Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
DVD drives are fully backward-compatible and as such are capable of reading CDs. When reading or
playing existing CDs, the performance of most DVD drives is equivalent to a 40x or faster CD drive.
DVD-rewritable drives, which also fully support CD formats, have replaced CD-RW drives at
virtually every price point in both new systems and as upgrades at retail. The main reason to use CD
media instead of DVD media at this point is for near-universal compatibility (especially when CD-R
discs are used) with both older and recent systems.
With the development of BD, rewritable Blu-ray drives that are backward-compatible with DVD and
CD media are now available. These drives are much more expensive than rewritable DVD drives;
however, the cost of BD drives and media is falling rapidly.
DIVX (Discontinued Standard)
DIVX (Digital Video Express) was a short-lived proprietary DVD format developed by Digital
Video Express (a Hollywood law firm) and Circuit City. It was discontinued on June 16, 1999, less
than a year after it was released.
The name now lives on as an open encoding standard for DVD video. However, this encoding
standard actually has no relation to the original DIVX format other than the name.
DVD Drive Compatibility
When DVD drives appeared on the market, they were touted to be fully backward-compatible with
CD drives. Although that might be the case when reading commercially pressed CD-ROM discs, that
was not necessarily true when reading CD-R or CD-RW media. Fortunately, the industry has
responded with standards that let you know in advance how compatible your DVD drive will be.
These standards are called
MultiRead
for computer-based drives and
MultiPlay
for consumer
Specifications
.”
DVD Movie Playback on a PC
DVD video discs (like those included with most of my topics) are designed to be played on standard
“set-top” DVD players connected to a television. You can also play them on PCs, as long as the
proper hardware (for example, a DVD or BD drive) and software are installed. Unfortunately, many
