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After BetaMax was considered obsolete by VHS in the 1980s, very few people continued to use this technology. Today, it is extremely rare for anyone to use them other than to watch their old home movies. However, we are more than happy to take those your old BetaMax tapes filled with memories and convert them to new digital media formats from DVD, MiniDV or directly to your hard drive.
BetaMax was introduced as a home videocassette tape recording format by Sony in 1975. Originally, it was supposed to be 12.7mm wide but later was changed to 19.1mm when it was finally marketed and distributed. The BetaMax format was similar to the VHS format, except that VHS's open standard allowed for mass distribution without licensing costs. The VHS vs. BetaMax war was a defining phenomenon heading into the 1980s. BetaMax had the initial advantage due to its earlier release.
However, in 1981, BetaMax sales fell by 25% and JVC's VHS held 70% of the North American market. Later in the decade, Sony would all but admit defeat by producing their own version of VHS VCRs. Now BetaMax format is generally obsolete, though it is still used in specialist applications by a small minority of people.
Yet there still are a number of people, whose old memories are stuck on old BetaMax tapes. At Mississauga Home Movies, we specialize in converting your old fading BetaMax tapes to DVD. Our experts use strictly professional equipment when transferring BetaMax to DVD. We guarantee only the highest quality BetaMax to DVD transfers possible. To learn how we convert your BetaMax to DVD, please see our Remastering section. However, we provide far more options for your BetaMax tapes.
While most of our customers are looking to convert their BetaMax to DVD, we have had numerous requests for Hi8, VHS, VHCs, 8mm Tape, PAl, Secam and NTSC Tapes, MiniDV, and Digital8 to .avi or .dv formats. If you are an amateur editor, or even a pro we can upload your footage to your personal hard drive or in many cases back to a digital video format. Please see our export section for additional options.
VHS tape is by far the most popular video format of all time. Using Professional VHS, SHVS decks we convert your footage at the highest possible quality. Most VHS cassettes are 2 hours in length, however they can be as long as 6 hours if they were recorded in Extended Play (EP) Mode. Depending on you requirements we can provide a high bit-rate DVD that will play in your computer and DVD player or we can do a direct to computer upload. This will allow you to receive either an AVI file for PC or DV for Mac that can be edited into future projects.
Check our videotape section for more information about this format or see our video FAQs for more information on our video transfer services
Video8, Hi8 and Digital8 are all 8mm film formats that were popular in the 1990s. Created as a convenient compact cassette format for camcorders, a person could record 2 hours of footage in SP and up to 6 hours in EP mode. Depending on you requirements we can provide a high bit-rate DVD that will play in your computer and DVD player or we can do a direct to computer upload. This will allow you to receive either an AVI file for PC or DV for Mac that can be edited into future projects.
For more information on these formats, please check the following sections: Video8, Hi8 and Digital8. You can also read our video FAQs for more information on our video transfer services.
The MiniDV format is one of the most commonly used formats for camcorders. Leading manufacturers like Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Sharp, Canon, and many others offer MiniDV camcorders for digital video recording for usually up to 1hr of recording. Depending on you requirements we can provide a high bit-rate DVD that will play in your computer and DVD player or we can do a direct to computer upload. This will allow you to receive either an AVI file for PC or DV for Mac that can be edited into future projects.
Learn more about MiniDV
For over a decade CanadaHomeMovies.com has converted thousands of Beta and Betamax video tapes to DVD, hard drive and MiniDV. We are one of the few companies in Canada with professional Betamax decks in perfect working order. Using the latest analog to digital conversion equipment we can save your Beta and Betamax PAL and NTSC footage before it fades forever. Call us now.
MicroMV is Sony's proprietary digital videotape format. It's the smallest videotape format at about the size of two quarter coins. Each MicroMV cassette holds up to 60min of footage.DVCAM was a professional DV format that came in 2 tapes sizes. 60/90 minute tapes same as MiniDV and 184 minute large cassettes. 
Toronto Home Movies can output your transferred 8mm and 16mm footage to MiniDV Cassette for long term archival storage. We use professional grade Panasonic MiniDV cassettes.
If you have MiniDV tapes that you wish to convert to other format, such as DVD or Blu-Ray, please visit out Video Cassette Transfer section.
To learn more about MiniDV, visit the MiniDV section
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