Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 02:33 am
Updated – 5.10.2022
Let’s be clear at the outset that the CD Video format is not the VCD format.
The CD Video format (Compact Disc Video) (CDV) came before VCD (Video Compact Disc) was introduced.
The CDV is also known as CD-V and CD+V.
It saw development under Sony, Philips, Panasonic, and Samsung in 1987.
There were 3 disc sizes – 12, 20, and 30 cm.
20 cm and 30 cm discs came with playing times of between 40 and 120 minutes.
Unlike a VCD, the CD Video format can’t be played by a DVD player. It can only be opened by a laserdisc player that supports the format.
Audio CD and Laserdisc Hybrid
The Compact Video Disc (CDV) is a LaserDisc and audio CD hybrid. Why so? Because it has two parts.
The Digital Audio Part
One part of the CDV carries about 20 minutes of digital audio.
The audio could be played back over a DVD player, CD player, and a laserdisc player which supports CDV playback.
Analog Video and Digital Audio Part
The second part of the Compact Disc Video carries around 5 to 6 minutes of video (analog) and digital audio (laserdisc format).
This second part can only be played back by a LaserDisc player that supports the Compact Video Disc format.
The Compact Video Disc Colour Differentiation
CDV has a gold color, to differentiate it from the usual silver-colored compact discs.
The Video Single Disc
The Video Single Disc (VSD) is a variation of the CVD in that it carries only LaserDisc quality analog video.
Released in Japan in 1990, it was intended as a CVD replacement. This did not happen, however.
CDV Market Performance
Philips, the inventor of LaserDisc, aggressively promoted the CDV. Its subsidiary, Polygram even released a list of CDV titles.
A CDV selling price was around USD9.99 then.
The CD Video format did not catch on in the home entertainment market.
By 1991, CD Video had all but fallen out of popularity and began disappearing from the home entertainment scene, especially with the arrival of DVD in the 2000s.
Two years later, in 1993, VCD was introduced.
