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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