Beta and miniDV

[Patrick Gantry]

I was wondering how Beta and miniDV match up. I know there are many forms of each (BetaCam, Beta SP, DigiBeta; DVCPro, DVCPro50, HDV(?)). In my experience, local TV, some reality TV, and tend to use Beta, and student and low budget movies lean towards DV (though exhibition at film fests is frequently on Beta). Is there any truth to this? Is there a big difference in bit rate, resolution, color information, latitude?

Anyway, I hope I'm not opening up a can of worms as in a "Film vs Video" post! Thanks!