What a BETA tape looks like played in a VHS machine

[IsItEarthYet]

watching this again after a few years & i'm STILL amazed that U got even the audio track 2 play.It's no surprise tho because i think vhs is universally capable of playing the original vhs "4 hour mode" recordings even tho that hasn't been a recording option since the late 70's.When i bought my Panasonic portable stereo vhs deck in '82,the "LP" mode wasn't even an option for recording anymore but all vhs vcrs would play the LP mode back, perpetually. I think the beta was closer to vhs "LP" mode.

[crashbandicoot4everr]

but if you overwrite this will it play fine?

[coolvideogamekid1]

the quality on this is TERIBLE. please search coolvideogamekid1.

[sparticus214]

haha well apperantly the bata max came off the self amd them straight to the junk yard i was born in 1991 had hundreds of vhs tapes of but i do now remember my grandparents mite have had one beta tape i but we did have a camcorder that used mini vhs tapes and had a converter for a vcr

[didogazeto]

BSOD?

[crashbandicoot4everr]

@didogazeto noob...its not pc its vcr

[JustinSucker]

@crashbandicoot4everr FUCK YOU AND I HOPE U KNOIW WHY

Sorry man but next time just try thinking with YOUR brain in the head >:-?

[crashbandicoot4everr]

@JustinSucker what's your prob and u are calling me names?!

[JustinSucker]

@crashbandicoot4everr DON't fuck with didogazeto -_-

[crashbandicoot4everr]

@JustinSucker what's up niggah?

[JustinSucker]

@crashbandicoot4everr ow buddy buddy...the world is funny

[SouthwesternEagle]

The video on the BETA is this one.

watch?v=oimUgwJnOcM

It's from September 14, 1986!

[t0nito]

Funny how both systems have the exact linear speed!

[t0nito]

Here's a crazier idea, since those horizontal lines that are shown at first are similar to when you put a pal tape on a ntsc vcr, try putting a pal beta tape on the ntsc vhs vcr to see if you get some sort of picture!

[raywashed]

I tried to do it about 15 years ago with an old VHS, no blue screen. If you wonder what I saw, I'll tell you: absolutely nothing. Just black & white lines but no image at all

[3zy]

You mad, impetuous fool! :)

[RoboticusMusic]

DAMN NIGGA YOU CRAAAAAAYYZZAAAAYYY!!!

[Satlam]

This leads me to think both Betamax and VHS encodes audio in the same manner: the outside edges of the tape. Up until the introduction of VHS Hi-Fi, the audio was in bands on both edges, the video down the middle. Two different head types were used to read, rotating helical scanning drum for video, and heads not too dissimilar to cassette, for audio. VHS Hi-Fi interleaves audio in the video signal, and a copy is kept on the old style tracks on the edges for old machines.

[HoneycombAgent]

@Satlam Some early VCR decks have the ability to record in linear stereo, although rare.

If tracking gets thrown out of whack, the HiFi part doesn't work, so the VCR has to re-track everything before it plays everything in full stereo again.

[HoneycombAgent]

Different encoding schemes. The azimuth of the head is different on VHS than Betamax.

Can you reuse that tape as a VHS tape?

[HoneycombAgent]

I wonder, what would happen if a VHS TAPE (the tape inside) is played in a Betamax player?

[raywashed]

@HoneycombAgent I tried about 15 years ago. The results are exactly the same: not bad sound but no image at all

[SOEINEGAUDI]

Polaroid :)

[static1994]

whose channel did he mention? rayglass-something-or-other?

[static1994]

beta and vhs werent compatible for a reason. they record differently. Im amazed anything was picked up at all...

[floridapig]

Maybe play it on a VCR that's a bit older, before blue screen. Maybe then you can see the off tracking picture..

[zeXckzzzz]

Get your chair fixed MISTER>:o

[bizarewigga]

is this video from the 90's or some shit

[Graphicspittz187]

Did you try pressing the tracking button?

[uwtitanfan]

@Graphicspittz187 wouldn't work. Video heads make a different path on the tape for VHS

[Childist2]

This particular Dumbo intro that you hear is actually from a 1986 NBC movie airing of Dumbo, which can also be found here on YouTube. He must have recorded this onto Betamax from television in 1986.

[SuperGoldfish1999]

He looks like David Letterman's long hidden (for obvious reasons) Son Lol, never knew Dave had a son, but do now Roflmao!!

[villahed94]

Does somebosy know who´s singing that song?

[jjovereats]

I have

A) A PDS/HiFi VCR that tries to CUE after 13 mins or so

B) A camcorder needing demag

C) A cool A-to-D converter called the Canon miniDV MV960, also my camcorder needing demag is this

[albear972]

How about Blu ray on DVD? :P

[HoneycombAgent]

@albear972 Those discs are incompatible with each other. They use a blue laser instead of red, same way with the old HD-DVD discs.

[SouthwesternEagle]

@HoneycombAgent Aw man, you just HAD to call HD-DVDs "old" discs. I feel so old now. :/

They were around until just 3 years ago.

[HoneycombAgent]

@SouthwesternEagle

They had a format war with each other.

[SouthwesternEagle]

@HoneycombAgent I remember. HD-DVD wasn't impressive though. One HD-DVD DL could hold 30GB whereas one Blu-ray DL could hold 50GB

[spinlessbastard1]

ive had a similar idea , to make new betamax tapes using VHS tape ,as ive still got two fully working betamax vcr,s one is a sony the other a sanyo ,:)

[rhinonose]

i can't believe the audio works! that's awesome

[AidanLunn]

@rhinonose The audio will work because it's reading the linear audio track on the length of the tape. It's the video head drum (and thus the video signals on the tape) that are different.

[tonijn1969]

i have before a LP video,i play it in a SP recorder the sound was intact,i guess he see it like a LP cassette,and yes lots better play in a older record or on RF,then u see lots more,but my idea he will see him as a LP becoz VHS is faster in speed

[zperra]

That song is very catchy. It'll be in my head for the rest of the night.

[ChuckTaylorBoy321]

hahahahaha the video 1 looks a mess ROFL

[RealAgentOfSHIELD]

Cool experiment ... I actually was thinking of doing this. I emailed someone who mentioned something about "shells' that can be used to play beta tapes in VHS machines, I never heard of this, but maybe he'll email me back or I'll find out more from reading all the comments. LOL at the mention of WLUK and Green Bay since one of the first beta lots I won on eBay was from Green Bay ... I even was contacted by former WLUK anchor Brain Knox about a newscast I converted to DVD he wanted.

[motrojam]

You mentioned about swapping the shells out. The shell on one of my favorite VHS tapes broke once and i had a sad cus I didn't know the first thing about fixing it. (it had RARE recordings of Robot Jones with his original mac jr voice; pre-2003 airings) I wish I still had that tape ;_; but that's off on a tangent..

This is awesome. I like how it at least plays the sound very well. It'd be great to see what would happen without the blue screen but you said that cannot be fixed so it's cool.

[LuigiGodzillaGirl]

The audio still sounds great. I'm actually surprised the VHS player was able to pick up anything at all! Gotta love the Analog age. You can't get fun results like this from DVD and Blu Ray experiments.

[cr1901]

Based on a previous post, if Betamax reserves frequencies for different purposes as opposed to VHS, how do you even hear any sound from the video? Btw, VERY interesting experiment with an unexpected result!

[3y3tiger]

@uwtitanfan

send "hakemon" a message on youtube regarding the malfunctioning samsung; he repairs vcr's so he might be able to diagnose the problem

[MetallicBill]

I bought two boxes of 50 or so Beta from eBay and sold several decks I've now owned, my folks machine was an 80s SL 5600 with wired remote! Wore the damn thing out and my dad blamed me in all similar cases! INCLUDING THAT ONE! hahaha Anyway, I now have a Sony GCS-50 Industrial deck and a JVC BR-7000 HiFi dubbing deck, 4 audio track recording! I like

[umajunkcollector]

WOW! Ray is getting rid of much of his Beta tapes.

This vid was kewl!

[MetallicBill]

@umajunkcollector I doubt Ray will depart with his SL-HF2100 though! haha

[wrtlpfmpf]

What would be interresting is if the real time counter of the VCR counts forward. It seems to be able to play back the controll track.

Beta and VHS are fairly simmilar standards. Video2000 for example probably wouldn't have gotten you anything at all, as there is no controll track as far as I know.

[morrismagic08]

He.He! I put a V2000 tape in to a VHS cassing a few years ago. Il just say the tape was unviewable!

[Chianagirl]

Com on don't be a bitch lol XD may we be mates

[hman111]

thanks

[Pepper314Videos]

What model VCR was that?

[samplesmasher]

you should try to switch off the "blue-screen" function on TV/other Vid.... maybe you could see something more...

[uwtitanfan]

@samplesmasher TV dosen't have that option, the service menus don't give that option either. Playing it back into the computer dosen't work either.

sorry :)

[MetallicBill]

@uwtitanfan Not blue screen filter though some might be fooled. I wonder about that Editing deck, is that Mitsubishi (Diamond Head script on the door). I tried to get myself a HS-U80. IIRC, I have several Mits that gave up the ghost

[uwtitanfan]

@MetallicBill It's a temperamental samsung. It works, but you need to jam something in the cassette door since it likes to eject tapes at random with out taking the tape back into the cassette

[MetallicBill]

@uwtitanfan I noted in your other videos, there's a JVC HR-S10000U in New Jersey for pick up only on eBay, if you can, get that one!! It's the best prosumer deck ever made.

[spacehelmetforacow]

@uwtitanfan Try finding an older CRT (anything from around the early-to-mid 80s shouldn't have bluescreen.)

[Gamer9925]

WE HAVE THE SAME DVD PLAYER

[thelyniezian]

Well, that's interesting. I'd have thought nothing would have worked at all, but at least you got audio...

How precisely do you transfer the tape over?

[mrnmrn1]

The result can be seen only for 1 sec at 2:39, because it's a too young VHS VCR for that!!! It disables the video with that blue background if can't synchronise. Please try that tape in an older VCR! (Or try to turn off the that function on this Pana)

[urbanexplorer1996]

wat was that song playing in the video (its what you do with what you got) its driveing me CRAZY

[Kargaroc286]

the audio was probably from the linear track, as it runs along the video on the tape itself. basically it's no different than a audio tape

[opedroefeio]

lol?That was a VHS tape..

[DMEN03]

hmmm... ray glassor.....

[DMEN03]

hmmm..... cooolll...

[DMEN03]

......HAHAHAHA..........c'mon, dont be a bitch!!!! funniest line ever. sooo worth watching 4 minutes of bull shit for. hahahaha

[nx01alpha]

So was this a home recording of Dumbo you cannibalized on Beta to get this or a general video release?

[uwtitanfan]

It was recorded off WLUK out of green bay WI, which at the time was NBC - August 1986ish

[nx01alpha]

@uwtitanfan : Either way, it was very amazing....at least you got sound off of the tape.  Too bad the video on the tape wasn't viewable.

[videos4everybody]

@uwtitanfan I actually used to have a VHS tape of that broadcast from that time, too.

[localhbci]

@nx01alpha It wasn't cannibalized, anyway. The spools could be placed back into a Betamax shell and, assuming nothing else was damaged in the process, it would work just fine.

[CassetteMaster]

Interesting! The audio still comes through, and I LOVE hearing that '80s song! It sounds awesome!!

[talldude123]

That's a nice VCR for it's day. I still have the same VCR from 1999 but it's an Electrohome piece of garbage...mono sound, 2-heads.

[youthcoup89]

I have the same VCR as you lol, just picked up a betamax VCR so excited!

[davismv]

I had no idea this was even possible. Thanks for sharing your results!

[LikaLaruku]

Too bad you didn;t still have your Betamax to try sticking a VHS spool into a Beta case.

[LikaLaruku]

A shame. It would have been a great way to recycle. At least you can still hear it.

[CoolDudeClem]

Oh man I tied the exact same thing when our old Betamax VCR died several years ago! I was quite dissapointed when I found out it didn't work. How come in your video the sound sounds normal? VHS and Beta use different speeds. when i tired it the vhs couldn't decide if it was a sp or lp tape.

[supermasterPIK]

what video is?

[hamtrak]

Oh,man.....this vid is excruciating,I've got a headache. please don't make anymore :o

[witchdoctor88]

every time the chair squeaked, i jumped a little

[JEMASCOLA]

Maybe I didn't see it right, but it looked like the "Beta" tape was the same size as the VHS slot.

[wiseGUY1288]

Do you still live at you parents house ?

[uwtitanfan]

No...

[ExtremeBogom]

Do you?

[uwtitanfan]

See above...

[ExtremeBogom]

dude I meant the other guy, not you :)

[uwtitanfan]

Sorry...

[NuGanjaTron]

Try flipping a tape inside its shell and playing it backwards. That's what I once did with VHS. Actually worked to some degree, with a recognisable and horizontally flipped image and reversed audio. I used a dumb TV tho, not a 100Hz framebuffer job.

[alphamone]

id love to see what that looks like.

[smither1311]

i wuld have laughed if it had porn on the betamax lol epic fail xD

[rocketlauncher2]

"epic fail" is fucking overused, please stop using it

[Attmay]

@rocketlauncher2 Agreed. There are other ways to conjugate that word. Failed, fails, failure, failing. English is standardized for your convenience.

[rocketlauncher2]

@Attmay

You're not funny

[rtbvhsrip]

Your TV has framebuffer-based architecture (likely 100 Hz) so it displays blue...

Try it please on a TV without digital framebuffer

[cbehr91]

The main reason that it worked is because it used the same width of tape (1/2"). The main technological difference between Beta and VHS was that the video heads in Beta machines were larger allowing better picture quality (this also used more tape, thus Beta had a shorter record time.)

[Interests2009]

*lol*

Good one.

5 stars for your effort.

[cbehr91]

That's a pretty groovy jingle there.

[TashkentFox]

The actual tape in both VHS and Betamax cassettes is the same, the only difference is the recording method.

[niceguy0508]

Hehe! I already done this before I watched this video. I only saw a black and white moving lines on my tv screen when I tried this... But the audio quality of the betamax tape was still there...

[VideoMajestic]

What a vile VCR

[VespineVid2]

I'm curious, which speed did the VHS play it back at? Like you, I'm surprised the Beta control track didn't confuse the hell out of the VHS machine and leave it switching frantically back and forth from SP to LP (which is what they usually do when I try to play an old tape that's in bad shape).

[VespineVid2]

For awhile there, Ray G. had so many YouTube channels I lost count.

[Jediiii]

is there any hardware that can play beta to my computer so it can save it as wmv file?? just wondering. thanks 4 any info.

[moosetheblue]

You need capturing hardware.

One place I recommend is Best Buy.

[AidanLunn]

Next time you do this uploader, then maybe you should go into that VCR player's menu and turn off the "blue screen" feature so we can get a longer look of what a Betamax tape looks like on a VHS. Or just find a much older VHS machine without the "blue screen" function.

[t0nito]

you should try playing an ntsc beta tape on a PAL vhs,or vice versa, perhaps you'll get a picture! because PAL vcrs run their drums slower, maybe the video tracks will align

[TVperson1]

That's not gonna work. The head on a beta is much bigger and the fact that he got sound means that the speed is fine.

[Phrennie]

She is hearin' voices.

[xEliJayy]

@Luigi2346forever I'm sorry, uwtitanfan, this was 3 years ago.

[title26]

hey can you send me that tape. I just got a betamax and I want to start my collection.

[AidanLunn]

Look on eBay. There are HUNDREDS of Betamax tapes on there - both blank tapes and those tapes that you buy at the store with a movie already on it.

[t0nito]

The pitch is perfect! I had no idea beta tapes and vhs had the same linear speed! that's awesome, what you get on the screen is much like when I tried playing VHS NTSC tapes on a PAL VCR and vice versa, but their linear speed were different so they were lower or higher in pitch.

[Luigi2346forever]

Well, the difference between the VHS and a BETA vhs tape, is that the BETA vhs tape is different or vice versa. The VHS can be played on any VCR or any, but it won't play on a BETA VCR, Only the BETA tapes can.

[t0nito]

Yes I know that, what I was saying is the picture you see before the screen turned blue is similar to when you try paying VHS tapes of different regions.

[neiluson]

In theory, I reckon making a VHS recording on a Beta tape would work, or at least to a point. How it looks to me is the head drum on a beta machine either spins faster or slower (couldn't tell you which!) than it would on a VHS machine. That's why I'm wondering if you made a VHS recording on a beta tape, the recording would then be compatible with the VHS machine even though it's beta tape (If you get my drift! Lol!)

[uwtitanfan]

Actually the heads on both VHS and BETA spin at the same speed. The difference between BETA and VHS is

1.) The head drum on BETA has a larger diameter than VHS

2.) The video track angle on BETA is smaller than VHS

3.) BETA uses slightly higher FM carrier frequencies to record luma and chroma signals

[uwtitanfan]

To simplify things, A VHS machine can't play a BETA tape because a VHS machine can't read the video tracks on a BETA tape. But you could easily record VHS on BETA tape and vice versa since the tape stock for both are basically the same in terms of coercivity and chemical make-up

[kargaroc386]

that's what ray did in the 80s after it got hard to find beta tapes. he took the tape from a vhs shell and wound it into a betamax shell.

[neiluson]

I wonder what would happen if you tried recording on a Beta tape with a VHS machine? Maybe something for you to try?

[tdrewman]

You have answered a question I have always wanted to know.

[kargaroc386]

did i just see the old WDIV logo at 2:56?

[paulisdead]

...well know I've seen everything! There you go, another one of life's mysteries solved.

I'm glad that there are the people out there with the time on their hands to do this crazy stuff. - God bless 'em.

[lemonsters08]

Maybe it was because the flap on the top was missing?

[title26]

Damn, I wish I still owned Dumbo

[stereomann83]

try a vhs tape on a beta machine

[fearlessturk]

It wouldnt work, VHS are bigger than BetaMax and it wouldnt fit through the flap.

[kargaroc386]

i think he meant that if you took the VHS tape and put it into a BETA shell, but the spool wouldn't fit, so you would have to take a BETA spool, and splice the actual tape from the VHS onto the BETA spool and put it back together.

[luigi2346]

What's a BETA spool?

[AidanLunn]

spool (aka a reel) = the round thing with the tape wound round it inside the cassette.

[Luigi2346forever]

Then it would look like a BHS combined together! :P

[AidanLunn]

in response to fearlessturk, I think stereomann83 means do the reverse of what this guy did here, i.e. actually take the tape out of the VHS cartridge and put it inside a Betamax cartridge. Then put that in a Betamax machine.

[title26]

That was an awsome video and I danced to the awful music

[Luigi2346forever]

What do you mean awful music?!? It's an awesome music! I used to think it was bad, but I think it's awesome! :P

[title26]

cool vid. Do it what you got

[title26]

REALLY WEIRD MUSIC!!!!

[Luigi2346forever]

No, awesome music! Basically from the movie Dumbo.

[KKD1247]

Hahaha...cool! I didn't think you would have gotten anything! Great idea / great job!

[videoholic1980s]

I just caught this page of yours now! VERY interesting experiment...I thought you were going to unspool the Beta tape and wind it onto a VHS hub and then try it...I've never seen this done before. And like you, I'm very surprised that you even got audio!! What kind of deck is below the Panasonic VHS machine that you used - with the flip-down door? Anyway....good job!!! >>> Ray Glasser

[uwtitanfan]

Approval from the beta king himself!

The deck below the Panasonic is a Samsung SV-300W universal VHS machine that has a built in digital converter to allow it to play tapes from different countries. I bought it off ebay from a guy who scammed me and said it was a S-VHS unit when it's not.

[videoholicreturns]

Thanks for the info!! Hey, we all have our eBay horror stories!!!

[maxwellmovies]

hell yes we do!

[stpworld]

hey on a matter of interest i bought a pannasonic region free vcr for only 150 and it plays all systems with out a converter and a shame you didnt get an svhs version ive been ripped off by ebay as well. and cool video of the beta in vhs

[stru81]

It just shows how much of VHS's development came from BETA's. Perfect pitch.

[luigi2346]

Was that a Dumbo tape you just watched(only the audio) that was in the VCR machine(which was the BETA tape)?

[StrangerCoug]

I didn't expect a Betamax tape to work in a VHS player period. I was surprised at the result of your experiment.

[Siren1000T]

Whats the name of the song that said on the tape "Its what you do it What you got" called?

[uwtitanfan]

I have no idea - It's from the mid 80's, thats all I know.

[kylex102]

i take it you must have had some experience with video production. have you?

[carexpertandy]

Do you ever call a VHS machine a VCR?

[uwtitanfan]

No, because I've used about a half dozen different tape formats over my life

[Siren1000T]

Did you get a hair cut? Your hair looks shorter then what I have seen in some of your videos no offense.