The Beta format had three tape speeds (or modes), but not all machines could play and record them all. It depended on the model and year. When Beta was first introduced there was only one speed, which later became known as Beta one or . This was the fastest tape speed (4.0 cps) and recorded one hour using an L-500 cassette. Later when video head technology improved the slower and speeds were launched. Recording time for the L-500 became two and three hours. New longer tape lengths were added too and the most popular, the L-750, provided ninety minutes, three hours and four and a half hours of recording at the , and speeds. There was also a L-830 cassette that pushed it to five hours in . About midway through the life of Beta some new designations appeared that really didn't change the speeds but rather reflected improved picture performance. The first change was SuperBeta which upped the quality of the video 20% in all three speeds. This was done by boosting up the luminance signal to produce more picture detail. It didn't stop there though. Next came s which capitalized on the faster tape travel of the mode. Called Super Hi-band recording it upped the luminance signal even more (first to 5.6 MHz and then later up to 6.0MHz) for an even better picture. Last came Extended Definition Beta or ED Beta. Using high quality metal tape it matched network broadcast quality or better.