Betamax
Videos
Betamax 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 i
Betamax blank top
Three Sony Betamax VCRs built for the American market. 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).
The underside of a Betamax cassette
The early-form Betacam tapes (left) are interchangeable with Betamax (right), though the recordings are not.
Videotape format war
Videos
The videotape format war was a period of competition or "format war" of incompatible models of consumer-level analog videocassette formats and video cassette recorders in the late 1970s and the 1980s,
Betamax
…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. Betamax was widely…
Size comparison between a Betamax cassette (top) and a VHS cassette (bottom)