Betamax (also known as Beta and stylized with the Greek letter β in its logo) is a consumer analog video cassette format developed by Sony. It was introduced in Japan on May 10, 1975, and launched in the United States later that year. It was one of the main competitors in the video cassette format war against its main rival, VHS.
Betamax was considered a device offering superior image quality compared to VHS, but early Betamax tapes were limited to 60 minutes of recording time, making them impractical for recording movies or sporting events. To address this issue, Sony introduced β2 speed, which doubled the recording time to two hours but reduced the resolution, negating its technical advantage.
Sony continued to produce Betamax recorders until August 2002 and sold blank Beta tapes until March 2016.