Betamax
AKA
Beta, βeta
Era
1975–late 1980s
Analog/digital
analog
Format
Cassette
Developed by
Sony
(Max) Capacity
BI: 90 minutes
BII: 200 minutes
BIII: 5 hours
Size
15.6 × 9.6 × 2.5 cm
Fun facts
- This was the central format in a U.S. Supreme Court case that determined home videotaping of television and movies was legal, ruling against film industry corporations
- This format famously "lost" the consumer market to VHS, a more open and cheaper format that debuted with longer initial storage capacity (120 versus 60 minutes)
- The format was named after the shape of the lowercase Greek letter beta (β) because it resembles the course of the tape running through a playback device
