What DVD players and drives are available?
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic. Delivery was initially held up for “political” reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November, 1996, followed by U.S. players in March, 1997. Players slowly tricked in to other regions. Now, over two years after the initial launch, over a hundred models of DVD players are available from dozens of electronics companies. Prices for the first players were $1000 and up. By the middle of 1999, players were available for as low as $200 at discount retailers. The following brands of DVD-Video players are available.
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic. Delivery was initially held up for “political” reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November, 1996, followed by U.S. players in March, 1997, with distribution limited to only 7 major cities for the first 6 months. Players slowly trickled in to other regions around the world. Prices for the first players in 1997 were $1000 and up. By the end of 2000, players were available for under $100 at discount retailers. In 2003 players became available for under $50. Six years after the initial launch, close to one thousand models of DVD players were available from over a hundred consumer electronics manufacturers. Fujitsu supposedly released the first DVD-ROM-equipped computer on Nov. 6 in Japan.
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic. Delivery was initially held up for “political” reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November, 1996, followed by U.S. players in March, 1997. Players slowly trickled in to other regions. Now, almost four years after the initial launch, over two hundred models of DVD players are available from dozens of electronics companies. Prices for the first players were $1000 and up. By the end of 2000, players were available for under $100 at discount retailers. See section 6.2 for a list of companies that provide DVD players. Fujitsu supposedly released the first DVD-ROM-equipped computer on Nov. 6 in Japan.
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic. Delivery was initially held up for “political” reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November, 1996, followed by U.S. players in March, 1997. Players slowly trickled in to other regions. Now, almost four years after the initial launch, over two hundred models of DVD players are available from dozens of electronics companies. Prices for the first players were $1000 and up. By the end of 2000, players were available for under $100 at discount retailers. See section 6.2 for a list of companies that provide DVD players. Fujitsu supposedly released the first DVD-ROM-equipped computer on Nov. 6 in Japan.
