Video Formats -Cassettes • 8mm & Video8 • Hi8 & Digital8 • Mini DV • Betamax
Video Formats
VHS
VHS is the most common type of video tape. Generally the range from 2 hours to 6 hours worth of video content; the longer the video, the lower the image quality.
VHS-C
VHS-C tapes are compact VHS tapes and require an adapter to play in a standard VHS player. Unlike standard VHS which contains 2 spools of tape, the VHS-C only has 1.
8mm & Video8
8mm & Video8 became popular for camcorder use in the 80’s. Metal particle technology is used in 8mm tapes making them more durable than other types of videos
Hi8 & Digital8
After 8mm came Hi8 then Digital8. Both look virtually the same as 8mm, only the quality of video and audio is vastly improved.
Mini DV
Mini DV camcorder tapes use digital technology to capture higher quality video and audio on dense video cassette.
Betamax
Popular analog tape format in the 70’s and 80’s but ultimately lost the “video tape war” to VHS