Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 00:53:35 +0100 From: Phil Regnauld <regnauld@ftf.net> To: David Schwartz <davids@webmaster.com> Cc: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>, Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>, David Scheidt <dscheidt@enteract.com>, jcm@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org, erickw@taurus.oursc.k12.ar.us, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Marketing vs. technical superiority (was: Judge: "Gates Was Main Culprit") Message-ID: <19991119005335.00596@ns.int.ftf.net> In-Reply-To: <000101bf313e$e16c7ca0$021d85d1@youwant.to>; from David Schwartz on Wed, Nov 17, 1999 at 01:01:12PM -0800 References: <19991117102851.53109@mojave.sitaranetworks.com> <000101bf313e$e16c7ca0$021d85d1@youwant.to>
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David Schwartz writes:
> > References, please.
>
> See pretty much every actual research paper on the subject, including
> Lardner(1987), Weinstein(1984), Prentis(1981), and even Consumer Reports.
> Klopfenstein summarizes the research as follows:
>
> "Although many held the perception that Beta VCR produced a better picture
> than VHS, technical experts ... have concluded that this is, in fact, not
> the case; periodic reviews in Consumer Reports found VHS picture quality
> superior twice, found Beta superior once, and found no difference in a
> fourth review. In conclusion, the Beta format appeared to hold no advantages
> over VHS other than being the first on the market, and this may be a lesson
> for future marketers of new media products."
Well, whatever.
Betamax gave you roughly ~400 lines, that's about 65% of Pal/Secam
resolution (before that Secam was 825, that's before they switched to color)
and about %75 of NTSC (Never Twice the Same Color :-).
Don't know if there were any variants of NTSC Betamax, as with VHS
(NTSC 3.58 & 4.43).
VHS gives you roughly ~250 lines, with probably better color restitution,
which might explain the consumers saying they liked the picture better.
Doesn't say anything about sharpness. It's a bit like the CD vs. vinyl
argument: some people say vinyls and tube amps sound better. It's
a question of taste, and the fact that CDs sound too "clear" for some
people, especially when they've been used to the post-master audio-spectrum
compression of vinyls.
--
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