Beta WAS Best!

swimtech

For calidan...

VHS-240 lines
Beta-250 lines (SuperBeta 290 lines - recordable on standard Beta tape media)

Beta typical video s/n ratio 47db (at BII)
VHS typical video s/n ratio 44db (at SP)

Beta Hi-Fi audio had its own designated frequency bandwidth sandwiched between the chroma and luma signal - virtually no interference with the video information. Audio S/N ratio was over 80db - ANALOG! Used dbx noise reduction... Sound was smooth, deep, and quiet, with great detail.

VHS Hi-Fi audio overlapped the chroma and luma recorded frequencies - hence the need to depth multiplex the audio recording on the tape and extract the information using separate heads - with the extra circuitry to keep the video information out of the audio - tape tracking was very critical - the audio sometimes popped, and often had a "harsh" quality.

Beta tape handling was much gentler to the tape itself - only one hard turn
VHS tape path took two hard turns and pulled the tape from two different points out of the cassette shell - physically hard on the tape. Tape tension inherently higher - wore tapes out sooner...

VHS-max 6hrs. (now can buy eight hour tapes) recorded at EP speed
Beta-max 4 1/2 hours recorded at BIII speed.

OldBuzzard

I remember seeing one of the first Betamax players. They wanted @ $1,000 for that rascal

Betamax was definately superior, but Sony got greedy, and didn't want to license the tech. Now instead of making mucho $$ from Beta, Sony is getting nothing.

Chaos

kinda looks good on the greedy buggers from where I sit :P