The videotape format war was a period of an intense format war of rival incompatible models of video cassette recorders in the 1970s and early 1980s. It has gone in marketing history as the classic example of this kind of market competition. A format war describes competition between competing, and typically mutually incompatible, media formats, usually very costly to the format-owning parties involved. ... The video cassette recorder (or VCR, less popularly video tape recorder) is a type of video tape recorder that uses removable cassettes containing magnetic tape to record audio and video from a television broadcast so it can be played back later. ... Events and trends Although in the United States and in many other Western societies the 1970s are often seen as a period of transition between the turbulent 1960s and the more conservative 1980s and 1990s, many of the trends that are associated widely with the Sixties, from the Sexual Revolution... Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Traditionally, marketing has been a term applied to the craft of linking the producers (or potential producers) of a product or service with customers, both existing and potential. ...

Home video cassette recorders became available in the early 1970s, though the first system to be successful was Sony's Betamax. This was quickly followed by VHS (Video Home System) from JVC, and later by Video 2000 from Philips. Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... Sonys Betamax is the 12. ... Top view VHS cassette with US Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative... Victor Company of Japan, or (Japan Victor Company) JVC, is a large international corporation headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, which produces audio, video, and consumer electronics products. ... Video 2000 (V2000) was a video recording standard developed by Philips and Grundig as a competing format to VHS and Betamax. ... Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Dutch Philips Electronics Ltd. ...

Sony had demonstrated a prototype system to the other electronics manufacturers in 1974, and expected that they would back a single format for the good of all. But JVC in particular decided to go it alone (despite Sony's appeal to the Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry) and the classic format war had begun. Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... Victor Company of Japan, or (Japan Victor Company) JVC, is a large international corporation headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, which produces audio, video, and consumer electronics products. ... Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... A format war describes competition between competing, and typically mutually incompatible, media formats, usually very costly to the format-owning parties involved. ...

The first battleground was recording time. The original Betamax systems could record for a maximum of one hour, which was not enough for a whole feature film. VHS could manage two hours, due to larger cassettes and a less demanding performance; Sony responded by changing the specification, effectively creating a new (and incompatible) "Beta 2" format. Thinner tape allowed both formats to increase still further, and by the early 1980s Beta could record for 3h 15m, compared to 3 hours for VHS. With Long Play (LP) technology (available by the mid-80s), a VHS cassette could run for up to 8 hours. Sonys Betamax is the 12. ... Top view VHS cassette with US Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative... For the meaning of cassette in genetics, see cassette (genetics). ... Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... Beta can stand for: Β or β the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Top view VHS cassette with US Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative...

(Many people say that Betamax was better quality than VHS, although reviews at the time don't back this up -- there seems to have been no difference visible to the naked eye. Any difference in quality was only detectable using test equipment.) Sonys Betamax is the 12. ... Top view VHS cassette with US Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative...

When home VCRs started to become popular in the UK, the main issue was one of availablity and price. VHS machines were available through the high-street rental chains such as Radio Rentals and DER, while Beta was seen as the more upmarket choice for people who wanted quality and were prepared to buy it. By 1980, out of an estimated 100,000 homes with VCRs, 70% were rented, and the presence of two competing formats meant that rental was an even more attractive choice, since you didn't have to worry about spending a fortune (about £2000 in today's prices) on a system which was going to become obsolete. The video cassette recorder (or VCR, less popularly video tape recorder) is a type of video tape recorder that uses removable cassettes containing magnetic tape to record audio and video from a television broadcast so it can be played back later. ... Top view VHS cassette with US Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative... Beta can stand for: Β or β the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet. ...

By 1980 there were in fact three choices, since the Video 2000 format from Philips and Grundig had arrived. Although an excellent system, full of impressive technology and with potential for future developments 'designed in', this third format never got much recognition, and quickly fell by the wayside. V2000 was cancelled in 1985, the first casualty of the format war. Video 2000 (V2000) was a video recording standard developed by Philips and Grundig as a competing format to VHS and Betamax. ... Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Dutch Philips Electronics Ltd. ... Manufacturer of home entertainment equipment, established after WW2 in Nuremberg/ Germany. ... A format war describes competition between competing, and typically mutually incompatible, media formats, usually very costly to the format-owning parties involved. ...

By the time Betamax machines became easier to rent, VHS already claimed 70% of the market. At the same time, renting tapes was beginning to become popular, and for a while it seemed that every little shop on the street-corner had a rack of tapes. (As with many new technologies, pornography was a great attraction of home video, since you could watch in private; the famous "video nasties" -- films which were deemed too violent or gruesome for general release -- were also highly sought, since they couldn't be seen anywhere else.) Sonys Betamax is the 12. ... Top view VHS cassette with US Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative... Pavonazzeto marble sculpture, see Erotic art in Pompeii Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφια pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. ... Video nasty was a term coined in the United Kingdom in the 1980s that originally applied to a number of films distributed on video that were held by some to be unfit for domestic viewing. ...

Yet again Sony missed the boat, being reluctant to sign licensing agreements with studios to have films made available in Betamax. So a combination of lower market share and a lack of software both strengthened VHS's hand, and gradually the public turned away from Beta. 1984 was Beta's best year, with a 25% market share, but by 1986 it was down to 7.5% and the writing was on the wall: Betamax joined Quadraphonic and 8-Track cartridges in that great attic in the sky. Sales dwindled away, and VHS emerged victorious - despite being the least sophisticated of the three main rivals. VHS however benefited from continuous development from all manufacturers (including Sony) over the years, and new innovations such as 4-head and 6-head technology, Hi-Fi stereo sound and the like saw it eventually surpass Betamax, making the format war largely academic by the turn of the 1990s. Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... Sonys Betamax is the 12. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... Top view VHS cassette with US Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative... Beta can stand for: Β or β the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Beta can stand for: Β or β the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Sonys Betamax is the 12. ... Quadraphonic sound uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at all four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of each other. ... The 8-track cartridge is a now-obsolete audio storage magnetic tape cartridge technology, popular during the 1960s and 1970s. ... High Fidelity is also the title of a book by Nick Hornby and a film directed by Stephen Frears, based upon Hornbys book. ... Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ...

In 1988 Sony began to market their own VHS machines, and despite claims that they were still backing Beta, it was clear that the format was dead -- at least in Europe and the US. In parts of South America Beta continued to be popular, and in Japan the format was developed into ED-Beta and SuperBeta, and was actually still produced up to the end of 2002. The rise of DVD finally took away the niche market that Betamax had survived in, for a total of 27 years. Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... Beta can stand for: Β or β the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... US,Us or us may stand for the United States of America us, the oblique case form of the English language pronoun we. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Beta can stand for: Β or β the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for storing data, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... Sonys Betamax is the 12. ...