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Videotape Formats
Note that in the years 1962-1975 about 30 or 40 Industrial/Educational video formats came and went. Only the more popular formats are listed here. All formats are helical except where noted as Quad (1956-1971). The dates are when the product was first publically available.
| Date | Format | Usage | Analog / Digital | Composite / Component | Obsolesence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Ampex 2” Quadruplex | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | First successful videotape format |
| 1960 | Ampex Quad Low-Band Colour | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1962 | Ampex 2” Helical | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | First popular helical |
| 1963 | Ampex Quad High-Band Colour | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1963 | Sony 2” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1964 | Sony 1” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1965 | Ampex 1” SMPTE Type A | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1968 | IVC 1” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1968 | Sony 1/2” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1969 | Sony/Panasonic/others EIAJ-1 1/2” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Electronics Industries Association of Japan, open-reel format |
| 1969 | Panasonic/EIAJ Cartridge (Omnivision) | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Cartridge format |
| 1970 | Phillips 1/2” VCR | Industrial / Educational / Consumer | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | First commercially available home video cassette |
| 1971 | Ampex Quad Super High-Band | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1971 | Sony/JVC/Matsushita 3/4” U-Matic | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Low Band (LB) and High Band (HB) which increased chroma subcarrier frequency |
| 1973 | IVC 9000 2” | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Helical |
| 1975 | Bosch 1” SMPTE B | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Segmented helical scan on a small-diameter drum |
| 1975 | Sony Betamax | Consumer | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Successful consumer video cassette format |
| 1976 | JVC VHS (Video Home System) | Industrial / Educational & Consumer | Analog | Composite | Current Media (can buy) | VHS C (compact) required an adapter to play in a VHS VCR |
| 1976 | Sony 1” | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1976 | Ampex 1” A Format with slo-mo | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1978 | Ampex/Sony 1” SMPTE C | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | The most popular of the 1” professional formats |
| 1983 | Panasonic M | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component? | Obsolete | |
| 1984 | Sony Betacam | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Professional format able to use consumer cassette format |
| 1984 | EIAJ/others 8mm / Video 8 | Industrial / Educational & Consumer | Analog | Composite | Current Media (can buy) | |
| 1986 | Sony 3/4” U-Matic SP | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | SP (Superior Performance) a higher-energy tape & an extended FM carrier |
| 1986 | Panasonic M-ll | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component | Obsolete | Introduced as a competitor to Beta SP |
| 1987 | Sony Betacam SP | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component | Current Media (can buy) | SP (Superior Performance) an industry standard for most TV stations and high-end production |
| 1987 | Sony D1 | Professional | Digital | Component | Obsolete | First digital VTR |
| 1987 | JVC/other S-VHS | Industrial / Educational & Consumer | Analog | Component | Obsolete | S (Super) a high-end consumer format which separated the chrominance (colour) and luminance (brightness) signals. S-VHS C (compact) required an adapter to play in S-VHS VCR |
| 1988 | Ampex/Sony D2 | Professional | Digital | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1988 | Sony ED-Beta | Industrial / Educational & Consumer | Analog | Component | Obsolete | |
| 1989 | Sony Hi-8 | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Improved version of 8mm video |
| 1992 | Panasonic D3 | Professional | Digital | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1992 | Ampex DCT (Digital Component Technology) | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Obsolete | First compressed digital video format |
| 1993 | Panasonic D5 | Professional | Digital | Component | Obsolete | Non compressed. Can playback D3 tapes |
| 1993 | Sony Digital Betacam | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Digital successor to Betacam |
| 1994 | Panasonic D5 HD | Professional | Digital | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Compressed HD version of D5 |
| 1995 | EIAJ DV/DVC | Industrial / Educational /Consumer | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Obsolete | Mini DV and DVC were the first consumer digital recording format |
| 1995 | Panasonic DVCPRO / DVCPRO 25 / D7 | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | |
| 1995 | Toshiba/ Phiilips BTS D6 | Professional | Digital | Component | Not Standard > 5 years | HDTV Digital Cinema |
| 1995 | JVC D9 | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Obsolete | Digital S. Downward compatible with SVHS |
| 1996 | Sony Betacam SX | Professional | Digital | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Digital format targeted for ENG (Electronic News Gathering) and newsroom use |
| 1997 | JVC/Matsushita D-VHS | Consumer | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Obsolete | |
| 1996 | Sony DVCAM | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Information can be recorded on a memory chip inside the cassette |
| 1997 | Sony HDCAM (D11) | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | HDTV |
| 1997 | Panasonic DVCPRO50 | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | A varient was Panasonic DVCPRO Progressive |
| 1999 | Sony Digital 8 | Industrial / Educational | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Records same digital signal as DV onto less expensive Hi8 tapes also plays back 8mm and Hi8 tapes |
| 2000 | Panasonic DVCPRO HD | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | HD version of DVCPRO recording the same signal as D9HD |
| 2000 | JVC D-9 HD / Digital S-100 | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Used for recording compressed and sub-sampled HDTV and uses same tape as D9 |
| 2003 | Sony HDCAM SR | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) |
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.