I remember this go-round from the 80's. Don't recall ever watching a Beta tape but I'm told that the picture quality was generally superior to VHS. Thoughts?

It was a superior picture to VHS.....

Beta was so much better than VHS.  Smaller more compact tapes, better quality, only the machine itself was the size of a computer from the 1960's ;D

true about the picture quality!!!

I can't speak for BETA, since I don't recall watching a film on Beta.  I kind of like VHS, myself.

As I remember, Slo-Mo was awesome on Beta. I also remember the machines and tapes being quite pricy, but cost probably would have come down if it had caught on. I'm surprised Sony didn't stick with it.

I remember my dad having a beta player until about 1986, I want to say.  Then we got VHS because it was the cool new thing to have.

My parents said that the picture quality was better (as most have you have also said), but that the size made it hard to move around and it looked cumbersome.  Apparently my parents were way into aesthetics.  ;D

I was always surprised how Beta didn't win the war with VHS. There were more pros then cons on Beta's side. I guess they just didnt promote it right.

Nah, the Japanese manufacturers just flooded the market with VHS machines and they got so cheap that Beta could not compete, price-wise.

I still have my Beta player which I bought in 1984. I still regularly play many of my beta tapes.

Unlike VHS tapes - which tend to stretch and die after a few years - beta tapes and players were such superior quality that you feel like you are watching a new tape each time. My tapes are all over 20 years old and play like a dream.

Every few years I get the player serviced just to keep it going. At least until I have transferred my collection over to DVD.

Sizewise - my player is no bigger than a standard VHS player. Never have had problems moving it around.

I can't speak for BETA, since I don't recall watching a film on Beta.  I kind of like VHS, myself.


You are 29 and you can't recall watching a film on Beta? Fascinating (not being sarcastic at all, seriously).

Nah, the Japanese manufacturers just flooded the market with VHS machines and they got so cheap that Beta could not compete, price-wise.


Something like that, yeah. They way I understand it, the owners of the Beta technology wanted to have the sole rights to it, so they wouldn't license it anyone else to build the machines. That allowed VHS, which was manufactured by everybody, to have more decks on the market.

I remember seeing a magazine ad for a Beta player in the late 80s, and it was being touted as "the wave of the future." Even then, you coiuldn't help but laugh.   

You are 29 and you can't recall watching a film on Beta? Fascinating (not being sarcastic at all, seriously).


I agree!  ;D

Its really only in the publics eye that Beta disappeared.

If you take a stroll thru any TV station you will see its still being used due to its durability.

Its really only in the publics eye that Beta disappeared.

If you take a stroll thru any TV station you will see its still being used due to its durability.
I agree with you, I had connections with a TV programme producing company up to about this time last year and Betamax was still being used by them then.

I agree with you, I had connections with a TV programme producing company up to about this time last year and Betamax was still being used by them then.


Agreed. I worked part-time for a local station in 2000-2001, and the Beta system was still the standard for videotape playback for news and commercials. However, digital non-linear editing was already in heavy use by that time and many stations have since gone to hard drive storage of ads. .

Something like that, yeah. They way I understand it, the owners of the Beta technology wanted to have the sole rights to it, so they wouldn't license it anyone else to build the machines. That allowed VHS, which was manufactured by everybody, to have more decks on the market.

I remember seeing a magazine ad for a Beta player in the late 80s, and it was being touted as "the wave of the future." Even then, you coiuldn't help but laugh.   


The VHS, imo reached its peak in the 1990s.