U-Matic, known colloquially as “three-quarter inch” based on the width of the tape, was the first cassette-based videotape format. Previous videotape formats were open-reel, requiring the user to thread the tape onto the machine manually. Introduced in the early 1970’s, 3/4″ was the workhorse of television news and was in common use until the late 90’s. There are two cassette sizes (pictured here): the smaller cassette designed to fit in the portable recorder, which maxed out at 20 minutes of recording time, and the larger version for the studio deck. The smaller cassette simply fits into the studio decks in the center of the tape slot. Typically the maximum length of the larger cassette is 60 minutes, but there are rare examples of 75-minute tapes using a thinner tape formulation to fit more into the housing.

Similar to what many tape formats did in the era, a higher quality sister format was later introduced, 3/4″ SP. This format had better frequency response and utilized a different type of magnetic tape. Unlike many sister formats though, 3/4″ regular and SP decks and tapes were all forwards and backwards compatible, meaning an SP tape could be played in a regular deck, and vice versa. However, you can only get the extra quality of the SP format by using a 3/4″ SP deck.

Audio on these tapes is simple 2-channel stereo linear tracks. Many who used the format daily chose to put primary audio on channel 2 only (unless stereo was required), as the physical area of the tape where channel 2 was recorded was further away from the edge of the tape where damage was likely to occur from a misaligned deck.

WDLN.tv can transfer 3/4″ SP in its full quality using a Sony BVU-920 or 950.