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Video CD



DVCD or Double VCD is a method to accommodate longer videos on a CD. A non-standard CD is overburned to include up to 100 minutes of video. However, some CD-ROM drives and players have problems reading these CDs, mostly because the groove spacing is outside specifications and the player's laser servo is unable to track it.

Adoption

While never gaining a foothold in the United States[5] commercial VCDs are common in Europe,[6] and popular throughout Asia[7] (except Japan), with 8 million VCD players sold in China in 1997 alone,[8] and more than half of all Chinese households owning at least one VCD player by 2005.[9]

This popularity is, in part, because most households did not already own VHS players when VCDs were introduced, the low price of the players, their tolerance of high humidity (a notable problem for VCRs), and the lower-cost media.[5] Ease of duplication and the negligible cost of the media gave rise to widespread unauthorized copying in these areas.[10] [11] [12]

The advent of recordable CDs, inexpensive recorders, and compatible DVD players spurred VCD acceptance in the US in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, DVD burners and DVD-Video recorders were available by that time, and equipment and media costs for making DVD-Video fell rapidly. DVD-Video, with its longer run time and much higher quality, quickly overshadowed VCD. In addition many early DVD players could not read recordable (CD-R) media, [13] and this limited the compatibility of home-made VCDs. Almost every modern stand-alone DVD-Video player can play VCDs burned on recordable media.

Many commercial Video CDs of blockbuster Hollywood, Bollywood, Manilawood and other Asian movies and television series are not widely available in the Western countries; however, they are available in certain ethnic communities[6] and several commercial web sites (although quality and authenticity may sometimes be questionable). These VCDs are often produced and sold in Asian countries such as Pakistan, Hong Kong, India, Mainland China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In many Asian countries, major Hollywood studios (and Asian home video distributors) have licensed companies to officially produce and distribute the VCDs, such as MCA Home Video in Pakistan, ERA of Hong Kong or Sunny Video in Malaysia, Vision in Indonesia, Excel Home Videos in India, Berjaya-HVN and InnoForm Media in both Malaysia and Singapore, as well as VIVA Video, Magnavision, and The Video to C in the Philippines. Legal Video CDs can often be found in established video stores and major book outlets in most Asian countries.

Due to relatively small storage capacity, feature-length films sold on VCD are usually divided into two or three discs and television series may come in a boxed set package with multiple discs. In both cases, most films run at roughly 60 minutes per VCD, before viewers are prompted to change discs. However, there are also VCD players that have built-in CD changers which provide a queue of several discs. Subtitles are found on many Asian VCDs, and unlike DVDs, cannot be removed.

In areas where VCD was formerly very popular, it is now in decline, due to being supplanted by DVD, which offers most of the same advantages, as well as better picture quality[14] (higher resolution with less digital compression artifacts) due to its larger storage capacity and 6-speaker surround sound (often in Dolby Digital and/or DTS).

References

  1. ^ Hardware and Software Get an Early Start, Sony, <http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/1-21/h5.html>. Retrieved on 13 February 2008 
  2. ^ Super Video Compact Disc, A Technical Explanation (PDF), Philips System Standards and Licensing, 1998, pp. 2, <http://www.ip.philips.com/view_attachment/2450/sl00812.pdf>. Retrieved on 13 February 2008 
  3. ^ Chiariglione, Leonardo (November 6, 1992), MPEG Press Release, London, 6 November 1992, International Organization for Standardization, <http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/meetings/london/london_press.htm>. Retrieved on 20 March 2008 
  4. ^ DVD Compatibility Chart, February 25, 2007, <http://www.kvcd.net/portal/articles.php?lng=en&pg=19>. Retrieved on 22 February 2008 
  5. ^ a b Meyer, Scot (April 26, 2001), Versatile Video CD's Get a Foothold in U.S., New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E2DD1439F935A15757C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 
  6. ^ a b Biersdorfer, J. D. (February 8, 2001), Q & A; Another Ingredient In Alphabet Soup: VCD, New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E1D81631F93BA35751C0A9679C8B63&scp=1&sq=VCD&st=nyt>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 
  7. ^ Yoshida, Junko (December, 1999), Video CD: China one, West zero, EE Times, <http://www.eetimes.com/special/special_issues/millennium/milestones/baichuan.html>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 
  8. ^ Leopold, George & Yoshida, Junko (January 13, 1999), Chinese supplier preps low-cost digital TVs for U.S. market, EE Times, <http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG19990113S0009>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 
  9. ^ Chinese families double their incomes in 10 years, China Daily, January 12, 2005, <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/12/content_408150.htm>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 
  10. ^ Rosenthal, Elisabeth (November 25, 2001), Counterfeiters Turn Magic Into Cash, New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06EED7133AF936A15752C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 
  11. ^ Smith, Craig S. (December 12, 2000), A Tale of Piracy: How the Chinese Stole the Grinch, New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E0DD123FF931A25751C1A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 
  12. ^ Faison, Seth (March 28, 1998), China Turns Blind Eye to Pirated Disks, New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E1D7143BF93BA15750C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 
  13. ^ Bennett, Hugh (March, 1998), DVD-ROM and CD-R: the compatibility question answered - includes related article on reading mixed media, Emedia Professional, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FXG/is_n3_v11/ai_20324077>. Retrieved on 26 April 2008 
  14. ^ Low DVD Prices to Drive up Sales, People's Daily, September 05, 2001, <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/200109/05/eng20010905_79358.html>. Retrieved on 12 February 2008 

See also

  • Laserdisc - The larger analog predecessor to Video CD
  • CD Video - A 1980s format combining the laserdisc and the CD
  • DVD - A higher capacity follow-up to the Super Video CD and XVCD
  • Super Video CD (SVCD) - The direct successor to Video CD
  • miniDVD - DVD video on a CD
  • DcVD - A non-standard MPEG-1 format for the Sega Dreamcast video game console
  • MovieCD - A proprietary 1990s format using the MotionPixels codec

External links




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