Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

898.0. "Some info on the new visual CD format." by FINGER::IBL (and feel the quality :-)) Mon Sep 14 1987 08:59

    [Reproduced from the October edition of "Q" magazine, without
     permission, naturally.]
     
    CDV Sensation
    
    Philips reckon that they'll have their CDV machine on sale before
    the end of the year.  It's a machine that will play CDs and a new
    gold coloured 5" disc which contains 20 minutes of music and a five
    minute video.  The audio part of the disc will also be playable
    on ordinary CD players.  This CDV marvel will also handle the old
    Laservision discs, the 8" double-sided video maxi-single, which
    carries 20 minutes of audio and video on either side, and a 12"
    double-sided CDV (neither the 8" nor the 12" is gold-coloured)
    containing up to 2 hours of CD sound and pictures.  This larger
    disc will be able to carry entire concerts, of course, in digital
    sound, and there is likely to be a particularly healthy classical
    market for operas and ballets.
    	The machine will have freeze-frame, reverse play, and fast and
    slow motion.  The aerial cable plugs into the CDV player (although
    unlike a VCR it has no tuner) and the signal is passed on to the
    TV via the CDV's output line.  There are also normal connections
    for linking up to a hi-fi amplifier.
    	Philips, Yamaha, Pioneer, and Technics/Panasonic all have hardware
    ready for production and most record companies are prepared for
    this new machine, with PolyGram themselves having 250 rock titles
    ready to roll with the launch - Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms will
    be one of the first - and Warner Bros were early confirmers of their
    commitment to the format.  In all some 30 different hardware and
    software companies are preparing for CDV's debut and already some
    2000 films have been made available.  The software companies are
    especially enthusiastic about CDV and are hoping to push the appeal
    of CD further towards the younger end of the market by making music
    videos more readily and cheaply available.  It is hoped therefore
    that costs of both hardware and software will be kept down.  At
    the moment, the expected cost of the machine is 500 pounds.

    The players and software were presented at the Internationale 
    Funkaustellung in Berlin a couple of weeks ago (the biggest HiFi/Video
    fair in Europe, I believe). I guess this will be the hot item for
    christmas sales...
    

    I purchased a SONY CPD302 player 2 years ago.
    One of the reasons why I picked this is model is that it had a "Subcode
    out" port in the back to be used in the future.
    
    I had heard rumors to the effect that video output would be possible
    with an attachment to this port.  However, no sales people I talked
    to knew anything about this.
    
    Which brings me to the question:
    
    
    Was SONY represented at any of these shows with their decoder?

    
    ...and poor RCA thought the laserdisc was dead.  :-)
    
    Matt
    

    
    I'm still trying to figure out how to put a 5" disk in my "ordinary
    CD player".
    
    								-mr. bill

    Use a big hammer.
    

    I read that, with the new CDV disks, you have to FF past the video
    potion before you can hear the 20 minutes or so of music.  This
    is because of the enourmous difference in speeds between the video
    and audio.  With the declining quality (and budgets) of music videos
    in the last 24 months, I'd have to say that this new development,
    the CD/Video single, is a product whose time has come and gone,
    if it was ever here.
    
       You've heard it here 1st... CDV :== BOMB

    See 791.0 for a pointer to the LASERDISC Conference where discussion of
    CD-V hardware and software is already in progress (since 24-Mar-87).

    -- Ward