Differences Between CompacTape I, II, III

<> I also believe the DLT is helical scan versus CompacTape's linear scan <> technology. No they are all linear. Helical scan is used for some 8mm and most 4mm. What seperates DLT (and the TK50/70 forrunners) is the tape is wider and high bit packing. <It's still linear. That's what the "L" in DLT stands for. For example <ECMA Standard 286 defines DLT 6 as having 208 linear tracks. Correct. <This is alleged to allow for much better tape robustness, since it doesn't <get beaten to death with every pass. This is why Seagate, HP, and IBM <have joined forces to develop a new LTO (Linear Tape Open) standard: Having used it and am using it for backup it's reputation for reliability is real. It's the backup of choice for a lot of stuff. Allison