The Betamax

Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, followed by the US in November of the same year.

Betamax is obsolete, having lost the videotape format war which saw its closest rival VHS dominate most markets.

Despite this, Betamax recorders were not discontinued until August 2002. Sony continued to sell Betamax cassettes until March 2016.