What format was used in 1980’s tv Stations

[Anonymous]

Not sure where to post this because it is not an “emerging” format but an old format. Most of my business is transferring old format to DVD. I had a call today from a business that has a bunch of old tapes from TV commericals they made in the 1980’s. The TV station gave the tapes to them. They said they aren’t standard VHS tapes but a little larger. Does anyone have any idea what format these are?

[EarlC]

Sony’s 3/4″ U-matic. Several companies offer transfer to DVD for this stock including http://www.HDMediaServices.com

Also, see VideoMakersDirect

There’s another also by Sony. The Betacam or Betacam SP and Digital Betacam.

Wikipedia says U-Matic was introduced in 1971, supplanted by Betacam and variations starting in 1982.

[Jennifer O’Rourke]

I worked in TV for 20+ years, beginning in the late 1970’s and EarlC is correct. Most of the standard tapes we shot and edited were Sony 3/4-inch and later Sony 1/2-inch Betacam tapes. The 1/2-inch looked like the same size as VHS tapes, but the speed was faster and not compatible with VHS machines. You can find lots of Betacam tape decks at many reseller sites.

[Harry]

Several other formats come to mind. MII was a component format, VHS casette based system, as opposed to Betacam, which was…well, Betamax based. Less common, but possible. Getting really obscure, there was Quadcart, used to air commercials. based on 2″ Quad tape, but in a loop a-la 8 track audio tapes. Being described as a cassette, that seems to rule out 1″ or 2″ Quad, which would be open reels. And we though it was tough to keep track of modern formats…sheesh.

Harry

[Grinner Hester]

we used 3/4″ and one inch machines in the 80s… some still toted the old 2″ machines.

[Author]

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