Sony
Depends on your question.
Sony came out with the first VCR for home use in 1975. It was called the Betamax. A year later, JVC introduced its VHS videocassette recorder. After a several-year battle, the VHS became the VCR standard. Sony began producing VHS recorders in 1988 and produced its last Betamax in 2002. The true first VCR was invented in 1956 and was the size of a piano. The VCR was invented in 1971 along with the dot-matrix, food processor and the liquid-crystal display The VCR that we see these days was invented in 1970.
Betamax was created in 1975.
Go to Think Geek website they have a Betamax to HD-DVD converter
When VCRs first made it to the home market, there were two different systems- VHS and BetaMax. They used different sized tape cassettes. VHS proved more popular, and BetaMax went away.
U-Matic
Betamax is a consumer-level analog videocassette recording format developed by Sony. It works by recording analog audio and video signals onto magnetic tape through helical scanning. The recorded information can then be played back by inserting the Betamax cassette into a compatible player.
You would have to have a Betamax VCR. Try ebay.
To use betamax through magnetism, you would need a betamax tape and a suitable magnetic playback device such as a betamax VCR. Insert the tape into the VCR, ensuring it is wound properly. The magnetic heads in the VCR will read the magnetic signals recorded on the tape to play back the audio and video content.
When VCRs first made it to the home market, there were two different systems- VHS and BetaMax. They used different sized tape cassettes. VHS proved more popular, and BetaMax went away.
Both Betamax and VHS were first developed by Sony Electric Corporation. Sony sold what it felt was the inferior VHS technology to the their competitors, believing that the superior Betamax would win out in the marketplace.
The VHS has a superior shelf to the Betamax. Take a look a this doozy: http://wiki.ggc.usg.edu/mediawiki/index.php/VCR_vs._Betamax#VCR_vs._Betamax:_the_.22Format_War.22