Why Did VHS Beat Beta (If Beta Was Better?)

I loved my VCR back in the 80s. Who didn't? I recall the first VCR that my family ever owned was an RCA. It was a big burly beast. We watched hundreds of movies on that thing. It was so much fun to go to your local movie rental place on a Friday night and pick out some movies to watch over the weekend.

One thing I always wondered about was why VHS won the format battle. For a time, people either had a Beta machine or a VHS machine. I recall rental stores carrying movies in both formats. But I also recall the Beta section getting smaller and smaller over time. Eventually there were no more Beta sections to be seen at all. Why did this happen?

Over the years, I have heard it said numerous times that Beta was actually the superior format in terms of picture quality. Even more reason why I am perplexed why VHS became the dominant format. If you were there in the 80s like me, I am sure you recall how Beta was very popular for quite some time, and then it very quickly seemed to die.

In this video, I look at some reasons why this happened. Beta losing to VHS was not an accident. There were actually a few reasons why this happened, even though Beta was technically better.

You may actually be surprised why VHS won this battle. A few of the reasons I go over in the video never occurred to me, and I am sure some of them will surprise you as well.

Did you own a Beta machine back in the day? Do you still? Do you think Beta is better than VHS? Or are you a diehard VHS fan? Do you still watch VHS tapes? Do you still have your original VCR from the 80s? Leave a comment and let us know!

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[chadbertrand]

This is definitely the most concise video I watched about Betamax vs. VHS. Straight to the point, and I like it.

[darlenegoodwin]

I've always liked the eight hour video tapes. More material on VHS.

[michaelturner]

I'm in the UK, where I think PAL system VHS and Betamax was launched a bit later than America, circa 1977-78. PAL system VHS and Betamax both had similar 3 hours play/record times at the start. And so here I think was availability and pricing of VCRs made the most difference for VHS and Betamax. In the UK renting a colour TV was very popular, and in every High Street was many TV rental shops, like Granada, DER, and Radio Rentals, and they all rented out VHS machines, often under their own house-brands, like Baird.. Betamax on the other hand was only really available from Sony places, and had to be purchased outright.

[DeadKoby]

I am just starting the I think the top of the argument is "licensing fees"

[RakastanPorkkanakakkua]

You know, years ago, I bought a Betamax. Good product. "Top of the line." Experts said it was better than a VHS. Turned out to be a complete waste of time and money.

[sleepysteev]

VHS is clearly superior to Betamax in virtually every category other than picture quality. And even then, the difference isn't that noticeable, at least not enough for most people to care. The design of the VHS cassette allows users to see how much tape is left on the reel and whether it still needs to be re-wound. The smaller holes on the back of the VHS cassette provide better protection for the tape. Many other simple quality of life improvements can be found in the VHS design versus the Betamax design. Even the name BETAmax seems to imply that the format was secondary, an inferior product to something else.

[Ganondorfdude]

Beta lost because you couldn't record a football game on a single tape.

[idunno...someguy]

Concise little video! I like it

I'm a big fan of vhs for the flaws in its picture. Go figure it's the things that bother you now that will be the things the next generation will try to imitate

[rubenmejia]

Maybe if Sony would have named it ALPHAmax, it would have won.

[shiftfire]

The simplest, most blatant and insulting answer.

*It wasn't.*