Tape to DVD Conversion

Home movie cameras and film were replaced in the early 1980's by the now familiar 'camcorder'. Home video equipment has been marketed since the mid-1960's, but the early systems were fairly expensive, and used a separate video camera (usually black and white!) and a heavy reel-to-reel videotape recorder tethered to the camera by a short cable. Not very portable or convenient! The first one-piece camera/recorders appeared around 1982, and quickly replaced the 8mm movie camera by offering sound and longer program time. (8mm films were usually silent and limited to around 3 minutes per reel.) Over the years, consumer videotape has appeared in many different forms - open reel, VHS, VHS-C, Super-VHS, Betamax, Video 8 and Mini-DV. Each had it's own advantages and disadvantages, and consumers usually stuck with whatever format they chose.