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Sony abandoned VHS and developed Betamax for a lot of reasons. Mostly because it didn't fit their idea of how a quality video recording system should operate. But also because Akio Morita, the man in charge of Sony, wanted a smaller, friendlier videocassette. One that was strong, easy to hold, and would comfortably fit in a person's pants pocket. (Unless you count cargo pants, this last goal was missed by a small fraction.) The cassette also needed to be bullet-proof, practical, sturdy, and simple. In this they succeeded. Another big reason Sony turned away from the VHS system was because of tape handling (click on the picture above). The way VHS had to distort, twist, and stretch the tape through the tape path was excessive. This made for poor technology, and that was bad news for a company that prided itself on quality, simplicity, and perfection. Worse yet was that VHS wouldn't be able to perform the features that Sony had in the works for Beta (click on the picture again), the biggest being instant access to the picture. Plus, BetaScan, BetaSkipscan and Stop-motion were in the works. But there was one really big difference that VHS couldn't overcome, and that was picture quality. Betamax was simply better (click on the picture once more). This graphic also appears in a panel about sound quality but near the bottom here we see how Beta compared to VHS in scan lines versus tape speed. The more scan lines, the better the picture resolution (sharpness). Sony wins hands down by as much as 20 percent. To Sony, a company that built its reputation on a better TV picture, this was the deciding factor. All this quality cost more to make, but Sony didn't care. Their track record for selling sharper, reliable, and more expensive TVs to the world market was by now the stuff of legend. For Sony to produce a recording system that was inferior in any way was simply not in their DNA. Unfortunately, they became involved in a tussle with the very technology they had once rejected, and it came at them with a whole new sales approach. VHS (Mitsushita) crammed as much marginal recording on a tape as possible, openly license it so anybody could make it and (most importantly) sell it on the cheap. Underselling Sony on price was easy; they had no pricing defense. Picture quality was the driving force behind why Sony staked its future on Betamax, not economy. And the rest, they say, is history. How did Sony achieve a higher quality picture than VHS? The proof is in the overall design. VHS had a smaller drum and a slower tape speed. This made for less picture information, which resulted in less picture quality. Sony explained it best in their Head-to-Head advertisement (click on the picture). To enlarge this "COMPARE VCRS" ad, click here. ©Misterßetamax go to homepage |