1996-2007

Betacam SX is a digital version of Betacam SP introduced in 1996, created as a cheaper alternative to Digital Betacam.

Video is recorded using MPEG-2 4:2:2 Profile@ML compression, and audio is recorded on four 48 kHz 16-bit PCM audio channels. All Betacam SX equipment is compatible with Betacam SP tapes. S tapes can record up to 62 minutes, and L tapes can record up to 194 minutes.

The Betacam SX system was very successful in newsgathering, which previously used Betacam and Betacam SP tape. Some Betacam SX recorders, such as the DNW-A75 or DNW-A50, natively play analog tapes because they have both analog and digital playback heads.

Betacam SX uses MPEG-2 4:2:2P@ML compression, compared to other similar systems that use 4:1:1 or 4:2:0 encoding. This signal processing provides better color resolution and allows for certain post-production processes such as Chroma-key.

This format compresses the video signal from approximately 180 Mbit/s to just 18 Mbit/s. This represents a compression ratio of approximately 10:1, achieved by applying a slight temporal compression where frames are stored using MPEG I and B frames, resulting in an IBIB sequence on the tape.

With the Betacam SX, Sony introduced a new generation of hybrid recorders that allowed both tape and disc recording on the same machine, and high-speed copying from one format to the other. This method was used to reduce wear on video heads and speed up online editing.

The format was discontinued in 2007.