lipman@decwrl.UUCP (02/23/84)
Message-Id: <8402231010.AA26410@decwrl.ARPA> Date: Thursday, 23 Feb 1984 02:14:30-PST From: akov68::boyajian To: net.video Subject: re: Info wanted on Beta Tapes As another poster recently said, the "thin" tape referred to is the L-830. Both the L-500 and the L-750 have been used for years with no discernable problems due to thickness. As to the L-830, it is said that the thinness might cause problems, though I haven't heard of any great number of them. The few times that I've used one, I have had no problem with it. Its advantages are fairly clear; most tv shows, sans commercials are ~25 or 50 minutes, most "2 hour" tv movies are ~100 minutes, and many theatrical movies are ~100 minutes. Using the L-830 tape (200 minutes at BII, 300 at BIII) is more conveniant for these. Because of the possible problems, I tend to use this tape only when I have large amounts of program material that I wish to have all togeth- er (eg. THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES or 'SALEM'S LOT mini-series). It's up to you whether you wish to use it or not; I see no problem with it on a limited-use basis. As for recommended brands, I have tried Sony, Maxell, Scotch, Ampex, and Yamaha. The Yamaha tape does not yield a very sharp picture (I have heard the same of Fuji, though I have not tried it personally) The Ampex and Scotch were OK the first time around, but tend to lose quality the more they are used, yielding more and more dropouts. The RKO tape is pretty much the same, though one thing that I noticed about it that I didn't with the others is that it yields a *very* poor picture when something is copied onto it. The RKO claims to be a chrome tape, though it certainly doesn't have the increased quality that one might expect of a chrome tape. The Sony and Maxell tapes are, imho [in my honest opinion], almost indistinguishable in quality, and are the only kind I buy now. Both give a very sharp picture, in many cases as good as the original transmission, the colors are very sharp, and they appear to be just as good the nth time around as the 1st time. I have not tried the "High Grade" tapes, myself. A couple of people I know that have tried them say that although the picture is somewhat better, it isn't enough better to justify the increased price, unless you're *really* fussy. Hope this is of some use to you. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard) UUCP: (decvax!decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian) ARPA: (decwrl!rhea!akov68!boyajian@Shasta)