19 years of Digital Video Disc in Europe
The year is 1997: the film “12 Monkeys” is released as the first German-language DVD, ready to conquer the living rooms of this country. That was 19 years ago - and to this day the DVD and the DVD player in various versions are bestsellers. Its successor, the Blu-ray Disc, still leads a rather shadowy existence. The history of the DVD or DVD player actually begins earlier, with the development of the CD as a storage medium for PCs. Suddenly there was a medium with – for the time – gigantic storage potential. Consumers enjoyed using the medium and the entertainment industry sensed its opportunity:
What if a medium were created that made handling films as convenient as recording music on CD? Okay, Video CD and Laserdisc already existed, but with a maximum of 74 minutes (VCD) or 128 minutes (LD) of film material, films would be interrupted in the middle. That couldn't be a solution, especially since the VCD quality was close to VHS quality. With a sprawling 30 cm circumference, the LD was far too impractical, and the player and the medium itself were far too expensive for mass distribution.
Retro Review- LaserDisc History and How it Works
The Laserdisc (LD). Screenshot from the video “Retro Review: LaserDisc History and How it Works”
DVD: from several to a unified concept
So the entertainment industry set out to somehow increase the storage capacity of the CD. Different concepts were used: while Time Warner and Toshiba relied on the Super Density CD (“SD”), Sony and Philips wanted to further develop the multimedia CD (“MMCD”). But the film industry put pressure on them: they didn't want to support two standards; a uniform standard had to be created.
On September 15, 1995, agreement was reached in Tokyo on the DVD standard. Since the medium was initially intended to be used exclusively for video data, the abbreviation “DVD” originally stood for “Digital Video Disc”. By expanding the possible uses, an agreement was reached on the title “Digital Versatile Disc”, which can be loosely translated as “digital versatile disc”. This name didn't really catch on. The DVD Forum takes the position that the three letters have no fixed meaning.
The first DVD players were hardly affordable
It wasn't until 1996 that the first DVD players and media came onto the market; in DACH it took until 1997 for the first DVD to be available - although it wasn't until 1998 that you could buy the first DVD player. In order to make DVD players suitable for the masses, an encryption method had to be agreed upon first. It was also important for the film industry to introduce region codes: if a DVD from the USA, where market releases usually start earlier, could be played on European devices, this could result in a loss of sales for the industry.
A few figures to amaze you: you can get a DVD burner for as little as 20 euros today, and during sales times you can find burners for as little as 15 euros. In 1996 you would have paid a whopping 70,000 schillings for the first DVD burners available on the market! 3.6 GB blank discs started at 700 shillings - unimaginable in today's times when 4.7 GB blank DVD discs are available for under 1 euro!
dvd ram drive 2001
A DVD-RAM drive for 7,490 schillings (€ 544.32) from the Conrad catalog from 2001.
Around 1999, a DVD player changed hands for around 500 euros. Today you pay a mere 40 – 60 euros for slim and really good devices. The fact that portable devices such as the car DVD player from Denver are sometimes more expensive is due to the additional features: the two monitors including a headrest holder ensure peace and quiet in the back seats when driving on vacation, a variety of formats allow versatile playback, a card reader and USB interface expand the functionality. Since this DVD player is powered via the car plug, it is the ideal travel companion for the car. Alternatives such as the portable DVD player from Lenco, which runs on batteries for two hours even without a direct power supply, are suitable for a film party on the beach.
The successor Blu-ray leads a shadowy existence
When DVDs and DVD players became affordable and had conquered private households around the world, it was time for a successor format. Between 2005 and 2008 attempts were made to introduce HD DVD as a successor to DVD. The unsuccessful format received its final blow from Time Warner: the company announced in January 2008 that its in-house studios would no longer release films for HD DVD, but would instead rely on the Blu-ray format.
