OVERVIEW

Until the advent of digital media, magnetic video tape was one of the primary methods of containing longforms of recorded video footage for both commercial and consumer purposes.

Unfortunately, tape formats were highly vulnerable to deterioration and distortion of the recorded analog video signal, the integrity of which is dependant on both the physical and chemical state of the tape material housed inside the cassettes. As tape, as a physical media, is inherently subjected to levels of high tension as it passes through a video player, it's not uncommon to see tracking artifacts, manifested as horizontal lines, colour shifting, or lost video/audio signals altogether.

These issues only highlight the urgency to preserve important legacy content in a digital format - which can easily be duplicated and redistributed without any further generational loss.

Video Formats

Consumers would be most familiar with the various VHS or home camcorder cassettes, but there are a number of formats that were produced for production environments and workflows, each with their own inherit advantages, runtimes, and associated degredational traits.

post-processing

NOISE REDUCTION

Perceived visual noise associated with legacy video formats can be introduced from a number of sources. For example, from the original recording, noise can result as a hardware limitation from the camera used during capture, and it could be something as simple as the camera sensor struggling to capture detail in poorly lit scenes, or it could be an undiagnosed mechanical issue that led to interference on the video signal.

There are countless variables that may have resulted in the presence of the grainyness in a video, but we have both the hardware and software capabilities to improve, and at times completely eliminate it (depending on the state of the tape).

Direct to Digital Pipeline

Typical consumer grade transfer methods require an intermediary device to relay the video into a software, which subsequently renders out to an accesible videostream. This introduces a level of potential quality loss as the video signal has to pass through both the intermediary device and the software processing before it's converted into a digital format.

Using our custom hardware chains in concert with a Teranex system, video signals are converted directly into digital without having to spend any additional time as a vulnerable analog signal as it processes through stages of production.

Colour Correction

Like noise, mentioned in the section above, perceived colour issues can be a result of the original camera used to capture the footage, or it can be from tape deterioration, which can, at times, lead to colour shifting.

Regardless of the cause of the colour issues, our process can work to improve, and in some cases, entirely resolve colour issues that ultimately cause a blanket loss of visible details.

UP TO 4K HIGH DEFINITION

As contemporary screens, televisions, and devices continue to increase in size and boast higher resolutions, it is absolutely necessary to upscale legacy content to 4K - in order to maintain the source material as true to the capture as possible. Unfortunately, at the time of much of the legacy content on video tape and DVD, the available resolutions, at the time, were considerably lower than they are today, and thus fail to meet the requirements of our modern screens.

The consequence to low resolution video on Ultra High Definition screens is a sheer degredation of detail as finer details on the cassette are reduced to geometric artifacts as your display struggles to translate minimal available data to fit the wide band of information that's become common with modern media.

DEINTERLACING

As most analog video is shot with an interlacing method that, undetectable on old tube style televisions, appears as alternating horizontal lines of prevalence from the top down, which creates, what one might describe as a, screen-like effect across the video on modern progressive displays.

In order to resolve this maligned artifact of antiquated capture methods, we employ a deinterlacing method to, essentially, fill in the alternating horizontal, interlace lines that often look terribly out of place, with a hardware processed frame-blending technique.

post-processing

NOISE REDUCTION

Perceived visual noise associated with legacy video formats can be introduced from a number of sources. For example, from the original recording, noise can result as a hardware limitation from the camera used during capture, and it could be something as simple as the camera sensor struggling to capture detail in poorly lit scenes, or it could be an undiagnosed mechanical issue that led to interference on the video signal.

There are countless variables that may have resulted in the presence of the grainyness in a video, but we have both the hardware and software capabilities to improve, and at times completely eliminate it (depending on the state of the tape).

Direct to Digital Pipeline

Typical consumer grade transfer methods require an intermediary device to relay the video into a software, which subsequently renders out to an accesible videostream. This introduces a level of potential quality loss as the video signal has to pass through both the intermediary device and the software processing before it's converted into a digital format.

Using our custom hardware chains in concert with a Teranex system, video signals are converted directly into digital without having to spend any additional time as a vulnerable analog signal as it processes through stages of production.

Colour Correction

Like noise, mentioned in the section above, perceived colour issues can be a result of the original camera used to capture the footage, or it can be from tape deterioration, which can, at times, lead to colour shifting.

Regardless of the cause of the colour issues, our process can work to improve, and in some cases, entirely resolve colour issues that ultimately cause a blanket loss of visible details.

UP TO 4K HIGH DEFINITION

As contemporary screens, televisions, and devices continue to increase in size and boast higher resolutions, it is absolutely necessary to upscale legacy content to 4K - in order to maintain the source material as true to the capture as possible. Unfortunately, at the time of much of the legacy content on video tape and DVD, the available resolutions, at the time, were considerably lower than they are today, and thus fail to meet the requirements of our modern screens.

The consequence to low resolution video on Ultra High Definition screens is a sheer degredation of detail as finer details on the cassette are reduced to geometric artifacts as your display struggles to translate minimal available data to fit the wide band of information that's become common with modern media.

DEINTERLACING

As most analog video is shot with an interlacing method that, undetectable on old tube style televisions, appears as alternating horizontal lines of prevalence from the top down, which creates, what one might describe as a, screen-like effect across the video on modern progressive displays.

In order to resolve this maligned artifact of antiquated capture methods, we employ a deinterlacing method to, essentially, fill in the alternating horizontal, interlace lines that often look terribly out of place, with a hardware processed frame-blending technique.

Betamax

In 1975 Sony released the consumer-tier analog Betamax. Content on the cassette would be recorded to a 1/2” wide magnetic tape on a 2 spool transport inside of a plastic housing, borrowing the design from the earlier, Professional Level U-Matic tapes, and was used initially as a replacement for the Super8 for home movies.

Initially, the Betamax offered superior resolution over its competitor, JVC’s VHS, but would later lose that advantage as JVC provided incremental improvements with its later iterations.

Due to a number of reasons, including the lower manufacturing costs, and lack of third party support, the Betamax format was phased out.

While its consumer format failed to catch on, its pro-level line of products, the Betacam, became the industry standard for News Gathering Networks and Television Broadcasting studios well into the late 2000s.

Betamax approximate runtime information

Tape Model βI βII βIII PAL/SECAM
L-125 15 Mins 30 Mins 45 Mins 32 Mins
L-165 20 Mins 40 Mins 60 Mins 43 Mins
L-250 30 Mins 60 Mins 90 Mins 65 Mins
L-370 45 Mins 90 Mins 135 Mins 96 Mins
L-500 60 Mins 120 Mins 180 Mins 130 Mins
L-750 90 Mins 180 Mins 270 Mins 195 Mins
L-830 100 Mins 200 Mins 300 Mins 216 Mins

Betamax

In 1975 Sony released the consumer-tier analog Betamax. Content on the cassette would be recorded to a 1/2” wide magnetic tape on a 2 spool transport inside of a plastic housing, borrowing the design from the earlier, Professional Level U-Matic tapes, and was used initially as a replacement for the Super8 for home movies.

Initially, the Betamax offered superior resolution over its competitor, JVC’s VHS, but would later lose that advantage as JVC provided incremental improvements with its later iterations.

Due to a number of reasons, including the lower manufacturing costs, and lack of third party support, the Betamax format was phased out.

While its consumer format failed to catch on, its pro-level line of products, the Betacam, became the industry standard for News Gathering Networks and Television Broadcasting studios well into the late 2000s.

Betamax approximate runtime information

Tape Model βI βII βIII PAL/SECAM
L-125 15 Mins 30 Mins 45 Mins 32 Mins
L-165 20 Mins 40 Mins 60 Mins 43 Mins
L-250 30 Mins 60 Mins 90 Mins 65 Mins
L-370 45 Mins 90 Mins 135 Mins 96 Mins
L-500 60 Mins 120 Mins 180 Mins 130 Mins
L-750 90 Mins 180 Mins 270 Mins 195 Mins
L-830 100 Mins 200 Mins 300 Mins 216 Mins
approximate runtime information
SP 2 Hours
LP 4-6 Hours
EP 6-8 Hours
*VHS brands offered a range of runtime capacity. The listed times are the most common.

VHS

The brainchild of JVC, VHS was a popular consumer home video format developed in the 70s that would soon become the standard for commercial home use. Early on the VHS was in direct competition with Sony’s Betamax format, which offered a better visual fidelity, but was limited in its runtimes.

Because of this, and likely due to marketing schemes, where Betamax leveraged the prospect of taping live television to be watched at your leisure, the VHS collaborated with Hollywood to promote a non-existent video rental market, the lower costing VHS was embraced by the average consumer, who valued longer runtimes and entertainment over minor quality improvements.

The VHS, not unlike the Betamax, or the many VHS incarnations that would follow, used a magnetic oxide tape encased in a plastic housing. The plastic tape would transport between two reels and wrap around the tape head in the VCR, allow it to read and transmit the signal.

VHS tape capacity varies depending on the density of the tape within the specific cassette, and the recording speeds which are used to capture the information. Typically, a Standard Play VHS can hold up to 2 hours of content but in Long Play it can hold up to 4 hours of content and in Extended Play 6-8 hours.

approximate runtime information
SP NTSC 2 Hours
SP PAL 135 Mins

Hi8/Video8

Sony’s Hi8 tape was released in 1989 to counter the propagating VHS. Improvements over the consumer grade VHS included the implementation of a higher grade magnetic tape, offering a better signal bandwidth with overall video quality comparable to the LaserDisc.

The cassettes can hold up to 120 minutes of content.

Beyond its initial intended use, the Hi8 tapes went on to facilitate the storage for the variety of digital video formats under the DV umbrella and compatibility with the Digital Tape Recording System used for audio.

approximate runtime information
U-Matic S 20-30 Mins
U-Matic L 60 Mins-90 Mins

U-Matic 3/4"

Sony had hoped the U-matic cassette tape, invented in the late 60s, would capture the home video market by offering an easy to use cartridge based delivery/recording system for analog video. The format, which would act as a sort of design prototype for the formats to follow, features a 3/4” magnetic tape cased inside of a large plastic cartridge. One of the unique aspects of the U-Matic’s design is that the two reels, which spool the film move in opposite directions.

Unfortunately the high price points had deterred the average consumer and the U-Matic had failed to make an impact on the home-video market. However, the format was adopted early on by News outlets and Institutional organizations. The U-Matic would be superseded by Sony’s Beta series of products, which would go on to become industry broadcast standard.

approximate runtime information
SP NTSC 2 Hours
SP PAL 135 Mins

1" Open Reel Video Tape

Open Reel is a format of analog video that would play off spools of magnetic tape, first developed in the 50s as a trial to see if Video could be recorded onto a similar format to audio.

Data is recorded to the magnetic tape by Recording Heads that pass along the magnetic video tape as it wraps around spinning drums, and is capable of recording alongside audio.

The earlier, experimental iterations of the format were considered failures, requiring impractically large reels (21”), running at 200” per second, only to produce poor image quality. This wasn’t a sustainable model for the marketplace.

Around the same time, Transverse and Helical Scan prototypes were being developed that allowed for a greater amount of data to be read off less tape by recording the data at an angle across the width, opposed to a straight line down the length of the tape.

In the 1980s, the broadcasting industry would land upon the Helical Scan design as the industry standard, as it offered a clean still-frame and pause solutions, where designs such as the Quadraplex were incapable of producing coherent images while the tape stopped.

The advent of open reel technology brought along new broadcasting practices that have since become commonplace, such as the ability to re-wind and Instant Replay during live presentations.

approximate runtime information
SP 2 Hours
LP 4-6 Hours
EP 6-8 Hours
*VHS brands offered a range of runtime capacity. The listed times are the most common.

VHS

The brainchild of JVC, VHS was a popular consumer home video format developed in the 70s that would soon become the standard for commercial home use. Early on the VHS was in direct competition with Sony’s Betamax format, which offered a better visual fidelity, but was limited in its runtimes.

Because of this, and likely due to marketing schemes, where Betamax leveraged the prospect of taping live television to be watched at your leisure, the VHS collaborated with Hollywood to promote a non-existent video rental market, the lower costing VHS was embraced by the average consumer, who valued longer runtimes and entertainment over minor quality improvements.

The VHS, not unlike the Betamax, or the many VHS incarnations that would follow, used a magnetic oxide tape encased in a plastic housing. The plastic tape would transport between two reels and wrap around the tape head in the VCR, allow it to read and transmit the signal.

VHS tape capacity varies depending on the density of the tape within the specific cassette, and the recording speeds which are used to capture the information. Typically, a Standard Play VHS can hold up to 2 hours of content but in Long Play it can hold up to 4 hours of content and in Extended Play 6-8 hours.

approximate runtime information
SP NTSC 2 Hours
SP PAL 135 Mins

Hi8/Video8

Sony’s Hi8 tape was released in 1989 to counter the propagating VHS. Improvements over the consumer grade VHS included the implementation of a higher grade magnetic tape, offering a better signal bandwidth with overall video quality comparable to the LaserDisc.

The cassettes can hold up to 120 minutes of content.

Beyond its initial intended use, the Hi8 tapes went on to facilitate the storage for the variety of digital video formats under the DV umbrella and compatibility with the Digital Tape Recording System used for audio.

approximate runtime information
U-Matic S 20-30 Mins
U-Matic L 60 Mins-90 Mins

U-Matic 3/4"

Sony had hoped the U-matic cassette tape, invented in the late 60s, would capture the home video market by offering an easy to use cartridge based delivery/recording system for analog video. The format, which would act as a sort of design prototype for the formats to follow, features a 3/4” magnetic tape cased inside of a large plastic cartridge. One of the unique aspects of the U-Matic’s design is that the two reels, which spool the film move in opposite directions.

Unfortunately the high price points had deterred the average consumer and the U-Matic had failed to make an impact on the home-video market. However, the format was adopted early on by News outlets and Institutional organizations. The U-Matic would be superseded by Sony’s Beta series of products, which would go on to become industry broadcast standard.

approximate runtime information
SP NTSC 2 Hours
SP PAL 135 Mins

1" Open Reel Video Tape

Open Reel is a format of analog video that would play off spools of magnetic tape, first developed in the 50s as a trial to see if Video could be recorded onto a similar format to audio.

Data is recorded to the magnetic tape by Recording Heads that pass along the magnetic video tape as it wraps around spinning drums, and is capable of recording alongside audio.

The earlier, experimental iterations of the format were considered failures, requiring impractically large reels (21”), running at 200” per second, only to produce poor image quality. This wasn’t a sustainable model for the marketplace.

Around the same time, Transverse and Helical Scan prototypes were being developed that allowed for a greater amount of data to be read off less tape by recording the data at an angle across the width, opposed to a straight line down the length of the tape.

In the 1980s, the broadcasting industry would land upon the Helical Scan design as the industry standard, as it offered a clean still-frame and pause solutions, where designs such as the Quadraplex were incapable of producing coherent images while the tape stopped.

The advent of open reel technology brought along new broadcasting practices that have since become commonplace, such as the ability to re-wind and Instant Replay during live presentations.

approximate runtime information
SP 60 Mins
LP 90 Mins

MiniDV

The MiniDV video cassette tape was released to home video consumers in 1995 as an affordable amateur level Digital Video option. However, at some point in the late 90s, due to the proficiency of the constantly evolving recording capabilities of the DV, the MiniDV would find itself an acceptable format among professionals and enthusiasts.

The cassettes, which are the smallest of the DV family used similar metal particulate tape as it’s larger, professional grade counterparts, and could technically facilitate the storage of any variation of the DV format that would be released between 95 to the mid 2000s.

Most MiniDV cassettes would hold 60 - 90 minutes at capacity, and can be easily distinguished from other video cassettes by the unique shutter lid that collapses forward on a dual hinge.

approximate runtime information
4.7GB 120-133 Mins
8.7GB 240 Mins
*Runtimes may vary based on the level of video compression used on the original recording - to provide for either more or less runtime capacity.

DVD

The DVD released in 1996, first in Japan, as a medium to distribute Music Videos to consumers. The following year the format made it's debut in the US as an alternate, superior, video format to the VHS tape, which held the market dominance for the 90s. By 2001 the DVD overtook the VHS, in the consumer's preference of video format, given the substantial ability to maintain sharp video clarity without the drawbacks of tracking issues associated with the deterioration of analog magnetic video tape.

Much like other optical disc formats, digital information is commited to the DVD as a series of "pits" and "lands", which refers to physical indentations etched into the topside of the plastic disc. The combination patterns of these indentations translates digitally to a string of 1s and 0s that manifest in a digital environment as a complete file(s).

Standard DVDs have a capacity of 4.7GB, but later iterations would increase capacity by leveraging double sided, or multi-layered discs.

approximate runtime information
1.4GB 30 Mins
5.2GB 240 Mins
*Runtimes may vary based on the level of video compression used on the original recording - to provide for either more or less runtime capacity.

MiniDVD

MiniDVDs, like their full-sized counterparts, is an optical disc based format. Though a completely functional storage medium for computer data, the MiniDVD was most commonly used for the recording and playback of video content.

The format came to consumers in the late 90s, appearing, often times, as bonus content (such as music videos) sold alongside music CD releases. But would find greater prominence in the advent of MiniDVD camcorders, which would allow consumers to record home videos and write the content directly from the camera onto a loaded disc. Understandably, DVD based video media was drawing consumers away from the tape-based options that were, mostly, offering inferior video quality.

MiniDVDs were manufactured in both single and dual layer. Each of which offered different storage capacity for video and computer data. Single layer discs would allow for up to 1 hours of recorded video, while the dual layer option would double that to a capacity to 2 hours.

Like standard DVDs, the MiniDVD would become largely obsolete in the eventual shift to a digital first society.

approximate runtime information
S Tapes 62 Mins
L Tpaes 194 Mins

Betacam

1986 would see the next progressive step in the Betacam line with the SP (Superior Performance) iteration offering an increased resolution. Beyond improved image quality, the SP cassettes would upgrade the medium from the ferric-oxide of the original Betacam, to a new metal tape for the SP, which allows for a more efficient signal delivery.

The cassettes, which are the smallest of the DV family used similar metal particulate tape as it’s larger, professional grade counterparts, and could technically facilitate the storage of any variation of the DV format that would be released between 95 to the mid 2000s.

Betacam SP video cassettes are available in 2 different sizes. The 90 minute Betacam SP cassette is larger and found usually in Television Studio environments, while the smaller cassettes, ranging from 5-30 minutes were compatible with consumer level camcorders.

approximate runtime information
S Tapes 40 Mins
L Tapes 124 Mins

DigiBeta

As we entered the early 90s, Sony began to move into a lower costing Digital Video direction with the release of the DigiBeta. Boasting a 100% uncompressed video format, the tapes offered, not only an improvement in resolution, data speed, and audio over the former, but the ability to timecode directly onto the tape.

Like its predecessors, the Digital Betacam became a favored option for studio broadcasting.

approximate runtime information
DVCAM 184 Mins

DVCam

As an alternative to Panasonic’s Pro-Level DVCPRO, Sony released the DVCAM. Using the same type of tape and technical approach as the MiniDV, the DVCAM improves upon the earlier iterations of DV with the ability to record in (an anachronistic version of) High Definition, and a precise frame-insert editing system due to the increased track pitch available.

DVCAM were accessible in 40 and 184 minute runtimes.

approximate runtime information
AJ-D400 ~63 Mins
AJ-D610 ~63 Mins
AJ-D700 ~63 Mins
AJ-D810 ~63 Mins
AJ-D200 124 Mins
AJ-D210 124 Mins
AJ-D410 184 Mins

DVCPro

Panasonic targeted the broadcast market with the release of it’s professional level DVCPRO (or DVCPRO25 as it was known to aficionados). The DVCPRO was a Panasonic product building off of the same fundamentals of the original DV format, but improving in it’s video compression methods with significantly decreased generational loss.

Unlike the original DV, there was no option for recording speeds as the format required a 50% increase in tape transport over its predecessor. Because of this, the tapes would hold a maximum capacity with options of either 63, 123, or 184 minutes.

The format would see two upgraded incarnations in DVCPRO50 and the DVCPROHD.

approximate runtime information
SP 60 Mins
LP 90 Mins

MiniDV

The MiniDV video cassette tape was released to home video consumers in 1995 as an affordable amateur level Digital Video option. However, at some point in the late 90s, due to the proficiency of the constantly evolving recording capabilities of the DV, the MiniDV would find itself an acceptable format among professionals and enthusiasts.

The cassettes, which are the smallest of the DV family used similar metal particulate tape as it’s larger, professional grade counterparts, and could technically facilitate the storage of any variation of the DV format that would be released between 95 to the mid 2000s.

Most MiniDV cassettes would hold 60 - 90 minutes at capacity, and can be easily distinguished from other video cassettes by the unique shutter lid that collapses forward on a dual hinge.

approximate runtime information
4.7GB 120-133 Mins
8.7GB 240 Mins
*Runtimes may vary based on the level of video compression used on the original recording - to provide for either more or less runtime capacity.

DVD

The DVD released in 1996, first in Japan, as a medium to distribute Music Videos to consumers. The following year the format made it's debut in the US as an alternate, superior, video format to the VHS tape, which held the market dominance for the 90s. By 2001 the DVD overtook the VHS, in the consumer's preference of video format, given the substantial ability to maintain sharp video clarity without the drawbacks of tracking issues associated with the deterioration of analog magnetic video tape.

Much like other optical disc formats, digital information is commited to the DVD as a series of "pits" and "lands", which refers to physical indentations etched into the topside of the plastic disc. The combination patterns of these indentations translates digitally to a string of 1s and 0s that manifest in a digital environment as a complete file(s).

Standard DVDs have a capacity of 4.7GB, but later iterations would increase capacity by leveraging double sided, or multi-layered discs.

approximate runtime information
1.4GB 30 Mins
5.2GB 240 Mins
*Runtimes may vary based on the level of video compression used on the original recording - to provide for either more or less runtime capacity.

MiniDVD

MiniDVDs, like their full-sized counterparts, is an optical disc based format. Though a completely functional storage medium for computer data, the MiniDVD was most commonly used for the recording and playback of video content.

The format came to consumers in the late 90s, appearing, often times, as bonus content (such as music videos) sold alongside music CD releases. But would find greater prominence in the advent of MiniDVD camcorders, which would allow consumers to record home videos and write the content directly from the camera onto a loaded disc. Understandably, DVD based video media was drawing consumers away from the tape-based options that were, mostly, offering inferior video quality.

MiniDVDs were manufactured in both single and dual layer. Each of which offered different storage capacity for video and computer data. Single layer discs would allow for up to 1 hours of recorded video, while the dual layer option would double that to a capacity to 2 hours.

Like standard DVDs, the MiniDVD would become largely obsolete in the eventual shift to a digital first society.

approximate runtime information
S Tapes 62 Mins
L Tpaes 194 Mins

Betacam

1986 would see the next progressive step in the Betacam line with the SP (Superior Performance) iteration offering an increased resolution. Beyond improved image quality, the SP cassettes would upgrade the medium from the ferric-oxide of the original Betacam, to a new metal tape for the SP, which allows for a more efficient signal delivery.

The cassettes, which are the smallest of the DV family used similar metal particulate tape as it’s larger, professional grade counterparts, and could technically facilitate the storage of any variation of the DV format that would be released between 95 to the mid 2000s.

Betacam SP video cassettes are available in 2 different sizes. The 90 minute Betacam SP cassette is larger and found usually in Television Studio environments, while the smaller cassettes, ranging from 5-30 minutes were compatible with consumer level camcorders.

approximate runtime information
S Tapes 40 Mins
L Tapes 124 Mins

DigiBeta

As we entered the early 90s, Sony began to move into a lower costing Digital Video direction with the release of the DigiBeta. Boasting a 100% uncompressed video format, the tapes offered, not only an improvement in resolution, data speed, and audio over the former, but the ability to timecode directly onto the tape.

Like its predecessors, the Digital Betacam became a favored option for studio broadcasting.

approximate runtime information
DVCAM 184 Mins

DVCam

As an alternative to Panasonic’s Pro-Level DVCPRO, Sony released the DVCAM. Using the same type of tape and technical approach as the MiniDV, the DVCAM improves upon the earlier iterations of DV with the ability to record in (an anachronistic version of) High Definition, and a precise frame-insert editing system due to the increased track pitch available.

DVCAM were accessible in 40 and 184 minute runtimes.

approximate runtime information
AJ-D400 ~63 Mins
AJ-D610 ~63 Mins
AJ-D700 ~63 Mins
AJ-D810 ~63 Mins
AJ-D200 124 Mins
AJ-D210 124 Mins
AJ-D410 184 Mins

DVCPro

Panasonic targeted the broadcast market with the release of it’s professional level DVCPRO (or DVCPRO25 as it was known to aficionados). The DVCPRO was a Panasonic product building off of the same fundamentals of the original DV format, but improving in it’s video compression methods with significantly decreased generational loss.

Unlike the original DV, there was no option for recording speeds as the format required a 50% increase in tape transport over its predecessor. Because of this, the tapes would hold a maximum capacity with options of either 63, 123, or 184 minutes.

The format would see two upgraded incarnations in DVCPRO50 and the DVCPROHD.