Betamax
Betamax
In the mid 1970's, video cassette recording technology advanced sufficiently to allow VCRs for the home. The first entry into this field was the Sony Betamax, with a one-hour recording time. Other companies believed they could improve upon this, and the Japanese VCR market was flooded with various companies' incompatible cassette and deck designs. The competing companies soon converged upon two major standards, JVC's VHS and Betamax. Over time, VHS gradually came to dominate the market and replace the Betamax as the video recording system.
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| Beneath the Planet of the Apes was one of the first Hollywood films released on a prerecorded video cassette. |
Conceptual
When Sony was developing a home VCR, they decided the major use would be time-shifting, recording TV shows to be watched later. Most shows were an hour or less, and Sony believed longer programs could be recorded on tapes. The limited recording time allowed a small, relatively inexpensive cassette, but precluded easy recording of Hollywood films.
JVC, a company which had worked with Sony on videotape technology for businesses, released its own standard, VHS. Though VHS cassettes and tapes were larger and had a perceived lower quality, they had a 2 hour recording length. Other companies, such as Matsushita, which owned JVC, Sanyo, and Toshiba were working on their own video recording technology, but they ultimately sided with either Betamax or VHS. Sony soon realized the need for a longer recording time and eventually increased the Betamax's recording capacity to two hours. VHS, however, managed to one-up them with 4 hours.
Engineering
Betamax utilized a U-loading technique, copied from Sony's earlier U-matic, a large recording deck used by businesses. U-loading is a single spool system that distributes the stress of playing back a video over more tape, which means the tape doesn't have to be unloaded from the machine to be fast forwarded or rewound.
JVC developed M-loading, which uses two spools to turn the tape. This method generates more stress on the tape due to the sharp angle of the tape between the head and the spools, and this stress is distributed on less of the tape. Therefore, when an M-loaded tape needs to be fast forwarded or rewound, the tape has to be pulled out of the machine, preventing playback while scanning. The inherent stress on the tape due to the mechanism had led Sony to abandon research on it, but JVC prevailed through an intensive design effort. The resulting VHS cartridge was thus simpler and cheaper to produce.
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| The SelectaVision was the first VHS player released in the U.S. Though manufactured by JVC, it was sold and promoted by RCA and several other companies. |
Managerial
When Sony developed the Betamax, they tried to get Matsushita and JVC's support, but they were unable to get it due to Matsushita and JVC's bitterness over previous the previous joint effort of the U-matic. At this point, JVC began developing VHS in secret and pretending to be considering Sony's offer. Because Sony wanted to reach an agreement with Matsushita and JVC, it declined an offer from Hitachi to license its technology. Though Sony was willing to renegotiate later, Hitachi took it to mean Sony wanted to work by itself.
When the Betamax was launched in February 1976, it was the only available consumer video recording technology. As a result, it did well, though there was an initial shortage of tapes due to a misestimate of demand for blank tapes. In the same month, JVC announced its work on VHS, a new video recording technology. The primary difference between VHS and Betamax was VHS's longer recording time and resulting larger cassette. Sony had considered a larger cassette to allow two hours of recording time, but opted for one hour because they believed one hour was enough for time-shifting, which they though would be the primary use for video recording technology. Sony's incapability to adapt to market demand allowed the VHS to enter the market and eventually become the dominant technology. One reason VHS escalated was due to the self-sustaining nature of cassette production. As more consumers buy VHS decks, more VHS cassettes are produced, and more people buy VHS decks, and so on.
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| Fear the Genius |
Conclusion
When Sony developed the Betamax, they did not properly determine what the public wanted. As a result, they created a technology that was later beaten out by another company's technology. Though Betamax was essentially superior in every other respect, JVC's decision to maximize recording time won the VCR market.
Sources
Lardner, James. Fast Forward: Hollywood, the Japanese, and the Onslaught of the VCR. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1987.
http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/suyamacity/god-fol/backnumber/act1.htm
http://www.eldocountry.com/Tv/vcr.html http://www.bordergatewayprotocol.net/jon/humor/images/ http://www.westernanalytical.com/ms/betamax%20ms.htm
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