When did they stop making beta tapes and beta VCR's?

Question

When did they stop releasing new movies and shows on beta tape? When did they stop making new beta copies of movies and shows that were already released on beta tape? When did they stop making blank beta tapes for recording shows? Did all those stop at the same time or were there different years for all of those? When did they stop making new beta VCR's? Did they make beta/VHS players like they made VHS/DVD players? If so, when did they stop making those? When did they stop making betacams?

Answer 1

Contact Absolute Beta (absolutebeta.com) in Remington, VA.

Their phone number is 540 439 9780.



You should be able to find out all you want to know (and more) by asking there.

Answer 2

DVD killed both VHS and Betamax, because it was both faster and cheaper to duplicate discs than to record tapes. major movies stopped having a tape version in the mid-1990s. JVC stopped enforcing its VHS patents in 2000 so there was a resurgence of cheap Korean and Chinese made unlicensed decks after that. There was never a Beta/VHS combo, but there were VHS/miniDV tape combo players that were sold mostly in the Japan home market and not in the USA.



the last new "Betacam" was the Sony HDcam SR that came out in 2003-2005. HDcam and SR tapes are still widely available but i don't think the cameras are made, being replaced by the XDcam memory card format. Broadcast BetacamSP and digiBetacam are in regular use in the industry even as the equipment becomes dated.

Answer 3

Technically, Betamax VCRs and Tapes stopping being made in 2003---Sony, which was the original license holder for Betamax, ended production of all remaining Betamax products in 2003---

As for availability in the US, the tapes were still being sold in the early 90s---the last time I saw any for sale in a major department store in the US was probably in 1997. After 1990, production for the US market became very limited. Major motion picture releases ended for Betamax in the US in early 1994.

Answer 4

Comsumerwise, I would sat as late as 1985 they stopped consumer release of commercial pre-recorded titles. Around 1990 for equipment and blank media.



Commercially, in broadcast, a commercial version Beta was used well until the end of analog broadcasting.