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When the first Betamax hit the scene in 1975 (SL-7200) there was only one recording speed. It was not referred to as Bx1 or at this time because there was no other speed to compare it to. Recording time was limited to one hour using a K-60 cassette. The "60" meaning sixty minutes. The public wanted more time so a longer cassette tape length was introduced, one that would record 90 minutes. To avoid confusion Sony elected not to label the new length the K-90 (because a slower speed was coming) but the L-750, to coincide with the tapes length in feet. The K-60 was renamed with the L-500. It was early and the public accepted the new numbering but it did not eliminate the confusion entirely. Especially since there was a new competitor called VHS and their tape was numbered the T-120, meaning 120 minutes. Adding slower recording speeds later muddied the waters even more. VHS got its start when RCA (the Radio Corporation of America) famous for the RCA Victor label, approached Sony and asked if they could slow the speed down enough to record an entire football game (two hours). If so, they would throw their support behind Beta and buy their machines from Sony, putting RCAs label on it. Sony decided that they really didn't want a tie-in with RCA (they were a television competitor at this time) and that video head manufacturing currently would not allow a slower speed, they would have to pass. Improved video head design quickly followed. RCA was hungry to get in the game so they turned to a small, obscure Japanese company called Mitsushita that was bragging that they were soon going to introduce their format that could record up to two hours. It seems that by using Sonys discarded VHS format and a bigger cassette they could do it. In fact they were about to go to market with a barbaric machine under the name of Panasonic and they would gladly welcome the added revenue from RCA. They would christen it JVC, an acronym for Japanese Victor Corporation. The deal was struck and now there was going to be two competing formats. Turns out RCA and (JVC) Panasonic sold only a few of their two hour units, but it was just enough to make an impression. This was the opening shot to what would soon become the notorious recording time war. Soon video head manufacturing improved so Sony added a slower speed (Bx2) to their next model, the SL-8200. Marketed soon as it was born showing almost no loss in picture quality from the original Bx1, soon to become the orphan speed. Panasonic countered with their so called "Great Time Machine" model that also had two speeds and up to four hours of recording time. The picture was degraded some but still on par with most televisions of the day. Another, slower third speed came next for both formats and picture quality (not to mention the sound) became pretty sad.
VHS settled on three speeds set in a range as SP, LP and SLP. Some models called these last two EP, XP or XLP speeds to help further confuse the public. Beta had its , and . Beta enlisted some big names to help in their fight to win the home video market. For VHS if you once made sewing machines and decided to become a new spiffy VHS manufacturer all you had to do was start up a new production line. Mitsushita was easy on the licensing and VHS wasn't too demanding to make. The quality of Betas slowest speed compared to VHS was verified by a number of serious technical publications as being the better of the two. Beta was far and away had the best picture, better interchangeability and was more stable, but it didn't matter. The masses ended up wanting the most recording time at the lowest cost. Recorders soon became a bargain basement commodity that soon produced some of the most dreadful VHS units ever offered to the American public. Price became king and picture quality, unit longevity and operational prowess went out the window. Some VHS units sold for as little as $50.00! And life expectancy (no one talked about this) was in the 500 hour range. And why not? You could always replace your broken one with another one for almost nothing. During all this madness Sony and the other Beta manufactures were pushing picture quality, stamina and features. That was their depth and it was all they could promote was their superior format. Don't get me wrong, VHS did make some good machines for the general public but they never penetrated the demanding professional video market like Beta did, think ENG (electronic news gathering where quality was everything). For the most part both formats are gone today but you can still pick up a VHS for almost nothing. But if you want a good working example of a Beta VCR it is going to cost you more than when they were new (adjusted for inflation).To examine a table showing the different tape speeds and recording times click here. Why was there never a  or  ? To find out why click here.
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