Videotape

electromechanical device

thumb|300px|An assortment of videotapes

Betamax (also known as Beta, and stylized as the Greek letter β in its logo) is a discontinued consumer analog videocassette recording format developed by Sony. It was one of the main competitors in the videotape format war against its primary rival, VHS. Betamax was introduced in Japan on May 10, 1975, and launched in the United States later that year.

video cassette format

Super VHS, commonly abbreviated as S-VHS, is an analog video cassette format introduced by JVC in 1987 as a more developed version of the VHS (Video Home System) format. S-VHS improved image quality by increasing the bandwidth of the luminance (brightness) signal, allowing for a resolution of approximately 400 horizontal lines, compared to the 240 lines typical of VHS. The format used the same physical cassette shell as VHS but required higher-grade magnetic tape and compatible recording and playback equipment.

family of video recording formats for 8mm magnetic tape

magnetic tape-based videocassette format

VHS-C is a compact version of the VHS videocassette format, introduced by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) in 1982, and used primarily in consumer-grade analog recording camcorders. VHS-C uses the same magnetic tape as full-size VHS cassettes and can be played in a regular VHS VCR using an adapter. An improved version named S-VHS-C was also developed. VHS-C's main competitor was Sony's Video8 format, but both were eventually displaced in the consumer market by the digital MiniDV format, which offered a smaller form factor.

1970's and 1980's period of intense competition over videotape formats

first practical and commercially successful analog recording video tape format

tape recorder designed to record and playback video and audio material on magnetic tape

broadcast magnetic tape-based videotape format

compact video cassette format for camcorders

short-lived and unsuccessful consumer analog recording videocassette format

attempt by the BBC to record television onto magnetic tape

W-VHS (Wide-VHS) is an HDTV-capable analog recording videocassette format created by JVC. The format was originally introduced on January 8, 1993 for use with Japan's Hi-Vision (aka MUSE), an early analog high-definition television system. The first W-VHS recorder was the Victor (JVC) HR-W1, released on December 28, 1993.

technique to reduce errors in analog recordings