DVD: A Quick History and Facts

[Equinox]

December 1978
The first laser disc player, Magnavox's VH-8000 ($749), debuts.

June 1987
Philips sells the first video-CD player. The format never finds a market in the U.S.

October 1993
Toshiba and Warner Home Video file patents on the DVD format.

December 1993
Laser disc players reach their peak sales: 287,000 for the year.

December 1995
Warner Home Video and eight electronics manufacturers agree on DVD specs.

March 1997
Batman is the first of 50 DVD titles released by Warner Home Video. DVD players become available in the U.S. The cheapest is Toshiba's SD2006, at $499.

August 1997
DVD players outsell laser disc players for the month.

December 1998
Total DVD player sales reach 1 million in the U.S.

April 1999
Disney's A Bug's Life is the first all-digital DVD.

July 1999
Pioneer abandons laser disc production to focus on DVD.

August 1999
Titanic becomes the first DVD to ship 1 million copies.

September 1999
Blockbuster introduces DVDs in all of its retail outlets. Player prices drop below $200 for the first time.

September 2001
Blockbuster begins eliminating 25% of its VHS inventory to make room for DVDs.

November 2001
Monthly sales of DVD movies surpass those of VHS.

February 2002
Total DVD player sales hit 30 million in the U.S.


Top-Selling DVDs to Date:
1. Shrek (Dreamworks)
2. Gladiator (Dreamworks)
3. Pearl Harbor (Buena Vista)
4. The Fast and the Furious (Universal)
5. The Matrix (Warner)

Percentage of titles released on DVD the same day as the VHS version, 1997: 25
Percentage in 2001: 100

VHS titles purchased, per household with VCR, 2001: 7.5
DVDs purchased, per household with player, 2001: 14.9

Pearl Harbor's opening-weekend box-office revenue (May 25-27, 2001): $59.1 million
Pearl Harbor's first-day DVD revenue (Dec. 4, 2001): $67.5 million

Some other info in graphics:

[Tony]

That's interesting, thanks !

[Jedi Master]

Wow Batman was the first DVD out diden't know that!

[trailergod]

some stuff i found (thank to Kntrak for the pix)


SONY BETA format. (smaller than VHS, crap quality)


VHS, biggest support, still the biggest selection


LaserDisc (quality was very good but it is bulky and never got the broad support) has the same size of a vinyl record




DVD ! ...


CD-RW (best and cheapest way to store digitally, untill DVD-RW/+RW get cheaper)



PC hard drive, also used in TiVO boxes
used to store/download your pirated DivX movies and porn

[1.16] VHS is good enough, why should I care about DVD?

The primary advantages of DVD are quality and extra features (see 1.2). DVD will not degrade with age or after many playings like videotape will (which is an advantage for parents with kids who watch Disney videos twice a week!). This is the "collectability" factor present with CDs vs. cassette tapes. If none of this matters to you, then VHS probably is good enough.

That about says it for VHS. What about laserdisc? Well, laserdisc really shouldn't be on your mind unless you want to play a rare LD, or get a special collecter's edition LD. If you're not into that, DVD is the best way to go. Prices are cheap on both players and movies. Special features are becoming more and more popular on all DVDs, and image quality is excellent. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you want the best picture and selection of movies, get a DVD player.

[Movie Wizard]

---
Top-Selling DVDs to Date:
1. Shrek (Dreamworks)
2. Gladiator (Dreamworks)
3. Pearl Harbor (Buena Vista)
4. The Fast and the Furious (Universal)
5. The Matrix (Warner)
---

I own 2,4,5.

---
PC hard drive, also used in TiVO boxes
used to store/download your pirated DivX movies and porn
---

HAHAH! Those things are nuts. I used one at my aunts house in houston, COOLRAZY!!

[Tony]

Originally posted by tisoy
SONY BETA format. (smaller than VHS, crap quality)

Actually Beta was better quality than VHS.
... And you forgot VCDs which came out after LaserDiscs but only in Japan.

[drunkenGuru]

Yup, Beta was better than VHS and smaller. VHS sucks all the way.



Interesting info Equinox...


Also, how the heck did Pearl Harbour make it to the top 5??? It was far from a good film....

[Equinox]

Originally posted by drunkenGuru
Also, how the heck did Pearl Harbour make it to the top 5??? It was far from a good film....

Box-office has nothing to do with artistic quality of films. In VHS sales all-time champ is Lion King cartoon, but this not makes it best film ever made.

[Marcus]

That's really cool. Thanks for the info!

Somwhere in my dad's basement we still have our old Beta player I think And a few VCRs around the house....there's a DVD player on my computer and, if everything works out, one in the PS2 I'll be getting for Xmas

[Equinox]

August 1997
DVD players outsell laser disc players for the month.

I think that's a testament to how poorly laserdisc was received in the US. If a *new* format (< 1 year old) with FEWER titles and MORE EXPENSIVE players outsells LD, what exactly does that say about laserdisc? LD could have done so much better...

Even George Lucas reluctantly gave up on LD after releasing Phantom Menace exclusively on VHS, followed by an exclusive Japanese Laserdisc in April of 2000.

I thought that Attack of the Clones would initially be released exclusively on VHS and Japanese Laserdisc, but the DVD came out simultaneously with the tape and there was no Laserdisc.

George Lucas could have saved the Laserdisc format by continually re-releasing all of the Star Wars movies in a series of new and improved, Director's Cuts, Special Editions, Utimate Collector's Editions, SuperMegaBit series - exclusively on Japanese LaserDiscs, with no tapes and no DVDs. Then, he could have sold millions of these Japanese Laserdiscs through the Star Wars fan site at ultra-high import prices. Star Wars fans would have been all over eBay searching for Laserdisc players. Soon, Pioneer would have started producing LaserDisc players again.

I still can't figure out why George Lucas didn't do just that. Maybe he's not as big an asshole as everyone says.

[editman]

Originally posted by Movie Wizard
3. Pearl Harbor (Buena Vista)

WTF!!? What's this world come to? Most people can't tell a crap movie from the good ones!!!

[Marcus]

Originally posted by editman regarding Pearl Harbor
WTF!!? What's this world come to? Most people can't tell a crap movie from the good ones!!!

If you get a good sound system, a huge TV and a DVD player, what you must do is go to the beginning of the attack on the harbor. Now that is cool. Wow.

Then return it to Blockbuster and watch some decent movies on your killer system!

[editman]

Originally posted by Marcus
Then return it to Blockbuster and watch some decent movies on your killer system!

Yeah, but we're talking about "top-selling DVDs" here! I can understand people renting Pearl Harbor, but buying that craptacular just to make the most of their home theater system!!?

Gee, I remember when laserdisc first came out Top Gun was the standard test-ground movie. But at least that was more watchable than Pearl Harbor!...

[Gaumont]

Originally posted by Tony
Actually Beta was better quality than VHS.

was about to point out the same thing, but u beat me to it =)

Originally posted by Tony
... And you forgot VCDs which came out after LaserDiscs but only in Japan.

Well not quite right i think. VCD was released in Germany as well if im not mistaken. We saw a limited nr of them here in sweden too.

[editman]

Originally posted by Gaumont
Well not quite right i think. VCD was released in Germany as well if im not mistaken. We saw a limited nr of them here in sweden too.

Not quite right either. VCD is a very popular medium in Hong Kong, China and South East Asia, simply because they're cheap and folks in those regions couldn't care less about video quality. (Of course people who do care watch DVDs.)