What is Videocassette recorder?
{{refimprove|date=September 2021}} [[File:VCR-N1500 White Background.jpg|thumb|Early consumer VCR in a museum]] '''Videocassette recorder''' ('''VCR''') is an electronic device that records and plays [[videotape]]s. Most use [[VHS]] or Beta cassettes that contain recordings of [[movies]] and other programs (such as music videos, exercise videos, and so on). To watch a recording using a VCR, the VCR has to be connected to a [[Television|television set]]. VCRs at first were mainly used to record programs from television broadcasts. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, many people used VCRs to record their favorite [[television programme|television shows]] to watch them later. This was called time-shifting. == Watching movies == In the mid-1980s, VCRs became a very popular way for people to watch movies and other recorded programs on their home television. Until the 21st century, video rental stores offered a large selection of movies recorded on VHS tapes that customers could rent. In the 1980s, some video rental stores also offered a smaller number of movies recorded on Beta tapes. === VHS vs Betamax === In the 1980s, [[VHS]] was involved in a [[format war]] with Sony's Betamax. VHS won the format war. Betacam, a variant of Betamax designed specifically for professional camcorders, did become popular in television studios, but consumers used VHS at home. In 1974, the Japanese government's [[Ministry of International Trade and Industry]] (MITI) tried to force the Japanese video industry to agree on just one home video recording format, in order to avoid consumer confusion.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bylund |first=Anders |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2010/01/is-the-end-of-the-format-wars-upon-us.ars |title=The format wars: of lasers and (creative) destruction |publisher=Arstechnica.com |date=2010-01-04 |accessdate=2011-07-11}}</ref> Later, Sony built a [[prototype]] of a [[Betamax]] VTR. Sony presented the prototype to MITI, and convinced them to use Betamax as the technical standard. Sony was then allowed to