Note that in the years 1962-1975 about 30 or 40 Industrial/Educational video formats came and went. Only the more popular formats are listed here. All formats are helical except where noted as Quad (1956-1971). The dates are when the product was first publically available.
| Date | Format | Usage | Analog / Digital | Composite / Component | Obsolesence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Ampex 2” Quadruplex | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | First successful videotape format |
| 1960 | Ampex Quad Low-Band Colour | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1962 | Ampex 2” Helical | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | First popular helical |
| 1963 | Ampex Quad High-Band Colour | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1963 | Sony 2” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1964 | Sony 1” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1965 | Ampex 1” SMPTE Type A | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1968 | IVC 1” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1968 | Sony 1/2” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1969 | Sony/Panasonic/others EIAJ-1 1/2” | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Electronics Industries Association of Japan, open-reel format |
| 1969 | Panasonic/EIAJ Cartridge (Omnivision) | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Cartridge format |
| 1970 | Phillips 1/2” VCR | Industrial / Educational / Consumer | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | First commercially available home video cassette |
| 1971 | Ampex Quad Super High-Band | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1971 | Sony/JVC/Matsushita 3/4” U-Matic | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Low Band (LB) and High Band (HB) which increased chroma subcarrier frequency |
| 1973 | IVC 9000 2” | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Helical |
| 1975 | Bosch 1” SMPTE B | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Segmented helical scan on a small-diameter drum |
| 1975 | Sony Betamax | Consumer | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | Successful consumer video cassette format |
| 1976 | JVC VHS (Video Home System) | Industrial / Educational & Consumer | Analog | Composite | Current Media (can buy) | VHS C (compact) required an adapter to play in a VHS VCR |
| 1976 | Sony 1” | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1976 | Ampex 1” A Format with slo-mo | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1978 | Ampex/Sony 1” SMPTE C | Professional | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | The most popular of the 1” professional formats |
| 1983 | Panasonic M | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component? | Obsolete | |
| 1984 | Sony Betacam | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Professional format able to use consumer cassette format |
| 1984 | EIAJ/others 8mm / Video 8 | Industrial / Educational & Consumer | Analog | Composite | Current Media (can buy) | |
| 1986 | Sony 3/4” U-Matic SP | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Composite | Obsolete | SP (Superior Performance) a higher-energy tape & an extended FM carrier |
| 1986 | Panasonic M-ll | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component | Obsolete | Introduced as a competitor to Beta SP |
| 1987 | Sony Betacam SP | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component | Current Media (can buy) | SP (Superior Performance) an industry standard for most TV stations and high-end production |
| 1987 | Sony D1 | Professional | Digital | Component | Obsolete | First digital VTR |
| 1987 | JVC/other S-VHS | Industrial / Educational & Consumer | Analog | Component | Obsolete | S (Super) a high-end consumer format which separated the chrominance (colour) and luminance (brightness) signals. S-VHS C (compact) required an adapter to play in S-VHS VCR |
| 1988 | Ampex/Sony D2 | Professional | Digital | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1988 | Sony ED-Beta | Industrial / Educational & Consumer | Analog | Component | Obsolete | |
| 1989 | Sony Hi-8 | Industrial / Educational | Analog | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Improved version of 8mm video |
| 1992 | Panasonic D3 | Professional | Digital | Composite | Obsolete | |
| 1992 | Ampex DCT (Digital Component Technology) | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Obsolete | First compressed digital video format |
| 1993 | Panasonic D5 | Professional | Digital | Component | Obsolete | Non compressed. Can playback D3 tapes |
| 1993 | Sony Digital Betacam | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Digital successor to Betacam |
| 1994 | Panasonic D5 HD | Professional | Digital | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Compressed HD version of D5 |
| 1995 | EIAJ DV/DVC | Industrial / Educational /Consumer | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Obsolete | Mini DV and DVC were the first consumer digital recording format |
| 1995 | Panasonic DVCPRO / DVCPRO 25 / D7 | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | |
| 1995 | Toshiba/ Phiilips BTS D6 | Professional | Digital | Component | Not Standard > 5 years | HDTV Digital Cinema |
| 1995 | JVC D9 | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Obsolete | Digital S. Downward compatible with SVHS |
| 1996 | Sony Betacam SX | Professional | Digital | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Digital format targeted for ENG (Electronic News Gathering) and newsroom use |
| 1997 | JVC/Matsushita D-VHS | Consumer | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Obsolete | |
| 1996 | Sony DVCAM | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Information can be recorded on a memory chip inside the cassette |
| 1997 | Sony HDCAM (D11) | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | HDTV |
| 1997 | Panasonic DVCPRO50 | Professional & Industrial / Educational | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | A varient was Panasonic DVCPRO Progressive |
| 1999 | Sony Digital 8 | Industrial / Educational | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Records same digital signal as DV onto less expensive Hi8 tapes also plays back 8mm and Hi8 tapes |
| 2000 | Panasonic DVCPRO HD | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | HD version of DVCPRO recording the same signal as D9HD |
| 2000 | JVC D-9 HD / Digital S-100 | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) | Used for recording compressed and sub-sampled HDTV and uses same tape as D9 |
| 2003 | Sony HDCAM SR | Professional | Digital (Compressed) | Component | Current Media (can buy) |