A long battle

VHS and Betamax, though, had some stark differences. JVC’s product could record for two hours enough to record a full-length movie while Betamax had a recording capability of only an hour. The VHS cassette used a 0.5-inch magnetic tape wound between two spools. The tape would slowly pass over the playback and recording heads of the VCR.

JVC licensed the VHS format to other electronics makers such as Sharp, so in its first year, many brands of VHS machines flooded the market. VHS-based players were cheaper than their Betamax counterparts. In just its first year, the VHS format took 40 percent of the business away from Sony. By 1987, about 90 percent of the $5.25 billion market of VCRs sold in the United States were based on the VHS format. The VHS and Betamax formats were not compatible, leading to a bitter decade-long fight for market share. JVC’s print advertising campaign focused on the four separate tape heads that would keep the picture “crisp and free of snow during the stop-action and slow-motion.”

JVC introduced VHS HQ (for High Quality) in 1985. It promised greater noise reduction and improved sharpness in picture quality. Two years later, Super VHS made its debut. By then Betamax had started to fade. Ultimately, VHS won the battle, and tech lore has it that the porn industry played a big role in that victory. Sony reportedly wouldn’t let pornographic content be put on Betamax tapes, while JVC and the VHS consortium had no such qualms.