JVC introduced the first color VHS tapes in 1976.
Tape, the final frontier. Not long ago, video cassette tape was the dominant medium used in consumer camcorders. It's slowly on its way out now, being replaced in most camcorders today by hard drives and memory sticks. Over the years, camcorder tapes have progressed from analog to digital and have come in all sorts of sizes and shapes and lengths. And it all began with the ascension of the mighty VHS.
VHS
JVC introduced the Video Home System, or VHS, in 1976. The format eventually became the dominant home video format for more than two decades, until the adoption of DVD. VHS tapes are played in tape decks called VCRs.
VHS tapes measure approximately 7.5 inches wide, 4 inches tall and an inch thick. They have a horizontal display resolution of 240 lines a maximum length of 200 minutes in standard playback mode or 600 minutes in extended playback mode. Because of the size of VHS tapes, all VHS camcorders are shoulder-mounted.
VHS-C and Super VHS
Introduced in 1985, VHS-C is a compact version of standard VHS. Its smaller design means camcorders that use them can be smaller than their predecessors. At the same time, VHS-C tapes can be played in standard VHS VCRs when paired with an adapter. VHS-C tapes measure about 3.5 inches wide, 2.5 inches tall and an inch thick. Like original VHS tapes, they have a horizontal resolution of 240 lines. They have a maximum length of 120 minutes when in EP mode.
Released in 1987, Super VHS tapes are identical in size to standard VHS tapes. They're called "super" because they offer superior video and audio quality than both regular VHS and VHS-C. They have a horizontal resolution of 400 lines and a maximum length of 160 minutes. A compact version of Super VHS called S-VHS-C exists as well, with the same video and audio quality as Super VHS. However, S-VHS-C tapes have a maximum length of only 40 minutes.
Betamax, Betacam and Betacam SP
Released in 1975 by Sony, Betamax was the first videocassette tape that found success in the consumer market. It's superior in quality to VHS, but it ultimately lost out in the videocassette wars of the 1980s, initially because Betamax tapes had a maximum recording length of one hour, which made them a tough sell for standard-length films. VHS tapes were also cheaper and more widely available.
Betamax tapes were designed for use in Sony's Betacam camcorders. They offer a horizontal resolution of 300 lines and are nearly identical in size to VHS tapes.
Sony introduced Betacam SP in 1986. The format uses metal tape and offers an improved horizontal resolution of 340 lines. But they are beastly in size, measuring 10 inches wide and almost six inches tall. Sony developed smaller versions for field-sized camcorders, but they still measure 6 inches wide by 4 inches tall, and this reduction in size also meant a maximum recording length of just half an hour.
8mm, Hi8 and Digital 8
Kodak unveiled its 8 mm camcorder format in 1984. These tapes offer 255 lines of horizontal resolution and a maximum recording time of 240 minutes when set to LP mode. Eight millimeter camcorders must be connected directly to your TV set, rather than ejected an played in dedicated tape units like VCRs.
Hi8 was Kodak's answer to Super VHS. Hi8 offers a display quality improvement over 8 mm, but maintains the same tape footprint. Hi8 offers a horizontal resolution of 415 lines and a maximum tape length of 120 minutes when in standard play mode. Like 8 mm, Hi8 camcorders have to be attached directly to your TV for playback.
Digital 8 was the first consumer eight-millimeter tape to use digital technology. Digital 8 camcorders use Hi8 tapes and record video with horizontal resolutions of 500 lines. To achieve this level of quality, tapes run at double speed, meaning that you can record one hour of video on a two-hour Hi8 tape. Digital 8 camcorders also recorded CD-quality audio.
CV, Mini-DV and Mini-DV HD
Introduced in 1996, DV is a digital camcorder tape format. DV tapes measure 4.75 inches wide, about 3 inches tall and half an inch thick. They offer a horizontal resolution of 500 lines. Mini-DV tapes came out around the same time and offer the same resolution in a smaller footprint, measuring approximately 2.5 inches wide, 2 inches tall and half an inch thick. Mini-DV has for the last decade been the dominant camcorder tape medium. They record up to 120 minutes of video, though 30, 60 and 80-minute tapes are also available. Camcorders can be hooked up to VCRs, TVs and computers for editing and playback.
Mini-DV HD is a high-definition version of Mini-DV that records up to 94 minutes of video in LP mode.
Tags: horizontal resolution, resolution lines, horizontal resolution lines, inches tall, inches wide, inch thick