We all know about the VHS vs Betamax war that started in the late 70s

But those of you old enough to remember: what’s your experience with these forgotten video formats..

Cartivision:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXEiJ1e6Iqk


U-matic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itd2A5zJsxU

Part 2 (keeping it within the 2 videos a post rule)

V-Cord
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXaU7gtEGM8

VX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOiwnH2yPM0

Video 2000 I think this is 80s but it’s funky!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeSz6MoX00Q

Or what about a reel to reel video machine?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hfym0zCvpc

Phillips VCR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC_CLEQnM8w

Telefunken TED (not a videotape format but really funky)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkP4ZJnMVOs

Interesting.  Having lived thru the 70's as a teen, I can say that until perhaps very late in the decade, most average Joes didn't own a video recorder.  (I'm certain that some well-to-do gadget lovers owned video recorders in the mid to late 70's but the technology was neither mature enough nor cost effective for the masses then.)

The one video recorder I recall from the mid-70's was owned by my high school.  I'm pretty sure they used for sports recordings (like football, likely shot with a video camera) and some for-classroom documentary type material, but its use was limited to what the school needed.  I never touched it - I recall looking at it, though.  On the other hand, it is also possible that some of the college dormitory lounges at U or M (where there were TVs) had video machines, too, but I neither saw nor operated them there.  I'm not 100% on that anyway.

Interesting.  Having lived thru the 70's as a teen, I can say that until perhaps very late in the decade, most average Joes didn't own a video recorder.  (I'm certain that some well-to-do gadget lovers owned video recorders in the mid to late 70's but the technology was neither mature enough nor cost effective for the masses then.)

The one video recorder I recall from the mid-70's was owned by my high school.  I'm pretty sure they used for sports recordings (like football, likely shot with a video camera) and some for-classroom documentary type material, but its use was limited to what the school needed.  I never touched it - I recall looking at it, though.  On the other hand, it is also possible that some of the college dormitory lounges at U or M (where there were TVs) had video machines, too, but I neither saw nor operated them there.  I'm not 100% on that anyway.


I guess the equivalent to my generation would be someone having an HDTV in like 2001. They existed but nobody I knew had them then.

Interesting.  Having lived thru the 70's as a teen, I can say that until perhaps very late in the decade, most average Joes didn't own a video recorder.  (I'm certain that some well-to-do gadget lovers owned video recorders in the mid to late 70's but the technology was neither mature enough nor cost effective for the masses then.)

The one video recorder I recall from the mid-70's was owned by my high school.  I'm pretty sure they used for sports recordings (like football, likely shot with a video camera) and some for-classroom documentary type material, but its use was limited to what the school needed.  I never touched it - I recall looking at it, though.  On the other hand, it is also possible that some of the college dormitory lounges at U or M (where there were TVs) had video machines, too, but I neither saw nor operated them there.  I'm not 100% on that anyway.


I don't think I saw one until the early 80s. And the first ones I saw were for rent, not for sale.

I’d say the person who shot these videos is pretty well to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gm3QKVg7co

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_pdYuJDrcI

I don't think I saw one until the early 80s. And the first ones I saw were for rent, not for sale.
I am still trying to figure out when we brought our first video player, it must had been in the early 1980s.

We rented a video recorder from about 1984/5. My brother Stuart and I paid for it as my parents didn’t think they needed one.

I am still trying to figure out when we brought our first video player, it must had been in the early 1980s.


I think our Family didn't have a VCR till the mid 1980's.

I thought we got one in 85 but it was actually 87. My aunt had a vcr and camcorder in the early 80s but she always had cutting edge stuff. She had a dishwasher in her travel trailer before we had one in our house.

I think our Family didn't have a VCR till the mid 1980's
I can remember buying a video of a Muppet's film before 1983, and it was purchased in a shop near my work then, and it was in 1983 when I changed my work location.

I can remember buying a video of a Muppet's film before 1983, and it was purchased in a shop near my work then, and it was in 1983 when I changed my work location.



I can remember when My Father taped We Are The World from HBO in July Of 1985.

I can remember when My Father taped We Are The World from HBO in July Of 1985.


I taped the entire of Live Aid. Or at least the acts I liked. I still can't believe the fake rewritten history of today that Queen's performance was the second coming, the end all be all, the alpha and omega, the biggest thing that ever happened in life. Bullocks! It was just one more performance that day and it came and went with all the others. Lots of other performances got a LOT more attention, including the somewhat mediocre Led Zeppelin reunion, and Mick Jagger & Tina Turner's dynamic duo performance. 

I was so happy when we got a VCR so I could record my soap when I was at work.  ;D ;D ;D

I used to say that the person who invented the VCR was a soap watcher.


Cat

My family never got a VCR until 1985.

My family never got a VCR until 1985.

My dad said he first got a VCR in 1983. And when he first married my mom in 1989 she had a Betamax! She got rid of it shortly afterwards. I have to ask my mom when she first got that Betamax.

I was so happy when we got a VCR so I could record my soap when I was at work.  ;D ;D ;D

I used to say that the person who invented the VCR was a soap watcher.


Cat
Once I get to see our video tapes again, see what is recorded on them will help me to figure out the date when we first purchase a video player, first we had Betamax, follcwed by VHS.

Once I get to see our video tapes again, see what is recorded on them will help me to figure out the date when we first purchase a video player, first we had Betamax, follcwed by VHS.


I have so many tapes on my shelf and after so many years of taping shows off of television, sometimes I don't know what's on them until you've watched them afterwards.

I have so many tapes on my shelf and after so many years of taping shows off of television, sometimes I don't know what's on them until you've watched them afterwards.
Most of our tapes are labeled, so will we will know what is on them.

We had Betamax in the late 70s. Only a few videos in our collection though. I remember having "Last of the Mohicans" (the cartoon).

We also had a projector with some short film reels - stuff like Mary Poppins, Snow White etc. My mum used to bring the projector into my kindergarten to show the kids in class.

I knew a family who moved here in the early 90s and they had probably a couple hundred beta movies on the shelf along with a player.

Ah found it! From 1975 by Hanna Barbera...

-epjl_ec8pM

Once I get to see our video tapes again, see what is recorded on them will help me to figure out the date when we first purchase a video player, first we had Betamax, follcwed by VHS.


My dad swore by his Betamax. He thought it was better quality than VHS. When he passed away, I sold his machine (that was still working) but didn't have any tapes to go with it.


Cat

My dad swore by his Betamax. He thought it was better quality than VHS. When he passed away, I sold his machine (that was still working) but didn't have any tapes to go with it.


Cat
I believe that television said that Betamax had better quality, then VHS became more popular and cheaper to run.

Most of our tapes are labeled, so will we will know what is on them.


I think the first thing I taped was over 30 years ago.

My dad swore by his Betamax. He thought it was better quality than VHS. When he passed away, I sold his machine (that was still working) but didn't have any tapes to go with it.


Cat


Cat, How much did you sell it for?

I believe that television said that Betamax had better quality, then VHS became more popular and cheaper to run.


It had a better higher fidelity recording ability. In my first job my boss had previously worked as an electrician and dabbled in tv and video repair. He once showed us all how the two machines differed in the way the recording heads went onto the tape. I don’t remember the exact details,  but the Betamax had more recording heads I think. It also had a more complex tape feed, which is why they cost a bit more.

How do you guys feel about an 8-Track Player?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/91/e0/9391e0f6a8d5f07e24f316b904c63bab.jpg

How do you  feel about an 8-Track Player?



Hated them. 8-Tracks were a clunky and inconvenient format. They only moved in one direction. You couldn't rewind them (or fast forward, I forget which), and the worst thing of all (and the one thing that EVERYBODY brings up about them) is that they changed tracks in the MIDDLE of a song with a loud and annoying noise. It was just a most impractical format and the shape made them hard to store. Revisionist history has it that everybody was using these things in the 70s and they have somehow become symbolic of that era,  but it simply isn't true. No hip people would be caught dead with them and it was a format that was essentially obsolete from the beginning. Almost from the start they were relegated to use by old people who had 8-track players in their Buicks and listened to Mantovani and Lawrence Welk.

I know there will be people chiming in here saying that they DID listen to 8-tracks, or their families did, and I'm not disputing that. But the revisionist history of how wide spread they were in the 1970s is not accurate. Nobody really liked those things. But everybody HAD an 8-track player because so many units were "all in one" back then and came with turntable/radio/8-track player. So it may have seemed more people were utilizing 8-tracks than really were. A bit later a cassette function would replace the 8-track function in these all-in-ones.

Having said that, there is a small group of enthusiasts who enjoy collecting 8-tracks to this day. We have even had some here on this forum. I have no problem with that per se, but it doesn't change the fact that it was never really a very popular format in the first place.

How do you guys feel about an 8-Track Player?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/91/e0/9391e0f6a8d5f07e24f316b904c63bab.jpg
Looks too cumbersome for toady's standards.

How do you guys feel about an 8-Track Player?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/91/e0/9391e0f6a8d5f07e24f316b904c63bab.jpg


I’d like them better if the foil splice didn’t come apart when I try to play them.

I like this better

http://museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org/images/R2R/vinPioneerRT707c.jpg

Hated them. 8-Tracks were a clunky and inconvenient format. They only moved in one direction. You couldn't rewind them (or fast forward, I forget which), and the worst thing of all (and the one thing that EVERYBODY brings up about them) is that they changed tracks in the MIDDLE of a song with a loud and annoying noise. It was just a most impractical format and the shape made them hard to store. Revisionist history has it that everybody was using these things in the 70s and they have somehow become symbolic of that era,  but it simply isn't true. No hip people would be caught dead with them and it was a format that was essentially obsolete from the beginning. Almost from the start they were relegated to use by old people who had 8-track players in their Buicks and listened to Mantovani and Lawrence Welk.

I know there will be people chiming in here saying that they DID listen to 8-tracks, or their families did, and I'm not disputing that. But the revisionist history of how wide spread they were in the 1970s is not accurate. Nobody really liked those things. But everybody HAD an 8-track player because so many units were "all in one" back then and came with turntable/radio/8-track player. So it may have seemed more people were utilizing 8-tracks than really were. A bit later a cassette function would replace the 8-track function in these all-in-ones.

Having said that, there is a small group of enthusiasts who enjoy collecting 8-tracks to this day. We have even had some here on this forum. I have no problem with that per se, but it doesn't change the fact that it was never really a very popular format in the first place.


I don’t have the temperament to fix them when the foil splice breaks on them. They are STUPIDLY easy to unravel if you even get the case apart!

I only had ones that were given to me. And a couple stereos with a player. Due to the design, it was impossible to rewind, the tape pulled out of the center like a ball of yarn then wrapped it back up on the outside. The good ones I dubbed to cassette until I found them on CD.

I only had ones that were given to me. And a couple stereos with a player. Due to the design, it was impossible to rewind, the tape pulled out of the center like a ball of yarn then wrapped it back up on the outside. The good ones I dubbed to cassette until I found them on CD.


I also seem to recall they often had a hum or hiss.

How do you guys feel about an 8-Track Player?


I had a few 8-Tracks and two different 8-Track recorders plus a couple standalone players.  Besides playing them, I also made a few "roll your own" 8-tracks.  My take is, the format wasn't 100% horrible and had some pluses, but overall it proved to be a difficult format for the masses, for reasons already stated.  And indeed switching tracks mid-song was quite the annoyance.


I also seem to recall they often had a hum or hiss.


"Hum" may have been dependent on the player you were playing the tapes on; I don't know.  As for hiss, this is an area where 8-Tracks are inherently better than cassettes - the speed of the tape movement gives the 8-Track a technological advantage.  However, in regards to cassette hiss, the answer came in the form of Dolby Noise Reduction, which was made available mid-70s.  This technology didn't eliminate tape hiss but caused hiss to be reduced during playback - if playback occurred on Dolby capable players.  Prior to this, cassettes were regarded a lo-fidelity tape medium, mostly due to (1) uncontrollable hiss, and (2) the prevalence of inferior tape formulations (which improved greatly after the introduction of Dolby noise reduction).

Dolby noise reduction has two types - "B" and "C".  "B" was an earlier version and by far the most prevalent.  However when "C" was introduced, it was considered by audiophiles to be the superior noise reduction technology.  "C" never caught on as a playback option for the masses though (ala boomboxes and cheaper stereos) so it became somewhat obsolete.

I had a few 8-Tracks and two different 8-Track recorders plus a couple standalone players.  Besides playing them, I also made a few "roll your own" 8-tracks. 


I don't think I ever saw an 8-track recorder and I definitely never saw a home recorded 8-track tape. Judging by everything else about them, they were probably a pain tor record onto.

I always preferred to leave the noise reduction off. I preferred the hiss, compared to knowing I was missing a little bit of the sonic spectrum. To me the hiss was something that captured the times, similar to the clicks and pops and static of records.

Looks too cumbersome for toady's standards.


Wasn't it the same as a cassette player?  ???

I had a few 8-Tracks and two different 8-Track recorders plus a couple standalone players.  Besides playing them, I also made a few "roll your own" 8-tracks.  My take is, the format wasn't 100% horrible and had some pluses, but overall it proved to be a difficult format for the masses, for reasons already stated.  And indeed switching tracks mid-song was quite the annoyance.

"Hum" may have been dependent on the player you were playing the tapes on; I don't know.  As for hiss, this is an area where 8-Tracks are inherently better than cassettes - the speed of the tape movement gives the 8-Track a technological advantage.  However, in regards to cassette hiss, the answer came in the form of Dolby Noise Reduction, which was made available mid-70s.  This technology didn't eliminate tape hiss but caused hiss to be reduced during playback - if playback occurred on Dolby capable players.  Prior to this, cassettes were regarded a lo-fidelity tape medium, mostly due to (1) uncontrollable hiss, and (2) the prevalence of inferior tape formulations (which improved greatly after the introduction of Dolby noise reduction).

Dolby noise reduction has two types - "B" and "C".  "B" was an earlier version and by far the most prevalent.  However when "C" was introduced, it was considered by audiophiles to be the superior noise reduction technology.  "C" never caught on as a playback option for the masses though (ala boomboxes and cheaper stereos) so it became somewhat obsolete.


I think I can remember that 2XL used 8-Track tapes, that was about 41, 42 years ago.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GMqy87LKahE/maxresdefault.jpg

Wasn't it the same as a cassette player?  ???


Yes, the component itself was about he same size as a cassette player of the time. It was those damn bulky 8-tracks that were an inconvenient size in addition to all their other shortcomings. As a "mid century" type person myself I actually like the design of the player with it's knobs and meters and dials. I love knobs and meters and dials. They have gone by the wayside now, replaced by touch screens.

I would love to get my hands one one of these. They’re like a cassette on steroids! But getting an even non working one is really pricy!  :o But regular cassette formulas got better (especially type IV metal tapes which are expensive even today) making them obsolete.

http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Elcaset_Deck.jpg

http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Elcaset_tape.jpg

I would love to get my hands one one of these. They’re like a cassette on steroids! But getting an even non working one is really pricy!  :o But regular cassette formulas got better (especially type IV metal tapes which are expensive even today) making them obsolete.

http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Elcaset_Deck.jpg

http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Elcaset_tape.jpg


How much are they going for?

Cat, How much did you sell it for?



Can't remember.



How do you guys feel about an 8-Track Player?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/91/e0/9391e0f6a8d5f07e24f316b904c63bab.jpg


UGH! The worst format EVER! As Voiceofthe70s said, you couldn't fast forward nor rewind them. You could only switch the different tracks. And the absolute worst when they switched tracks in the middle of a song. To this day, I can STILL hear the tracks switch on songs we had on 8-Track. (I can also STILL hear skips in records that we used to have.)


Cat

Can't remember.


UGH! The worst format EVER! As Voiceofthe70s said, you couldn't fast forward nor rewind them. You could only switch the different tracks. And the absolute worst when they switched tracks in the middle of a song. To this day, I can STILL hear the tracks switch on songs we had on 8-Track. (I can also STILL hear skips in records that we used to have.)

Cat


The one I had you could fast forward but it wasn’t as fast as a cassette. Maybe 2-3x play speed. Due to the design, any faster would probably rip the tape.

I can still hear the bad spots in my mixtapes and other tapes that got damaged.

Can't remember.


UGH! The worst format EVER! As Voiceofthe70s said, you couldn't fast forward nor rewind them. You could only switch the different tracks. And the absolute worst when they switched tracks in the middle of a song. To this day, I can STILL hear the tracks switch on songs we had on 8-Track. (I can also STILL hear skips in records that we used to have.)


Cat


So you had no choice but to listen to the song.

UGH! The worst format EVER! As Voiceofthe70s said, you couldn't fast forward nor rewind them. You could only switch the different tracks. And the absolute worst when they switched tracks in the middle of a song. To this day, I can STILL hear the tracks switch on songs we had on 8-Track. (I can also STILL hear skips in records that we used to have.)


Cat


Me too! Even when listening to CDs or streaming now I still anticipate/hear where the skips used to be on my old records. It's ingrained in me! We used to listen to those records over and over, skips and all.

Me too! Even when listening to CDs or streaming now I still anticipate/hear where the skips used to be on my old records. It's ingrained in me! We used to listen to those records over and over, skips and all.
Indeed, back in the mid-1970s I used to frequent a pub where a juke provided the background music, and on one record "The House of the Rising Sun" always got stuck and jumped, like you I anticipate the skips when I here the record on the radio. The youth do not know what they are missing. The landlord of the pub, used to get jokingly fed up with it.

Me too! Even when listening to CDs or streaming now I still anticipate/hear where the skips used to be on my old records. It's ingrained in me! We used to listen to those records over and over, skips and all.


Sometimes I'd play a record and listen to it on either slow speed or chipmunk speed (78). ;D