Home video

Home video is prerecorded audiovisual content distributed for viewing on household equipment rather than in cinemas. It has been sold or rented on physical formats and delivered through digital services.

Videocassette: A removable magnetic tape cassette used to record or play video. Videocassettes made home viewing and rental practical before optical discs.
Betamax: A videocassette format introduced by Sony in 1975 for consumer recording and playback. Betamax competed with VHS and lost the dominant consumer-format contest.
Home video release: The distribution of a film or program for viewing on household video equipment. Release timing and format determine when a title becomes available outside theaters.
Home video window: The period when a film becomes available for home viewing after or alongside other release channels. The timing of this window affects theatrical revenue and distribution strategy.
Video recording: The capture and storage of moving images as electronic or digital signals. Home video depends on recording and mastering content for distribution.
VHS: A videocassette format introduced by JVC in 1976 that became widely used for home video. VHS rental and sales helped establish home video as an everyday market.
Direct-to-video: A film released to home video without a prior theatrical release. The format created a distribution route independent of cinema exhibition.
Video nasty: A British press label for controversial video releases that prompted censorship and prosecution in the early 1980s. VHS distribution intensified public disputes about regulating films outside cinemas.
DVD: An optical disc format used to store digital video, audio, and data. DVD became a major retail and rental format for films at home.
LaserDisc: An optical videodisc format that offered higher picture quality than videotape but remained comparatively costly. LaserDisc demonstrated the appeal of disc-based films before DVD achieved mass adoption.

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