Betamax

Sony's Betamax is the 12.7 mm (0.5 inch) home videocassette tape recording format introduced in 1975 and derived from the earlier, professional 19.1 mm (0.75 inch) U-matic video cassette format. Like the video home recording system VHS introduced by JVC in 1976, it had no guard band, and used azimuth recording to reduce cross-talk. The "Betamax" name came from the fact that when the tape ran through the transport it looked like the Greek letter "Beta".

Sanyo marketed a version as Betacord, but this was also referred casually to as "Beta." In addition to Sony and Sanyo, Betamax video recorders were also sold by Toshiba, Pioneer, Aiwa and NEC, and the Zenith Electronics Corporation and WEGA Corporations contracted with Sony to produce VCRs for their product lines. Department stores like Sears, in the US and Canada, and Quelle in Germany sold Beta format VCRs under their house brands as did the Radio Shack chain of electronic stores.

Sony introduced the Betamax home video system in 1975 with the LV-1901 Trinitron/Betamax console. It was the most popular video format in 1983, gaining almost a third of the UK video recorder market, while Sanyo's VTC5000 was the top selling UK video recorder. By 1985, however, the market had turned sharply towards VHS.

The world's first camcorders were Sony's Betamovie Betamax recorders.