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  1. Member
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    Does anyone know what thickness tape was used in the L-625 (2h 30m) Beta tapes. I believe it was regular thickness tape, just as VHS was able to create T-140s (2h 20m). These were exclusively for duplication, though I swear I remember seeing Sony L-625's for sale in the original black striped box back in the very early 80's

  2. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Cornucopia View Post
    But lordsmurph, you must be forgetting historical timelines. "180min" tapes weren't able to be reliably produced in quantity until the early/mid nineties - over a decade after those extended speeds were first introduced. 3 hour was not originally possible because tapes could not be made thin enough for winding that much time in standard cassette sizes without stretching or breakage.
    It didn't exist back then because they didn't really try. It was self-fulfilling prophecy. T120 was all you needed -- like 64kb of RAM.

    And when they did try, it was still to push the envelope for SLP/EP.

    ~T150 was very possible in the 80s, as a T120 isn't full anyway, and the thickness was often not to spec in non-BASF brand tapes. I forget the exact lengths and thickness. The T180 and T200 are the only really "thin" tapes out there compared to T160. T150 could have existed for 2.5 SP or 5 LP hours. I forget the math on PAL tapes, but the E180 is not as small as a T120. (The E180 always existed, right? I forget.) I know I have a few T140's somewhere, from around 1987.

    I can attest firsthand, as a former video rental store manager (at "the Movie Store" in Austin, a progenitor of the collector's/art/boutique store format - by my direction), that even by the mid 80's, porn had already sided with VHS and was markedly instrumental in the tide turning in favor of that format. No BS necessary, just fact.
    It was only about recording times and deck costs. By the time porn used VHS, the "format war" was already over.

    Originally Posted by lingyi View Post
    Hey LS! Funny, I was just thinking today about how I haven't seen you post in awhile. Hope you'll be back regularly, there's a lot of threads that could use your knowledge and input!
    We'll see. I lost ~18 months of my life (threads at digitalFAQ.com), and am still playing catch-up.

    I hope you're being facetious about this. Maybe I've never owned a VCR that could record or play back LP with anywhere near the quality of SP.
    LP tapes always turn out quite nice for transfer. JVC and Panasonic both play them.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
    FAQs: Best Blank DiscsBest TBCsBest VCRs for captureRestore VHS

  3. Member
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    Prayers and best wishes LS!

    Hope you don't mind that I've posted a welcome back message.

    Sincerely,

    lingyi

  4. Member
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    Aug 2007
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    Can someone explain the NTSC speeds please? I'm from PAL land and we have (240 tape):

    SP = Full resolution 4 Hours
    LP = Lower resolution, narrower heads, cue and reveiw quite distorted 8 Hours
    EP = Fair resolution and cue and review without LP on screen disturbance 12 Hours

  5. users currently on my ignore list: deadrats, Stears555

  6. Member
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    t120 at sp speed was best




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