BetaMax was used for commercial work for a long time, even though it was grossly out of date in the consumer market by the early 1990's. On the commercial side, it persisted because professional camera systems used it and lenses and editing hardware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.
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.
Those were descended from, but different from Betamax.
BetaCam SP, DigiBeta and HDCAM are all still used, and while the original BetaCam cassette (which was used long after Betamax lost the format war) was technically compatible with Betamax tapes, it was discouraged because the BetaCam tapes were higher specced to be able to run faster (the signal was quite different, and much higher quality than Betamax).
Marshall Mcluhan said obsolete technologies survive as art forms. With ever quickening technology cycles, it may be that some will never go out of production.
That makes me think of Boards Of Canada, who use old tape technologies as part of their sound aesthetic (though VHS, not Betamax). From a New York Times interview:
"Q: Is there a particular sound or timbre on the album that you are happiest with, and how did you make it?
EOIN: If I had to pick something in particular, maybe the texture of the strings in “Semena Mertvykh.” It was performed into a dissected VHS deck with the motor running super slowly, so you can hear all the pockmarks, the dropouts on the tape. It’s mono, too, which gives it something special. More people should record in mono these days."
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.
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.
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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[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 79.2 ms ] threadMuch like these guys do with floppy disks: http://floppydisk.com/
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.
BetaCam SP, DigiBeta and HDCAM are all still used, and while the original BetaCam cassette (which was used long after Betamax lost the format war) was technically compatible with Betamax tapes, it was discouraged because the BetaCam tapes were higher specced to be able to run faster (the signal was quite different, and much higher quality than Betamax).
"Q: Is there a particular sound or timbre on the album that you are happiest with, and how did you make it?
EOIN: If I had to pick something in particular, maybe the texture of the strings in “Semena Mertvykh.” It was performed into a dissected VHS deck with the motor running super slowly, so you can hear all the pockmarks, the dropouts on the tape. It’s mono, too, which gives it something special. More people should record in mono these days."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/arts/music/tomorrows-harve...
An art installation from floppy boxes called "Resistance to Change".
That right there should have been a red flag. A tape doesn't fit a film.....
Basically it behaved like a audio cassette.
IIRC, later players could even play both ways. But by that time the VHS was firmly entrenched.
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
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.