A high-quality videotape technology introduced by Sony in 1982. Initially an analog format with digital following later (see Digital Betacam), Betacam was designed for professional TV recording. Time codes are built into the Betacam 1/2" helical scan format to support precise editing of the recorded material. Betacam evolved from Sony's Betamax format, but with a large increase in tape speed and using component video signal separation rather than composite video (see component video and composite video).
Betacam SP (Betacam Superior Performance) came out in 1986, increasing resolution from 300 to 340 lines and adding improvements to the tape and recorders. Using a larger cassette that increased time from 30 to 90 minutes, Betacam SP was widely used in professional applications until Digital Betacam took over in the late 1990s.
A Boon for Camera Operators
Although heavy by today's standards, the first Betacam camcorders were considerably lighter than the video cameras of the era. Betacam was a welcome breakthrough for cameramen shooting on location.
In 2001, Sony announced end of life for its analog Betacam camcorders; however, digital Betacam VTRs can typically play back analog cartridges. See Digital Betacam and Betamax.
Betacam VTR and Cartridges
Betacam videotape recorders (VTRs) are not your ordinary home VCRs. Used in professional studios, they cost up to 100 times that of a consumer VHS machine. Betacam is the de facto broadcast video format worldwide, and cartridges come in small and large formats.
Betacam SP (Betacam Superior Performance) came out in 1986, increasing resolution from 300 to 340 lines and adding improvements to the tape and recorders. Using a larger cassette that increased time from 30 to 90 minutes, Betacam SP was widely used in professional applications until Digital Betacam took over in the late 1990s.
A Boon for Camera Operators
Although heavy by today's standards, the first Betacam camcorders were considerably lighter than the video cameras of the era. Betacam was a welcome breakthrough for cameramen shooting on location.
In 2001, Sony announced end of life for its analog Betacam camcorders; however, digital Betacam VTRs can typically play back analog cartridges. See Digital Betacam and Betamax.
BETACAM FORMATS
Year
Intro. Version Recording Method
Analog
1982 Betacam Component Analog
1986 Betacam SP Component Analog
(metal tape)
Sampling &
SD Digital (Compression)
1994 Digital Betacam 4:2:2 (DCT)
1996 Betacam SX 4:2:2 (MPEG-2)
2000 MPEG IMX 4:2:2 (MPEG-2)
HD Digital
1997 HDCAM 3:1:1 (DCT)
2003 HDCAM SR 4:4:4 (MPEG-4)
Betacam VTR and Cartridges
Betacam videotape recorders (VTRs) are not your ordinary home VCRs. Used in professional studios, they cost up to 100 times that of a consumer VHS machine. Betacam is the de facto broadcast video format worldwide, and cartridges come in small and large formats.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Multibridge 7.3.2 (Mac)
- Multibridge converters provide simultaneous bidirectional conversion from analog equipment to SDI based digital systems. Connect to analog decks such as Betacam SP or add it to your editing system for the ultimate break out box.
- Software downloads 2009-10-08
- The bell tolls for your magnetic media
- Don't wait to try to retrieve the data and content from your magnetic media. Chances are, some of it may already be unrecoverable and highly degraded. Act now. This weekend, I put out a 411 to my circle of Internet colleagues...
- Blog posts 2009-01-04
- EU fines Sony, others for videotape price fixes
- EU fines Sony, others for videotape price fixesjust wondering...[i]The cartel covered the two most popular professional videotape formats at the time--Betacam SP and Digital Betacam[/i].Could it be the $ony & Co is repeating the history with the blue ray?If you look arround the blue-ray disks and players are double compared...
- Discussion threads 2007-11-20
- Blu-ray DVD drive no bonus for some PS3 buyers
- Blu-ray DVD drive no bonus for some PS3 buyersExactlyBlu-Ray and the price increase it causes is why I will not buy one. I am not ready to jump into a technology (Blu-Ray) that may not have lasting power. Its similar to beta-max vs VHS or LaserDisc...
- Discussion threads 2006-12-08
- NBC to partner with YouTube in posting NBC video clips
- Earlier this year, YouTube acquiesced to NBC’s demand that an unauthorized clip of the NBC produced "Saturday Night Live" video, "Lazy Sunday," be removed from YouTube, along with unauthorized copies of more than 500 other pieces of NBC content, citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.The pirated clip of the poular...
- Blog posts 2006-06-06
- Local markets of one
- As mobility and personalization become the norm, consumers will become local markets of one and companies will use technology and telecommunications to create and deliver product to potentially billions of individual, digital micro-markets, on demand. All sectors are being transformed by the increasingly consumer involved, on-demand digital world: from entertainment...
- Blog posts 2006-05-07
- HD camera madness
- HD camera madnessGASP!Zombie films? A man after my own heart! I know this is way off topic but you don't see many people around who particularly like that Genre. And I personally do. I still think that the Zombies in the Ice Rink on The orginal Dawn...
- Discussion threads 2006-04-10
- HP backs both rivals in DVD horse race
- HP backs both rivals in DVD horse raceBetacam cost also "quickly" came "down" ... to its death. NTNTAll over iHD, not likely.I hope that wasn't the only reason for this little tantrum. I really don't see how a new technology developed by M$ and Disney, which that alone should...
- Discussion threads 2005-12-16
- Bounty of DVD-recording PCs hit market
- A year ago, no computer maker offered drives for recording home DVDs. Now there are plenty of options, although not all consumer DVD players can read the discs. Amateur moviemakers are suddenly faced with too...
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