chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) (11/26/85)
Do people on the net think that Beta will last? Or is Sony going to eventually cave in and adopt VHS? I am thinking about buying a VCR. Anytime I have seen a market like this, everyone eventually adopts one format( e.g. IBM). But there are incentives to buy Beta. If I go with Sony will I be left hanging in a couple of years?
seifert@hammer.UUCP (Snoopy) (11/29/85)
In article <703@leadsv.UUCP> chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) writes: > > Do people on the net think that Beta will last? Or is >Sony going to eventually cave in and adopt VHS? I am thinking about >buying a VCR. Anytime I have seen a market like this, everyone >eventually adopts one format( e.g. IBM). But there are incentives to >buy Beta. If I go with Sony will I be left hanging in a couple of years? Why would Sony spend the bucks for developing Beta HiFi and SuperBeta if they planned on dumping the format? People have been saying that Sony should drop Beta for years now, but Sony just keeps improving it, keeping Beta ahead of VHS technically, if not in sales. Chevy sells more cars than BMW too. Snoopy tektronix!tekecs!doghouse.TEK!snoopy
andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (11/30/85)
>> >> Do people on the net think that Beta will last? Or is >>Sony going to eventually cave in and adopt VHS? I am thinking about >>buying a VCR. Anytime I have seen a market like this, everyone >>eventually adopts one format( e.g. IBM). But there are incentives to >>buy Beta. If I go with Sony will I be left hanging in a couple of years? > >Why would Sony spend the bucks for developing Beta HiFi and SuperBeta >if they planned on dumping the format? People have been saying that >Sony should drop Beta for years now, but Sony just keeps improving it, >keeping Beta ahead of VHS technically, if not in sales. Let's go back a few years and change some names ... "Do people think that CED videodisks will last? I am thinking about buying a videodisk player, and I like laserdisk but there are incentives to buy the RCA CED ..." "Why would RCA spend the bucks for developing stereo CED disks and interactive (mucho special effects) if they planned on dumping the format?" This sort of argument doesn't seem to wash. Please, no flames about Beta/VHS quality vs CED/laserdisk quality. I personally don't think that Beta will die soon, but I see Sony putting more of their work into 8mm and less emphasis on Beta. When 8mm quality reaches Beta quality (and it will -- analogy with audio tape reel-to-reel vs cassette; they stopped improving RtR quality but continued pushing cassette quality to parity), then I think Sony will stop pushing Beta altogether. Just my opinion, of course. -=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew) [UUCP] (tekecs!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]
seifert@hammer.UUCP (Snoopy) (11/30/85)
In article <1912@orca.UUCP> andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) writes: >"Why would RCA spend the bucks for developing stereo CED disks and >interactive (mucho special effects) if they planned on dumping the >format?" A few differences here, CED was a braindamaged idea to start with. It never did very well. You don't even see that much laser disk stuff in stores. (why this is would make an interesting discussion) Of the two disk formats, the technically superior system won. >more of their work into 8mm and less emphasis on Beta. When 8mm >quality reaches Beta quality (and it will -- analogy with audio tape >reel-to-reel vs cassette; they stopped improving RtR quality but >continued pushing cassette quality to parity) But RtR is (1) more difficult than a cassette (2) more expensive, both for machine and for tape (3) physically larger (both machine and tape) (4) hard to have auto and portable machines that use the same tape as your home machine. Besides, RtR is still around, you just don't see the low-end stuff anymore. Beta, VHS, and 8mm are all cassettes => easy to handle. 8mm's size may be a factor for camcorders, but Beta/VHS home machines are down to normal component size. (for large libraries tape size and cost could be a factor) Sure, 8mm will get to the point that Beta is now, but the same tricks can be used to make Beta even better. Only when 8mm becomes so good that further improvement isn't needed will Beta become obsolete. By no further improvement needed, I mean that an n-th generation tape (say n=4) produces a perfect, high-resolution picture on a projection TV, with at least two high fidelity sound tracks (4 would be better). Granted they may drop Beta before it get quite this far, but on the other hand they may not. TV is finally getting into the high performance bit, after years of being "good enough". People are buying monitors and projection TVs, and they want a very good picture. Another factor is that there is A LOT of Beta gear already out there, so there will be a continuing demand for Beta products for a long time. Snoopy tektronix!tekecs!doghouse.TEK!snoopy
rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (11/30/85)
[] My own very personal opinion is that Sony is going to drop a bundle on the ill-considered introduction of 8 mm and will then return to pushing the beta format again. Of course some totally new medium could come along like ...bubbles? and leave them all hanging out to dry. -- "It's the thought, if any, that counts!" Dick Grantges hound!rfg
john@gcc-milo.ARPA (John Allred) (12/02/85)
In article <1518@hound.UUCP> rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) writes: >My own very personal opinion is that Sony is going to drop a bundle >on the ill-considered introduction of 8 mm and will then return to >pushing the beta format again. With Super Beta, Sony is definitely pushing the Beta format. In a word, its gorgeous! By the way, does anyone know the technical details of Super VHS? I currently run with VHS Hi-fi, but am considering a format change to Super Beta. -- John Allred General Computer Company uucp: seismo!harvard!gcc-milo!john
newlin@ihuxe.UUCP (Doug Newlin) (12/03/85)
> > Do people on the net think that Beta will last? Or is > Sony going to eventually cave in and adopt VHS? I am thinking about > buying a VCR. Anytime I have seen a market like this, everyone > eventually adopts one format( e.g. IBM). But there are incentives to > buy Beta. If I go with Sony will I be left hanging in a couple of years? I used to own a VHS VCR, but when I was exposed to the superior picture and engineering of the top of the line SONY BETA VCRs, I switched formats (this was about two years ago). I have never regretted it! I currently own the HF900 Super-BETA, which has features no other VHS VCR has (e.g., high resolution Super-BETA picture, "jog dial" for industrial level special effects/editing, 181 channel cable tuner), along with a built in MTS stereo TV decoder, and many other goodies. I do not think a company (SONY) would invest $$ in R&D to introduce Super-BETA, their "jog dial", 181 channel cable tuner, etc. if they were planning to drop their BETA format. Actually, the video magazines (e.g., VIDEO, VIDEO REVIEW), have been hinting that the 8mm format may replace BOTH VHS and BETA in the future [depends on how you define the future, though - there are still Kodak Pony silent cameras and projectors around :-) ] Also, SONY does not have to share its piece of the VCR market (latest estimates are that the BETA format has an approx. 20% of the new VCR sales) with hundreds (thousands?) of competing VCR manufacturers like the VHS group does, hence SONY has a greater potential for more profit ($$$). If your are thinking about buying a VCR, and your only concern is that the BETA format will perish in the near future, my *opinion* is don't worry about it. Doug Newlin (AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL) ..ihnp4!ixe5n!newlin -- Doug Newlin (AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL) ..ihnp4!ixe5n!newlin
andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (12/04/85)
> Also, SONY does not have to share its piece of the VCR market (latest > estimates are that the BETA format has an approx. 20% of the new VCR > sales) with hundreds (thousands?) of competing VCR manufacturers like the > VHS group does, hence SONY has a greater potential for more profit ($$$). There are three VHS VCR manufacturers, all in Japan. There are lots of companies that buy custom runs, with slightly different features and their own nameplates, from these manufacturers. Likewise there are lots of companies that buy Beta equipment runs, like Radio Shack. Sony is not the only vendor of Beta equipment and does not have a lock on the 20% (and diminishing) VCR market share. -=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew) [UUCP] (tekecs!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]
mdf@osu-eddie.UUCP (Mark D. Freeman) (12/05/85)
In article <703@leadsv.UUCP> chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) writes: > > Do people on the net think that Beta will last? Or is >Sony going to eventually cave in and adopt VHS? I am thinking about >buying a VCR. Anytime I have seen a market like this, everyone >eventually adopts one format( e.g. IBM). But there are incentives to >buy Beta. If I go with Sony will I be left hanging in a couple of years? I bought a Super BETA/BETA HiFi deck from Sanyo rather than a VHS HiFi deck, even though everyone I know has VHS. The main reason is that the sound and picture quality far surpasses that of VHS. I don't plan on renting many movies, but am using the machine for time shifting, archiving movies from cable, and to replace my tape deck for pure audio recording. If they stop making BETA tapes, I'll just buy a few crates of blanks and I still won't regret my decision. It just looks and sounds better! You can always hook your BETA deck to someone else's VHS to copy their tapes to your format.
andre@nrcvax.UUCP (Andre Hut) (12/13/85)
Having just purchased a Superbeta Sony SLHF900, and
also owning a VHS-HIFI made by JVC, I can say without
a doubt that Beta is a truly superior format. I
believe that the VHS format, while currently very
popular, will eventually give in to the better format.
As to the new 8mm format, who knows? It's just what
we need -- yet another video format -:
::May the better format win::
--------------------------------------------------
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