142 What's about Video-CD and CD-I? The Different Formats of Video CD and CD-i
Description
This article is from the MPEG FAQ, by Frank Gadegast phade@cs.tu-berlin.de with numerous contributions by others.
142 What's about Video-CD and CD-I? The Different Formats of Video CD and CD-i
Looking at the way Video CD and CD-i has evolved may arguably lead
one to believe that it was created to confuse the world on purpose.
Have you ever stopped to think about how many types of Video CD and
CD-i there really are? There are at least four types! Each one has a
different format!
There is Green Book, White Book, CD-i Interactive and Video CD 2.0.
Wow! Which one you have will affect your ability to playback the CD
using Windows. So, let's start by unraveling the mystery behind the
formats of Video CD and CD-i.
Don't let the term "book" confuse you. It's just a cute name given
to that particular format. It's not difficult to identify which type
of CD you have!
GREEN BOOK
This is the earliest format created by Philips for CD-i movies. Most
of the Philips CDs dated 1993 and earlier are Green Book. Look on the
CD itself for the wording "Digital Video". You will also find that
the directory is unreadable on a PC.
WHITE BOOK (Video CD 1.1)
This is the latest format used by Philips for CD-i movies. Most of
the Philips CDs dated 1994 and later are White Book. Look on the CD
itself for the wording "Video CD". You will find that this directory
is readable, and there are files with the extension .DAT
CD-i INTERACTIVE
This is the Philips format for games and other interactive content.
The CDs use wording like "CD-i Games" and "CD-i Interactive". These
CDs are not playable on a PC unless you have a very expensive board
which only Philips supplies.
VIDEO CD 2.0
The world wants to develop interactive content. But, it doesn't want
to pay high fees to Philips to develop CD-i Interactive disks, and
wants to have wide distribution on PCs. Thus, the new Video CD 2.0
standard was created. It is an extension of Video CD 1.1, and has a
readable directory with .DAT files. These CDs should begin to receive
widespread distribution by the end of 1996.
Continue to:
My Books
