VCD in detail

This article will give some technical detail about the VideoCD.

1. History

In 1989, the Dutch company Philips launched a device called CD-Interactive player (CD-i). Connected to a TV-set, these devices could play discs containing sound, pictures and programs to handle interactivity. The system was aimed at the games and education markets. Very shortly after the introduction of the CD-i, Philips also started to promote the system as a platform to play movies on TV, like a VCR but without recording possibilities. The CD-i players were equipped with an extra video card and discs containing movies were brought onto the market. These discs are called Video Compact Discs (VideoCD) and make use of a format, the VCD-standard, especially designed for these discs.

Commercially, the CD-i player turned out not to be a success. Interactivity remained the domain of PC´s and the CD-i was soon overtaken by the CD-ROM. But the VideoCD format survived as good way to store video on a CD. The two main reasons are, first, that the format is not patented which has resulted in a high popularity in China and, secondly, that it allowed people to burn their own discs before the arrival of recordable DVD as an alternative for tape.

2. The Standard

There have been a couple of standards, but the latest one is the VCD2.0 standard which is defined by the so-called Whitebook specification. In the table below, the most important characteristics are given.

The MPEG-1 stream is ISO standard IEC - 11172 compliant.

A VCD can contain up to 99 video tracks. A menu can contain a maximum of 9 items.

3. Disc structure

VCD is CD-ROM/XA Mode 2, Form 2, and can contain up to 74 minutes of MPEG-1 video. When you browse a VideoCD you will see a number of folders. The following folders may be found:

You can actually view the movies and stills by opening the AVSEQxx.DAT and ITEMxxxx.DAT files in a media player.

4. Compatibility

A VideoCD can be played on the following devices:

• CD-i players
• Special (S)VCD players, mostly found in the far east
• DVD players with VCD capability
• CD/DVD drives in PC's using a software player