Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Another reason not to get into the 3D fad.

That was Betacam, a professional, half-inch tape system. Sony purposely named their home video format, Betamax (it's proper name), similarly, so people would make the connection.

Though you're also correct, Beta did have slightly higher quality video than VHS. But initially the tapes could not hold a full, feature-length movie. So you'd have to switch tapes in the middle. That was a major strike with the studios. Decreasing the tape speed in order to fit a full movie, lowered the quality to slightly below VHS.