Betacam SP

Professional analog component tape format used by the majority of broadcasters, after replacing 3/4" Umatic composite tapes. Beta SP came in two cassette sizes, with the smaller version providing 20 minutes of recording on a professional, shoulder-mounted camcorder. Sony later introduced BetaSX, an MPEG-2 digital format, but it was short-lived with the advent of non-linear recording options such as optical disk or hard-drive-based camcorders.