Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
DVDdrivesarefullybackward-compatibleandassucharecapableofreadingCDs.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.
WiththedevelopmentofBD,rewritableBlu-raydrivesthatarebackward-compatiblewith
DVD and CD media are now available. These drives are much more expensive than re-
writable 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 en-
coding standard actually has no relation to the original DIVX format other than the name.
