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Betamax (also called Beta, and referred to as such in the logo) is a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released in Japan on May 10, 1975. The first Betamax introduced in America was the LV-1901 console, which included a 19" color monitor, and appeared in stores in early November, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format. The format is obsolete, having lost the videotape format war to VHS, which itself has long been superseded by DVD, Blu-Ray and internet-based data delivery. Betamax recorders ceased production in 2002, but the format's cassette tapes remain available until March 2016, when Sony will discontinue them. Like the rival videotape format VHS (introduced in Japan by JVC in October 1976〔() JVC HR-3300 release.〕 and in the United States by RCA in August 1977), Betamax had no guard band and used azimuth recording to reduce crosstalk. According to Sony's own history webpages, the name came from a double meaning: ''beta'' being the Japanese word used to describe the way signals were recorded onto the tape, and from the fact that when the tape ran through the transport, it looked like the Greek letter beta (β). The suffix ''-max'', from the word "maximum", was added to suggest greatness.〔("This is a revolution!" ) Archive of Sony.net history〕 In 1977, Sony came out with the first long play Betamax VCR, the SL-8200. This VCR had two recording speeds: normal, and the newer half speed. This provided two hours recording time on the L-500 Beta videocassette. The SL-8200 was to compete against the VHS VCRs which had 2 or 4 hours of recording time. Sanyo marketed a version as ''Betacord'', but this was also referred to casually as "Beta". In addition to Sony and Sanyo, Beta-format video recorders were manufactured and sold by Toshiba, Pioneer, Murphy, Aiwa, and NEC. The Zenith Electronics Corporation and WEGA Corporations contracted with Sony to produce VCRs for their product lines. Department stores like Sears (in the United States and Canada) and Quelle (Germany) sold Beta-format VCRs under their house brands, as did the RadioShack chain of electronic stores. Betamax and VHS competed in a fierce format war, which saw VHS come out on top in most markets. ==Legacy== The VHS format's defeat of the Betamax format became a classic marketing case study. Sony's attempt to dictate an industry standard backfired when JVC made the tactical decision to forgo Sony's offer of Betamax in favor of developing its own technology. JVC felt that accepting Sony's offer would yield results similar to the U-Matic deal, with Sony dominating.〔John Howells. "The Management of Innovation and Technology: The Shaping of Technology and Institutions of the Market Economy" (), pg 76–81〕 By 1980, JVC's VHS format controlled 60% of the North American market. The large economy of scale allowed VHS units to be introduced to the European market at a far lower cost than the rarer Betamax units. In the United Kingdom, Betamax held a 25% market share in 1981, but by 1986, it was down to 7.5% and continued to decline further. By 1984, 40 companies made VHS format equipment in comparison with Beta's 12. Sony finally conceded defeat in 1988 when it, too, began producing VHS recorders (early models were made by Hitachi), though it still continued to produce Betamax recorders until 2002.〔 In Japan, Betamax had more success and eventually evolved into Extended Definition Betamax, with 500+ lines of resolution, but eventually both Betamax and VHS were supplanted by laser-based technology. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Betamax」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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