NON-SONY BETA VCRs
Only Sony could call their VCRs a Betamax. As part of their agreement with Sony the other makers would call themselves Beta VCRs. Sanyo called their version of Beta the B-cord or Betacord, a holdover from their trial V-cord system, which they abandoned. Sears labeled theirs the Betavision and Zenith were Video Directors. The rest just called themselves Beta VCRs. These brands included Aiwa, Magnasonic, Marantz, NEC, Realistic (Radio Shack), Sears and Toshiba. They shared technology, design innovations and promotion with Sony. They were also encouraged to innovate, advertise and modify the format as long as they stayed true to Betas tape path requirements. This was all necessary to preserve compatibility. If tapes were recorded using a Sanyo were played in a Sony the results would be the same. The Beta tape design was the standard by which they all must abide. It was to become a phenomenon, and the Betamakers knew they had a tiger by the tail.
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