Sony VO-3800, was released in 1974. This model ushered in the era of ENG, or electronic news gathering, which eventually made obsolete the previous 16mm film cameras normally used for on-location television news gathering. Film required developing which took time, compared to the instantly available playback of videotape, making faster breaking news possible. Models U-matic is also available in a smaller cassette size, officially known as U-Matic S. Much like VHS-C, U-Matic S was developed as a more portable version of U-Matic, to be used in smaller-sized S-format recorders such as the aforementioned Sony VO-3800, as well as the later VO-4800, VO-6800, VO-8800, BVU-50, BVU-100 and BVU-150 models from Sony, among others from Sony, Panasonic, JVC and other manufacturers. To minimise weight and bulk in the field, portable recorders had an external AC power supply, or could be operated from rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. S-format tapes could be played back in older top-loading standard U-Matic decks with the aid of an adapter (the KCA-1 from Sony) which fitted around an S-sized tape; newer front-loading machines can accept S-format tapes directly, as the tapes have a slot on the underside that rides along a tab. The standard cassette employed only one flange for each reel - top flange on the pickup reel and bottom flange on the supply reel. This allowed the reels to overlap like in Compact Cassette, making the design more space-efficient. JVC explored similar approach for an early version of VHS cassette, but abandoned it in favor of full-flanged cassette, because such an arrangement created unnecessary friction between the edge of the tape and the inner surface of the cassette. In the U-Matic cassette friction was reduced by the reels, having overlapping flanges, rotating in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, the U-Matic S cassette acquired traditional double-flange reels, which reduced the amount of tape that could be loaded, and as such, the duration of recording. U-Matic S tapes had a maximum recording time of 20 minutes, and large ones 1-hour, although some tape manufacturers such as 3M came out with 30-minute S-tapes and 75-minute large cassettes (and DuPont even managed 90-minute tapes) by using a thinner tape. It was the U-Matic S-format decks that ushered in the beginning of ENG, or electronic news gathering. The price point of the VO series was oriented toward educational, corporate and industrial fields, featured unbalanced audio connectors, and did not typically include SMPTE time