MII

Introduced in 1986, MII is Panasonic's answer to Betacam SP. All MII tape is metal. The 90 minute cassette at 4 by 8 inches (11 by 19 cm) is considerably smaller than the 90 minute Betacam SP cassette. However the dockable decks take only a small 20 minute cassette (3.6 by 5 inches - 9 by 13 cm). Technically, MII is equal to or superior to Betacam SP. Panasonic MII field equipment includes several small dockable decks usable with a variety of camera heads and some excellent portable decks. Be aware if you get into MII that at some point repairs may become an issue and that few duplicating facilities or clients are likely to have MII. Therefore you will probably have to copy your MII programs to another format at some stage.