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Betamax tapes

Betamax tapes from different manufacturers. Click the images for higher resolution

Sony

Other

			Circa 1979 Toshiba resold Sony-made tapes from the original L series. This is another tape that uses a nonstandard Beta designation
			In Japan, Toshiba called their early decks BetaCord like Sanyo, possibly because Toshiba had also previously backed Sanyo's own VCord format
			American market L750. Toshiba's earlier American Beta VCRs carried the BetaVideo name (except when re-branded by Sears as BetaVision)
			L830 variant, missing the German translations
			It was common for VCRs to come with a "free" included short-runtime cassette like this one, which came with an earlier 80s mono frontloader
			A Japanese Toshiba L500s, possibly another VCR pack-in. An L330S of a similar design also exists
			Later Japanese market Toshiba L500G

			Another VCR pack-in cassette, possibly from a VTC-9100A. Sanyo continued to call some of their VCRs Betacords after the new Beta logo was implements
			One version of the Sanyo L500s which was possibly OEM'ed from Sony, with a similar slipcase and label design to Sony's

			Variant of the Sanyo L500s with a more central grip cutout and slightly reformatted text
			The back of the label sheets also differs in some places
			Sanyo L500G with a similarly centered grip cutout as the L500s variant. This design of tape was sold in a few other lengths

A Sears L-750 in the style of the Sanyo L-250 above, likely from a rebadged Sanyo Beta II machine - note the 180 minute runtime listed

			Zenith rebadged a number of earlier Sony Beta VCRs under the "Video Director" name. This shorter L250 may have originally come included with a Video Director
			These tapes and their accompanying labels were also OEM'ed from Sony and match their case and label sheet designs of the time
			Zenith tapes were oddly labeled as part of the "Betatape System," although a literal reading would be the "Betaetatape System"
			A later Zenith L750 based on Sony's first Dynamicrons instead of the original L series tapes that the previous design was
			A sealed Zenith L830 Maxitape, with a funky, colorful 70s style logo

Ampex

			Some companies like Ampex only produced Beta during the earlier days of the format war, like this earlier L500 that quotes its running times in terms of standard and long play like a VHS rather than using the X1 and X2 designations
			Oddly, after Beta III speed was introduced and X1 and X2 dropped in favour of the new Beta naming scheme, Ampex's Professional tapes mixed the the lettering of the K series tapes with the numbering scheme of the L series tapes
			The "corrected" L500 Ampex. Oddly, these tapes dropped the useful place on the spine to write recording information

Kodak

			Kodak repackaged the TDK two-window cassettes with a custom Kodak tape lid for their Beta offerings

			The Kodax XHG Extra High Grade L750, also OEM'ed from TDK

Polaroid

			A nice rainbow from Polaroid, with English and French for sale in the US and Canada. I suspect these tapes may have been on the more inexpensive than some other "brand name" cassettes
			1983 bilingual variant with more text on the rear but without the length in meters on the front
			Another variant without the meter length on the front but less text on the back
			A version of the L750 Supercolor marked for sale in more regions, including PAL/SECAM territories
			International variant with a two dollar "instant rebate" at Hills discount stores
			Large, comprehensive label sheet that covers several languages from the NTSC/PAL/SECAM variant
			Similar variant with slightly different text and French warranty information as well as a longer rainbow on the rear
			In contrast, a very blank variant

Radio Shack

			Earlier on, Radio Shack offered an L500 SuperTape as well as an L750
			Later on, Radio Shack dropped the L500 length but continued to stock new Beta cassettes up until at least 2004, with a few different later sleeve designs

RCA

RCA marketed VHS video recorders but saw no problem with also selling tapes to the Beta crowd

Memorex

			An earlier Memorex L500
			The matching yellow Memorex L750 that makes a specific point of saying it can work in any Beta recorder and still includes the Beta I runtime

			Oddly, the labels for these tapes use the SP-LP-SLP VHS speed convention
			The L500 variants of this cassette had red text instead of blue. Unlike other "sideways" tapes like the 1980 TDK Super Avilyn that treat the cassette opening as the "top" of their deign, these tapes use it as the bottom, making the spine upside down when placed in the same orientation as most other tapes
			A later Memorex design that had a similar VHS counterpart

Konica

			Konica tapes came in a deep blue color and usually had nice quality slipcases
			Japanese market Konica Super SR
			Japanese market Konica Super SG-R L500

NEC

A Japanese market plaid NEC L500S. A variant of this tape was also sold in America

SKC

Sunkyong sold video tapes under the SKC name

Du Pont

			A late 70s chrome formula L750 from Du Pont with the "X" speed convention and Beta-square logos. I quite like the colorful Prime text
			A later Du Pont cassette sold under the PDMagnetics brand
			PDMagnetics HG Chrome. Labels for these tapes included tickboxes for tape length

Other

			A cassette from RKO that purports to be chrome
			A very cheap "knockoff" Memex cassette that clearly rips off the mid 80s Sony ES-HG. Is it live or is it Memex?
			The back of the tape label sheet also rips off one of the horizontal Dynamicron label sheet panels

Sony

Scotch - TDK

Other

Commercial - Industrial