Release/Format

Description

This field describes what kind of medium is a Release distributed on.

The values may be:

Here's an attempt at listing all (most?) known/existing audio formats, and how we map them to our own list:

Name	Date of creation	Rarity	Details	Picture	Map to
Phonograph cylinder	1877	Very rare	Mechanical analog; "hill-and-dale" grooves, vertical stylus motion	/200px-CylinderRecordsWPackage.jpg	Other
Piano roll	1883	Very rare	Mechanical digital	/180px-WelteHandnuancierung.jpg	Other
Gramophone record	1895	Common	Mechanical analog; lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion. The terms LP record (LP, 33, or 33-1/3 rpm record), EP, 16-2/3 rpm record (16), 45 rpm record (45), and 78 rpm record (78) refers to specific types of gramophone records	/156px-Vynil_record.jpg	Vinyl
Wire recording	1898	Rare	Analog; magnetization; no "bias"	/250px-Peirce_wire_recorder.jpg	Other
Reel-to-Reel	1930s	Rare	Analog; magnetization; "bias" dramatically increases linearity/fidelity	/300px-Reel-to-reel_recorder_tc-630.jpg	Reel-to-reel
Magnetic tape	1930s	Common	Analog; magnetization; "bias" dramatically increases linearity/fidelity	180px-Kaseta_magnetofonowa_ubt	Audio cassette
Vinyl record	1948/1957	Common	Is a simple evolution of gramophone record: Analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques (LP, RIAA). Lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion. Monaural were created in 1948, then stereo vinyl came later in 1957: analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques. Combination lateral/vertical stylus motion with each channel encoded 45 degrees to the vertical.	/156px-Vynil_record.jpg	Vinyl