Editing VHS (section)

=== Competition with Betamax ===
In 1974, the Japanese [[Ministry of International Trade and Industry]] (MITI), desiring to avoid [[consumer confusion]], attempted to force the Japanese video industry to standardize on just one home video recording format.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bylund |first=Anders |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2010/01/is-the-end-of-the-format-wars-upon-us.ars |title=The format wars: of lasers and (creative) destruction |publisher=Arstechnica.com |date=January 4, 2010 |access-date=July 11, 2011}}</ref> Later, Sony had a functional prototype of the [[Betamax]] format, and was very close to releasing a finished product. With this prototype, Sony persuaded the MITI to adopt Betamax as the standard, and allow it to license the technology to other companies.<ref name="rickmaybury" />

JVC believed that an [[open standard]], with the format shared among competitors without licensing the technology, was better for the consumer. To prevent the MITI from adopting Betamax, JVC worked to convince other companies, in particular [[Panasonic|Matsushita]] (Japan's largest electronics manufacturer at the time, marketing its products under the National brand in most territories and the Panasonic brand in North America, and JVC's majority stockholder), to accept VHS, and thereby work against [[Sony]] and the MITI.<ref name="howells">John Howells. "The Management of Innovation and Technology: The Shaping of Technology and Institutions of the Market Economy" [hardcopy], pp. 76–81.</ref> Matsushita agreed, primarily out of concern that Sony might become the leader in the field if its proprietary Betamax format was the only one allowed to be manufactured. Matsushita also regarded Betamax's one-hour recording time limit as a disadvantage.<ref name="howells" />

Matsushita's backing of JVC persuaded [[Hitachi]], [[Mitsubishi]], and [[Sharp Corporation|Sharp]]<ref>[http://www.mediacollege.com/video/format/compare/betamax-vhs.html Media College] "The Betamax vs VHS Format War", by Dave Owen, published: May 1, 2005</ref> to back the VHS standard as well.<ref name="rickmaybury" /> Sony's release of its Betamax unit to the Japanese market in 1975 placed further pressure on the MITI to side with the company. However, the collaboration of JVC and its partners was much stronger, which eventually led the MITI to drop its push for an industry standard. JVC released the first VHS machines in Japan in late 1976, and in the United States in mid-1977.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cashmore|first1=Ellis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MxfDwAAQBAJ&q=JVC+released+the+first+VHS+machines&pg=PR10|title=Screen Society|last2=Cleland|first2=Jamie|last3=Dixon|first3=Kevin|date=2018-06-12|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-68164-1|language=en}}</ref>

Sony's Betamax competed with VHS throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s (see [[Videotape format war]]). Betamax's major advantages were its smaller cassette size, theoretical higher video quality, and earlier availability, but its shorter recording time proved to be a major shortcoming.<ref name="beta_end" />

Originally, Beta I machines using the [[NTSC]] television standard were able to record one hour of programming at their standard tape speed of 1.5&nbsp;[[inches per second]]&nbsp;(ips).<ref name="100greatinventions" /> The first VHS machines could record for two hours, due to both a slightly slower tape speed (1.31&nbsp;ips)<ref name="100greatinventions">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPFiZ31mTnUC|title=100 Greatest Inventions|pages= 288–289 |publisher=Citadel Press Books |year=2003 |access-date=October 6, 2012|isbn=9780806524047}}</ref> and significantly longer tape. Betamax's smaller cassette limited the size of the reel of tape, and could not compete with VHS's two-hour capability by extending the tape length.<ref name="100greatinventions" /> Instead, Sony had to slow the tape down to 0.787&nbsp;ips (Beta II) in order to achieve two hours of recording in the same cassette size.<ref name="100greatinventions" /> Sony eventually created a Beta III speed of 0.524 ips, which allowed NTSC Betamax to break the two-hour limit, but by then VHS had already won the format battle.<ref name="100greatinventions" />

Additionally, VHS had a "far less complex tape transport mechanism" than Betamax, and VHS machines were faster at rewinding and fast-forwarding than their Sony counterparts.<ref name="Parekh">{{Cite book|title = Principles of Multimedia|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TaNmc2IdNVwC|publisher = Tata McGraw-Hill Education|date = January 1, 2006|isbn = 9780070588332|first = Ranjan|last = Parekh}}</ref>

VHS eventually won the war, gaining 60% of the [[North America]]n market by 1980.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 August 2014 |title=The Rapid Evolution of the Consumer Camcorder |url=https://www.videomaker.com/article/f22/17178-the-rapid-evolution-of-the-consumer-camcorder |access-date=2016-08-06}}</ref><ref name="beta_end" />