Page 1 of History behind DVDs needed for college project.

Hi everyone

I was wondering if anyone from this site could help me.

I am studying media and need to research the hostory ETC behind DVDs. I was wondering if there is any sites out there which could help me. People own views are more then welcome to . Also site on what will be next from DVDs.

I would be greatful if anyone could help.

thanks in advance

Becky

don`t know the real story 100%, but here`s some of the history (haven`t got exact dates)
This is a sort of "timeline" without the times/dates ;) of disc based formats:

Starts about 25 years ago (I think!!)
Philips launch V2000 double sided video recording system alongside Sony`s Betamax and JVC`s VHS. Philips also launch a playback only system called "Laservision"

Laservision and V2000 die off, mainly due to V2000 pre recorded tapes availability and Laservision`s inability to record. Philips go back to the drawing board.

Philips re release various versions of Laservision over the years, none really taking hold.
Philips design the 12cm Audio CD and launch this as a competitor to Vinyl records. CD Audio takes the market by storm.
Philips add video to make 12cm and 12" "CDV" discs (Compact Disc with Video), which some players could also accept Lasevision discs when removed from their caddy`s.
The discs were gold in colour and generally on the 12cm ones, carried the audio tracks on one side, and the track with the video on the other.

CDV also fails to go mass market. Philips introduce CDi, "Compact Disc Interactive", an interactive gaming/music/video system.
Video playback on early units was only available by an add in module, and this allowed playback of VCD discs (These were VHS quality movies encoded to 1 or 2 CD`s)
(This is really the first of the players to bring about what we today class a "movie disc")
Again, due mainly to lack of support and high pricing, CDi tails off and eventually dies.

Next. Philips bring out LaserDisc players (might have been before the Cdi part here....not sure tbh :/ ), which has much superior quality over the original Laservision, most don`t need the "caddy" and most could play the original movies. Also, I think some of these had advanced audio decoders, allowing 5.1 surround in some cases (feel free to correct me there people!!), but the discs were still up to 12" in diameter.

Now we get to the first generation of DVD players. Big, bulky, expensive and play only DVD`s and Audio CD`s.
Doesn`t take off too quickly, only the movie freaks got interested.
Then the price dropped...lots of people got interested.
Then the price DIVED to around £30 for a player capable of playing SVCD/VCD V1.0, V2.0/Mpeg vidoe files/AudioCD`s/MP3 CD`s (some also capable of Photo CD playback, WMA playback and other formats), DVD shot through the roof!
Now we go to Recordable DVD but as that`s still on the go, enough said there! Lol

This DVD section all happened within a time frame of around 1 1/2 to 3 years, and is the biggest, fastest growth area ever seen in Electrical Retailing.

The "Future" version you speak of is currently called "Blu-Ray" and AFAIK there are two versions being developed, both will be backwards compatible with DVD Video, but I believe incompatible with each other, Blu-Ray being a recordable format from the start.

Now think of the marketing brains this concept actually took:

Launch a product, plays video only...it fails (Laservision)
Re do product to a smaller version playing only Audio, it succeeds (CD Audio)
Add video again....it fails (CDV)
Add games and video, it fails, albeit over a longer period (CDi)
Relaunch in a different version capable of video and audio playback only, but with superior video quality and with a smaller disc, huge back catalogue available, it succeeds beyond your wildest expectations...(DVD)


Hope That Helps

Jimbo : oÞ

Jimbo :oÞ

Thankyou very much it say everything i need. I appresheate you help. My friend was right people in this forum are helpful.

Cheers

http://www.disctronics.co.uk/technology/dvdintro/dvd_intro.htm#DVD%20History

Good link Zovirax, and goes into much more detail on DVD itself, although I`m pretty sure the "DVD was originlly Digital Video Disc" is crap, it`s always been Versatile Disc in my knowledge, but "video disc" was a common misconception.

That site, however, is much more detailed in it`s answers, so I`ll accept it got it right ;)

Plus...I did forget DVD ROM, didn`t I? Lol

Jimbo : oÞ

Quote:
Good link Zovirax, and goes into much more detail on DVD itself, although I`m pretty sure the "DVD was originlly Digital Video Disc" is crap, it`s always been Versatile Disc in my knowledge, but "video disc" was a common misconception.

You`re right that it was always "officially" called Digital Versatile Disc, but some early point of sale materials featured the "Digital Video Disc". I assume it was just to make the format more accessible to the mainstream, as most people know what a video is.

Not much to add, except that Laservision and LaserDisc are really just different names for the same disc format. (Laservision was Philips` preferred name for the format, I think, whereas Pioneer used LaserDisc.) The first Laservision discs came out in the USA in 1978 under the brand name "MCA DiscoVision" - I`ve actually got one of these first-generation releases (Spielberg`s Duel), and the quality isn`t bad considering its age.

The audio component of Laservision was improved over the years (with the introduction of digital sound in the 1980s, and 5.1 tracks in the mid-1990s) but the video component remained much the same. The earliest discs (e.g. my copy of Duel) are still playable on the most recent generation of players.

It`s probably worth pointing out that Criterion introduced the concept of "special features" on their Laservision titles in the early 1980s. The Criterion release of "King Kong", which came out in 1984, was the first disc to feature an audio commentary.

Laservision discs never came in caddies, although there was a rival format called CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) which did use caddies.

Mike

Quote:
Good link Zovirax, and goes into much more detail on DVD itself, although I`m pretty sure the "DVD was originlly Digital Video Disc" is crap, it`s always been Versatile Disc in my knowledge, but "video disc" was a common misconception

To be honest Jimbo I just done a search on google to help the person,it looked a good site with dates on and a bit of history so put the link up never looked at it closely,but your are right about the name of the disc,remeber a few years back when there was a argument about what DVD stood for on some quiz show on the radio,the contestant was right the BBC were wrong. :) :)

I always thought Philips, Sony and Toshiba were the brains behind DVD not just Philips and Sony.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 12th October 2004, 16:31