Out with the cassette tapes and in with the CDs! As VCRs became irrelevant, the DVD player came in to introduce a new digital viewing experience which changed the way we watch videos forever. CDs also made an impact not only taking the place of video cassette tapes for music and movies, but video game cartridges as well.
DVD players could date back to 1958 with the creation of the laserdisc, but that doesn't really count. It was the first type of compact disc to play movies to try and compete with the VHS but it was an utter failure. In 1995, Philips, Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic invented the DVD player which had more storage, higher resolution and great audio. Many of the companies were backing different technology, but to avoid format wars, they all unified to created one format which definitely made the DVD a much greater success. Because with one format, there was no competition. The DVD went straight against the VHS and easily took it out because this wasn't any normal competition, it was the future. DVD players were originally sold at under $200 and eventually dropped to under $50 which is cheaper than a video game! And unlike previous competition to the VHS, there was actually a difference in quality with the DVD player. DVD's actually had menus which usually has scene selections, bonus features, different languages, everything you couldn't do on a cassette tape was found in the compact disc. The extra features and the new conveniences made the DVD player much more desirable and instantly became a hit in households.
This is all thanks to the CD. Sony and Philips worked together in 1988 to create the Yellow Book, which gave CD-Roms the ability to hold any type of data. This right there made the CD's a revolution. They also took out the cassette tapes due to greater quality and more space to hold data. CD's then made there way to video games when Sony introduced the Playstation in 1995. Unlike Nintendo and Sega at the time still using cartridges with the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn, Sony's console was able to not only create bigger and more powerful games, they could use high def audio which really did make a difference. The Sega CD tried using the discs in 1992 but the technology just wasn't there in gaming, the audio was incredible though and the graphics were improved.
BluRay discs were released in 2006 and became the somewhat successor to DVDs. It showed high definition video and immersive sound unlike the DVDs. High Definition was starting to become an interest at the time and HD TV's were starting to hit the market. However, DVD's would not be able to show off the technology due to their limitations which is what BluRay was to do. BluRay can play HD content and movies were starting to come to the format. BluRay even went through a format war with HD DVD's from Toshiba, but in 2008 they backed down from the war making BluRay the standard. Not only was the quality better, the space was unreal. They can put the whole DVD collection of say the Friday the 13th movies all on one BluRay disc. Playstation puts their games on BluRay discs and it definitely makes a difference when you get an Xbox game like Mass Effect 3, and it comes on 3 discs. You have to switch the discs out in the middle of your game to continue on while Playstation games can keep going.
It is too soon to consider BluRay a successor to the DVD player like it was to the VHS. It definitely didn't take off the same way. Of course BluRay players are cheap now and a majority of households have now switched to HD TV's, it is the definitive way to watch content. However, times are changing real fast as in the current 2013, it seems as if discs aren't needed anymore as movies are now being streamed through services such as iTunes. Movies can be streamed through all media devices. DVDs and BluRay are still around today but we may be coming to their last legs.
No comments:
Post a Comment