthand, eye witness testimony. This stressful fact was relieved whilst working with Townsweb who dealt with all aspects of this project with expertise, thought and care.

Aneesa Riffat

Curator

We are delighted with the results. Without TownsWeb Archiving’s services we could not have completed the work in time and on budget. Their staff have been nothing but approachable, helpful and attentive and I can strongly recommend their services.

Martin Devereux

Head of Digital

TownsWeb offered us a complete end-to-end service, from scanning and transcription, to web design and content management software. Their work was completed quickly and to a high standard, and we are extremely pleased with the results.

Lisa Keys

Exhibition and Display Officer

Capture the data within your U-Matic collection

Digitisation places your U-Matic collection in the perfect format to capture the valuable data contained within it, offering great potential for system integration and online access and discovery.

We can capture the data within your collection with audio visual transcription. Identifying every spoken word, our specialist software captures and converts audio in a speech-to-text conversion, transcribing any text format and creating a permanent, secure and highly accurate record. Every spoken word can also be time stamped, making your audio content completely searchable.

Learn more about Audio Visual Transcription

Publish your U-Matic collection online

PastView is the perfect platform for publishing your U-Matic online, offering great potential for access and discovery. Manage and publish your collection with:

Media Player: create engaging ways to discover your digitised and born-digital AV collections
Item Metadata: assigning attributes to create an efficient collection structure
Linked Relations: making the connections between your items that will broaden search results
Digital Downloads: making select items uniquely accessible in order to generate revenue