VCD

VCD (Video CD also referred to as View CD or Compact Disc Digital Video) is an optical home media format and the first format which distributed motion pictures on the standard 120mm optical discs and was the hoped-for replacement for the VHS magnetic videotape. Introduced at the start of the 1990s by , it was a further development of the music , also developed by Philips, whose compression technology served as the basis for the new format. Compared to later 120mm optical storage formats like the DVD and Blu-ray Disc, storage capacity was limited, resulting in features that were typically spread over two discs with picture quality comparable to the contemporary LaserDisc format competitor.
Early releases were on the VCD variant, the CD-i disc, which was only playable on Philips' own player, before a industry standard was agreed upon in 1993. Philips had made a grave error in marketing their players in that a cartridge had to be separately purchased before a CD-i movie was playable, which became a major contributing factor to the commercial failure of the product. It was not the first time Phillips exhibited very poor judgement in their marketing strategies, and the company had actually to set something straight; previously, believing that their technologically far superior videotape would sell itself, it was in effect the very first one to fall early on in the magnetic videotape format war, ultimately decided in the favor of the poorest in quality one, the VHS.
The commercial failure of the CD-i player meant that the VCD format did not gain any traction in North America, Europe and Australia, though there were several additional reasons as well, aside from the one already mentioned, chief amongst them the advent of the qualitative superior DVD format (ironically co-developed by Philips), introduced hard on the heels of the VCD. Ultimately, Philips released around 125 titles, including seven Star Trek titles, in the aforementioned markets, before they threw in their lot with DVD in the latter half of the 1990s.
VCD however, was a commercial success in regions where average per capita income was substantially lower than in the developed western world, such as Russia, Turkey, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, mainland China, as well as Central and South East Asia (published under Deltamac), due to the relatively low cost of both players and discs. It turned out that the format became successful in the more affluent Asian territories as well, to wit Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea and even Japan to a certain extent – which however, became also the first of those regions to fully transition to the DVD. It explained why the majority of the older DVD players, the Japanese and Korean brands in particular, were still capable of playing the format long after the format had disappeared from the western markets. In recent years however, VCD started as of 2011 to rapidly lose market share to DVD in these areas due to the fall of DVD prices, they themselves losing market share to the Blu-ray Disc and, more recently and more importantly, to the rapidly increasing worldwide popularity of the digital video-on-demand streaming services by such companies as, most conspicuously, Netflix. This is emphasized by the fact that most of the newer generations of DVD/Blu-ray players no longer support the format. Whether or not by design or by coincidence, this has also helped to thwart the circumstance that the VCD had in the intervening years become the medium of choice for the dissemination of pirated copies, especially in Africa and eastern Asia where the problem of piracy was particularly pervasive.
== Star Trek release chronology ==
One of the studios Philips obtained licenses from was Paramount Pictures and, starting in 1993, began to release the in the new format in Europe and North America. The first release was , concurrently one of the very first titles released in the new format, which for the US, UK, France, and Germany was pressed on the CD-i disc variant, whereas the rest of Europe received the proper VCD variant. In the end, before the format was abandoned seven titles were released in America and Europe. While no longer a viable format in these markets, Star Trek titles continued to be released on VCD well into the 2010s in those regions where the format was still in use.
Date 	Country 	Product released
 	 	
October 	US 	
 	 	
Unknown 	US 	, , ,
Unknown 	Europe 	Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
 	 	
Unknown 	US 	
18 July 	US 	
Unknown 	Europe 	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek Generations
 	 	
Unknown 	ItalySweden 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations
 	 	
21 April 	Hong Kong 	
17 May 	Hong Kong 	
30 July 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek Generations
10 August 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
22 August 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
27 November 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
27 December 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Unknown 	Indonesia 	Star Trek: First Contact
Unknown 	Malaysia 	
 	 	
24 May 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Unknown 	Indonesia 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Unknown 	Malaysia 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact
Unknown 	Turkey 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
 	 	
May 	India 	Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek Generations
Unknown 	India 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Unknown 	Malaysia 	Star Trek: Insurrection, ,
Unknown 	Taiwan 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek Nemesis; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country re-released
Unknown 	Turkey 	Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations
 	 	
26 April 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
5 May 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact re-released
3 June 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek Nemesis
Unknown 	India 	Trekkies
 	 	
18 July 	China 	Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
 	 	
May 	India 	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home re-released
28 October 	India 	
29 October 	Hong KongThailand 	Star Trek
30 October 	MalaysiaPhilippinesTurkey	Star Trek
 	 	
12 September	Thailand 	
29 September	India 	Star Trek Into Darkness
4 October 	Hong Kong 	Star Trek Into Darkness
Unknown 	Malaysia 	Star Trek Into Darkness
Unknown 	Unknown 	Unknown
Unknown 	China 	Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek Nemesis
Unknown 	Indonesia 	Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek Nemesis
Unknown 	Philippines 	Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations
Unknown 	Taiwan 	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection
Unknown 	Thailand 	Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek Nemesis
Unknown 	Turkey 	Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek Nemesis
== External links ==
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de:VCD