Longitudinal time code. This is the time code recorded on a longitudinal track of the tape. It consists of a number that indicates hours, minutes, seconds and frames. The information included in the LTC is the time code itself plus the User Bits, the synchronization and the dedicated and/or unallocated bits.
In professional video systems, the time code is recorded on an audio track or a dedicated longitudinal track.
In modern magnetoscopes it is a digital signal encoded with a size of 80 bits per frame. Under the PAL/SECAM standard, a second of this information is made up of 2000 bits.