Publishing in the Age of DVD

After several years of intense development and cross-industry cooperation
among consumer electronics companies, computer manufacturers,
and the entertainment industry, the DVD format has arrived — and
with it a new era of consumer entertainment. For the first time, highquality
digital video as well as surround sound audio can be delivered
to the consumer on a single interactive compact disc. Playable on the
set-top or the desktop, DVD bridges the worlds of consumer video and
personal computing in a single, unified format.

While DVD promises to be a highly-successful consumer electronics
format, preparing content (“premastering”) for DVD can be a very complex
process. And like most new formats, DVD requires new tools and
techniques to create rich and satisfying content that make the most of
the medium.

Working with DVD requires an in-depth understanding of the format,
production process, and tools required to bring titles to market. By
understanding DVD and all that it entails, professional media developers
can exploit its rich potential. This book is designed for those who
are interested in the DVD format, want to create titles, and wish to
understand the tools and technology required for DVD production.

THE FORMAT

Where did DVD come from?
Since the introduction of the audio compact disc in 1982 and the CDROM
in 1985, the CD has become a universal carrier for music, data,
and multimedia entertainment. It has become the most popular consumer
media format ever, yet it soon may be overshadowed by DVD.
Since the CD format first appeared on shelves, consumer electronics
and CD manufacturing companies have been working on new techniques
to increase the density of the standard 74-minute/650 megabyte
optical media format. In 1993, Nimbus Technology and Engineering
debuted the first double-density CD format with two hours of MPEG-1
video playback. This was the first demonstration that CD technology
could carry high-quality video as well as audio and that a new format
might be on the horizon.

By 1994 cable, satellite, and video-on-demand services were making
strong inroads into the home market, competing for the consumer’s
time and money. The home video industry, seeing increased competition
for VHS sales and rentals, recognized the need for a new consumer
video format which could deliver superior quality pictures and sound. A
consumer format based on the compact disc, which had revitalized the
recording industry years before, could provide the solution that
Hollywood sought. An advisory committee was formed to create a set
of requirements for such a format.

Their recommendations included:

High-resolution video (CCIR-601 broadcast standard)
133-minute movie to fit onto one side of a high-density disc
High-quality audio — stereo and six or more channels of surround sound
Three to five language streams
Up to 30 subtitle streams
Copy protection
Parental lock for adult-oriented titles
Multiple aspect ratios — 16:9 wide-screen; 4:3 pan-scan and letterbox

By January of 1995, two digital video disc formats were unveiled: the
Super Density (SD) format by Toshiba and a consortium of partners, and
the Multi Media Compact Disc (MMCD) by Philips and Sony. With the
prospect of a “Beta vs. VHS” format war looming on the horizon, consumer
electronics manufacturers and studios formed the DVD
Consortium to agree upon a single unified specification for the next
generation Compact Disc. In December of 1995, a general agreement
was reached and the DVD was born.

In light of all the possible uses for optical media storage systems, the
DVD Consortium has broken down Digital Versatile Disc into several
“books” labeled A through E. These books are:

A DVD ROM
B DVD Video
C DVD Audio
D DVD Recordable
E DVD RAM