What effect will D-VHS have on DVD?
D-VHS (the D stands for data or digital), the digital successor to VHS tape, was first announced in 1995 but didn’t appear outside of Japan until 1998. At the time D-VHS decks could only record pre-encoded bit streams such as from a digital satellite receiver. In 2001 the D-Theater format was released, which standardized MPEG compression and copy protection, paving the way for the release of pre-recorded movies on D-VHS tape in 2002. D-Theater became the first format for viable commercial distribution of movies in high-definition. Quality is excellent, with a resolution of 1280x720p (2.7 times NTSC DVD, 2.2 times PAL DVD) or 1920x1080i (roughly 4 times NTSC DVD, 3.5 times PAL DVD). However, consumers have shown a distinct preference for discs instead of tapes, so D-VHS will never become more than a niche product. Since HD DVD began to arrive in 2003 (see 3.
D-VHS (the D stands for data or digital), the digital successor to VHS tape, was first announced in 1995 but didn’t appear outside of Japan until 1998. At the time D-VHS decks could only record pre-encoded bit streams such as from a digital satellite receiver. In 2001 the D-Theater format was released, which standardized MPEG compression and copy protection, paving the way for the release of pre-recorded movies on D-VHS tape in 2002. D-Theater became the first format for viable commercial distribution of movies in high-definition. Quality is excellent, with a resolution of 1280x720p (2.7 times NTSC DVD, 2.2 times PAL DVD) or 1920x1080i (roughly 4 times NTSC DVD, 3.5 times PAL DVD). However, consumers have shown a distinct preference for discs instead of tapes, so D-VHS will never become more than a niche product. Since HD DVD began to arrive in 2003 (see 3.13), consumers other than early adopters and HD aficionados are choosing to wait for the next generation of DVD for pre-recorded mo
