ScanCafe converts professional video tapes, including U-matic (3/4 inch), Betacam and DVCAM, into digital video, transferred in-house in the USA and delivered by download, Kinoke app, or USB drive. Broadcast, corporate, training and archive footage deserves to be preserved digitally, forever.
3500+ Reviews20+ YearsDigitized in the USA
From broadcast news archives to corporate and event video, we convert these professional tape formats to digital. Select a format to learn more about its history and how we digitize it.
Sony introduced U-matic in 1971, and it was one of the first video cassette formats. Its 3/4-inch tape came in a cassette, which was far easier to use than the open-reel video tape that came before it. U-matic became a workhorse of broadcast news, corporate video, education and training through the 1970s and 1980s, in standard and small cassette sizes, and in later versions such as U-matic SP.
U-matic tapes are now around 50 years old, and the decks that play them are scarce and hard to maintain, so the sooner you digitize, the better. Our technicians handle each cassette with care and use professional equipment to convert your U-matic tapes to digital video. If a tape is damaged, we attempt a repair at no extra cost.
Sony introduced Betacam in 1982 as a half-inch cassette format built for broadcast news cameras, where camera and recorder came together in a single unit. Betacam SP followed in the mid-1980s with better picture quality and became a broadcast standard for years, and it's still found in many television and production archives. Despite the similar name and cassette shape, it is a different format from consumer Betamax.
Betacam tapes hold professional-grade footage that's worth preserving. We convert them in-house with professional equipment and careful handling, and your original tapes always come back to you.
Sony introduced DVCAM in 1996 as a professional version of the DV format, with a faster tape speed and wider recorded tracks that make it more robust for editing and broadcast work. DVCAM was popular with videographers, event and wedding filmmakers, corporate video teams and independent producers, and its cassettes come in standard and mini sizes.
Even though DVCAM is a digital format, the tapes still age, and the equipment to play them is getting harder to find. We convert your DVCAM tapes to digital files in-house, in the USA.
Professional tapes were built tough, but they're decades old now, and the machines that play them are getting harder to find. Digitizing your professional tapes is the best way to preserve them. Here's what you get when you convert them to digital with us.
Your U-matic, Betacam and DVCAM tapes are converted to clear digital video. If you're planning to edit your professional tape formats, choose hard drive delivery for minimally compressed files, well suited for editing.
Every tape is converted in-house at our Indianapolis lab, never outsourced. From the moment your box arrives, each tape gets a unique barcode, each item is weighed to the gram, and 60 high definition cameras monitor the property. Your original tapes always go back to you.
Professional tapes can be damaged by age, long periods of disuse or heavy use. If one of yours is damaged, our skilled technicians use professional equipment to attempt a repair, at no extra cost.
We've designed the whole process
to be as pain-free as possible.
Pack your U-matic, Betacam or DVCAM tapes in a sturdy box and send them to us.
Our technicians convert each tape at our Indianapolis lab, titling it from its label so the digital file carries the same title.
Get your digital video by download, Kinoke app, or on a USB drive chosen at checkout. Your original tapes come back too.
Your tapes hold irreplaceable memories, so we protect them at every step, in transit and inside our lab. Here's how we keep them safe:
Barcoded & logged on arrival
Weight verified before & after
Packing recorded and archived
24/7 surveillance monitoring
Originals always returned safelyWe stand behind our handling process with a guarantee: if any item is lost or damaged at our facility, we'll compensate you $1,000.
Choose the digitizing option that works best for your collection.
À la carte pricing
Flat-rate pricing
Have other photos, film reels, or videotapes you'd like to preserve? Explore our other digitizing services to find the right solution for your old media.
U-matic, Betacam and DVCAM tapes were the standard for broadcast, corporate and event video for decades. Today the decks that play them are scarce and expensive to maintain, and tapes can deteriorate with age, so it's best to convert professional tapes to digital sooner rather than later.
ScanCafe does the work in-house in the USA, never outsourced, with superb quality, a safe handling guarantee and industry-beating prices.
Your video is captured at the best quality the original tape allows.
Use a box, not an envelope. Choose a sturdy, double-walled box, like the kind used for shipping books, and avoid flimsy department store garment boxes and padded envelopes. Make sure your box is filled, even if you need to pad it, with bubble wrap, foam peanuts or crumpled newspaper so your tapes can't slide around.
Digital download customers can review their footage online before their original tapes ship back. Once an order has left our facility, footage can't be deleted.
Yes, we digitize PAL tapes. While most US equipment can only play North American NTSC formats, we have specialized multi-system players to process PAL tapes from Europe, the UK, Australia, and Asia. We can convert PAL formats for VHS, Hi8, and MiniDV into high-quality digital files.
We keep compressed copies of your digitized video for a period of time after your order ships, so we can re-copy it if there's a problem in transit. If you'd like duplicate copies, request them when you place your order.
Friendly, first-class service. My most recent project involving the scanning of a few hundred photos, many over 75 years old, was fantastic. The finished qualit...
When I started this process I was skeptical. How can I just pack up all my precious pictures and send them off somewhere? As it turned out this was the best thi...
I sent about 130 pictures in to be put on a USB stick, and very pleased with the result. Digital images look great, and I shared with my family. Very happy with...
ScanCafe was a great place to have my photo negatives turned into digital images. The images came out great and the negatives came back to me in perfect conditi...
I just finished downloading the digital files from a dozen old 16MM family films that I submitted. All of them were shot in the mid to late 1950's and were sure...
Scancafe delivered high quality 35 mm slide scan as promised. Customer service was effecient. Important memories were rescued :)
Helpful staff, careful treatment of our slides, great care with keeping slides in order, and packaging them for posting. Highly recommend
I have trusted ScanCafe (nee GoPhoto) with many, many treasured photographs over the years. They are always returned exactly the way I sent them and I am absolu...
Great service and quality wrt digitizing some of my APS film.
