Betamax
If one can stretch their memories back to just a few years ago when HD DVD and Blu-ray were battling it out over who would become the newest video format for the home consumer, a similar war was waged in the mid 1970s between good old VHS and Sony’s Betamax for the next best broadcast-quality camcorder. Obviously, VHS won out and even today some of us are still clinging to our beloved copies of VHS movies that haven’t been made on DVD even though most of us have nothing to play them on.
Betacam
After the failure of Betamax, Sony introduced the Betacam format in 1982 and it was a resounding success in the professional video production industry. Betacam tapes were available in small or large and had 300 lines of horizontal resolution. The Betacam was portable and while they would be considered quite clunky today, for the time they were light and convenient. Best of all, Betacam gave us the television show COPS because of it’s low-light capability and ability to make things look “gritty”.
Betacam SP
Betacam was short-lived, soon being replaced by Betacam SP (Superior Performance). The horizontal resolution of the Betacam SP was between 340 and 360 lines, and the tapes were metal-formulated instead of using oxide. Betacam SP became the go-to format for much of the professional video industry, especially news media that needed to record on location. The picture quality of the Betacam SP was markedly better than Betacam, with brighter and more vibrant colours. The majority of videotape recording in the professional industries that have not yet moved over to completely digital formats are still using Betacam SP because of its superior video post-production qualities.
Digi Beta
The Digi Beta or Digital Betacam was introduced in the early 1990s. Later, Betacam SX was introduced and was more efficient than the original Digi Beta, allowing camera operators to tag scenes among other features. Digi Beta used much smaller metal magnetic particles compared to the Betacam SP, which resulted in a smoother tape surface and higher-density digital recording.
MPEG IMX
The Digi Beta and Betacam SX gave way to the MPEG IMX in 2001, which offered more emphasis on video post-production features. MPEG IMX allows for the better transporting of video data over a network, which is needed for video production that requires file sharing between people, such as in a large news organization.
Betacam Today
Betacam formats are still used today, mostly by television news stations and other media that still use analog video, as well as independent filmmakers or film students working with older equipment for various projects. Archived footage and other stored videos kept by organizations are also most likely to be on Betacam SP if they have not been transferred over to a digital format.
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