U-matic


U-matic

Sony's first videocassette system introduced in 1971. With camera and recorder as separate units, U-Matic supported the NTSC video format on 3/4" tape. A smaller U-matic S cassette was later added for use in more portable recorders. In the early 1980s, Sony introduced a Broadcast Video U-matic (BVU) format with better color and lower noise. Used for newsgathering, BVU, and later an improved BVU SP format, were superseded by Sony's Betacam SP. See ENG, Betacam and VCR.