On May 10, 1975, SONY released the Betamax format in Japan. The first recorder released in Japan, the LV-1901 model, included a 19-inch Sony Trinitron television, and appeared in stores in early November 1975. Betamax is often considered to be severely obsolete, because of its iconic loss to the VHS format during the videotape format war of the late 1970s. Though Betamax had a higher quality image, the VHS tape had longer recording time, and ultimately became the standard. Despite their loss, Betamax recorders kept being manufactured until 2002, with Betamax tapes ending production in 2016.
