Digital Video Disc (also known as Digital Versatile Disc)

An optical storage medium with improved capacity and bandwidth over the Compact Disc. The first DVD drives for computers are read-only drives ("DVD-ROM"), providing 7+ times the storage capacity of CD-ROM (4.7GBytes). Write-once DVD-R ("recordable") drives will record a 3.9GB DVD-R disc that can be read on a DVD-ROM drive.
 

DVD is INEVITABLE

DVD is the hottest consumer electronics product ever, growing faster than VCRs or CD players. The question is when -- not if -- you're going join the DVD revolution. And if it'll be from your PC, TV or both.
"Digital Versatile Disk." (Formerly Digital Video Disk.) Same size as a CD but stores seven times CD capacity on a single side. DVDs can also be double-sided or dual layer. Today most DVDs are used to display full-length commercial motion pictures, plus additional material such as outtakes, director's notes, movie trailers, etc.

Officially known as the Digital Video Disc, though marketers unofficially refer to it as the Digital Versatile Disc. DVD uses a 5-inch disc with anywhere from 4.5 Gb (single layer, single-sided) to 17 Gb storage capacity (double-layer, double sided). It uses MPEG2 compression to encode 720:480p resolution, full-motion video and Dolby Digital to encode 5.1 channels of discrete audio. The disc can also contain PCM, DTS, and MPEG audio soundtracks and numerous other features. ...

DVD, introduced in 1996, was originally known as Digital Video Disc but soon became known as Digital Versatile Disc. It is the next generation of optical disc storage technology. which shares the same overall dimensions of a CD, but have significantly higher capacities - holding from 4 to 28 times as much data. Single sided DVDs can store 4.7GB for single layer and 8.5GB for dual-layer disks. Double sided DVDs can store 9.4GB for single layer and 17GB for dual-layer disks.

DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for storing data, including movies with high video and sound quality. DVDs resemble compact discs: their physical dimensions are the same—12cm or the mini 8cm—but they are encoded in a different format and at a much higher density. Unlike CDs, all DVDs must contain a file system. This file system is called UDF, and is an extension of the ISO 9660 Standard used for Data-CDs.

DVD is the successor to the CD-ROM, holding 20-times more audio, video or PC data than today's CDs. DVD comes in essentially two incarnations: The DVD player that hooks up to your TV like a VCR for watching movies and listening to music, or a DVD drive that hooks up to your computer to run software, as well as play movies and music. The technology is backwards compatible so you can keep using your old CDs. Here's how you can incorporate this hot technology into your holiday shopping.

Great TV add-on: The DVD player brings digital sound and imagery into your living room, with twice the resolution of VHS tape and Dolby sound. Players run from anywhere from $350 to over $2,000. Standard features you should look for include:

Special effects playback, such as freeze, step, slow, fast and scan
Digital audio output
Programmability
Parental locks
New PCs: If you're buying a new PC, DVD is a must. DVD drives greatly optimize the performance of graphic and multimedia-heavy programs such as games or reference works, as well as let you watch movies on your PC.

Upgrade your current system: DVD upgrade kits start at $200. If you're planning on adding a DVD drive to an existing system you need at least a 133 MHz Pentium processor and should consider:

Title availability: You'll find more than enough movies to play on your PC, but DVD-specific software titles are just beginning to pick up momentum. But remember: DVD will play your audio and software CDs. Click for more.

Installation: You can buy a straight DVD-ROM drive and mix and match with an MPEG-2 decoder board. Sound confusing? Your best bet is to buy an upgrade kit from vendors such as Creative Labs, Diamond Multimedia and Hi-Val. Click for more.

Performance: To get the most from your DVD -- especially for video -- get a kit using a hardware decoder board. Click for more.

Berst Impression: DVD is valuable, versatile and easily gets the green light if you follow the guidelines above. A year ago it was a risky venture, but now DVD is definitely ready for prime time. Warning: Don't get fooled into a Divx drive -- the DVD-like imposter is a dead technology you can only watch movies on. Click for more.

Special thanks to:
Berst Impressions
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1998
DVD: Coming to a Screen Near You

Jesse Berst, Editorial Director
ZDNet AnchorDesk