Tape manufacturers: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 17:45, 13 August 2022

This list is dedicated to the tape stock companies and their customers.

3M

Customers

Buena Vista Home Video
- Walt Disney Home Video
Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment/RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video/Columbia TriStar Home Video
Fotomat Video
Magnetic Video Corporation/20th Century Fox Video/CBS/Fox Video
MCA Videocassette, Inc./MCA Home Video
MGM/CBS Home Video/MGM/UA Home Video
Paramount Home Video
Thorn EMI Video/Thorn EMI/HBO Video
WCI Home Video/Warner Home Video

How to tell

On some tapes, especially early ones, the Scotch logo is engraved in white on the tape guard.
Mid 1980s-Early 1990s tapes may have the Scotch logo engraved as part of the tape nominal information above the record tab.
Some tapes have "3M" printed as part of the print code information on the bottom side, mainly on those duplicated by Technicolor Videocassette and West Coast Video Duplicating/MediaCopy.

Agfa-Gevaert

Customers

MGM/UA Home Video
United Home Video

How to tell

Ampex

Customers

Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment
Magnetic Video Corporation
MCA Videocassette, Inc.
MGM/CBS Home Video
Paramount Home Video
Time-Life Video
WCI Home Video

How to tell

BASF

Customers

Lionsgate Home Entertainment
- Artisan Entertainment (1987-2004)
  - Vestron Video (1987-1992)
Anchor Bay Entertainment (1995-2007)
- Video Treasures (1986-1998)
  - Burbank Video (1987-1995)
    - Jenal Entertainment (1987-1991)
    - Troy Gold (1987-1989)
  - MNTex Entertainment (1987-1998)
  - Strand Home Video (1989-1998)
- Starmaker Entertainment
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (1987-2007)
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (1994-2007)
Sterling Entertainment Group
- UAV Corporation (1985-1998)
- VidAmerica, Inc. (1987-1992)
Paramount Home Entertainment (1994-2007)
Warner Home Video (1987-2007)
MGM Home Entertainment (1987-2007)

How to tell

Many 1985-2007 tapes duplicated on BASF cassettes have dark or silver ink prototype codes. Usually, these codes included the tape nominal length, the shift digits, the print date and/or the print time.
- Only on tapes duplicated at either CBS/Fox or Technicolor.
- Some Memorex-manufactured tapes also had BASF codes. It is possible that somewhere down the line, Memorex licensed the tapes to BASF.
- For example, if the dark ink code reads "T-82 M3" on top and "012393 S 1223", or "012393 S", that means the cassette is a T-82 length and that the tape was manufactured on January 23, 1993. The time code would mean 12:23 PM, and S and M3 would be two of the shift digits.

Fuji

Customers

Astral Video (Canadian)
Magnetic Video Corporation
Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment/RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (Canadian)
Thorn EMI Video
Time-Life Video
Buena Vista Home Video (Canadian)
- Walt Disney Home Video

How to tell

Tapes manufactured prior to 1990 may have the Fuji name on the tape guard.

JVC

Customers

Allied Artists Video
Magnetic Video Corporation
Media Home Entertainment

How to tell

Maxell

Customers

20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment
- CBS/Fox Video
  - 20th Century-Fox Video
MGM/UA Home Video
Paramount Home Video
Columbia/TriStar Home Video
- RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video
PBS Video
Thorn EMI Video
Time-Life Video
VCI Home Video
Buena Vista Home Video
- Walt Disney Home Video
- Touchstone Home Video
Warner Home Video
Anchor Bay Entertainment (1995-2007)
- Video Treasures (1988-1998)
  - Burbank Video (1988-1995)
    - Troy Gold (1987-1989)
- Starmaker Entertainment

How to tell

Memorex

Customers

Anchor Bay Entertainment (1995-1996)
- Video Treasures (1990-1996)
  - Burbank Video (1988-1995)
    - Troy Gold (1987-1989)
- Starmaker Entertainment (1990-1996)
Buena Vista Home Video (1988-1994)
- Walt Disney Home Video
Warner Home Video
- HBO Home Video
- Allied Artists Video

How to tell

Some 1987-1998 tapes have “Made in U.S.A.” or "MADE IN U.S.A." moulded on the back right of the cassette.
Some 1987-1998 tapes have dark ink code information, including the day-year code.
- For example, if the code reads "8 322 90 2211", then that means that the side of the tape is labeled 8 and that the tape was manufactured on the 322nd day of 1990, or November 18, 1990, at 10:11 PM.

Panasonic

Customers

CBS/Fox Video
Family Home Entertainment
RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video

How to tell

RCA

Customers

Magnetic Video Corporation
MGM/UA Home Video
VCI Home Video
WCI Home Video
Buena Vista Home Video
- Walt Disney Home Video
- Touchstone Home Video

How to tell

Sony

Customers

HBO/Cannon Video
MGM/UA Home Video
RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video
Buena Vista Home Video
- Walt Disney Home Video
Warner Home Video

How to tell

For VHS, either small round depressions in the frontal shell of the cassette, or a large grid of squares along the entire frontal area thereof.

TDK

Customers

Magnetic Video Corporation
MGM/CBS Home Video
Paramount Home Video
RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video
U.S.A. Home Video
Walt Disney Telecommunications and Non-Theatrical Company
- Walt Disney Home Video
WCI Home Video

How to tell

The TDK logo can be found above the record tab.

Notes

The first companies to provide tape stocks for the official home entertainment and media industry are the larger manufacturing companies, including those that invented the media formats and accessories.
- 1930 - 3M invented the Scotch Tape under their then-formed sub-label, Scotch.
- 1935 - TDK invented iron-based magnetic material during their establishment.
- 1961 - Memorex invented the computer tape.
- 1975 - Sony invented the Beta format.
- 1977 - JVC invented the VHS format.
- 1987 - An improved version of the VHS format was developed by JVC, called S-VHS. In the meantime, the VHS format has won the war that it once had with the Beta format. As a result, VHS gained more popularity than Beta did.
- 1988 - Sony began making VHS players/recorders.
The last companies to provide tape stocks for the industry were a soda and chemical manufacturing company named BASF, doing business as Baden Aniline and Soda Factory, and a battery company named Maxell.

@@ Line 62: / Line 62: @@
 ===How to tell===
 * Many 1985-2007 tapes duplicated on BASF cassettes have dark or silver ink prototype codes. Usually, these codes included the tape nominal length, the shift digits, the print date and/or the print time.
+** Only on tapes duplicated at either CBS/Fox or Technicolor.
+** Some Memorex-manufactured tapes also had BASF codes. It is possible that somewhere down the line, Memorex licensed the tapes to BASF.
 ** For example, if the dark ink code reads "T-82 M3" on top and "012393 S 1223", or "012393 S", that means the cassette is a T-82 length and that the tape was manufactured on January 23, 1993. The time code would mean 12:23 PM, and S and M3 would be two of the shift digits.