IVC saw a chance to make a VTR that would have the quality of the then-standard 2 inch Quadruplex videotape format but with the advantages of helical scan.

[6] [7] The 9000 was one of the first analog video recorders utilized for electronic film production using analog high-resolution wideband video standards (such as the 655/48 standard mentioned previously), predating DI (digital intermediate) film production systems in use today.

The 9000, in its regular 525-line & 60-field-per-second NTSC configuration, was also used for mastering some of the first laserdiscs released by Discovision in 1978 due to the format's high quality.

However, Discovision abandoned the format a few years later in favor of 1" Type C videotape, due to service & support for the 9000 machines becoming unavailable after IVC went out of business in the early 80s, and also due to the growing industry support for the newer 1" Type C format.

800 series are reel-to-reel helical 'mid band' color portable TVR using 1 inch/25mm tape running at 17.2 cm per second/6.77 inches/second.