Photo & Video in swiss Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems. which were quickly replaced by cathode ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a live technology. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing one of the first practical video tape recorder (VTR). In 1951 the first video tape recorder captured live images from television cameras by converting the camera's electrical impulses and saving the information onto magnetic video tape. Video recorders were sold for US $50,000 in 1956, and videotapes cost US $300 per one-hour reel. However, prices gradually dropped over the years; in 1971, So nybegan selling video cassette recorder (VCR) decks and tapes into the consumer market.