Videotapes
Some people may think that videotapes are now a thing of the past in today’s highly digital technology. But if you think of it, videotapes may still be just as highly important today as they were before. In fact, many items would not have been made possible for viewing without a videotape. And while today’s videography are widely going digital, videotapes have still proven to be very useful until now.
The very first videotape was developed for Bing Crosby Entertainment by Wayne R. Johnson and John T. Mullin in 1951 and was actually a modified audiotape. Before the videotape was created, all TV shows and films were recorded in a 35mm film stock or was broadcast live and recorded by Kinescoping. This process is where a film camera is pointed at and synchronized to a TV monitor to match its rate of scanning, which gives an illusion that the program had been filmed. Recording in a 35mm film stock and Kinescoping both sucked up too much space and used the light sensitive optical light, which also aged poorly. Moreover, Kinescoping was very inconvenient and produced poor quality. However, the creation of the videotapes created a system that was portable and convenient, as well as made use of a magnetic tape that lasted longer.
The first program to broadcast a videotape footage was The Jonathan Winter’s show on NBC in 1956. The U-Matic, which was the premier videotape cassette was also produced in 1969. The U-Matic followed later in 1971, which struggled to compete against the VHS formats and the Betamax.
On the other hand, the Super VHS, more popularly known as the S-VHS was developed in 1987 following the VHS format. S-VHS videotapes used a new type of recording frequency that increased the details in pictures by up to 60%, which resulted to clearer and sharper image compared to live broadcast television. However, the new S format was not able to address noise, color resolution as well as problems in audio quality. Because of this, the S-VHS failed to break ground in the market especially on the home video segment and was phased out. The S-VHS camcorder, however, became popular particularly among low cost TV productions but was also swept off by digital media.
The mid 80’s saw the popularity of the 8mm film alongside the camcorder. The Sony Handycam, which was a smaller and less expensive type of camcorder was an affront to the Betamax or VHS model. An 8mm videotape can be played either on a tape player that can also play smaller tapes or a regular VCR in which you put the videotape in a plastic case so it can fit a VHS-size slot.
It may be recalled how the videotape of Daniel Pearl slaughter became such a worldwide phenomenon, triggering angry reactions from people towards extreme radicals and terrorists. Without a videotape, efforts towards awareness and consciousness raising would not have been pushed by several well-meaning people. The Saddam execution videotape was also another example, which was also aired for the Iraqis to see.
A lot of western countries have the edge when it comes to digital technology over many of their eastern and Middle Eastern counterparts because they have more funds to expedite advanced and sophisticated technology. Old recordings being converted to DVDs has already become a trend nowadays. However, there may be instances when optimal sound quality may be achieved, which is why ASL interpreting videotapes are still widely used for learning and practicing the American Sign Language and its interpretation. Many recordings of important events also include ASL interpreters, which are commonly recorded on videotapes.
Even when many people turn to digital technology for their recording needs these days, videotapes are still just as useful as well. So if you still wonder why videotapes are still around and alive, all you need to do is read between the lines.