2. Digital Betacam format

When Sony launched its Digital Betacam format in 1993, three digital formats already existed: D-1, D-2 and D-3. The first was an old format (nearly ten years old), and the next two met a limited-time need: to enable a "smooth" transition to digital for analog installations still working in composite - let's be clear about this - aimed more specifically at the North American market, where components had not made the breakthrough that had been achieved in Europe.

What's more, the 4:2:2 standard, which initially chose 8-bit quantization, has since migrated to 10-bit quantization, resulting in premature aging of the D-1 format.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has never published a standard for the Digital Betacam format.