WEEK2 From DiscoVision to Netflix

     Whilst the first prototype was already complete in 1971, the DiscoVision, frontrunner to the LaserDisc, was introduced to the market in 1978. However, due complications in the pressing process, contracts with media companies were cancelled, MCA DiscoVision was not able solve the issues.

    During the same time, Philips developed the LaserVision, publishing it in 1982. Similarly to LP’s the media was pressed onto the disc creating an analog video and sound track, that was to be read by a laser, therefore theoretically not wearing off the ‘information’. In the US and Japan the technology was fairly popular, however due to the steep prices and the size of the discs (12-30cm) it never spread through the greater population. The VHS was reigning at the time, the higher resolution of the discs was attractive to the wealthier movie watchers, however the price difference was too large. However the benefits of the discs were not left unnoticed and many companies started developing their own versions starting the first format war.

    In 1987 the CD Video was released, in 1993 the Video CD was the first to offering digitally encoded films, Sony and Philips developed the Multimedia Compact Disc (MMCD), another group of tech developers backed the Super Density (SD) disc. The era of the format war had reached its peak and negatively impacted the market, on May 3rd 1995  a group of tech giants, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, HP and Compaq formed a group to set an ultimatum to counter the mess of formats. Finally Philips and Sony also pushed the unification of the formats leading to the Universal Disk Format which was agreed upon in written form on December 8th of that year. The DVD became very popular due to its higher storage capacities, which nowadays reach 17Gb, and its affordable price.

    In 2002 Sony proposed the Blu-Ray technology to save up to 50Gb on a single disc, enabling higher quality videos to be accessed from home, the disc was marketed in 2006 and had some success. However, the sale of DVD’s has dropped close to 90% over the past 15 years, a similar fate met the Blu-Ray distributors, as Streaming sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, HBO etc. emerged and facilitated access to movies and series, rendering video discs obsolete as the streaming services offer a massive variety and resolutions up to 4K. Whether streaming sites are good or bad, is another topic.

 

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