Betamax tapes RIP

[ppppenguin]

Sony is ceasing production of Betamax tapes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34776424

Error in article: Although many felt Betamax was the superior format, most cite the longer recording length of VHS tapes - three hours versus one

You could certainly get longer Betamax tapes.

Another likely error: The BBC still has Betamax tapes in some of its archives but most broadcasters had stopped using them by the year 2000

I think they mean Betacam. A professional analogue component format that used the same physical cassette size.

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
I'm sure the L830 tapes were 3hr15m or was that the L750? I've still a few beta tapes and Betacam tapes as well. I've the last hour of BBC1 Divis (analogue) on Betacam including the Ceefax close down. No doubt collectable in 20 years as it was the last Analogue 625 line transmission in the UK.

[ppppenguin]

The BBC still has Betacam tapes in some of its archives - a format that Sony created building on Betamax's foundations - but most broadcasters have stopped using even them.

They have removed the betamax/betamax confusion

Although many felt Betamax was the superior format, some cite the longer recording length of VHS tapes

This quote is still wrong about the relative lengths of tapes though they have removed the daft 3hrs vs 1

[Brianc]

Initially, Sony refused to license other manufacturers to use the Betamax format leaving Sony the only consumer choice whereas JVC let their format be used freely by others. This gave the consumers choice and many more VHS machines came onto the market. I looked after a couple of hundred VHS (JVC) and Betamax in a copy centre and I must say that the VHS machines proved to be more reliable. As to quality, in the analog audio days, the Betamax audio quality was dreadful although video-wise, it had the edge. I was always a fan of VHS.

[AlanBeckett]

What about the Philips Format?

Alan 

[Brianc]

Which Philips format, Alan?
The N1500 gave some of the best pictures available at the time - it was, after all, virtually the first domestic cassette format available. We used to copy cassettes on a Philips professional bank of 6 machines, all of which used the same signal processing and modulator unit with distribution to the machines. I was responsible for the mechanical set-up of these machines, using a traveling microscope and "developed" tape. It took ages to get the machines exactly on track.
The 2000 series was a nightmare. Fortunately, we only had about 20 machines but there werealways at least 2 out of service. The main reason was, IIRC, due to control system funnies (a very technical word) and were very difficult to sort out. Give me VHS every day.

[Mark Hennessy]

I used a Grundig V2000 machine for a while in the 1990s - it saw me through my time at university. Perfect, because no-one would be tempted to steal it!

I did have an old VHS machine for the first year, and we did rent about half a dozen films during that time, but the video shop was quite a long walk away, so apathy set in... So as I was simply using the machine for time-shifting, I decided to bring the V2000 machine to uni instead. I still have it, but it's been in the attic for 10 years, and I don't expect it'll work without some fettling - but luckily I do have the full service data and a lot of spare boards. Finding the remote - and its strange 4.5V battery - might be challenging, but it'll be up there somewhere...

Once I'd got used to the very strange user interface, I really loved it. Brilliant picture quality and great "trick" modes with no noise bars, etc. There was even a real-time counter, which was very impressive for the time.

I can't remember the faults the machine had when I acquired it, but fixing it wasn't difficult, and it was 100% reliable afterwards. I'm not sure the same could have been said about the Philips machines at the time - I admit that I gutted several for spare parts (and most fruitful that was, too!).

Regarding Betamax, I never owned a machine that allowed me to draw any conclusions about the format. Have plenty of experience with the various flavours of Betacam, and loved that...

[Brianc]

I worked as a product manager in Ampex at the time that Betacam was launched to target the 1" format broadcast market in which Ampex had a very strong hold. Sony played a blinder in marketing terms by offering only the acquisition and studio playback machines in the format and withholding the studio recorders. The advice was to used the camcorders in the field and edit from the studio playback machines up to the 1" recorders. This meant that no-one was able to test the claim that the format was good for 2 or 3 generations (demonstrated at the Montreux Broadcast Convention!) before the material became unbroadcastable! All the broadcasters jumped at the convenience of the small format for ENG and field work and soon there were many camcorders being used. Thus the format was established. Later, the studio recorders were launched and it was found the even the 1st generation dubs were pretty poor and 3rd, useless. A very clever device to establish the format. Betacam was quickly followed by Betacam SP which overcame most of the problems. The rest is history.