Betacam

Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videotape products developed by Sony from 1982 onwards. In casual use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, or a Betacam video recorder.

All Betacam variants from Betacam SP on use the same shape cassettes, meaning vaults and other storage facilities do not have to be changed when upgrading to a new format. The cassettes come in two sizes: S and L. Betacam cameras can only load S tapes, while VTRs can play both S and L tapes. The cassette shell and case for each Betacam cassette is colored differently depending on the format, allowing for easy visual identification. There is also a mechanical key that allows a video tape recorder to tell which format has been inserted.

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