|
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 "Quad" |
RCA |
1969 |
These small videotapes allowed broadcasters to access commercials
without physically splicing them into the broadcasting program. |
|
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. Identical to the PI-3V by Precision Instruments. |
| PI-3V |
Precision Instruments |
1963 |
Two-head helical scan recorder. Identical to the MVC-10 by
Machtronics. |
| EV-200 |
Sony |
1964 |
The first “portable” VTR Sony offered for general use. |
| EL-3400 |
Philips |
1965 |
Designed for the industrial/educational markets. |
| IVC 700/800/900 |
IVC |
1967 |
Used by TV stations and the military. |
| 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 |
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 1035 active lines. The
direct
predecessor of the HDD-1000. |
| 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. The starting price of the HDD-1000 and the required
HDDP-1000 companion processor in 1988 was $600,000, metal evaporated
tape cost $2500.00 per hour of tape and each reel weighed nearly 10
pounds. |
|
FORMATS USING 3/4” TAPE
|
DEVELOPER
|
YEAR
|
INFORMATION
|
| �” 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. 280 lines
of resolution. |
| �” 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 �” 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. |
| N1500 |
Philips |
1972 |
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. 250 lines of resolution.
Maximum tape length is 200 minutes in SP mode, which is 600 minutes
in EP mode. |
| VHS-C |
|
|
Compact version of VHS. The “C” stands for compact. With an
adapter, tapes will play in a VHS VCR. Maximum tape length is 40 minutes
in SP mode, which is 120 minutes in EP mode. |
| 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 |
|
|
Compact version
of SVHS. With an adapter, tapes will play in a S-VHS VCR. Maximum
tape length is 40 minutes. |
| ED Beta |
Sony |
1987 |
ED (Enhanced Definition) Introduced as a competition to SVHS. |
| Betacam |
Sony |
1982 |
Aka �” Type L. Developed as a component-recording professional
format to be able to use consumer cassettes…Betamax. Records an analog
component signal, storing the luminance (Y) in one track and the chrominance
(R-Y, B-Y) on another. 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. |
| Video
2000 |
Philips
and Grundig |
1979 |
Used
flip-over tapes, similar to audio cassettes. In terms of picture quality,
it was a technically superior competitor of VHS and Betamax. Able
to play/record 4 hours of video on each side of the cassette it also
had its problems such as not being inter-machine compatible. AKA Video
Compact Cassette (VCC) even though the tapes were larger than VHS. |
| 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. |
|
FORMATS USING �” TAPE
|
DEVELOPER
|
YEAR
|
INFORMATION
|
| Bauer �” |
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. |
| �” 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. |
| Pixelvision |
Fisher Price |
198? |
This was a kid's
toy camcorder that recorded black and white video on a standard audio
cassette. |
| 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. |
