Video Tape Formats
Recording onto video tape was first pioneered back in 1953,
but did not appear in actual service until 1956. Over the years since, dozens of
tape formats, that is the method of putting the information on the tape, have
come and gone.
ANALOG FORMATS
VHS |
| Dimensions: |
7 3/8 x 4 1/16 x 1 |
| Tape Width: |
½ inch |
| Horizontal Resolution: |
240 lines |
| Year Introduced: |
1976 |
| Supported by indieOpolis: |
Yes! |
| VHS (also commonly referred to as ½ inch)
was designed to be a consumer format used mostly for playback and
recording on home VCRs. Its main advantage over similar tape formats is
its maximum record time. Because of the popularity of VHS machines in
the marketplace, it is has always been the videotape format of choice
for distribution. However, the video and audio quality of VHS tape does
not lend itself for professional production or post-production. |
Super-VHS (S-VHS) |
| Dimensions: |
7 3/8 x 4 1/16 x 1 |
| Tape Width: |
½ inch |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
400 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1987 |
| Supported by indieOpolis: |
Yes! |
| Super-VHS is an improvement on video and
audio qualities of the VHS format and was designed primarily for the
acquisition of video footage by professionals who could not afford
expensive production equipment. Many S-VHS decks will record and
playback regular VHS tapes – however, S-VHS tapes will not playback on
VHS decks. |
VHS-C |
| Dimensions: |
3 5/8 x 2 5/16 x 7/8 |
| Tape Width: |
½ inch |
| Horizontal Resolution: |
240 lines |
| Year-Introduced: |
1985 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
Yes! |
| Similar to VHS, VHS-C (C for compact)
is housed in a smaller shell than VHS in order to accommodate
palm-sized consumer camcorders. A VHS sized shell-adaptor is
required to playback VHS-C videotapes in a standard VCR player;
otherwise a VHS-C camcorder is needed to view VHS-C tapes. |
Betacam SP |
| Dimensions: |
6 1/8 x 3 ¾ x 15/16
or 9 15/16 x 5 11/16 x 15/16 |
| Tape Width: |
1/2 inch |
| Horizontal Resolution: |
360 lines |
| Year Introduced: |
1986 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
No |
| Betacam SP is the most widely used
tape format in the professional and broadcast industries. Even
though portable Betacam SP decks and camcorders can only record up
to 30 minutes of video, larger-sized decks can record up to 90
minutes of material. |
| Name: 1” Type C |
| Dimensions:
|
Various |
| Tape Width:
|
1 inch |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
330 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1976 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
No |
| 1” Type C is an open-reel format that
became the 1” broadcast standard (the others being Type A, which was
a popular industrial and educational format, and Type B which was
popular in Europe). 1” Type C has been mostly replaced by Betacam SP
and some of the newer digital format. |
U-Matic |
| Dimensions:
|
8 5/8 x 5 3/8 x 1 3/16 |
| Tape Width:
|
¾ inch, ¾ inch SP |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
330 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1971 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
No |
| Commonly referred to as ¾ inch, U-matic
was extremely popular for the industrial/educational market and was
the video format of choice for electronic news gathering (ENG)
during most of the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Full-sized tapes can
hold up to one-hour of footage; the smaller, more portable ‘field’
decks use tapes that can record 20 minutes of video material. |
| 8MM
8mm |
| Dimensions:
|
3 11/16 x 2 7/16 x 9/16 |
| Tape Width:
|
8mm |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
260 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1983 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
Yes! |
| 8mm is a consumer format which was
introduced for palm-sized camcorders. 8mm is highly susceptible to
video drop-outs and requires an 8mm camera or deck in order to view
the videotapes. The maximum record time for 8mm tapes on standard
play is 120 minutes. |
| HI-8
Hi-8 |
| Dimensions:
|
3 11/16 x 2 7/16 x 9/16 |
| Tape Width:
|
8mm |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
400 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1990 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
Yes! |
| Hi-8 is an improvement on the 8mm
format and was introduced primarily for industrial customers that
could not afford expensive, ‘broadcast-quality’ equipment. Since its
introduction, Hi-8 has become an extremely popular as a consumer
format. |
| MII
MII |
| Dimensions:
|
7 3/16 x 4 1/8 x 1 |
| Tape Width:
|
½ inch |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
440 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1986 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
No |
| MII was introduced as a competitor to
Betacam SP. While similar in quality to Betacam SP, MII never really
caught on in the production world (even though NBC still uses a fair
amount of MII videotape.) Because of a higher tape speeds, the
smaller MII cassettes can only hold 12 minutes of video material
while the larger cassette versions can record up to 95 minutes.
|
DIGITAL FORMATS
| Name: DV |
| Dimensions:
|
4 7/8 x 3 1/16 x 9/16 |
| Tape Width:
|
6.35mm |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
Up to 500 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1996 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
No |
| DV is the first ‘high-quality’
videotape format available to the consumer market. This format
digitally compresses each video frame to allow video information to
be stored on a very narrow tape. |
| Name: DVC-Pro |
| Dimensions:
|
4 7/8 x 3 1/16 x 9/16 |
| Tape Width:
|
6.35mm |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
Up to 500 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1995 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
No |
| This tape format was introduced by
Panasonic as their professional version of the DV format. It uses a
similar compression to DV but the tape speed is nearly twice as
fast, which improves the bit-error rate, and results in an image
that is comparable to the quality of Betacam SP. |
DVCAM |
| Dimensions:
|
4 7/8 x 3 1/16 x 9/16 |
| Tape Width:
|
6.35mm |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
Up to 500 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1996 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
No |
| DVCAM was introduced by Sony as their
professional DV format. The recording tape speed of DVCAM is faster
than DV but is slower compared to DVC-Pro. |
Mini-DV |
| Dimensions:
|
2 9/16 x 1 7/8 x 7/16 |
| Tape Width:
|
6.35mm |
| Horizontal Resolution:
|
Up to 500 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1996 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
Yes! |
| Same as DV except that the videotape
is housed in a smaller shell, designed to work in palm-sized digital
camcorders. Mini-DV is very popular as the consumer DV format. |
| DIGITAL8
Digital 8 (Is recorded on Hi-8 Tape) |
| Dimensions:
|
3 11/16 x 2 7/16 x 9/16 |
| Tape Width:
|
8mm |
| Horizontal
Resolution: |
Up to 500 lines |
| Year Introduced:
|
1999 |
| Supported by
indieOpolis: |
Yes! |
| Similar to the Hi-8 format except
that the video information is digitally compressed before being
recorded to tape. Digital 8 video is recorded on Hi-8 tapes. |
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