The History of the DVD Player

The DVD player was one of the most important pieces of consumer electronics of the late 1990s and 2000s. For millions of households, it transformed the way films, television programmes, music and other entertainment were watched at home.

Before DVD, most home video was dominated by VHS. VHS tapes were bulky, could deteriorate with repeated use, had to be rewound, and offered relatively limited picture and sound quality. DVD changed that experience dramatically. A small optical disc could hold an entire feature film, provide digital picture and sound, offer subtitles and multiple audio tracks, and include interactive menus and bonus material.

Although DVD players have largely disappeared from new living rooms because of streaming services and digital downloads, their impact on home entertainment remains significant.

What Was DVD?

DVD originally stood for Digital Video Disc, although it later became more commonly known as Digital Versatile Disc. The format was developed during the 1990s as a next-generation optical storage medium.

The basic idea was not entirely new. Compact discs had already demonstrated that digital information could be stored optically on a relatively small disc. CDs had become hugely successful for music and computer software, but their capacity was not sufficient for a full-length high-quality video programme.

The development of DVD therefore involved creating an optical disc capable of storing considerably more data than a conventional CD.

A standard single-layer DVD could store around 4.7 GB of data, while a dual-layer disc could hold approximately 8.5 GB. There were also double-sided formats capable of holding even more information.

This increased capacity made DVD particularly suitable for movies.

The Development of Optical Video

The story of DVD begins before the 1990s.

During the 1970s and 1980s, companies and researchers were investigating ways of using lasers to store and retrieve information from optical discs. The introduction of the Compact Disc in the early 1980s demonstrated that optical digital storage could work on a mass-market scale.

As digital technology developed, manufacturers began looking for ways to use optical discs for video.

One early format was LaserDisc, introduced commercially in the late 1970s and later becoming popular among enthusiasts. LaserDisc offered much better picture quality than VHS and used large optical discs, but it was expensive and never achieved the same mass-market success as VHS.

LaserDisc nevertheless demonstrated the potential of optical video.

The challenge was to create a much smaller, cheaper and higher-capacity format that could eventually replace videotape.

The Format War

During the early 1990s, several companies were developing competing optical video formats.

Two of the most important proposals came from major groups of electronics companies.

One was Multimedia Compact Disc (MMCD), associated with Sony and Philips.

The other was Super Density Disc (SD), backed by companies including Toshiba, Matsushita, Pioneer, Thomson and others.

There was a danger that the industry could end up with another format war similar to the battle between VHS and Betamax.

However, the major manufacturers eventually agreed to combine elements of their technologies and create a common standard.

This agreement was extremely important.

Rather than consumers having to choose between incompatible optical video formats, the industry could promote a single format that could be adopted internationally.

The Birth of DVD

The DVD specification was developed during the first half of the 1990s.

The new format offered substantially greater storage capacity than CD while retaining a similar physical disc size.

A DVD was the same basic 12-centimetre diameter as a conventional audio CD. This was important because it allowed manufacturers to build on existing optical-disc manufacturing and playback technology.

DVD also introduced several technical improvements.

Depending on the type of disc, information could be stored using:

• A single recording layer
• Two recording layers
• One or two sides of the disc
• Different combinations of these technologies

This allowed DVD manufacturers to produce discs with different capacities.

For consumers, however, the most important advantage was simple: a small disc could contain an entire movie.

The First DVD Players

The first commercial DVD players appeared in Japan in 1996.

The technology subsequently expanded into other markets, including the United States and Europe.

Early DVD players were considerably more expensive than VHS video recorders. As with many new technologies, prices gradually fell as production increased and competition between manufacturers intensified.

Early players were typically standalone units that connected to a television using analogue video and audio connections.

A typical setup might include:

DVD player → SCART or composite video → television

In Europe, the SCART connector became particularly important because it could carry video and audio between consumer electronics equipment.

DVD players could also be connected to surround-sound equipment, allowing users to experience multichannel digital audio.

DVD Arrives in the United Kingdom

DVD became increasingly popular in the UK during the late 1990s.

At the time, VHS remained extremely dominant. Millions of British households already owned VCRs and large collections of videotapes.

DVD therefore had to offer enough advantages to convince consumers to upgrade.

Fortunately, it offered several.

DVD movies generally provided sharper and cleaner pictures than VHS, with none of the typical analogue tape problems such as tracking errors, tape wear and picture noise.

There was also no need to rewind a DVD after watching it.

A DVD player could simply return to the menu when the film finished.

The End of Rewinding

One of the simplest but most appreciated improvements was the disappearance of the rewind button.

With VHS, viewers had to physically rewind the tape after watching a programme or film.

If a rental shop required tapes to be returned rewound, failing to do so could even result in an additional charge.

DVD completely changed this.

Because the information was stored digitally and accessed optically, viewers could jump directly to different parts of a movie.

A DVD could provide a menu containing options such as:

Play Movie

Scene Selection

Audio Options

Subtitles

Special Features

This made home video much more interactive.

Chapter Selection

One of DVD’s most useful features was the ability to divide a movie into chapters.

Instead of fast-forwarding through a VHS tape to find a particular scene, viewers could select a chapter from an on-screen menu.

This was especially useful for television programmes, concerts, educational material and films.

The technology made recorded video feel much more like a computer application than a traditional videotape.

Digital Picture Quality

DVD also represented a major improvement in picture quality over VHS.

DVD video typically used MPEG-2 compression to store digital video.

The standard-definition picture was considerably sharper than VHS, particularly when viewed on a good-quality television.

DVD also eliminated many of the problems associated with analogue videotape.

There was no gradual deterioration simply from playing the disc repeatedly, and there were no magnetic tapes to stretch, crease or become damaged.

The digital format also made it easier for studios to produce consistent copies.

Digital Audio

Picture quality was only part of the DVD revolution.

DVD could also provide high-quality digital audio.

Depending on the disc and player, DVDs could contain formats such as:

• Dolby Digital
• MPEG audio
• PCM
• DTS on compatible releases

This enabled home cinema systems to reproduce multichannel sound.

For the first time, many ordinary households could create a relatively sophisticated home cinema system around a television, DVD player and surround-sound amplifier.

The popularity of DVD therefore helped drive the growth of the home cinema market.

DVD and Widescreen Television

DVD also helped popularise widescreen presentation.

Many films were originally produced in widescreen theatrical formats. VHS releases frequently had to compromise because of the 4:3 aspect ratio used by traditional televisions.

DVD allowed studios to distribute movies in widescreen formats much more effectively.

Some DVDs included different versions of a film, including widescreen and fullscreen presentations.

As widescreen televisions became more popular, DVD became an increasingly natural companion.

Region Codes

One controversial feature of DVD was the introduction of regional coding.

The world was divided into several DVD regions, with different numbers assigned to different geographical markets.

For example, the UK was generally part of Region 2, while North America was Region 1.

A DVD released for one region might not play on a standard player designed for another region.

Studios used region coding partly to control international distribution and release schedules.

For consumers, however, region restrictions could be frustrating.

Some DVD players became popular because they could be modified or configured to play discs from multiple regions.

These became known as multi-region or region-free players.

Copy Protection

DVD also introduced sophisticated copy-protection systems.

One of the most important was the Content Scramble System (CSS).

CSS was designed to prevent straightforward copying of commercial movie DVDs.

The system became controversial when researchers and software developers found ways to circumvent it.

The resulting legal and technical battles became an important early chapter in the history of digital media rights management.

The DVD format therefore played a major role in the wider debate surrounding digital copyright and consumer rights.

The DVD Recorder

The DVD player was only one part of the technology’s development.

Manufacturers also introduced DVD recorders.

These devices allowed consumers to record television programmes onto blank recordable DVDs.

Common recordable formats included:

• DVD-R
• DVD+R
• DVD-RW
• DVD+RW
• DVD-RAM

However, recordable DVD never completely replaced VHS recording in the same way that DVD movies replaced VHS rental and sales.

DVD recorders were relatively expensive, blank discs could be confusing because of competing standards, and hard-disk recorders eventually became more convenient for recording television.

DVD Players Become Affordable

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, DVD player prices fell rapidly.

What had initially been a relatively expensive luxury product became an affordable consumer-electronics purchase.

Supermarkets, electronics retailers and department stores began selling inexpensive DVD players.

By the early 2000s, it was increasingly common for a household to own at least one DVD player.

Some families had several.

A DVD player might be installed in the living room, while another was used in a bedroom.

Portable DVD players also appeared, giving people the ability to watch movies while travelling.

Portable DVD Players

Portable DVD players became particularly popular during the 2000s.

These devices usually contained:

• A small LCD screen
• A DVD drive
• Built-in speakers
• A rechargeable battery
• Headphone output

They were marketed for use in cars, on aeroplanes and during long journeys.

Portable DVD players were especially popular with families travelling with children.

Before smartphones and tablets became widespread, a portable DVD player could provide hours of entertainment on a journey.

DVD in Cars

DVD technology also found its way into vehicles.

Car manufacturers began offering built-in rear-seat entertainment systems featuring LCD screens and DVD players.

Some vehicles had ceiling-mounted screens, while others incorporated displays into the backs of front-seat headrests.

Passengers could watch movies while travelling, making DVD an important part of the emerging in-car entertainment market.

The Rise of DVD Box Sets

DVD became particularly important for television.

Instead of buying individual episodes on VHS, consumers could purchase complete seasons of television programmes.

DVD box sets became hugely popular.

A box set might contain several discs and dozens of episodes, often accompanied by bonus features.

Television series that had previously been difficult to watch repeatedly could now become permanent collections.

DVD therefore helped create the concept of binge-watching, although the experience was obviously slower than modern streaming because viewers still had to change discs.

Bonus Features

Another major attraction of DVD was the inclusion of additional material.

A DVD release could include:

• Behind-the-scenes documentaries
• Deleted scenes
• Director commentaries
• Cast interviews
• Trailers
• Making-of documentaries
• Music videos
• Production photographs
• Alternative endings
• Interactive games

This transformed a movie purchase into a much richer package.

For film enthusiasts, these extras became an important reason to buy DVDs rather than simply watch films on television.

DVD Rentals

The DVD revolution also transformed the rental business.

Traditional video rental shops had previously been dominated by VHS.

DVDs were smaller, easier to store and generally less prone to physical degradation.

Rental companies could therefore stock large numbers of titles in relatively little space.

Services such as Netflix originally built their businesses around DVD rental by mail before later becoming synonymous with streaming.

This transition demonstrates just how important DVD was to the development of modern digital entertainment.

DVD and the Decline of VHS

By the early 2000s, DVD was becoming the dominant format for prerecorded home video.

VHS was still widely used, particularly for recording television, but consumers increasingly bought new movies on DVD.

The advantages were difficult to ignore:

VHS	DVD
Analogue tape	Digital optical disc
Requires rewinding	No rewinding
Picture deteriorates with use	Digital playback remains consistent
Limited navigation	Chapter and menu navigation
Large cassette	Compact disc
Usually stereo audio	Multichannel digital audio possible
Tape can stretch or break	Disc is generally more durable
Limited extras	Extensive bonus features

By the middle of the 2000s, DVD had effectively replaced VHS as the standard format for buying movies.

DVD Players Become Part of Other Devices

DVD playback was eventually incorporated into many other products.

Manufacturers produced:

• DVD/VCR combination machines
• DVD recorders
• DVD home cinema systems
• DVD-equipped computers
• Portable DVD players
• Games consoles with DVD playback
• Car entertainment systems

The DVD drive became a standard feature of many desktop and laptop computers.

DVD-ROM drives allowed users to install software, watch movies and store data.

The PlayStation 2 and DVD

One of the most significant events in DVD’s history was the arrival of the PlayStation 2.

Released in 2000, Sony’s console included DVD playback as standard.

This was extremely important because it effectively put a DVD player into millions of homes through a games console.

For some consumers, buying a PlayStation 2 meant getting both a games machine and a DVD player.

The success of the PlayStation 2 helped increase DVD adoption and demonstrated how optical-disc technology could serve multiple purposes.

DVD-ROM and Computer Storage

DVD was also important outside the entertainment industry.

DVD-ROM discs could store much more data than CDs.

A single-layer DVD could hold around 4.7 GB compared with approximately 700 MB for a typical CD.

This made DVD useful for:

• Computer software
• Games
• Educational programmes
• Encyclopaedias
• Drivers
• Operating systems
• Data backups

For several years, DVD was an important method of distributing large software packages.

The Introduction of Blu-ray

By the middle of the 2000s, however, DVD faced a new challenge.

The next generation of high-definition television required a storage format capable of holding much more data.

Two competing technologies emerged:

Blu-ray Disc, backed by Sony and its partners.

HD DVD, backed by Toshiba and other companies.

Once again, consumers faced the possibility of another format war.

Blu-ray ultimately won.

In 2008, Toshiba announced that it would discontinue development and manufacturing of HD DVD products, effectively ending the format war.

Blu-ray offered substantially greater capacity than DVD and was designed for high-definition video.

Why DVD Did Not Disappear Immediately

Even after Blu-ray arrived, DVD remained extremely popular.

There were several reasons.

DVD players were inexpensive.

DVD collections were enormous.

Many consumers were satisfied with standard-definition picture quality.

Blu-ray players were initially more expensive.

Most importantly, DVDs continued to be widely available in shops and rental services.

The enormous installed base of DVD players meant that studios continued producing DVD editions of new films.

The Arrival of Streaming

The biggest threat to DVD did not ultimately come from Blu-ray.

It came from the internet.

During the 2000s and 2010s, broadband internet became fast enough to deliver video directly to consumers.

Services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming platforms changed the way people consumed television and movies.

Instead of buying or renting a physical disc, viewers could select a film from an online catalogue and begin watching almost immediately.

There was no disc to store, no case to open and no need to visit a shop.

Streaming therefore removed many of the advantages that had originally made DVD attractive.

The Decline of the DVD Player

As streaming became increasingly popular, dedicated DVD players became less common.

Smart televisions began incorporating streaming applications.

Games consoles provided access to online video services.

Set-top boxes and streaming sticks offered inexpensive ways to access online entertainment.

Laptops increasingly abandoned optical drives altogether.

Physical media therefore moved from being the primary method of home entertainment to becoming one of several options.

DVD players were still available, but they were no longer the centre of the home entertainment system.

DVD Today

DVDs have not completely disappeared.

Millions of discs remain in homes around the world, and DVD players continue to be sold.

Physical media also remains useful in situations where internet access is unreliable or unavailable.

Collectors continue to purchase DVDs and Blu-rays, particularly when they want to own a permanent copy of a film or television series.

DVDs can also provide access to content that is difficult to find on streaming services.

Streaming libraries change frequently because of licensing agreements, whereas a DVD remains playable regardless of whether a particular film is currently available online.

Why the DVD Player Was So Important

The DVD player was more than just another consumer-electronics product.

It represented a major transition from analogue to digital home entertainment.

It introduced millions of consumers to concepts that are now taken for granted:

• Digital video
• Digital audio
• Interactive menus
• Instant chapter selection
• Multiple language tracks
• Subtitles
• Bonus content
• Widescreen video
• Surround sound
• Digital copy protection

The DVD player also helped consumers become comfortable with the idea that entertainment could exist as digital data rather than magnetic tape.

That transition laid important groundwork for later technologies such as Blu-ray, video-on-demand, downloads and streaming.

The Legacy of the DVD Player

The history of the DVD player is ultimately the story of how home entertainment moved from physical analogue media towards digital distribution.

VHS had made home video accessible to millions of people, but DVD made the experience more convenient, interactive and higher quality.

The DVD player became one of the defining consumer-electronics products of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It helped establish home cinema, transformed film collecting, changed video rental businesses and made digital video a mainstream consumer technology.

Although today’s viewers may be more likely to press a button on a smart television and stream a film than insert a disc into a DVD player, the foundations of that experience can be traced back to the optical-disc revolution of the 1990s.

For a generation of consumers, the simple sight of a DVD player loading a disc, displaying an animated menu and beginning a movie represented the future of home entertainment.

Today, the DVD player may seem like an old piece of technology, but its impact on the way we watch television and movies remains enormous.