Monday, July 6, 2009

Betamax To DVD Transfers Now Available At Best DVD Solutions

Every decade has it's own dominate form of media. In the decades prior to the 70's 8mm film and slides where the predominate way to enjoy media in the home. The advent of the VHS and accompanying VCR caused older formats to fade away into obscurity. VHS ruled supreme for nearly two decades and it wasn't until the mid 90's and the introduction of the DVD player that a clock was put on the life the VHS. During this decade DVD stood strong above all other formats and is still the most popular format for viewing movies and home made materials.

The middle part of this decade was marked by a format war between Toshiba's HDDVD and Sony's Blu Ray, both touted as successors to the DVD format. Blu Ray eventually won the support of movie & television studios and the public as well and HDDVD faded from store shelves. This recent format war isn't the first as many might think however. Beginning in the 70's and lasting through the early part of the 80's Sony's Betamax went head to head with JVC's VHS. Both formats had their pros and cons but in the end it was the VHS that came out on top which lead to VHS becoming the predominate video format for years to come. VHS camcorders became accessible in both price and availability to the public and recording home videos became wildly popular during those times.

Betamax too had it's own line of hand held personal video recorders and though limited and somewhat bulky in size owners of those cameras also created home videos, videos that are now difficult to watch. While today's Blu Ray players are backwards compatible with virtually any region matching DVD, DVD and Blu Ray players are not capable of playing either Betamax or VHS cassettes as one technology deals with analog tape and the other with digital encoding.

So what must an owner of Betamax cassettes do if they want to watch their old home movies. As Betamax was hard to find shortly after the format war ended, they're so rare these days finding one that's functional can be nothing short of impossible. Owners of Betamax cassettes lucky enough to find a functional player must then contend with a multitude of hindrances that can make watching old movies more of a chore than a pleasure. Once a player is procured the owner must then find ways to add it to their modern entertainment centers, albeit temporarily, and then find out whether it's even possible to connect it to their modern television set. Many modern TV's lack the input jacks needed to play such archaic equipment, while other sets are already overloaded with cable, satellite, video game, DVD, and Blu Ray inputs. Disconnecting any of these can often be a hassle and is a common "stop" point for those wishing to view old Betamax movies. Even if a player can be found and it can be properly connected to a modern television set, owners will be quick to point out that both the video and audio quality are poorer than they remember. Not only do Betamax cassettes wear with each play but modern video and audio equipment often expose flaws in older formats as there simply isn't enough data to process resulting in low quality image and sound.

Betamax owners might then ask themselves, "is there a way to keep my old videos from degrading further", or "how can I enjoy these movies without hassle or great expense?" The answers to questions like those lie with Best DVD Solutions, the premiere video conversion company. Best DVD Solutions is most famous for their VHS to DVD transfers but very few people know that they also offers services for transferring Betamax to DVD as well. In fact the two services are nearly identical in procedure and finished product as Betamax to DVD transfers receive the same care as VHS to DVD transfers do.



Betamax 1 and Betamax 2 transfers to DVD are first received by Best DVD Solutions and are then put through the rigorous digitizing process. That also means that Betamax to DVD transfers performed by Best DVD Solutions receive the same video and audio enhancements that VHS to DVD transfers do. Keeping in mind that enhancements are determined and limited by the original source material, poor audio quality and sub par video quality can be improved upon. Digitizing a Betamax video will allow dynamic vibrancy to be added to visuals while uneven, overpowering, or unusually soft audio, can all be brought to acceptable levels that will sound great when played through modern audio equipment. Furthermore the enhanced video will look much smoother during playback on modern DVD players and digital televisions, making watching old movies a much more enjoyable experience.

If the enhancements available through a Betmax to DVD transfer aren't enough to convince you to submit your old videos for transfer then consider this. Betamax cassettes much like VHS cassettes and other technologies of that era wear with each viewing. Movies left in storage, even those kept in cases, are subject to natural elements. Movies tucked away in a box somewhere may be safe from wind and water but heat, dust, and even bacteria can all eat away at the videos, which can easily render the movie unplayable. Common home made movies include videos of holidays, family, children long since grown, and even friends and family who may have passed on. Is leaving these types of videos to time and the elements smart, is it something you want to chance?

The transferring of Betamax to DVD provides owners of such precious home movies with an opportunity to place their videos on a medium that is built to last a lifetime and one that is far more durable that any other format. DVD discs are a most rugged storage medium. Many discs that are heavily scratched, bent, or left in the sun will still play in some DVD players though we don't recommend anyone allow their DVD discs to be subject to such abuse. Furthermore DVD players aren't capable of "eating" up tape and destroying a video like VHS and Betamax players once did. The one other reason to consider transferring Betamax to DVD is so that these old home movies can be viewed more conveniently than ever before. The majority of homes all have at least one DVD player in them and anyone with a computer likely has one that came with a built in DVD player.

If you have questions about the Betamax to DVD transfer process please contact Best DVD Solutions for assistance. You may also visit their website to view a complete list of all the digital solutions they provide.

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