![]() ![]() īetamax also had a significant part to play in the music recording industry, when Sony introduced its PCM ( pulse-code modulation) digital recording system as an encoding box/ PCM adaptor that connected to a Betamax recorder. However, in the key area of video recording, Betacam and Betamax use completely different on-tape formats. Betacam and Betamax are similar in some ways- early versions of Betacam used the same video cassette shape, used the same oxide tape formulation with the same coercivity, and recorded linear audio tracks in the same location of the tape. Released in 1982, Betacam became the most widely used videotape format in ENG (electronic news gathering), replacing the. The early-form Betacam tapes (left) are interchangeable with Betamax (right), though the recordings are not.įor the professional and broadcast video industry, Sony derived Betacam from Betamax. The arrival of Betacam reduced the demand for both industrial Beta and U-Matic equipment. These were aimed at the same market as U-Matic equipment, but were cheaper and smaller. Sony also offered a range of industrial Betamax products, a Beta I-only format for industrial and institutional users. The department stores Sears (in the United States and Canada) and Quelle (in Germany) sold Beta-format VCRs under their house brands, as did the RadioShack chain of electronic stores. Zenith Electronics and WEGA contracted with Sony to produce VCRs for their product lines. In addition to Sony and Sanyo, Beta-format video recorders were manufactured and sold by Toshiba, Pioneer, Murphy, Aiwa, and NEC. Sanyo marketed its own Betamax-compatible recorders under the Betacord brand (also casually referred to as "Beta"). BetaScan was originally called "Videola" until the company that made the Moviola threatened legal action. BetaSkipScan (Peep Search) is now available on miniature M-load formats, but even Sony was unable to fully replicate this on VHS. Sony believed that the M-Load transports used by VHS machines made copying these trick modes impossible. This feature is discussed in more detail on Peep Search. Initially, Sony was able to tout several Betamax-only features, such as BetaScan-a high-speed picture search in either direction-and BetaSkipScan, a technique that allowed the operator to see where they were on the tape by pressing the FF key (or REW, if in that mode): the transport would switch into the BetaScan mode until the key was released. ![]() ![]() The SL-8200 was to compete against the VHS VCRs, which allowed up to 4, and later 6 and 8, hours of recording on one cassette. This VCR had two recording speeds: normal, and the newer half speed. In 1977, Sony issued the first long-play Betamax VCR, the SL-8200. The suffix -max, from the word "maximum", was added to suggest greatness. According to Sony's history webpages, the name had a double meaning: beta is the Japanese word used to describe the way in which signals are recorded on the tape and the shape of the lowercase Greek letter beta (β) resembles the course of the tape through the transport. Like the rival videotape format VHS (introduced in Japan by JVC in September 1976 and in the United States by RCA in August 1977), Betamax has no guard band and uses azimuth recording to reduce crosstalk. The cassettes contain 0.50-inch-wide (12.7 mm) videotape in a design similar to that of the earlier, professional 0.75-inch-wide (19 mm), U-matic format. The first Betamax VCR introduced in the United States was the LV-1901 model, which included a 19-inch (48 cm) Trinitron television, and appeared in stores in early November 1975. Front and side of a Betamax cassette, without labels attached The underside of a Betamax cassette Launch and early models ![]() Top to bottom: SL-2000 portable with TT-2000 tuner/timer "Base Station" (1982) SL-HF 300 Betamax HiFi unit (1984) SL-HF 360 SuperBeta HiFi unit (1988). Original version Three Sony Betamax VCRs built for the American market. Sony continued to sell Betamax cassettes until March 2016. ĭespite this, Betamax recorders continued to be manufactured and sold until August 2002, when Sony announced that they were discontinuing production of all remaining Betamax models. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, followed by the US in November of the same year.īetamax is widely considered to be obsolete, having lost the videotape format war which saw its closest rival, VHS, dominate most markets. Recorders discontinued August 2002 Blank cassettes discontinued March 2016īetamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. For the Philippine street food, see Filipino cuisine § Pulutan accompaniments snack for drinks. ![]()
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