This International Standard specifies the physical and magnetic characteristics of a 12,7 mm wide, 18-track magnetic tape cartridge, to enable interchangeability of such cartridges. It also specifies the quality of the recorded signals, the format and the recording method, thus allowing, together with ISO 1001, full data interchange by means of such magnetic tape cartridges.
The cartridge and recording method are identical with those described in ISO 9661. This International Standard specifies extensions to the transformation of data before it is formatted as in ISO 9661.
These extensions
- specify a method for increasing the utilization of the tape by combining smaller blocks of data into extended blocks;
- specify a method for identifying whether the recorded data has been processed and, if it has been processed, the algorithm used for processing;
- specify a method for including recorded data blocks conforming to this International Standard and recorded data blocks conforming to ISO 9661 on the same tape.
The pe missible routes for the flow of data are shown in annex H.