DVD-ROM Initiative





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Mission Statement

Background
and History

Technical Working
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Recommended DVD/
MPEG-2 Command
Set for MCI

Meetings
DVD on the PC:
Making It Work
for Consumers
Feb. 24-25, 1998

DVD Developers
Conference
Oct. 29-30, 1997

Aug. 18, 1997
General Meeting
Report

Articles:
A Compatibility Challange
DVD-ROM Best Practices
To DVD or Not to DVD

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Background and History

DVD-ROM, although often described as simply a bigger, faster CD-ROM, is a major leap forward for interactive media. Unlike CD-ROM, which gained performance improvements over a period of years in small increments, DVD-ROM was designed from the beginning to deliver high-quality multimedia streams at high data rates.

The consumer and industry difficulties experienced with CD-ROM titles, however, reflect a fundamental problem with this form of interactive multimedia. Over the past five years computer hardware and software companies have continuously redesigned their products with faster and more robust features and capabilities. This rapid rate of change effectively "reset" the publishing format to zero every six to nine months as titles were issued requiring the latest CPU, memory allocation, CD-ROM speed, video CODEC, etc. As a result of this constant revision and change, many titles have been cut short for those developers unable to continually revise and reissue their products.

The Interactive Multimedia Association (IMA) developed the outline for the DVD-ROM Initiative during 1996 and early 1997 with the goal of setting industry guidelines and "best practices" to avoid the problems that have hampered CD-ROM development and publishing. In June 1997, IMA and the Software Publishers Association (SPA) joined forces to support the DVD-ROM Initiative under the SPA banner.

SPA has played a critical role in developing multimedia standards within the software industry by establishing the MPC standards in 1991. The rigorous MPC test suite, created in conjunction with National Software Testing Laboratories, Conshohocken, Pa., is designed to objectively assess multimedia systems, upgrade kits and components, ensuring uniform, high-quality performance. The original MPC specification was adopted worldwide, and the most recent MPC3 standard was adopted last year.

First announced during 1995, DVD and DVD-ROM has undergone an extended incubation period during which optical media technology owners wrangled out complex technical and financial arrangements. These agreements are now complete, and products are being introduced.

Unlike previous media types, DVD has high leverage potential. The launch of DVD players in the home for the delivery of high-quality movies is sparking a new generation of home entertainment systems, which may eventually transform today's television set into an all- digital media center. DVD's home entertainment launch will eventually be accompanied by digital video delivery over the air, satellite and cable.

Unlike previous consumer electronics product introductions, the interactive version for computers is being simultaneously released and is intended to be compatible with home movie players. A growing installed base of DVD-ROM-equipped computers with the capability to play movies may well hasten the arrival of the so-called PCTV.

DVD and DVD-ROM promise to deliver capacities and bandwidth that the Internet cannot reasonably expect to support for years to come. This creates the opportunity to develop highly sophisticated and rich media experiences that can be coupled to the Internet or used stand-alone depending on the application. DVD may well be the best bandwidth "enhancer" the industry will have over the next decade.

It would be unfortunate for the industry to experience a repeat of the problems that have hampered all of the interactive media businesses over the past 15 years. There are also a host of unique-to-DVD problems to be addressed. Although the technical specifications for the medium are now well established, there is no media platform definition. This means that without the intervention of groups such as SPA, the industry will tend to fall back on the old CD-ROM wagon and invent a new series of platform definitions with each new computer and operating system version. If this should happen, it is unlikely that a DVD- based interactive media industry will prosper.

Another looming issue revolves around the development of a robust developer market and gaining the confidence of buyers. Consumer confidence could take a long time to build as each manufacturer delivers differing marketing messages.

Finally, there is the very real prospect that early DVD-ROM devices will be implemented differently from one manufacturer to another. This would lead to potential incompatibilities that could poison early adopters and further delay market adoption of the medium. The DVD Consortium members are reluctant to establish implementation guidelines for fear of running afoul of anti-trust laws. Such activities are more safely done within an open forum such as the SPA DVD-ROM Initiative.

© 1997, Software Publishers Association. All Rights Reserved.