Where does this come from, and can I check it?

VHS could hold a whole evening on one cassette where Betamax could not. The figure is taken from BFI, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a movies & tv fact?

Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

VHS beat Betamax by recording for longer

VHS could hold a whole evening on one cassette where Betamax could not Sony's Betamax arrived first in 1975 and gave a sharp picture, but its cassettes held about an hour. JVC's VHS, launched in 1976, used a bigger shell and slower tape speeds to fit three or four hours. Rental shops and Hollywood backed the longer format, and Betamax faded. It sits in Mondo's movies & tv collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

BFI

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: video, formats, 1970s

VHS beat Betamax by recording for longer: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: VHS could hold a whole evening on one cassette where Betamax could not. The figure is taken from BFI, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a movies & tv fact?: Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.