Videodisc

Georges Demeny on 3 March 1892 patented a 'phonoscope', designed in 1891, that can project chronophotographic pictures on a glass disc.[1][2]

Eadweard Muybridge used his zoopraxiscope to project chronophotographic pictures on a glass disc in 1893.[3]

E & H T Anthony, a camera maker based in New York, marketed in 1898 a combination motion picture camera and projector called "The Spiral" that could capture 200 images arranged in a spiral on an 8-inch diameter glass plate. When played back at 16 frames per second, it would give a running time of 13 seconds.[4]

Theodore Brown patented in 1907 (UK patent GB190714493) a photographic disk system of recording approximately 1,200 images in a spiral of pictures on a 10-inch disk. Played back at 16 frames per second, a disk provides around one and a quarter minutes of material. The system was marketed as the Urban Spirograph by Charles Urban, and discs were produced - but it soon disappeared.[5]

John Logie Baird, created the Phonovision system in the early 1930s, which mechanically produces about four frames per second. The system was not successful.

P.M.G. Toulon, a French inventor working at Westinghouse Electric during the 1950s and 1960s patented a system in 1952 (US Patent 3198880) which uses a slow spinning disc with a spiral track of photographically 1.5 millimeter wide recorded frames, along with a flying spot scanner, which sweeps over them to produce a video image. This was intended to be synchronously combined with playback from a vinyl record. It appears a working system was never produced. It has similarities with the tape based Electronic Video Recording system, which was released for professional use.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation developed a system in 1965 called Phonovid, that allows for the playback of 400 stored still images, along with 40 minutes of sound.[6] The system uses a standard record player, and builds the picture up slowly.

The Television Electronic Disc, a mechanical system, was rolled out in Germany and Austria in 1970 by Telefunken. The 12-inch discs have a capacity of about eight minutes; however, it was abandoned in favor of VHS by its parent company.[7]

In Japan, the TOSBAC computer was using digital video disks to display color pictures at 256x256 image resolution in 1972.[8] In 1973, Hitachi announced a video disc capable of recording 15-colour still images on a disc. The same year, Sony announced a video disc recorder, similar to the Sony Mavica format.[9]

In 1975, Hitachi introduced a video disc system in which chrominance, luminance and sound information are encoded holographically. Each frame is recorded as a 1mm diameter hologram on a 305mm disc, while a laser beam reads out the hologram from three angles. It has a capacity of 54,000 frames, with a running time of 30 minutes for the NTSC color standard or 36 minutes for PAL/SECAM.[9]

Visc is a mechanical video disc system developed in Japan by Matsushita subsidiary National Panasonic in 1978. The 12-inch vinyl disc is spun at 500 rpm with each revolution holding three frames of color video, with a total of up to an hour of video on each side of the disc.[9] Discs can be recorded in either a 30-minute-per-side format, or a 60-minute-per-side-format. A later incarnation of the system uses 9-inch discs in caddies capable of storing 75 minutes per side.[10] The system was abandoned in January 1980 in favor of JVC's VHD system.[11]

The DiscoVision system was released in America in 1978. It is branded as before the LaserDisc or LaserVision format. It was rebranded to LaserVision/LaserDisc in 1981. It was the original name of the LaserDisc format.

LaserDisc, released in 1978 and fully branded in 1981 was developed by MCA and Philips of the Netherlands, it utilizes an optical reflective system read by a laser beam. It was renamed several times, as VLP, Laservision, and CD Video. Finally, Japan's Pioneer Electronic Corporation trademarked it as LaserDisc, the name by which it is perhaps best known. The format struggled to gain wide acceptance in the consumer market, and Pioneer became the chief sponsor of the format when MCA, and later Philips, withdrew their support for it. The high cost of both players and discs was the main reason for its ultimate demise. The format was discontinued in 2000 in the United States and 2001 in Japan.

Thomson CSF created a system that uses thin flexible video discs and a transmissive laser system, with light source and pickup on opposite sides of the disc. The system was marketed for industrial and educational use in 1980. Each side of the disc can hold 50,000 still CAV frames, and both sides can be read without removing the disc. Thomson exited the videodisc market in 1981.[12]

RCA produced a system called CED under the brand SelectaVision in 1981. The system uses a physical pickup riding in grooves of a pressed disc, reading variance in capacitance in the underlying disc. The system competed with Laserdisc for a few years, before being abandoned in 1984. Although, movie studios continued releasing titles in the format until 1986, when it was discontinued.

JVC produced a system very similar to CED called Video High Density (VHD). It was launched in 1983 and marketed predominantly in Japan. It is a capacitance contact system but without grooves. VHD discs were adopted in the UK by Thorn EMI which started to develop a consumer catalogue, including bespoke material. Development for the mass market was halted in late 1983, but the system remained on sale for educational and business markets as a computer-controlled video system until the late 1980s. The format was discontinued in 1990.

Laserfilm, a videodisc format developed by McDonnell Douglas was released in 1984. The project has been abandoned since around that time period

CD Video was a LaserDisc based hybrid audio/video optical disc format branded by Phillips on most LaserDisc releases in 1987, and the technology was released the next year in 1988. Most LaserDisc players past this time period have the ability to play these discs flawlessly. The CD Video format came in 3 different sizes, 12" 8" and 5". The discs mostly came golden and were much more prone to Disc rot than a standard LaserDisc. The format was discontinued in 1990.

Video Single Disc was yet another very similar hybrid audio/video optical disc format that came in silver like most other optical disc formats. It was released exclusively to Japan in 1990. The format was discontinued around the time the DVD was released in Japan during 1996 through 1997.

Hi-Vision LaserDisc also known as MUSE Hi-Vision LaserDisc, MUSE Hi-Vision LD, Hi-Vision LaserDisc, Hi-Vision LD or HV-LD was the very first high definition optical disc format before HD DVD in 1993. The signal is mostly 720i or 720p using analog signals. The format was exclusively released in Japan. It was discontinued around the same time LaserDisc was discontinued in 2001.

Squeeze-LD or SLD was an anamorphic widescreen optical disc format based on the LaserDisc. It was released in 1993. It adopted official brand sales mostly in Japan, while Toshiba helped manufacture several titles mostly by Warner Bros. Pictures in 1994. It was discontinued with Hi-Vision LD and LaserDisc in 2001.

Video Compact Disc, or more commonly referred to as VideoCD or VCD was a fully digital video optical disc format that was released by Phillips in 1993. Formally known as Compact Disc Digital Video, VideoCD's were commonly known in the United States as movie devices to be played on the Phillips CDi system. Like DVD's, a handful of Video CD's manufactured had a menu known as a PBC (Playback control), which allowed users to add subtitles or change languages. During the late 1990's to the present time, foreign countries began to adopt Video CD's, mostly the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and China (including Hong Kong) being the top 4, with other bystanders such as Turkey and Japan (although during the 1990's, as for an optical disc market was much more invested in LaserDiscs and by the 2000's adopted the DVD format.) The VideoCD format, during the 1990's also showed relevance in the Netherlands, especially with the Phillips CDi video game system. The format still exists.

Video CD High Density, also known as VCDHD (not to be confused with Flexplay) was a flexible elastic revision of the VideoCD released around the same time or years after the intial release of VideoCD in 1993. The technology for VCDHD was invented with in: Japan, the Netherlands and Poland. Since the name of the technology is similar to the arbitrarily inferior VCD, it's also marketed using the name DVHD (Disc Versatile High Density). The capacity of a VCDHD is 4.7 GB, the same as an average single-layer DVD. According to the official site, the tests at Philips laboratories have proven the discs to be fully compatible with modern DVD players. With use of blue laser technology steadily becoming available now, the capacity may be increased by up to 15 GB.

MovieCD, by SIRIUS Publishing, Inc. (1995?), is a format that uses a traditional CD-ROM disc for playback on a Windows PC containing a video file of a movie encoded in a proprietary codec developed by the publisher (the MotionPixels codec, also used in some PC video games in the mid-to-late 1990s), with the disc also containing codec and playback software for the movie. The quality is somewhat low due to the compression the MotionPixels codec used, resulting in a playback resolution of only 320x236 at 16 frames per second, using 16-bit high color. The project has mostly been abandoned since then.

DVD (Digital Video Disc, or Digital Versatile Disc) had a small percentage of demonstration discs released in 1995, although the format fully launched in Japan in November 1996, and was adopted by the United States in March 1997. It is a hybrid of Philips and Sony's MM-CD (Multi-Media Compact Disc) format and Toshiba's SD (Super Density) format. The last-minute adoption of the hybrid DVD format was agreed to by all three companies in an effort to avoid a damaging format war, similar to that between Beta and VHS in the 1970s and 1980s. Toshiba failed to reach a similar compromise agreement with Sony in the race to develop a high-definition optical video disc format in the 2000s. This proved to be a costly mistake for Toshiba (and the format's co-developers, NEC and Microsoft), and the AOD (Advanced Optical Disc) format, later renamed HD DVD, lost a brutal format war with Sony's Blu-ray Disc (BD) format. This format war delayed acceptance of either format, and Blu-ray Disc has only recently gained traction in the consumer market, where it competes with the continued success of DVD and the rise of streaming movie services such as Netflix. The format still exists.

DIVX not to be confused with the video codec known as DivX (DivX, Inc.) was a DVD-based optical disc format released by Circuit City around 1997. It was used as a rental service. Consumers had to connect their DIVX or DVD/DIVX player to an internet modem and dial up to watch their movie. The time period of when the viewer watched the movie and when the viewer had to return it to the store only began as soon as the contents on the disc were played. The DIVX format did not reach great success and was discontinued in 1999.

Flexplay is a trademark for a discontinued DVD-compatible optical video disc format with a time-limited (usually 48-hour) playback. They are often described as "self-destructing", although the disc merely turns black or dark red and does not physically disintegrate. The technology launched in August 2003 as a joint-venture with Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the name eZ-D. The Flexplay concept was invented by two professors, Yannis Bakos and Erik Brynjolfsson, who founded Flexplay Technologies in 1999. The technology was developed by Flexplay Technologies and General Electric. The format was discontinued in 2011.

Enhanced Versatile Disc was an optical-medium-based digital audio/video format, developed by Beijing E-World (a multi-company partnership including SVA, Shinco, Xiaxin, Yuxing, Skyworth, Nintaus, Malata, Changhong, and BBK Electronics), as a rival to the DVD to avoid the high royalty costs associated with the DVD format. Its development was supported by the Chinese government. While it was intended to replace the DVD standard in China by 2008, the format had failed to gain traction and ultimately faded into obsolescence. The format was discontinued by 2009.

The Universal Media Disc (UMD) is a discontinued optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on its PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform. It can hold up to 1.8 gigabytes of data and is capable of storing video games, feature-length films, and music. UMD was the trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment for their optical disk cartridge (ODC). The format was discontinued around the same time as the PlayStation Portable, around 2014 through 2016.

HD-DVD or HD DVD was the second high-definition optical disc-based format released in the world. It was released, invented, and mostly developed by Toshiba. It had a maximum file size of 15 gigabytes, which for major releases with bonus features, opted for a less crystal-clear resolution (which was barely noticable) and resulted in compression issues. HD-DVD almost adopted into the market but was truly there at the wrong time. By June 2006, a format war began with HD DVD and the Blu-ray Disc, with several studios on each other side and others neutral. Mostly neutral, Paramount Pictures was on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray's side, switching between them every once in a while. Other neutral film studios were Warner Bros. Pictures, Dreamworks Pictures, Alliance Atlantis and some other small studios. As for the tech companies, RCA, LG and Samsung were all neutral, with RCA switching in between manufacturing standalone HD-DVD players and Blu-ray players, meanwhile LG and Samsung were both in favor to Blu-ray but made combination units that were able to play Blu-ray and HD-DVD. LG and Samsung never made a standalone HD-DVD player unlike Blu-ray players. Universal Pictures was exclusive to HD-DVD until the format lost the format war. Video game consoles during this generation had the Microsoft Xbox 360 in favor of HD-DVD, with a disc drive add-on to play HD movies, while the Sony PlayStation 3 had a built-in Blu-ray disc drive. Sony was the main competitor and inventor of the Blu-ray disc, in which Sony already owned the PlayStation and Sony Pictures (Columbia, TriStar, Gaumont, Sony Pictures Classics, etc.), as well as the VAIO computers which would automatically be in favor of Blu-ray disc. Other than Sony, Blu-ray had Disney and 20th Century Fox. At the end of the day, all of this pressure put HD-DVD on edge and the format was discontinued in 2008.

Blu-ray disc (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. The developments for Blu-ray disc began in 2002. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-definition video (HDTV 720p and 1080p). The main application of Blu-ray is as a medium for video material such as feature films and for the physical distribution of video games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The name refers to the blue laser (actually a violet laser) used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs. The polycarbonate disc is 12 centimetres (4+3⁄4 inches) in diameter and 1.2 millimetres (1⁄16 inch) thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs.[5] Conventional (or "pre-BD-XL") Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual-layer discs (50 GB) being the industry standard for feature-length video discs. Triple-layer discs (100 GB) and quadruple-layer discs (128 GB) are available for BD-XL re-writer drives. The format still exists.

HD-VMD or VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) was a disc format released in the third quarter of 2006. At the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association trade show in September 2007, NME exhibited two players set for release in October 2007. Twenty US titles were available at launch time, including some from Icon Productions, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, New Line Cinema, DreamWorks SKG, Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company. NME also signed a deal with Bollywood production company Eros Group who intended to release 50 Bollywood features on the format. The two initial players to be released were the ML622S and the ML777S. The ML777S included USB ports for connection to external storage devices and a media card reader. The manufacturers hoped to sell the format as a lower cost alternative to other optical technologies. However, the Great Recession of 2008 struck about this time, and NME struggled to stay in business. On June 13, 2008 Geoffrey Russell, the interim chief executive officer of New Medium Enterprises, Inc., notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the company would be terminating the registration of the company, and that NMEN would cease filing reports with the SEC. The date of effect of this action was 90 days after 12 June 2008. In August 2008 in the UK, New Medium Electronics Limited, New Medium Entertainment Limited and New Medium Optics Limited notified Companies House of their applications for voluntary striking-off. The format was discontinued by 2009.

CBHD, or China Blue High-definition Disc (CBHD; Chinese: 中国蓝光高清光盘; alternatively "China High Definition DVD") is a high definition optical disc format announced in September 2007 by the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center (OMNERC) of Tsinghua University in China. The format is a derivative of the HD DVD, a medium created by the DVD Forum designed to succeed regular DVDs. Although HD DVD was scrapped as a result of losing the format war to Blu-ray, CBHDs continued to be produced and marketed, though only in China. Like HD DVD, CBHD discs have a capacity of 15 GB single-layer and 30GB dual-layer and can utilize existing DVD production lines. In early March 2009, Warner Bros. announced they would be supporting the CBHD format, launching with titles including the Harry Potter series and Blood Diamond, with discs selling for between 50 and 70 yuan (roughly $7.25 to $10.15). According to an August 2009 television story by TV-Tokyo, CBHD was outselling rival Blu-ray by a margin of 3 to 1 in China (due to heavy advertisement and favored backing from the government). In September 2009, Universal Studios and National Geographic announced their support for the format.[13] Also adding support for the format are Paramount Pictures (US), Celestial (HK/CN) and BBC/Discovery (UK/US). The format still exists exclusively in China.

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray)[2][3] is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progressive frames per second,encoded using High-Efficiency Video Coding. The discs support both high dynamic range by increasing the color depth to 10-bit per color and a greater color gamut than supported by conventional Blu-ray video by using the Rec. 2020 color space. Ultra HD Blu-Ray discs also support a 12-bit per color container via Dolby Vision. Dolby Vision content on 4K UHD Blu-Ray can also be mastered for 10,000 nits peak brightness, whereas standard HDR10 can only achieve a maximum of 4,000 nits of brightness. Moreover, Dolby Vision makes use of dynamic metadata, which adjusts the brightness and tone mapping per scene. In contrast, standard HDR10 only makes use of static metadata, which sets the same brightness and tone mapping for the entirety of the content. The format is supported on Microsoft's Xbox One X, Xbox One S,Xbox Series X and S, and Sony's PlayStation 5. Software made for the PlayStation 5can use 100 GB UHD Blu-ray discs. The first Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs were officially released in the United States on February 14, 2016. To differentiate retail Ultra HD Blu-ray releases, the format usually uses a black opaque or slightly transparent keep case packaging format (as opposed to blue). The case size is the same as that of a normal Blu-ray disc. The Blu-ray Disc Association also completed the specification for an 8K Blu-ray format supporting 8K UHD (7680 × 4320 pixel resolution) videos for use in Japan. The format is beloved by film collectors in the modern day and is currently experiencing as of October 2023, a "golden age" in the collector's industry while barely catching on as much as Blu-ray, DVD and streaming services in the consumer industry. Pioneer discontinued lines of 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray players as well as Oppo, as Oppo decided to focus on smartphones more. The format still exists.

Video discs can be classed based on their playback mechanism:

• Mechanically based
  • Phonovision
  • Phonovid
  • TeD
  • Visc
• Capacitance based
  • CED, VHD
• Optical based
  • Reflective
    • DiscoVision, LaserDisc, CD, DVD, Blu-ray, VideoCD, SVCD, CD Video, Video Single Disc, DIVX, HD-DVD, HV-LD (Hi-Vision LD) (Multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding) 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Disc, Enhanced Versatile Disc, Super Audio CD (SACD) and MovieCD.
  • Transmissive
    • Thomson CSF system
    • Laserfilm

• Multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding (MUSE), an early high-definition video system

• Videodiscs in Education
• Interactive Videodisc: An Emerging Technology for Educators
• Delivery of Career Counseling Services: Videodisc & Multimedia Career Interventions
• Video Chronology
• Videodiscs in Healthcare: A Guide to the Industry
• The Thomson-CSF transmissive optical videodisc