Betamax

Betamax, also known as simply Beta, is a defunct analog home video format introduced on by Sony, one year before its main rival, the similar videotape format VHS from . Star Trek releases on Beta included the first six films, all episodes of and and various episodes of before the format's ultimate demise in the early 1990s. Due to the co-existence of both formats, titles, including those of Star Trek, were released concurrently in both formats, until Betamax – even though it was technically the superior one of the two – lost the and was phased out near the end of the 1980s. That Betamax held out for as long as it did was only due to the popularity it initially enjoyed in the USA, France, and their (overseas) dependencies in particular, persevering well after VHS had been universally embraced by the rest of the world, where the there relatively short-lived Betamax had already been phased out almost a decade earlier.
Ironically, a third contemporary competing videotape format, the developed by , was actually the even more superior one technically by far, but was also the first to fall in the format war due to poor marketing decision making, before a titles catalog of any substance could be released. The least qualitative one, VHS, eventually won out through JVC's imaginative and aggressive marketing by making the fullest use of the burgeoning video rental circuit – eventually completely overpowering the Betamax in the rental circuit – , which had also served the Star Trek franchise well. (see also in this regard: main article)
Beta tapes were first released in boxes that were slightly larger than the tape itself providing for a tight fit, similar to the sleeve that come with a blank video tape. All of the episodes, including the color version of "The Cage", were first released in this fashion. Paramount was one of the last, if not the last, studio to release video tapes in the Betamax format. Beta tapes released towards the end of the format's life were often in the boxes made for the commercially more popular VHS format. Star Trek releases were no exception to this and Beta tapes of the episodes were released in VHS sized boxes, with a piece of cardboard inserted into the box to make for a tighter fit and a big sticker on the front of the box saying "BETA" and smaller ones on the side of the box saying "Beta" that were used to cover up the VHS logo.
== Release chronology ==
Dates in italics are approximate.
1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993
Date 	Country 	Product released
 	 	
October 	US 	
Unknown 	US 	Star Trek: Television Classics volumes 1-5 (all)
Unknown 	UK 	Star Trek – Shore Leave (Mountain)
 	 	
May 	UK 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Unknown 	UK 	Star Trek - Where No Man Has Gone Before, Star Trek – The Menagerie (EVC)
 	 	
May 	UK 	Star Trek – Trouble with Tribbles (Mountain)
June 	UK 	Star Trek - Amok Time, Star Trek – Dagger of the Mind (Mountain)
July 	US 	Star Trek: Space Seed
November 	US 	
 	 	
March 	US 	
April 	UK 	Star Trek – CIC-Arena 1 of 2
October 	UK 	Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
December 	UK 	Star Trek – CIC-Arena 2 of 2
Unknown 	West Germany	Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
 	 	
October 	UK 	Star Trek - Double Bill
Unknown 	Japan 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture
 	 	
February 	US 	Tapes 1-10 ("Group 1") of 80 for Star Trek,
March 	UK 	Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
April 	UK 	Volume 1 of Star Trek: The Animated Series (Rental)
May 	US 	Tapes 11-20 ("Group 2") of 80 for Star Trek
November 	US 	Tapes 21-30 ("Group 3") of 80 for Star Trek
Unknown 	Japan 	Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
 	 	
April 	US 	Tapes 31-40 ("Group 4") of 80 for Star Trek
November 	US 	Tapes 41-51 ("Group 5") of 80 for Star Trek; Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Special Longer Version, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock re-releases
 	 	
30 September	US 	
September 	US 	Tapes 52-61 ("Group 6") of 80 for Star Trek
Unknown 	Australia 	Star Trek: & ; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Unknown 	UK 	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; Volumes 1-2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Rental)
 	 	
April 	US 	Tapes 62-71 ("Group 7") & 72-79 ("Group 8") of 80 for Star Trek
 	 	
July 	US 	Volumes 1-11 (all) for Star Trek: The Animated Series
21 December 	US 	
Unknown 	US 	Tape 80 of 80 for Star Trek ( All-Color Collector's Edition)
 	 	
5 September 	US 	Tapes 1-3 of 33 for Star Trek: The Next Generation
Unknown 	US 	
 	 	
12 March 	US 	
1 April 	US 	Tapes 4-7 of 33 for Star Trek: The Next Generation
1 July 	US 	Tapes 8-13 of 33 for Star Trek: The Next Generation;
26 August 	US 	Tapes 14-17 of 33 for Star Trek: The Next Generation
11 November 	US 	Tapes 18-21 of 33 for Star Trek: The Next Generation
 	 	
26 May 	US 	Tapes 22-25 of 33 for Star Trek: The Next Generation
25 August 	US 	Tapes 26-29 of 33 for Star Trek: The Next Generation
13 October 	US 	Tapes 30-33 of 33 for Star Trek: The Next Generation
Unknown 	Unknown 	Unknown
Unknown 	Australia 	
Unknown 	Spain 	,
Unknown 	Turkey 	Volumes 1-2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation,
Unknown 	UK 	Star Trek - Trouble with Tribbles (Videon)
Unknown 	UK 	Volumes 2-4 of Star Trek: The Animated Series (Rental)
==External links==
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