Crossword clues for betamax
betamax
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1975, proprietary name (Sony), from Japanese beta-beta "all over" + max, from English maximum.
Wikipedia
Betamax (also called Beta, and referred to as such in the logo) is a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released in Japan on May 10, 1975. The first Betamax introduced in America was the LV-1901 console, which included a color monitor, and appeared in stores in early November, 1975. The cassettes contain videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional , U-matic format. The format is obsolete, having lost the videotape format war to VHS. Betamax recorders ceased production in 2002, but the format's cassette tapes were available until March 2016, when Sony discontinued them.
Like the rival videotape format VHS (introduced in Japan by JVC in October 1976 and in the United States by RCA in August 1977), Betamax had no guard band and used azimuth recording to reduce crosstalk. According to Sony's own history webpages, the name came from a double meaning: beta being the Japanese word used to describe the way signals were recorded onto the tape, and from the fact that when the tape ran through the transport, it looked like the Greek letter beta (β). The suffix -max, from the word "maximum", was added to suggest greatness. In 1977, Sony came out with the first long play Betamax VCR, the SL-8200. This VCR had two recording speeds: normal, and the newer half speed. This provided two hours recording time on the L-500 Beta videocassette. The SL-8200 was to compete against the VHS VCRs which had 2 or 4 hours of recording time.
Sanyo marketed a version as Betacord, but this was also referred to casually as "Beta". In addition to Sony and Sanyo, Beta-format video recorders were manufactured and sold by Toshiba, Pioneer, Murphy, Aiwa, and NEC. The Zenith Electronics Corporation and WEGA Corporations contracted with Sony to produce VCRs for their product lines. Department stores like Sears (in the United States and Canada) and Quelle (Germany) sold Beta-format VCRs under their house brands, as did the RadioShack chain of electronic stores. Betamax and VHS competed in a fierce format war, which saw VHS come out on top in most markets.
Usage examples of "betamax".
In the basement recreation room Ruth and Nim sat side by side on a sofa, with Leah sprawled on a rug, while Benjy deftly inserted a video cassette into their Betamax tape deck, connected to a color TV.
Now, Betamax and comparable systems were giving the public a chance to strike back by being selective, and eliminating advertising from their viewing.
We sat down again, the lights went off, the Betamax went on, and Jimmy turned his head slightly to the left, looking straight at me in my chair.
Kyle and I walked back to the Kapstone offices where someone had set up a Sony Betamax VCR along with several yellow legal pads and sharpened pencils for the taking of notes.
And then we figured that bar codes will be obsolete soon enough, and having one on your shoulder or forehead would be like having a Betamax tattooed on your shoulder or forehead.