Brief Revision History and Notes
Version .99: posted on International Film Forums Guides and FAQ board
Version 1.0: Copied and updated; first DD DigiWiki post
Version 1a: Expanded to basic book outline
Version 1.5: Expanded to include some older non-digital formats
Version 2.0: Full book outline
Version 2.xx.1: Expanding sections for pratical reasons
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related to optical media. This article makes occasional reference to
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Introduction:
My interest here is, simply put, to both open the eyes of the West
(primarily the residents of the US and UK), to what media formats exist
for audio and video around the world, and eventually create a permanent
wiki-db that can stay current. There are many formats available to
world-wide consumers. Many equal, some superior, to the more standard
CDDA and DVD formats widely known in the West. For completeness, I''''ll
cover them all, but the formats in current wide-spread use are CDDA,
DVD, SVCD, and HVD. The CVD has wide support in china, with far more
releases available on it than average non-residents are aware of; China
Today News reports that video releases on CVD have surpassed 2:1 to
DVD. That said, the format is literally non-existent outside of China,
and would have remained a "state secret" if not for the push to sell
the format in Hong Kong to residents, it''''s the sole export source of
the media, as they are bared from export from main-land China, but no
such laws prohibit foreigners from leaving with them from Hong Kong. An
expanded section will be added at a later point covering magnetic and
optical-film formats, including VHS, HDMVT (HD VHS), and the X mm film
and a third update added with information on earlier audio formats,
including DAT, AC, and Phono-blank systems.
The difference between S and K (Disk vs Disc)
Many users of the Laserdisc format will find that the early versions
have a K at the end and not a C. Many will also remember early audio
CDs with a K. Today, many countries will use the C or K
interchangeably, though in reality a disc is an optical format and a
disk is a magnetic format. So; why the difference? In 1986 Iomega (now
well known for their Zip cartage format) released a 1 inch x 1 inch
miniature disk format in limited numbers in Switzerland and Singapore
called the Compact Disk. This format was nearly identical to the
hard-cased and well known 3.5" disk though it was considerably smaller
and held considerably more information, as much as approximately 2.1
Megabytes of data. Though the release was limited, confusion occurred
non-the-less and the ISO settled on the permanent change to disc for
all things optical, though that never fanned out entirely either; as
evidenced by the Universal DISK Format, or UDF.
As a total side note; the Mini Disk design was the template
used for two now popular formats, the "thumb disc" hard drive, which is
a more stable version of the Mini Disk, and the M flash drive, that
used the exact same shell case (purchased from Iomega) but housed a
Flash chip rather than magnetic discs. The M drive, or M disc, was the
precursor in the mid-to-late 90''''s to the current flash cards.
Audio
Barrel Pianola Paper Roll
A Modern Player Roll (where symmetrical circles are used
Birth
1829/1830
Media forms: 2
An 8 inch