Media type Magnetic tape
Read mechanism Helical scan
Write mechanism Helical scan
Standard Interlaced video
Developed by Sony
Dimensions 156 × 96 × 25 mm
Usage Home movies, Home video

Betamax (also called Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog-recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975.[1] The first Betamax introduced in the United States was the LV-1901 console, which included a 19-inch (48 cm) color monitor, and appeared in stores in early November 1975. 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. Betamax is obsolete, having lost the videotape format war[2] to VHS. Production of Betamax recorders ceased in 2002; new Betamax cassettes were available until March 2016, when Sony stopped making and selling them.[3]

Like the rival videotape format VHS (introduced in Japan by JVC in October 1976[4] and in the United States by RCA in August 1977[5]), Betamax has no guard band and uses azimuth recording to reduce crosstalk. 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. The suffix -max, from the word "maximum", was added to suggest greatness.[6] In 1977, Sony issued the first long-play Betamax VCR, the SL-8200. This VCR had two recording speeds: normal, and the newer half speed. This provided two hours' recording on the L-500 Beta videocassette. 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.[7]

Sanyo marketed a version as Betacord, which also was casually called "Beta". In addition to Sony and Sanyo, Beta-format video recorders were manufactured and sold by Toshiba, Pioneer, Murphy, Aiwa, and NEC. The Zenith Electronics Corporation and WEGA Corporations contracted with Sony to produce VCRs for their product lines. 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. Betamax and VHS competed in a fierce format war, which saw VHS win in most markets.[8]

Home and professional recording


Betamax tapes on display at a museum.

For the professional and broadcast video industry, Sony derived Betacam from Betamax. Released in 1982, Betacam became the most widely used videotape format in ENG (electronic news gathering), replacing the .75 in (19 mm) wide U-matic tape format. Betacam and Betamax are similar in some ways: they use the same videocassette shape, use the same oxide tape formulation with the same coercivity, and record linear audio tracks in the same location of the tape. But in the key area of video recording, Betacam and Betamax are completely different. (For details, see the Betacam article.)

Sony also offered a range of industrial Betamax products, a Beta I-only format for industrial and institutional users. These were aimed at the same market as U-Matic equipment, but were cheaper and smaller. The arrival of Betacam reduced the demand for both industrial Beta and U-Matic equipment. [12]




HiFi audio upgrade






New standards: SuperBetamax and Extended Definition Betamax





Comparison with other video formats


Below is a list of modern, digital-style resolutions (and traditional analog "TV lines per picture height" measurements) for various media. The list only includes popular formats. Note that listed resolution applies to luminance only, with chroma resolution usually halved in each dimension for digital formats, and significantly lower for analog formats.

Luminance Display resolution based on the quality of a standard. Equivalent pixel resolutions calculated from analog line resolution numbers. NTSC Systems,

PAL Systems,

Digital formats Luminance Display resolution based on the quality of a standard. Equivalent analog line resolution numbers calculated from pixel resolutions. The somewhat unintuitive analog resolution loss for 16:9 DVD compared to 4:3 DVD comes from that analog resolution unit is "lines per picture height". When picture height is kept the same, the same 720 pixels are spread to a wider area in 16:9, hence lower horizontal resolution per picture height.

Tape lengths


Common tape lengths
Tape label Tape length Recording time

Home movies





End of production

On November 10, 2015, Sony announced that it would no longer be producing Betamax video cassettes.[21] Production and sales ended March 2016 after nearly 41 years of continuous production.


For reasons Betamax lost to VHS, see Videotape format war.

The VHS format's defeat of the Betamax format became a classic marketing case study. Sony's attempt to dictate an industry standard backfired when JVC made the tactical decision to forgo Sony's offer of Betamax in favor of developing its own technology. JVC felt that accepting Sony's offer would yield results similar to the U-Matic deal, with Sony dominating.[22]

By 1980, JVC's VHS format controlled 60% of the North American market.[23] The large economy of scale allowed VHS units to be introduced to the European market at a far lower cost than the rarer Betamax units. In the United Kingdom, Betamax held a 25% market share in 1981, but by 1986, it was down to 7.5% and continued to decline further. By 1984, 40 companies made VHS format equipment in comparison with Beta's 12. Sony finally conceded defeat in 1988 when it, too, began producing VHS recorders (early models were made by Hitachi), though it still continued to produce Betamax recorders until 2002.[8][24]


See also


  2. "Betamax". 1994-12-01. Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  3. "Beta Video Cassette and Micro MV Cassette Tape End of Shipment Announcement". Sony Japan. Sony. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015. In March 2016, Sony will end shipment of the Beta video cassette and micro cassette MV.
  4. JVC HR-3300 release.
  6. "This is a revolution!" Archive of history
  7. "1975 – The Sony SL-8200 long play VCR". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  8. 1 2 "The Betamax vs VHS Format War, Author: Dave Owen, Originally published: 2005". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  9. " BETAMAX CASE". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  13. "Why Beta is Better". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  14. "Betamax the Better Format". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  15. "Sony SLO-1700 specs". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  17. "Sony Super Betamax Model SL-HF600". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  18. "tapes Extended Definition" Betamax". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  19. "Beta by Sony list". 2004-12-26. Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  20. "BetaMax history". Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  21. "Sony says goodbye to Betamax tapes". BBC News. 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  22. John Howells. "The Management of Innovation and Technology: The Shaping of Technology and Institutions of the Market Economy" [hardcopy], pg 76–81
  23. Luís Cabral and David Backus (2002-08-28). "Betamax and VHS (Firms and Markets mini-case)" (PDF). New York University. p. 4. Retrieved 2014-01-13.