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CD Video (also known as CDV, CD-V, or CD+V) is a format of optical media disc that was introduced in 1987 that combines the technologies of standard
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
and
LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
. CD-V discs are the same size as a standard 12-cm audio CD, and contain up to 20 minutes' worth of
CD audio Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named fo ...
that can be played on any audio CD player. It also contains up to 5 minutes of LaserDisc video information with digital CD-quality sound, which can be played back on a newer LaserDisc player capable of playing CD-V discs or CD-V-only players. The "CD Video" brand was also used to market some 20 and 30 cm LaserDiscs which included a digital soundtrack but no CD-compatible content.


Description


12 cm "CD Video" disc format

One of the first LaserDisc players that can play CD-V discs is the Pioneer CLD-1010 from 1987. Though it is a CD-based format, CD Video was never given a rainbow book designation; the idea of encoding
analogue video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
, which is incompatible between different regions, was poorly received by CD stakeholders other than Philips, who had not consulted them prior to demonstrating the format to the music industry. CD Video discs have a distinctive gold color, to differentiate them from regular silver-colored audio CDs. This is a characteristic that would later be replicated in HVD, a more advanced disc format. The physical size of the 12 cm discs limited the amount of LaserDisc content to around six minutes, which meant they were primarily suited to pop music videos. However, both players and discs were too expensive for the youth market likely to be most interested in such content.


Other uses of the name


"CD Video" branding on 20 and 30 cm LaserDiscs

The "CD Video" name and logo were also used to market some full-size (30 cm / 11.8") and EP-sized (20 cm / 7.9") LaserDiscs that featured a digital (rather than analog) soundtrack and the same gold colouring. Unlike the newly-launched 12 cm discs, these were little more than a rebrand of existing LaserDisc formats. (Both disc sizes, along with support for digital soundtracks, had been in use for several years before CD Video launched.) In addition, despite the name, they did not feature CD-compatible content as the smaller discs did.


European LaserDisc relaunch

Philips' launch of the CD Video format (and the rebranding of existing LaserDisc formats under the name) also served as the basis of a relaunch for LaserDisc as a whole in Europe where sales under the original "LaserVision" name had been extremely poor, and Philips attempted to leverage the name recognition of the newly-successful
audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named fo ...
format. Despite this, the rebranded format remained unsuccessful in Europe. The use of digital audio on the relaunched "CD Video"-branded LaserDiscs rendered them incompatible with older analog-only "LaserVision" players made for the European
PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
television standard. (PAL LaserDiscs can only support analog or uncompressed digital soundtracks, but not both.) However, at that point, Philips estimated there to have been just 12,000 to 15,000 analog-only Laservision players sold in Europe.


Discontinuation and legacy

CD Video lasted only a few years in the marketplace and was already being referred to as a "failed" format by mid-1990. A similar format called
Video Single Disc Video Single Disc (VSD) is a disc-based format that carried the same analog video information as a LaserDisc, but on a 12-centimetre (4.75 inch) diameter CD-DA-sized disc. It was spearheaded by Sony and was released in Japan in 1990. It was a ne ...
(VSD) was later announced for the Japanese market in 1990. While this used the same CD-sized 12 cm format as CD Video, it only contained only an analog video track and no CD-compatible audio making it, in effect, a small LaserDisc. The price of VSDs was intended to be around half that of CD Video discs. When CD Video failed to become the success Philips was hoping for, they turned their attention to the more promising
MPEG-1 MPEG-1 is a standard for lossy compression of video and audio. It is designed to compress VHS-quality raw digital video and CD audio down to about 1.5 Mbit/s (26:1 and 6:1 compression ratios respectively) without excessive quality loss, making ...
-based digital video compression which ultimately formed the basis of
Video CD Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the ...
- a similarly-named, but incompatible and fundamentally different (and all-digital) format launched in 1993.


References


See also

*
Video Single Disc Video Single Disc (VSD) is a disc-based format that carried the same analog video information as a LaserDisc, but on a 12-centimetre (4.75 inch) diameter CD-DA-sized disc. It was spearheaded by Sony and was released in Japan in 1990. It was a ne ...
- A similar format to 12cm CD Video discs but lacking CD-compatible audio content


External links


IEC 61104 - Compact disc video system - 12 cm CD-V

A webpage on CD Video discs, featuring a list of NTSC CD-V releases

The LaserDisc Database, including CD Video
*
Techmoan Matthew "Mat" Taylor, better known by his channel's name Techmoan, is a YouTuber and blogger active since May 2009, featuring consumer tech reviews and retrotech documentaries about technology of historical interest. Apart from reviews and te ...

CD Video (Not Video CD) - when Videodiscs went gold
YouTube on 2 February 2018
CD VideoCD-Video 8-inch disc
an
CD-Video 12-inch disc
at the Museum of Obsolete Media {{DEFAULTSORT:Cd Video Compact disc Audio storage Video storage LaserDisc 120 mm discs Discontinued media formats