This Ecma Standard specifies the physical and magnetic characteristics of a 12,7 mm wide, 128-track magnetic tape cartridge, to enable interchangeability of such cartridges. It also specifies the quality of the recorded signals, a format – called Digital Linear Tape 3 (DLT 3) – and a recording method.
Together with a labelling standard, for instance Standard ECMA-13 for Magnetic Tape Labelling, it allows full data interchange by means of such magnetic tape cartridges.