Sony says goodbye to Betamax tapes | Hacker News Reader

Sony says goodbye to Betamax tapes

bbc.co.uk

34 pointsmajc222 comments

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.

"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.....

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.

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

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

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

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

Well thats egg on my face. Always understood it to be Betamax.

More googournalism by the BBC there - L750 Betamax tapes run for 3h15m (in Europe) and that wasn't even the longest length available.

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

BetaMax was used for commercial work for a long time, even though it was grossly out of date in the consumer market by the early 1990's. On the commercial side, it persisted because professional camera systems used it and lenses and editing hardware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

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

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

U-matic tapes, I think.

This is what they were trademarked as, but most of the video profession refers to them as 3/4" tape (at least in the US) I think.

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).

Some punk bands are starting to distribute on cassette tapes again. Or maybe they never stopped.

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."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/arts/music/tomorrows-harve...

There is art from obsolete technology right here (scroll to bottom): https://gundersen.net

An art installation from floppy boxes called "Resistance to Change".

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/

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.

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