Recording rods, also known as recording units, were long, clear cylindrical tubes that recorded and played audio and visual images. The data was stored in chips or storage crystals and the recording material played in two-dimensions on the exterior of the rod. The controls were located on the ends of the rod.
Recording rods were devices for personal use that were capable of recording hours of audio and video. The recordings could then be played back on standard audio, video, or holoprojectors. Recording rods used datachips and storage crystals to store their data.
Mass-market recording rods offered good-quality recording at reasonable prices. More specialized recording rods were also available, ranging from miniaturized units to professional-grade models that were used in the entertainment and news industries. These models could cost hundreds of credits apiece, and included equipment such as better recording optics and audio pickups and enhanced storage capacity that could hold up to a thousand hours of data.
Recording rods had multiple uses, ranging from the personal such as sending messages to friends and family, and maintaining personal logs and diaries. They were used by scouts and police officers during missions and investigations, as well as to record official governmental and corporate meetings. TaggeCo. produced the PersonalAssistant-4x recording rod.