Video CD
optical home video format
Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, also known as Compact Disc Digital Video, abbreviated as CDDV) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm (4.7 in) optical discs. The format was widely adopted in nearly all of Asia (except for Japan and South Korea), superseding the VHS and Betamax systems in those regions until DVD-Video became more affordable in the 2000s.
The format is a standard digital data format for storing video on a compact disc. VCD discs/disc images are playable in dedicated VCD players and widely playable in most DVD players, personal computers and some video game consoles with an optical disc drive that is programmed to understand VCD discs.
The Video CD standard was created in 1993
by Sony, Philips, Matsushita and JVC; it is referred to as the White Book standard. The MPEG-1 video compression format was also released that same year.
History
Predecessors
LaserDisc was first available on the market, in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15, 1978. This 30 cm (12 in) disc could hold an hour of analog audio and video (digital audio was added a few years later) on each side. The LaserDisc provided picture quality nearly double the resolution of VHS tape and analog audio quality far superior to cheap mono VHS recorders (although the difference to the more expensive VHS HiFi stereo recorders was minuscule).
Philips later teamed up with Sony to develop a new type of disc, called the compact disc or CD. Introduced in 1982 in Japan (1983 in the U.S. and Europe), the CD is about 120 mm (4.7 in) in diameter, and is single-sided.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Video CD” is optical home video format. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Video, optical and home, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “optical home video format” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q321259. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1993, 1978, 1982 and 1983.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Video CD”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Video CD primary sources, Video CD archive and Video research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Video CD”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Video CD” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.