The device used to perform this function was called a "drop-out compensator".

The advent of compressed digital video systems finally eliminated the need for line-based drop-out compensators.

Dedicated drop-out compensators were eventually superseded by the incorporation of drop-out compensation functionality into timebase correctors based on analog-to-digital conversion and digital line stores.

One year earlier Hitachi introduced an expensive industrial player with a laser diode, but the player, which had poor picture quality due to an inadequate drop-out compensator, was made only in limited quantities.

A drop-out compensator is an error concealment device that was commonly used in the analog video era to hide brief RF signal "drop-outs" on videotape playback caused by imperfections in or damage to the tape's magnetic coating.