
Sony says goodbye to Betamax tapes - majc2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34776424
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jcadam
My parents bought a Beta VCR at Sears back in the 80s -- it was on sale for
some reason. It was a freaking huge top-loading model (which was probably a
good thing, as I had recently destroyed my dad's front-loading 8 track player
with a peanut butter sandwich).

I remember watching the 'Beta' section at Blockbuster shrink until they
finally sold off all of their Beta tapes for $5/pop (which was a steal back
then). After a while, the thing was really only good for recording TV shows,
as movies were simply unavailable for it.

When we finally "upgraded" to VHS some years later, the drop in picture
quality _was_ noticeable.

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nakedrobot2
"Although many felt Betamax was the superior format, most cite the longer
recording length of VHS tapes - three hours versus one...."

That right there should have been a red flag. A tape doesn't fit a film.....

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digi_owl
It actually did, once you flipped it over.

Basically it behaved like a audio cassette.

IIRC, later players could even play both ways. But by that time the VHS was
firmly entrenched.

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porsupah
Are you perhaps thinking of V2000? Betamax works like VHS in that regard -
only one orientation.

~~~
rplst8
Both are helical scan right? I would think that would make reversal
impossible.

~~~
porsupah
Indeed, they're all helical scan systems. With V2000, though, it worked
somewhat like audio cassettes, with only half the width of the tape used per
side, being flipped over to use the other half.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_2000](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_2000)

Fun fact: Video 2000 wasn't Philips' first video format, with the now-
confusingly titled Video Cassette Recording format predating it. The format is
notable for having both tape spools _coaxial_ , so the head is parallel to the
base of the recorder, and the head angle is instead provided by the angle of
the tape traveling between the upper and lower spools.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Cassette_Recording](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Cassette_Recording)

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ChrisArchitect
crazy to think this format still kicking around - Wonder what other formats
many think are dead are actually still in production .... 8-track?

~~~
brudgers
BetaMax was used for commercial work for a long time, even though it was
grossly out of date in the consumer market by the early 1990's. On the
commercial side, it persisted because professional camera systems used it and
lenses and editing hardware mattered more than tape format.

~~~
cableshaft
Yep. At a company I worked for eight years ago, we were still dubbing BetaSP
tapes for most TV stations for Public Service Announcements we wanted them to
air.

We sent them what they told us they used, too, as we had equipment to dub with
DVDs also. We still dubbed some giant ...I think they were called three
quarter (3/4") tapes also, which are older than Beta, I believe.

~~~
egorfine
Betacam SP is not Betamax. Betacam was used much, much longer after Betamax
deceased.

~~~
cableshaft
Huh. Interesting. They were always referred to as Beta SP's, so I just assumed
they were higher quality Betamax.

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aembleton
There's probably money to be made in buying up old tapes, refurbishing them,
blanking them and selling them on.

Much like these guys do with floppy disks:
[http://floppydisk.com/](http://floppydisk.com/)

~~~
jacquesm
You'd need a steady supply of tape. The tape itself is the problem, it gets
sticky and the magnetic coating can peel off leading to drop-outs.

