DIFFERENT TYPES AND BRIEF HISTORY OF VIDEO TAPES

vcr tape a vhs

1976: VHS (Video Home System) – VCR tape

Developed by JVC it was the standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes. This is the most common video tape. VHS also happens to be the most durable tape. Video recordings tend to last much longer than all the other video tapes below and yet this is the oldest type of tape (after Beta).

 

vhs-c tape

1982: VHS-C (Compact VHS) – VCR tape

A shrunken down VHS tape that could be used to capture footage in a handheld video camera then played back in a VCR with an adapter. The width of this tape is exactly the same as a VHS tape hence why they can be played back and recorded over with a VCR. 

 

hi8, digital8, 8mm tape

1985: Video8 – Camera tape

The first of its kind. Contained an 8mm wide film developed by Sony for their handycam.

 

1989: Hi8 – Camera tape

The same cassette housing and 8mm wide film except with higher grade film resulting in slightly better video quality.

 

1999: Digital8 – Camera tape

The last of its kind. Again used the same tape stock and 8mm wide film as the previous two except an even slightly better video resolution than a Hi8 tape.

All 3 of these tapes look identical and it’s difficult to tell apart. Some cameras will play all 3 tapes while some will only playback just 1. 
 
minidv tape

1995: MiniDV – Camera tape

Another mainstream handheld camera tape developed by Sony which is now even smaller than the 8mm tape. Certain MiniDV tapes finally were able to achieve high definition quality yielding up to 1080p resolution when digitized. Although better quality, MiniDV tapes don’t last the test of time. This type of tape doesn’t last as long as any of the tapes above. Their video and audio starts to decay rather quickly. Additionally people often recorded, erased then recorded over previous video which overtime tend to cause more video loss in that section.

 

Have tapes you’d like to digitize? We can help! We’ve been helping our community of Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and even across the states to transfer videos to DVDs or digital files! Have any of the above tapes? We can transfer your tapes to DVDs. We can even digitize to mp4 files!