Question: What's a "Video CD"?

Came across something odd in a secondhand store the other day; a stash of
something called "Video CDs". They were produced by the "Mei Ah Laser Disc
Co. Ltd." of Hong Kong (and apparently were licensed for sale only in HK).
They resemble, and are packaged similarly to, audio CDs.The other company
name on the disc refers to a company known as "China 10K.com" (they do have
a Web site, which isn't much help, but I gather they distribute various
forms of digital mutimedia product). The discs in question were some
obscure, trashy-looking Japanese films, the exception being a copy of "The
Ambitious", a relatively unknown 1970 Toho film with Toshiro Mifune and
Tatsuya Nakadai (it's not supposed to be much good). It was only a couple of
bucks, so I bought it out of curiosity more than anything else. There is no
reference in the packaging to any playback system I'm familiar with-- the
(limited) English-language labeling merely refers to the item as a "Video
Compact Disc/Compact Disc Digital Video".

I have several questions: What exactly are these things? What kind of player
might work with them? My computer's CD-ROM drive is on the fritz, so I
haven't tried to play it in that. I very much doubt that it would work in an
R1 player or in a LD player (haven't tried). Are they meant to be played on
computers? Might they work in a multi-region DVD player? If not, then what?
Is this an older item,or are they still being produced? Can anyone answer
any of these questions? I really am curious.

G. M. Watson

"G. M. Watson" <> wrote in message
news:...

>>> STUFF SNIPPED <<<

> I have several questions: What exactly are these things? What kind of
player
> might work with them? My computer's CD-ROM drive is on the fritz, so I
> haven't tried to play it in that. I very much doubt that it would work in
an
> R1 player or in a LD player (haven't tried). Are they meant to be played
on
> computers? Might they work in a multi-region DVD player? If not, then
what?
> Is this an older item,or are they still being produced? Can anyone answer
> any of these questions? I really am curious.

Copied From - http://www.videohelp.com/vcd
(not sure if the embedded clickable links will work or not)

VCD stands for 'Video Compact Disc' and basically it is a CD that contains
moving pictures and sound. If you're familiar with regular audio/music CDs,
then you will know what a VCD looks like. A VCD has the capacity to hold up
to 74/80 minutes on 650MB/700MB CDs respectively of full-motion video along
with quality stereo sound. VCDs use a compression standard called MPEG to
store the video and audio. A VCD can be played on almost all standalone DVD
Players and of course on all computers with a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive with
the help of a software based decoder / player. It is also possible to use
menus and chapters, similiar to DVDs, on a VCD and also simple photo
album/slide shows with background audio. The quality of a very good VCD is
about the same as a VHS tape based movie but VCD is usually a bit more
blurry. If you want better quality checkout SVCD,CVD or DVD.

A VCD can be played on

- Standalone VCD Players(very common in ASiA), check here for a
compatibility list.
- Almost all standalone DVD Players, check here for compability list
- Playstations with VCD-addon (Playstation 2 does NOT support VCDs, read our
DVD Players list for more info)
- Sega Saturn with VCD-addon
- Dreamcast with VCD-addon
- And of course on all computers with a CD-ROMs/DVD-ROMs with a software
VCD/MPG Player.

BOHICA

"BOHICA" <wwwebmail_RemoveThis_@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Wa4Mc.20884$...
>
> "G. M. Watson" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>
> >>> STUFF SNIPPED <<<
>
> > I have several questions: What exactly are these things? What kind of
> player
> > might work with them? My computer's CD-ROM drive is on the fritz, so I
> > haven't tried to play it in that. I very much doubt that it would work
in
> an
> > R1 player or in a LD player (haven't tried). Are they meant to be played
> on
> > computers? Might they work in a multi-region DVD player? If not, then
> what?
> > Is this an older item,or are they still being produced? Can anyone
answer
> > any of these questions? I really am curious.
>
> Copied From - http://www.videohelp.com/vcd
> (not sure if the embedded clickable links will work or not)
>
> VCD stands for 'Video Compact Disc' and basically it is a CD that contains
> moving pictures and sound. If you're familiar with regular audio/music
CDs,
> then you will know what a VCD looks like. A VCD has the capacity to hold
up
> to 74/80 minutes on 650MB/700MB CDs respectively of full-motion video
along
> with quality stereo sound. VCDs use a compression standard called MPEG to
> store the video and audio. A VCD can be played on almost all standalone
DVD
> Players and of course on all computers with a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive with
> the help of a software based decoder / player. It is also possible to use
> menus and chapters, similiar to DVDs, on a VCD and also simple photo
> album/slide shows with background audio. The quality of a very good VCD is
> about the same as a VHS tape based movie but VCD is usually a bit more
> blurry. If you want better quality checkout SVCD,CVD or DVD.
>
> A VCD can be played on
>
> - Standalone VCD Players(very common in ASiA), check here for a
> compatibility list.
> - Almost all standalone DVD Players, check here for compability list
> - Playstations with VCD-addon (Playstation 2 does NOT support VCDs, read
our
> DVD Players list for more info)
> - Sega Saturn with VCD-addon
> - Dreamcast with VCD-addon
> - And of course on all computers with a CD-ROMs/DVD-ROMs with a software
> VCD/MPG Player.
>

Looks like the original embedded links were stripped when sending. Just as
well, I'd probably get flamed for sending them in the first place.

BOHICA

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=vcd


"G. M. Watson" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Came across something odd in a secondhand store the other day; a stash of
> something called "Video CDs". They were produced by the "Mei Ah Laser Disc
> Co. Ltd." of Hong Kong (and apparently were licensed for sale only in HK).
> They resemble, and are packaged similarly to, audio CDs.The other company
> name on the disc refers to a company known as "China 10K.com" (they do
have
> a Web site, which isn't much help, but I gather they distribute various
> forms of digital mutimedia product). The discs in question were some
> obscure, trashy-looking Japanese films, the exception being a copy of "The
> Ambitious", a relatively unknown 1970 Toho film with Toshiro Mifune and
> Tatsuya Nakadai (it's not supposed to be much good). It was only a couple
of
> bucks, so I bought it out of curiosity more than anything else. There is
no
> reference in the packaging to any playback system I'm familiar with-- the
> (limited) English-language labeling merely refers to the item as a "Video
> Compact Disc/Compact Disc Digital Video".
>
> I have several questions: What exactly are these things? What kind of
player
> might work with them? My computer's CD-ROM drive is on the fritz, so I
> haven't tried to play it in that. I very much doubt that it would work in
an
> R1 player or in a LD player (haven't tried). Are they meant to be played
on
> computers? Might they work in a multi-region DVD player? If not, then
what?
> Is this an older item,or are they still being produced? Can anyone answer
> any of these questions? I really am curious.

Biz

Additional information:

VCD should not be confused with CDV.

VCD is a video Compact Disc containing about 70 minutes worth of MPEG video,
playable on VCD players and DVD players bearing the "Compact Disc" logo with
the "Digital Video" byline.

CDV is a format that contains two sessions, with the first one containing
standard redbook audio playable on all CD players and the second session
containing over 5 minutes of LaserVision spec video playable only on compatible
CD/LaserDisc combi-players. - Reinhart

LASERandDVDfan