| FORMATS USING 2" TAPE |
DEVELOPER |
YEAR |
INFORMATION |
| Quadruplex |
Ampex |
1956 |
The 2” Quad was the first successful
videotape format. The name comes from its four-head wheel which rotated
240 times a second. It was still widely used in the industry in the
1980s. |
| Octaplex |
RCA |
|
Developed for the military. |
| VR 1500/600 |
Ampex |
1963 |
May be the first consumer VTR. |
| Helical SV-201 |
Sony |
1962 |
Two-head system that was marketed
for industrial, educational, and medical applications. |
| ACR 25 |
Ampex |
1970 |
Automated recording
and playback of televesion commercials. |
| IVC 9000 |
IVC |
1973 |
helical scan |
| TCR 100 |
RCA |
|
|
| FORMATS
USING 1” TAPE |
DEVELOPER |
YEAR |
INFORMATION |
| MVC-10 |
Machtronics |
1962 |
One of the first commercial 1-inch
helical scan videotape recorders in the US. |
| PI-3V |
Precision Instruments |
1963 |
Two-head helical scan recorder. |
| EV-200 |
Sony |
1964 |
The first “portable” VTR
Sony offered for general use. |
| EL-3400 |
Phillips |
1965 |
Designed for the industrial/educational
markets. |
| IVC 700/800/900 |
IVC |
1967 |
Used by TV stations and the military. |
| TCR-100 “Quad” |
RCA |
1969 |
These small videotapes allowed broadcasters
to access commercials without physically splicing them into the broadcasting
program. |
| UV-340 or EV-210 |
Sony |
1964 |
1” videotape |
| 1" SMPTE Type A |
Ampex |
1965 |
Industrial and educational uses. |
| 1" SMPTE Type B |
Bosch |
1976 |
Was very popular in Europe. Similar
to the Type C format, it uses a segmented helical scan on a small-diameter
drum. Each video head pass records 52 lines of video information
and is therefore segmented and cannot offer still-frame or slow motion. |
| 1" SMPTE Type C |
Ampex/Sony |
1976 |
“C” stands for “compromise”.
Ampex and Sony agreed to a standard 1-inch professional helical format
called Type C. Both manufacturers had to slightly modify their designs
to create a common format. It is the most popular of the 1” professional
formats. Unlike the 2” Quad and the 1” Type B, it offered
viewable still frame, slow and fast motion, and picture shuttle.
300 lines of resolution. |
| BVH-1000 |
Sony |
1976 |
Competitor of the Type A. Features
of Type A and the BVH-1000 were combined into a common, standardized
format…Type C. Sony’s first Type C machines were also
called BVH-1000. |
| HDV-1000 |
Sony |
1984 |
First commercial high-definition
format. Recorded component analog video on 1-inch open-reel tape.
At the time, HDTV had 1045 active lines. |
| 1” Analog HDTV |
Toshiba |
1985 |
First HDTV VTR |
| HDD-1000 |
Sony |
1988 |
First digital component high-definition
recorder. At the time, had 1035 active lines. Recordings were made
on 1” open reel C format. ($35,000 for units and 63 minute
tapes at $1,300). |
| FORMATS USING 3/4” TAPE |
DEVELOPER |
YEAR |
INFORMATION |
| ¾” U-Matic |
Sony/ JVC/ Matsushita |
1970 |
One of the most successful formats
of all time. Until its release, news acquisitions had primarily been
gathered on 16mm film. Three versions: Low Band (LB) early ‘70s.
High Band (HB) increased chroma subcarrier frequency. 280 lines of
resolution. |
| ¾” U-Matic SP |
Sony |
1986 |
Improvements over the original format
include a higher-energy tape and an extended FM carrier. SP (Superior
Performance) had both chroma and luma subcarrier frequencies increased.
340 lines of resolution. |
| D1 |
Sony |
1987 |
First digital VTR. Received little
acceptance in broadcast where it was designed for, but was welcomed
in graphics production. Due to expensive machines and tapes, it was
mainly used in high-end postproduction facilities that incorporate
special effects with multiple layering of video signal. 460 lines
of resolution. |
| D2 |
Ampex and Sony |
1986 |
Digital composite format. Advancements
in component-based advanced TV ended the interest in composite, including
D2. Cassettes hold up to 180 minutes. 450 lines of resolution. |
| D6 |
Toshiba/BTS |
1995 |
Digital HDTV. Uses more heads and
offers more audio channels than any other videotape format. |
| Digital Component Technology |
Ampex |
1992 |
DCT was the first format to employ
digital video compression to reduce recorded bit rate. |
| FORMATS USING 1/2” TAPE |
DEVELOPER |
YEAR |
INFORMATION |
| CV |
Sony |
1965 |
CV (Consumer Video/Commercial Video)
One of the first “affordable” VTRs for consumers. Decks
can switch between colour & b/w. |
| VTR-600 |
Concord |
1967 |
Open-reel black-and-white format. |
| 1/2" EIAJ Type 1 |
Sony/ Panasonic/ others |
1969 |
Electronics Industries Association
of Japan. AKA ½” AV (Audio/Visual) Low end industrial
and educational recordings. Open-reel. |
| EIAJ Cartridge |
Panasonic |
1971 |
AKA Omnivision. Identical to the
open-reel EIAJ, only the cartridge makes it different. Tapes were
only 30 minutes in length and they had to be completely rewound before
it could be removed from the deck. |
| Phillips ½” VCR |
Phillips |
1970 |
The first commercially available
home video cartridge machine introduced on the market. Recorded in
color and black-and-white. |
| AVCO Cartivision |
Cartivision |
1972 |
Short-lived consumer format that
was ahead of its time. It was the first simple consumer video recording
and playback system to hit the market. |
| V-Cord |
Sanyo |
1972 |
Consumer home video format. The V-Cord
II was the first consumer machine to offer two recording speeds,
freeze-frame and slow motion. |
| VX |
Panasonic/ Quasar |
1975 |
“The Great Time Machine”.
Its one-head helical-scan format required a nearly 360-degree tape
wrap. |
| Betamax |
Sony |
1976 |
Was the first successful consumer
videocassette. Was a hit at first but later failed in the market
place against VHS. Its initial maximum record time of one hour was
a disadvantage initially that it was not able to overcome even when
it later offered five hour record times. |
| VHS |
JVC |
1976 |
Video home system. The most successful
of all home video formats, it was introduced as a competitor of Betamax
. ½” videotape. 250 lines of resolution. Maximum tape
length is 180 minutes in SP mode, which is 540 minutes in EP mode. |
| VHS-C |
|
|
½” videotape. 250 lines
of resolution. Maximum tape length is 40 minutes in SP mode, which
is 120 minutes in EP mode. The “C” stands for compact.
With an adapter, tapes will play in a VHS VCR. |
| S-VHS |
JVC and others |
|
S=super. Marketed as a high-end consumer
format. “S-video” separates the chrominance (color) and
luminance (brightness) signals, although not as purely as the true
component systems do. VHS tapes may be played and recorded on S-VHS
machines, but S-VHS cannot be played nor recorded on VHS machines.
400 lines of resolution. Maximum tape length is 160 minutes. |
| SVHS-C |
|
|
½” videotape. 400 lines
of resolution. Maximum tape length is 40 minutes. Compact version
of S-VHS. With an adapter, tapes will play in a S-VHS VCR. |
| ED Beta |
Sony |
1987 |
ED (Enhanced Definition) Introduced
as a competition to SVHS. |
| Betacam |
Sony |
1982 |
Aka ½” Type L. Developed
as a component-recording professional format to be able to use consumer
cassettes…Betamax. Records an analog component signal, meaning
it is split into three separate channels: red, green and blue. This
splitting of channels provides a crisp, true broadcast quality product.
300 lines of resolution. |
| M |
RCA/ Panasonic |
1982 |
Initially called Recam (recording
camera) by Panasonic and Hawkeye by RCA. RCA broadcast went out of
business shortly after it was released. It was the first component
format consisting of two separate signal systems: one for luminance
and another for chroma. Originally designed to use VHS tapes. |
| MII |
Panasonic |
1985 |
Introduced as a competitor
to beta sp. Splits the video signal into red, green and blue, providing
outstanding quality and color. 340 lines of resolution. |
| Betacam SP |
Sony |
1986 |
SP (Superior Performance) was an
industry standard for most TV stations and high-end production houses
up until the late 90s. 340 lines of resolution. |
| D3 |
Panasonic |
1991 |
Introduced as Panasonic’s answer
to D2, it was promoted as a low-cost digital alternative. Achieved
more than twice the recording capacity of D2. 450 lines of resolution. |
| Digital Betacam |
Sony |
1993 |
Digital successor to Betacam. Considered
to have almost the same quality as D1 at half the cost and size.
High end SDTV. Can playback, but not record betacam SP tapes. Sony’s
answer to DCT and D5. |
| D5 |
Matsushita/ Panasonic |
1994 |
Component, non-compressed digital
format. Can playback D3 tapes. |
| D5HD |
Panasonic |
1994 |
Compressed HD version of D5. Can
work with 1080 line and 720 line HDTV formats. |
| Betacam SX |
Sony |
1996 |
Digital format targeted for ENG and
newsroom use. Can be sent back to the studio at 2X speed on a standard
DS0-3 data connection. |
| D9 |
JVC |
1995 |
Digital S. Rivals the much more expensive
Digital Betacam in terms of picture quality. Downward compatible
with SVHS. 540 lines of resolution. |
| D9 HD |
JVC |
2000 |
AKA Digital S-100. Used for recording
compressed and sub-sampled HDTV. Uses same tape as D9. |
| D-VHS |
JVC/ Matsushita |
1997 |
Consumer digital format designed
to be used with satellite dish systems. |
| W-VHS |
JVC |
1994 |
Analog HDTV Uses a cassette physically
identical with VHS. Due to its high cost, it never caught on as a
consumer format, and due to its reduced quality, it never caught
on as a professional format. |
| D11 |
Sony |
1997 |
AKA HDCAM. Compressed digital
HDTV format that employs both subsampling and compression to reduce
data bandwidth. |
| MPEG IMX |
Sony |
2001 |
Enhanced picture quality and multi-generation
performance. Certain models allow playback of all current broadcast
beta formats. |
| FORMATS USING 8 MM TAPE |
DEVELOPER |
YEAR |
INFORMATION |
| 8mm/ Video8 |
EIAJ and others |
1983 |
Kodak released first 8mm camcorder
in 1984. 255 lines of resolution. Maximum tape length is 120 minutes
in SP mode or 240 minutes in LP mode. |
| HI8 |
Sony |
1989 |
Much improved version of 8mm video.
Has an optional second AFM track for stereo sound. 415 lines of resolution.
Maximum tape length is 120 minutes in SP mode. |
| Digital 8 |
Sony |
1999 |
Records same digital signal as DV
onto less expensive Hi8 tapes. Plays back 8mm and Hi8 tapes. A 120
minute Hi8 tape can record 60 minutes of Digital 8. Has analog inputs
for digitally archiving existing analog footage. Audio is CD-quality.
Only available as camcorders, not decks. |
| FORMATS
USING ¼” TAPE |
DEVELOPER |
YEAR |
INFORMATION |
| Bauer ¼” |
Bauer |
1969 |
Well-known for its Super-8
amateur movie cameras, Bauer attempted to take part in the video
adventure while demise of Super-8 format was announced. |
| ¼” Akai |
Akai |
1969 |
Open-Reel. Could record video using
normal audio tape but the quality was reduced from the special quarter-inch
videotape offered by Akai. |
| Compact Video Cassette |
Funai/ Technicolor |
1984 |
CVC was the lightest and most portable
recording system of its time. It used quarter-inch cassettes in 30-minute
lengths, which contributed to its short life. |
| DV |
EIAJ |
1996 |
AKA miniDV (formerly DVC) Many manufacturers
released first DV camcorders in 1995 - Sony, Philips, Thomson, Hitachi,
Panasonic, etc. First digital recording format available to consumers.
Nearly loss-less broadcast quality picture. Maximum tape length is
80 minutes in SP mode or 120 minutes in LP mode. 500 lines of resolution. |
| D7 |
Panasonic/ EIAJ |
1995 |
AKA DVCPRO. Capable of 4X playback
speed. Decks can play back DVCAM. 530 lines of resolution. |
| DVCPRO 50 |
Panasonic |
1998 |
Two more digital channels than DVCPRO. |
| DVCAM |
Sony |
1996 |
Sony’s answer to DVCPRO. Includes
a feature that allows information to be recorded on a memory chip
inside the cassette, such as good and bad take identifiers. 530 lines
of resolution. |
| DVCPRO HD |
Panasonic |
2000 |
High-definition version
of DVCPRO recording the same signal as D9HD. Machines can play all
previous forms of DVCPRO tapes as well as DVCAM and DV tapes. |
| D4 |
|
|
D4 doesn’t exist because the
number 4 is considered to be a taboo in Asian cultures. |
Ever
wonder just how many videotape formats you've seen come and go in
your days as a video producer? ? Do you remember the days of M-I,
Technicolor, Recam, those 2" videotape machines that were the
size of a vacation cottage? Video Business Advisor member Jason Olson
put together this handy guide to existing and obsolete video tape
production formats for your enlightenment and edification.