page_title: Videotape format war
hierarchical_section_title: Videotape format war
caption_attribution_description: A blank Betamax casette next to a blank VHS cassette for size comparison. Taken and edited by senork on 9/25/2006.
context_page_description: The videotape format war was a period of intense competition or "format war" of incompatible models of consumer-level analog video videocassette and video cassette recorders in the late 1970s and the 1980s, mainly involving the Betamax and Video Home System formats. VHS ultimately emerged as the preeminent format.
context_section_description: The videotape format war was a period of intense competition or "format war" of incompatible models of consumer-level analog video videocassette and video cassette recorders (VCR) in the late 1970s and the 1980s, mainly involving the Betamax and Video Home System (VHS) formats.  VHS ultimately emerged as the preeminent format.
caption: Size comparison between a Betamax cassette (top) and a VHS cassette (bottom)
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