8mm video
A Video8 videocassette
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| Media type | Magnetic tape |
|---|---|
| Encoding | NTSC, PAL, SECAM |
| Capacity |
Video8/Hi8: 60 minutes (PAL-SP) 90 minutes (PAL-SP) 135 minutes (PAL-SP) 120 minutes (NTSC-SP) Digital8: 60 minutes (NTSC-SP) 90 minutes (PAL-SP) |
| Read mechanism | Helical scan |
| Write mechanism | Helical scan |
| Standard | Interlaced video |
| Developed by | Sony Kodak |
| Usage | Home movies |
The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats for the NTSC and PAL/SECAM television systems. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as a more recent digital recording format known as Digital8.
Their user base consisted mainly of amateur camcorder users, although they also saw important use in the professional television production field.
In January of 1984, Eastman Kodak announced the new technology. In 1985, Sony of Japan introduced the Handycam, one of the first Video8 cameras with commercial success. Much smaller than the competition's VHS and Betamax video cameras, Video8 became very popular in the consumer camcorder market.
The three formats are physically very similar, featuring both the same magnetic tape width and near-identical cassette shells, measuring 95 × 62.5 × 15 mm. This gives a measure of backward compatibility in some cases. One difference between them is in the quality of the tape itself, but the main differences lie in the encoding of the video when it is recorded onto the tape.
Video8 was the earliest of the three formats, and is entirely analog. The 8mm tape width was chosen as smaller successor to the 12mm Betamax format, using similar technology (including U-shaped tape loading) but in a smaller configuration in response to the small configuration VHS-C compact camcorders introduced by the competition. It was followed by Hi8, a version with improved resolution. Although this was still analog, some professional Hi8 equipment could store additional digital stereo PCM sound on a special reserved track.
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