This is a partial description of the Sony 9 Pin protocol as supported by Drastic's original VVCR products.  While the basis of this protocol, Sony 9 Pin, has not changed, many of the extended commands have. This document is made available for historic interest only.  For control of current Drastic DDRs, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

There has been a lot of confusion in marketing literature concerning video compression. Most of the confusion stems from a misunderstanding of the math and the terms involved in compression calculations. What follows is a reasonably accurate method for correlating various ways of describing video compression. NOTE: This method may not allow accurate comparison with some manufacturer's hardware specifications, as their calculations have been found to be inaccurate by up to twenty five percent.

Windows MCI VTR Driver

Throughout the early 1990s, Drastic supplied the Windows MCI VTR control driver as an OEM product to companies such as Matrox, HP, Microsoft and many others.  This product is no longer available as an MCI driver, but is part of External VTR Control for Windows/macOS/Linux.

The SMPTE-X Active-X control is no longer offered as a standalone Drastic SDK. Its functionality still exists within the Drastic product line and the below information is provided for reference.

SMPTEX is a time code reader and generator that uses a standard audio board to produce and read SMPTE longitudinal time code (LTC). It provides both a simple interface where the control handles the audio board and a more advanced interface where the caller deals with the audio board. The control is intended to replace the functionality of PC based time code boards (costing as much as one thousand dollars in the old days) without dedicating a slot or being obliged to work with proprietary hardware.