Invented by a team led by Chrles Paulson Ginsburg, known as the “Father of the Video Cassette Recorder”, the video cassette player revolutionized the entertainment industry.
The concept of videotaping dates back to the 1950s with large, bulky machines like the Ampex VRX-1000 which used reel-to-reel tape.
Sony introduced the Betamax in 1975 as the first consumer videotape format but its cassettes were smaller and of higher quality, though it struggled with limited record time.
By the early 1980s, VCRs became common in households, allowing people to record TV shows, rent movies and even create personal home videos. Companies like Panasonic, Sharp etc helped expand VHS player availability.
With the rise of DVDs and digital media players in the late 1990s and 2000s, VCRs gradually became obsolete.
The last major VCRs were produced in the early 2000s, with the format officially fading from production by the 2010s as digital streamlining and file-based media took over.
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