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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.

-- 
                        Y et
                        A nother
RedHat buys Cygnus      L inux
                        T akeover
                        A lliance


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