Video Cassette Recorder

Description (Brief):

This front-loading Betamax video recorder was manufactured by Sony at the height of the company’s competition with producers of the rival VHS format. Beta recorders initially featured a one hour recording cassette, later lengthened to match VHS. Early Beta machines were slightly larger than early VHS units and designers struggled to put a quality audio signal on the tape without compromising video signal quality. Both formats were available for about ten years but ultimately Sony could not solve the audio-video problem without a major redesign that made newer tapes incompatible with older machines. Sony dropped the Beta format in 1988.

Date Made: 1984

Maker: Sony

Location: Currently not on view

See more items in: Work and Industry: Electricity, Magnetic Recording, Communications

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: from Lynn G. Herbert

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 2003.0147.04Accession Number: 2003.0147Catalog Number: 2003.0147.04

Object Name: video recorderrecording device

Physical Description: steel (overall material)plastic (overall material)Measurements: overall: 10.1 cm x 43.2 cm x 38.1 cm; 4 in x 17 in x 15 in

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-5b4a-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1197888

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.