This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since August 2009. It may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Tagged since August 2009. It may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines. Tagged since December 2009. It may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since December 2009. Its factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Tagged since March 2010.

Compact Disc Digital Video (VCD)

150px
Media type	Optical disc
Encoding	MPEG-1 video + audio
Capacity	Up to 800 MB
Read mechanism	780 nm wavelength semiconductor laser
Standard	White Book
Developed by	Sony, Philips, Matsushita, JVC
Usage	audio and video storage
Extended to	SVCD

Before the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as View CD, Compact Disc digital video) became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc. VCDs are playable in dedicated VCD players, most DVD-Video players, personal computers, and some video game consoles.

The VCD standard was created in 1993^[1][2] by Sony, Philips, Matsushita, and JVC and is referred to as the White Book standard. Though supplanted by the two aforementioned formats, VCDs are still popular, particularly in the low cost market.

Brief history[link]

In the early 1970s, Philips and MCA developed the Laserdisc. This optical medium is about one foot in diameter and holds an hour of analog video (along with audio in either analog or digital) on both sides. Though they provide superior picture quality through countless playbacks, Laserdiscs were always overshadowed by VHS because of their high price and lack of recording abilities.

Near the 1980s, Philips created a small scale version of the Laserdisc. This disc is 4.8 inches in diameter and is single-sided. They called it Compact Disc or CD. The format was initially designed to store digitized sound and proved to be a success in the music industry.

A few years later, Philips decided to give CDs the ability to produce video just like its 12-inch counterpart. This led to the creation of CD Video (CD-V) in 1987. But because of the disc's small size, plus the analog video which takes up too much disc space, only 5 minutes of picture information can fit in the CD (despite the fact that the audio was digital). Therefore CD-V distribution was limited to featuring music videos.

By the early 1990s, engineers were able to digitize video signals, making them much more efficient in disc space. Because this new format could hold 83 minutes of audio and video, releasing movies on compact discs finally became a reality. The extra 9 minutes over a regular CD playing time was obtained by sacrificing the error correction (it was believed that minor errors in the datastream would go un-noticed by the viewer). This format was named Video CD or VCD.

VCD enjoyed a brief period of success, with a few major feature films being released in the format (usually as a 2 disc set). However, the introduction of the CD-R disc and the associated recorders, stopped the release of feature films in their tracks because the VCD format had no means of preventing unauthorized (and perfect) copies being made.

In the event, more sophisticated optical discs were in development of which one format was released only a few years later which provided a copy protection mechanism (The DVD). DVD players use lasers that are of shorter wavelength than those used on CDs, allowing the recorded pits to be smaller, so that more information can be stored. The DVD was so successful that they eventually pushed VHS out of the video market once suitable recorders became widely available. Nevertheless, VCDs made considerable inroads into developing nations where they are still in use today.

Moreover, CD-ROM has been the basic Software Installation tool for Computer Platforms (Windows XP and later versions do not need a Floppy disc, as they can Boot up from CD)where data is executed into computer using the CD Key. Major disadvantage in VCD files is that has the horizontal resolution of half to that of a DVD. DVD itself is being superseded as the HDTV provides four times the resolution of a DVD and 16 times to that of VCD.

Technical specifications[link]

Container[link]

In a VCD, the audio and video streams are multiplexed in an MPEG program stream (MPEG-PS) container.

Video[link]

Video specifications^[3]

• Codec: MPEG-1
• Resolution:
  • NTSC: 352x240
  • PAL/SECAM: 352x288
• Aspect Ratio:
  • NTSC: 4:3
  • PAL/SECAM: 4:3
• Framerate:
  • NTSC: 29.97 or 23.976 frames per second
  • PAL/SECAM: 25 frames per second
• Bitrate: 1,150 kilobits per second
  • Rate Control: constant bitrate

Although many DVD video players support playback of VCDs, VCD video is only compatible with the DVD-Video standard if encoded at 29.97 frames per second or 25 frames per second.

Audio[link]

Audio specifications^[4]

• Codec: MPEG-1 Audio Layer II
• Frequency: 44,100 hertz (44.1 kHz)
• Output: Dual channel or stereo
• Bitrate: 224 kilobits per second
  • Rate Control: Constant bitrate

As with most CD-based formats, VCD audio is incompatible with the DVD-Video standard due to a difference in frequency; DVDs require 48 kHz, whereas VCDs use 44.1 kHz.

Advantages of compression[link]

By compressing both the video and audio streams, a VCD is able to hold 74 minutes of picture and sound information, nearly the same duration as a standard 79 minute audio CD. The MPEG-1 compression used records mostly the differences between successive video frames, rather than write out each frame individually. Similarly, the audio frequency range is limited to those sounds most clearly heard by the human ear.

Other information[link]

Video CDs are authored using the Mode 2/XA format, allowing roughly 800 megabytes of VCD data to be stored on one 80 minute CD (versus 700 megabytes when using Mode 1). This, combined with the net bitrate of VCD video and audio, means that almost exactly 80 minutes of VCD content can be stored on an 80 minute CD, 74 minutes of VCD content on a 74 minute CD, and so on. This was done in part to ensure compatibility with existing CD drive technology, specifically the earliest "1x" speed CD drives.

The VCD standard also features the option of DVD-quality still images/slide shows with audio, at resolutions of 704x480 (NTSC) or 704x576 (PAL/SECAM). Version 2.0 also adds the playback control (PBC), featuring a simple menu like DVD-video.

352x240 and 352x288 (or SIF) resolution was chosen because it is half the vertical, and half the horizontal resolution of NTSC and PAL video, respectively. This is approximately half the resolution of an analog VHS tape which is ~330 horizontal and 480 vertical (NTSC) or 330x576 (PAL).

Internal Control[link]

An example of the software control chart [taken from Flower And Snake disc 1 of 3] including menu commands found in the configuration volume as "CDI_VCD.CFG"

CONTROLS=ALL CURCOL=YELLOW PSDCURCOL=RED PSDCURSHAPE=ARROW INITLANG=DAT SUBTTYPE=OVERLAYED SUBTTCOL=EBEBEB SUBSTCOL=101010 SUBTBCOL=0 SUBTACOL=999999 CENTRTRACK=2 AUTOPLAY=AUTO_ON DUALCHAN=DUAL_ON TIMECODE_X=64 TIMECODE_Y=100 LOTID_X=64 LOTID_Y=64 ALBUM=STANDARD

Similar formats[link]

CD-i Digital Video[link]

Shortly before the advent of White Book VCD, Philips started releasing movies in the Green Book CD-i format. While these used a similar format (MPEG-1), due to minor differences between the standards these discs are not compatible with VCD players. Philips' CD-i players with the Full Motion Video MPEG-1 decoder cartridge would play both formats. Only a few CD-i DV titles were released before the company switched to the current VCD format for publishing movies.

XVCD[link]

XVCD (eXtended Video CD) is the name generally given to any format that stores MPEG-1 video on a compact disc in Mode 2/XA, but does not strictly follow the VCD standard.

A normal VCD is encoded to MPEG-1 at a constant bit rate (CBR), so all scenes are required to use exactly the same data rate, regardless of complexity. However, video on an XVCD is typically encoded at a variable bit rate (VBR), so complex scenes can use a much higher data rate for a short time, while simpler scenes will use lower data rates. Some XVCDs use lower bitrates in order to fit longer videos onto the disc, while others use higher bitrates to improve quality. MPEG-2 may be used instead of MPEG-1.

To further reduce the data rate without significantly reducing quality, the size of the GOP can be increased, a different MPEG-1 quantization matrix can be used, the maximum data rate can be exceeded, and the bit rate of the MP2 audio can be reduced (or even the use of MP3 audio instead of MP2 audio). These changes can be advantageous for those who want to either maximize video quality, or use fewer discs.

KVCD[link]

KVCD (K Video Compression Dynamics) is an XVCD variant that requires the use of a proprietary-quantization matrix, available for non-commercial use. KVCD is notable because the specification recommends a non-standard resolution of 528x480 or 528x576. KVCDs encoded at this resolution are only playable by computers with CD-ROM drives, and a small number of DVD players.^[5]

DVCD[link]

DVCD or Double VCD is a method to accommodate longer videos on a CD. A non-standard CD is overburned to include up to 100 minutes of video. However, some CD-ROM drives and players have problems reading these CDs, mostly because the groove spacing is outside specifications and the player's laser servo is unable to track it.

DVI[link]

DVI (Digital Video Interactive) is a compression technique that stored 72 minutes of full-screen video on a CD-ROM. Acquired by Intel in 1988 from RCA's Sarnoff Research Labs, DVI never caught on.^[6]

Adoption[link]

In North America[link]

The advent of recordable CDs, inexpensive recorders, and compatible DVD players spurred VCD acceptance in the US in the late 1990s and early 2000s.^[7] However, DVD burners and DVD-Video recorders were available by that time, and equipment and media costs for making DVD-Video fell rapidly. DVD-Video, with its longer run time and much higher quality, quickly overshadowed VCD in areas that could afford it. In addition many early DVD players could not read recordable (CD-R) media,^[8] and this limited the compatibility of home-made VCDs. Almost every modern stand-alone DVD-Video player can play VCDs burned on recordable media.^{[citation needed]} However, some modern players cannot play VCDs; for instance, the Sony PlayStation 3.^{[citation needed]}

In Asia[link]

The VCD format was very popular throughout Asia^[9] (except Japan and South Korea) in the late 1990s through the 2000s, with 8 million VCD players sold in China in 1997 alone,^[10] and more than half of all Chinese households owning at least one VCD player by 2005.^[11]

This popularity is, in part, because most households did not already own VHS players when VCDs were introduced, the low price of the players, their tolerance of high humidity (a notable problem for VCRs), easy storage and maintenance, and the lower-cost media.^[7] Western sources have cited counterfeiting as a principal concern of VCD users.^[12][13][14]

VCDs are often produced and sold in Asian countries and regions such as Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In many Asian countries, major Hollywood studios (and Asian home video distributors) have licensed companies to officially produce and distribute the VCDs, such as MCA Home Video in Pakistan, ERA of Hong Kong, Sunny Video in Malaysia, Vision in Indonesia, CVD International and Pacific Marketing and Entertainment Group in Thailand, Excel Home Videos in India, Berjaya-HVN and InnoForm Media in both Malaysia and Singapore, Scorpio East Entertainment in Singapore, as well as VIVA Video, Magnavision, and The Video to C in the Philippines. Legal Video CDs can often be found in established video stores and major book outlets in most Asian countries. They are typically packaged in jewel cases like commercial CDs, though higher-profile films may be released in keep cases. The consumer should always check for the VCD or DVD logo so as to avoid purchasing the wrong format.

In Asia, the use of VCDs as carriers for karaoke music is very common. One channel would feature a mono track with music and singing, another channel a pure instrumental version for karaoke singing. Prior to this, karaoke music was carried on laserdiscs.

In Burma[link]

In Burma, VCDs are the medium of an underground video network that largely stays beneath the sights of the military regime, although VCD trends are reported on by expatriate newspapers. Popular videos include Buddhist monks speaking out against the regime^[15] and comedy skits ruthlessly mocking military leaders.^[16] It is reported that even soldiers watch VCDs in their barracks.^[17]

Worldwide trends[link]

VCD's growth has slowed in areas that can afford DVD-Video, which offers most of the same advantages, as well as better picture quality^[18] (higher resolution with fewer digital compression artifacts) due to its larger storage capacity. However, VCD has simultaneously seen significant new growth in emerging economies like India, Indonesia, South America and Africa as a low-cost alternative to DVD. As of 2004, the worldwide popularity of VCD was increasing.^[19][20]

Compared with VHS[link]

Overall picture quality is intended to be comparable to VHS video.^[21] Poorly compressed VCD video can sometimes be lower quality than VHS video, but VCD exhibits block artifacts (rather than the analog noise seen in VHS sources) and does not deteriorate further with each use. While both formats need fast-forwarding to find certain scenes, rewinding to beginning upon reaching the end is not required in VCD.

Though technically superior when compared to tape-based mediums, VCDs have a few minor flaws. Videos in the format do not come with closed caption (written words appearing on-screen to aid viewers with hearing problems). When watching a film that exceeds 74 minutes, which is the maximum video capacity of one disc, a viewer would have to stand up and change the disc upon reaching half-way (unless the discs are played on a VCD changer that could hold multiple discs as well as playing them automatically in succession), whereas a single VHS can hold 3½ hours of continuous video.

Compared with DVD[link]

When playing a DVD, the viewer is brought to a main menu which gives him/her options (watch the feature film, view deleted scenes, play some special applications, etc.). VCDs are usually straightforward, playing them often goes directly to the video with extras (mostly trailers and commercials) taking place before or after it.

Subtitles are found on many Asian VCDs but cannot be removed, unlike DVDs. The subtitles are embedded on the video during the encoding process. It's not uncommon to find a VCD with subtitles for two languages.

Though the VCD technology can support it, most films carried on VCDs do not contain chapters, requiring the viewer to fast-forward to resume the program after playback has been stopped. This is mostly because VCD technology is able to start playback at a chapter point but there is nothing to signal the player that the chapter has changed during a program. This can be confusing for the user as the player will indicate that it is still playing chapter 1 when it has played through to chapter 2 or later. Pressing the Next button would cause playback from the beginning of chapter 2. However, preview material is sometimes stored in a separate chapter, followed by a single chapter for the film.

VCDs are often bilingual. Because they feature stereo audio, disc players have an option to play only the left or right audio channel. For example, ERA of Hong Kong's release of the animated film The Iron Giant features English on the left audio channel and Cantonese on the right. This is similar to selecting a language track on a DVD, except it's limited to 2 languages, due to there being only two audio channels (left and right). The audio track effectively becomes monaural.

VCD's most noticeable disadvantage compared to DVD is image quality, due both to the more aggressive compression necessary to fit video into such a small capacity as well as the compression method used. Additionally, VCDs are available only in stereo, while DVDs are capable of six channels of discrete surround sound.

VCD does have a few advantages over DVD-Video:

• The VCD format has no region coding, so discs can be played on any compatible machine worldwide. Many VCD players can compensate for the differing frame rate and pixel count between NTSC and PAL/SECAM TV systems.

• Some titles available on VCD may not be available on DVD and/or VHS in the prospective buyer's region.^[22]

• VCD can cost significantly less than DVD. A brand-new Hollywood blockbuster on VCD is usually only 36% the price of its DVD counterpart.^{[citation needed]}

Hardware and Software support[link]

A few consoles supported VCDs, like the Sega Saturn.

Video CDs are not popular in the US, Canada and Europe, so its support is limited among mainstream software. Windows Media Player prior to version 9 and QuickTime Player do not support playing VCD directly, though they can play the .DAT files (stored under \MPEGAV for video and audio data) reliably,^[23][24] and plugins were available. Windows Vista added native support of VCD along with DVD-Video and can launch the preferred application upon insertion. The disc format is also supported using Windows Media Player Classic variations and VLC Media Player both support VCDs natively.

Direct access playback support is available within Windows XP MCE, Windows Vista, Windows 7, BSD, Mac OS, Linux, and Darwin, among others, either directly or with updates and compatible software.

Disc playback is also available both natively and as an option on some CD- and DVD-based video game consoles, including PC-FX, Sega Saturn (pictured right), Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation.

Most DVD players are compatible with VCDs and VCD-only Players are available throughout Asia, and online through many shopping sites. Some BluRay and HD-DVD players also retain support, as do CBHD players as well.

See also[link]

• Laserdisc
• SVCD
• DVD

References[link]

External links[link]

• Patent History Video CD Player - published by Philips 2003
• Patent History Video CD Disc - published by Philips 2003
• What is VCD? - from VideoHelp.com
• VCD Help
• How Do You Play VCDs?
• How to Play VCD on Mac/Windows computer, DVD Player - from Mireth Technology
• VCD / SVCD / miniDVD FAQ - from Doom9.org

Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.

History[link]

Video technology was first developed for cathode ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing the first practical video tape recorder (VTR). In 1951 the first video tape recorder captured live images from television cameras by converting the camera's electrical impulses and saving the information onto magnetic video tape.

Video recorders sold for $50,000 in 1956, and videotape cost $300 per one-hour reel.^[1] However, prices steadily dropped over the years; in 1971, Sony began selling videocassette recorder (VCR) tapes to the public. After the invention of the DVD in 1997 and Blu-ray Disc in 2006, sales of videotape and tape equipment plummeted.

Later advances in computer technology allowed computers to capture, store, edit and transmit video clips.

Characteristics of video streams[link]

Number of frames per second[link]

Frame rate, the number of still pictures per unit of time of video, ranges from six or eight frames per second (frame/s) for old mechanical cameras to 120 or more frames per second for new professional cameras. PAL (Europe, Asia, Australia, etc.) and SECAM (France, Russia, parts of Africa etc.) standards specify 25 frame/s, while NTSC (USA, Canada, Japan, etc.) specifies 29.97 frame/s. Film is shot at the slower frame rate of 24photograms/s, which complicates slightly the process of transferring a cinematic motion picture to video. The minimum frame rate to achieve the illusion of a moving image is about fifteen frames per second.

Interlaced vs progressive[link]

Video can be interlaced or progressive. Interlacing was invented as a way to reduce flicker in early mechanical and CRT video displays without increasing the number of complete frames per second, which would have required sacrificing image detail in order to remain within the limitations of a narrow bandwidth. The horizontal scan lines of each complete frame are treated as if numbered consecutively and captured as two fields: an odd field (upper field) consisting of the odd-numbered lines and an even field (lower field) consisting of the even-numbered lines.

Analog display devices reproduce each frame in the same way, effectively doubling the frame rate as far as perceptible overall flicker is concerned. When the image capture device acquires the fields one at a time, rather than dividing up a complete frame after it is captured, the frame rate for motion is effectively doubled as well, resulting in smoother, more life-like reproduction (although with halved detail) of rapidly moving parts of the image when viewed on an interlaced CRT display, but the display of such a signal on a progressive scan device is problematic.

NTSC, PAL and SECAM are interlaced formats. Abbreviated video resolution specifications often include an i to indicate interlacing. For example, PAL video format is often specified as 576i50, where 576 indicates the total number of horizontal scan lines, i indicates interlacing, and 50 indicates 50 fields (half-frames) per second.

In progressive scan systems, each refresh period updates all of the scan lines of each frame in sequence. When displaying a natively progressive broadcast or recorded signal, the result is optimum spatial resolution of both the stationary and moving parts of the image. When displaying a natively interlaced signal, however, overall spatial resolution will be degraded by simple line doubling and artifacts such as flickering or "comb" effects in moving parts of the image will be seen unless special signal processing is applied to eliminate them. A procedure known as deinterlacing can be used to optimize the display of an interlaced video signal from an analog, DVD or satellite source on a progressive scan device such as an LCD Television, digital video projector or plasma panel. Deinterlacing cannot, however, produce video quality that is equivalent to true progressive scan source material.

Aspect ratio[link]

Comparison of common cinematography and traditional television (green) aspect ratios

Aspect ratio describes the dimensions of video screens and video picture elements. All popular video formats are rectilinear, and so can be described by a ratio between width and height. The screen aspect ratio of a traditional television screen is 4:3, or about 1.33:1. High definition televisions use an aspect ratio of 16:9, or about 1.78:1. The aspect ratio of a full 35 mm film frame with soundtrack (also known as the Academy ratio) is 1.375:1.

Ratios where the height is taller than the width are uncommon in general everyday use, but do have application in computer systems where the screen may be better suited for a vertical layout. The most common tall aspect ratio of 3:4 is referred to as portrait mode and is created by physically rotating the display device 90 degrees from the normal position. Other tall aspect ratios such as 9:16 are technically possible but rarely used. (For a more detailed discussion of this topic please refer to the page orientation article.)

Pixels on computer monitors are usually square, but pixels used in digital video often have non-square aspect ratios, such as those used in the PAL and NTSC variants of the CCIR 601 digital video standard, and the corresponding anamorphic widescreen formats. Therefore, an NTSC DV image which is 720 pixels by 480 pixels is displayed with the aspect ratio of 4:3 (which is the traditional television standard) if the pixels are thin and displayed with the aspect ratio of 16:9 (which is the anamorphic widescreen format) if the pixels are fat.

Color space and bits per pixel[link]

Example of U-V color plane, Y value=0.5

Color model name describes the video color representation. YIQ was used in NTSC television. It corresponds closely to the YUV scheme used in NTSC and PAL television and the YDbDr scheme used by SECAM television.

The number of distinct colors that can be represented by a pixel depends on the number of bits per pixel (bpp). A common way to reduce the number of bits per pixel in digital video is by chroma subsampling (e.g. 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0/4:1:1).

Video quality[link]

Video quality can be measured with formal metrics like PSNR or with subjective video quality using expert observation.

The subjective video quality of a video processing system may be evaluated as follows:

• Choose the video sequences (the SRC) to use for testing.
• Choose the settings of the system to evaluate (the HRC).
• Choose a test method for how to present video sequences to experts and to collect their ratings.
• Invite a sufficient number of experts, preferably not fewer than 15.
• Carry out testing.
• Calculate the average marks for each HRC based on the experts' ratings.

Many subjective video quality methods are described in the ITU-T recommendation BT.500. One of the standardized method is the Double Stimulus Impairment Scale (DSIS). In DSIS, each expert views an unimpaired reference video followed by an impaired version of the same video. The expert then rates the impaired video using a scale ranging from "impairments are imperceptible" to "impairments are very annoying".

Video compression method (digital only)[link]

A wide variety of methods are used to compress video streams. Video data contains spatial and temporal redundancy, making uncompressed video streams extremely inefficient. Broadly speaking, spatial redundancy is reduced by registering differences between parts of a single frame; this task is known as intraframe compression and is closely related to image compression. Likewise, temporal redundancy can be reduced by registering differences between frames; this task is known as interframe compression, including motion compensation and other techniques. The most common modern standards are MPEG-2, used for DVD, Blu-ray and satellite television, and MPEG-4, used for AVCHD, Mobile phones (3GP) and Internet.

Bit rate (digital only)[link]

Bit rate is a measure of the rate of information content in a video stream. It is quantified using the bit per second (bit/s or bps) unit or Megabits per second (Mbit/s). A higher bit rate allows better video quality. For example VideoCD, with a bit rate of about 1 Mbit/s, is lower quality than DVD, with maximum bit rate of 10.08 Mbit/s for video. HD (High Definition Digital Video and TV) has a still higher quality, with a bit rate of about 20 Mbit/s.

Variable bit rate (VBR) is a strategy to maximize the visual video quality and minimize the bit rate. On fast motion scenes, a variable bit rate uses more bits than it does on slow motion scenes of similar duration yet achieves a consistent visual quality. For real-time and non-buffered video streaming when the available bandwidth is fixed, e.g. in videoconferencing delivered on channels of fixed bandwidth, a constant bit rate (CBR) must be used.

Stereoscopic[link]

Stereoscopic video can be created using several different methods:

• two channels — a right channel for the right eye and a left channel for the left eye. Both channels may be viewed simultaneously by using light-polarizing filters 90 degrees off-axis from each other on two video projectors. These separately polarized channels are viewed wearing eyeglasses with matching polarization filters.
• one channel with two overlaid color coded layers. This left and right layer technique is occasionally used for network broadcast, or recent "anaglyph" releases of 3D movies on DVD. Simple Red/Cyan plastic glasses provide the means to view the images discretely to form a stereoscopic view of the content.
• One channel with alternating left/right frames for each eye, using LCD shutter glasses which read the frame sync from the VGA Display Data Channel to alternately cover each eye, so the appropriate eye sees the correct frame. This method is most common in computer virtual reality applications such as in a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, but reduces the effective video framerate to one-half of normal (for example, from 120 Hz to 60 Hz).

Blu-ray Discs greatly improve the sharpness and detail of the two-color 3D effect in color coded stereo programs. See articles Stereoscopy and 3-D film.

Video formats[link]

There are different layers of video transmission and storage, each with its own set of formats to choose from.

For transmission, there is a physical connector and signal protocol ("video connection standard" below). A given physical link can carry certain "display standards" which specify a particular refresh rate, display resolution, and color space.

Many analog and digital recording formats are in use, and digital video clips can also be stored on a computer file system as files which have their own formats. In addition to the physical format used by the data storage device or transmission medium, the stream of ones and zeros that is sent must be in a particular digital "video encoding", of which a number are available.

Transport medium[link]

Video can be transmitted or transported in a variety of ways. Wireless broadcast as an analog or digital signal. Coaxial cable in a closed circuit system can be sent as analog interlaced 1 volt peak to peak with a maximum horizontal line resolution up to 480. Broadcast or studio cameras use a single or dual coaxial cable system using a progressive scan format known as SDI serial digital interface and HD-SDI for High Definition video. The distances of transmission are somewhat limited depending on the manufacturer the format may be proprietary. SDI has an negligible lag and is uncompressed. There are initiatives to use the SDI standards in closed circuit surveillance systems, for Higher Definition images, over longer distances on coax or twisted pair cable. Due to the nature of the higher bandwidth needed, the distance the signal can be effectively sent is a half to a third of what the older interlaced analog systems supported.^[2]

Video connectors, cables, and signal standards[link]

• See List of video connectors for information about physical connectors and related signal standards.

Video display standards[link]

Digital television[link]

New formats for digital television broadcasts use the MPEG-2 video codec and include:

• ATSC - USA, Canada, Korea
• Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) - Europe
• ISDB - Japan
  • ISDB-Tb - Uses the MPEG-4 video codec. Brazil, Argentina
• Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) - Korea

Analog television[link]

Analog television broadcast standards include:

• FCS - USA, Russia; obsolete
• MAC - Europe; obsolete
• MUSE - Japan
• NTSC - USA, Canada, Japan
• PAL - Europe, Asia, Oceania
  • PAL-M - PAL variation. Brazil, Argentina
  • PALplus - PAL extension, Europe
• RS-343 (military)
• SECAM - France, Former Soviet Union, Central Africa

An analog video format consists of more information than the visible content of the frame. Preceding and following the image are lines and pixels containing synchronization information or a time delay. This surrounding margin is known as a blanking interval or blanking region; the horizontal and vertical front porch and back porch are the building blocks of the blanking interval.

Many countries are planning a digital switchover soon.

Computer displays[link]

See Computer display standard for a list of standards used for computer monitors and comparison with those used for television.

Recording formats before video tape[link]

• Phonovision
• Kinescope

Analog tape formats[link]

• 1" Type B video tape (Robert Bosch GmbH)
• 1" Type C videotape (Ampex, Marconi and Sony)
• 2" Quadruplex videotape (Ampex)
• 2" Helical Scan Videotape (Rank Cintel)
• Betacam (Sony)
• Betacam SP (Sony)
• Betamax (Sony)
• S-VHS (JVC) (1987)
• W-VHS (JVC) (1994)
• U-matic 3/4" (Sony)
• VCR, VCR-LP, SVR
• VERA (BBC experimental format ca. 1958)
• VHS (JVC)
• VHS-C (JVC)
• Video 2000 (Philips)

(See List of video recording formats.)

Digital tape formats[link]

• Betacam IMX (Sony)
• D-VHS (JVC)
• D-Theater
• D1 (Sony)
• D2 (Sony)
• D3
• D5 HD
• Digital-S D9 (JVC)
• Digital Betacam (Sony)
• Digital8 (Sony)
• DV
• HDV
• ProHD (JVC)
• MicroMV
• MiniDV

Optical disc storage formats[link]

• Blu-ray Disc (Sony)
• China Blue High-definition Disc (CBHD)
• DVD (was Super Density Disc, DVD Forum)
• Professional Disc
• Universal Media Disc (UMD) (Sony)

Discontinued[link]

• Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD, Chinese government-sponsored)
• HD DVD (NEC and Toshiba)
• HD-VMD
• Laserdisc (old, MCA and Philips)

Digital encoding formats[link]

• CCIR 601 (ITU-T)
• H.261 (ITU-T)
• H.263 (ITU-T)
• H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (ITU-T + ISO)
• M-JPEG (ISO)
• MPEG-1 (ISO)
• MPEG-2 (ITU-T + ISO)
• MPEG-4 (ISO)
• Ogg-Theora
• VP8-WebM
• VC-1 (SMPTE)

• See also: Video codec and list of codecs

Standards[link]

• System M
• System B

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Video

• General
  • Audio
  • List of video topics
  • Video clips
  • Video editing

• Video format
  • Analog television
  • Cable television
  • Color space
  • Digital television
  • Digital video
  • Film formats
  • Interlaced
  • Progressive scan
  • Satellite television
  • Telecine
  • Television
  • Timecode
  • Video codec

• Video usage
  • Closed-circuit television
  • Fulldome video
  • Optical feedback
  • Video art
  • Interactive video
  • Video production
  • Video projector
  • Video synthesizer
  • Video teleconference
  • Video communication
• Video screen recording
  • Screencast

• Projects
  • Redesign project

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2008)

External links[link]

• Video as Arts at the Open Directory Project
• Video as Media Production at the Open Directory Project
• Programmer's Guide to Video Systems: in-depth technical info on 480i, 576i, 1080i, 720p, etc.

Luis Miguel
Background information
Birth name	Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri
Also known as	El Sol de México, "Luismi", "Micky"
Born	(1970-04-19) April 19, 1970 (age 42) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Origin	Mexico
Genres	Latin pop, pop music, bolero, mariachi
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocal, piano
Years active	1981–present
Labels	EMI Latin (1981-1986) Warner Music (1987-present)
Associated acts	Frank Sinatra Armando Manzanero Manuel Alejandro Sheena Easton
Website	Official website

Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (April 19, 1970) is a Mexican singer.^[1][2] He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel. An icon in the Spanish-speaking countries, he is often referred to as "El Sol de México" (The Sun of Mexico) or simply "El Sol" (The Sun).^[3][4]

Beginning his musical career in his childhood, Luis Miguel has won five Grammys and four Latin Grammys among other numerous awards.^[5] He is considered as one of the top male pop vocalists in the world nowadays. His contribution to Latin pop music, along with his hermetic personal life, has made him a global figure of Latin music for almost three decades. He debuted on the professional music at 11 years old. At the age of fifteen, Luis Miguel received his first Grammy for his duet "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" (I Like You Just The Way You Are) with Sheena Easton.^[3] In 1991, the RIAA gave him a recognition for the high sales of the albums Romance and Segundo Romance.^[3] Luis Miguel is the only Latin artist to have two Spanish-language albums (Romance and Segundo Romance) go platinum in the USA. He has achieved a long string of distinctions. Also among those was having his album Luis Miguel achieve gold and platinum certifications in four countries, including the United States, within just three days of its release.

Luis Miguel is also known by his high-grossing tours and his outstanding live performances. His Amarte Es Un Placer Tour had a length of 8 months during 1999–2000 and run through 8 countries in two continents. The tour consisted of 105 concerts and was attended by approximately 1.5 million fans. It was the highest-grossing tour ever made by a Latin artist, as well as the most extended. These two records have been broken by his Mexico En La Piel Tour of 2005–2007, with a total of 124 concerts, over 1.4 millions spectators, and grossing over $95 million.

Early life[link]

He was named Luis Miguel in honor of fame Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín.^[6] Although Luis Miguel has lived almost his entire life in Mexico, he was born in Puerto Rico, where his father performed occasionally as a singer. His parents were Spanish singer Luisito Rey and Italian actress Marcella Basteri.^[7] Luis Miguel has two younger brothers. His father was from Cadiz, a city in southwestern Spain. During his child years, his father, who was also his manager, encouraged him to watch and analyze nearly every movie, recording, and concert performance of Elvis Presley.^[7] Luis Miguel's mother was from Carrara, Italy. She disappeared mysteriously in 1986, when he was a teenager. Luis Miguel spent much of his childhood in Spain and Italy as well.^[7]

Career[link]

In 1981, at the age of 11, Luis Miguel released his first album, Un Sol, by the Mexican branch of EMI Records.^[8] Two years later, he started touring Latin American countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina.

In 1985, at age of 15, he took part at the Sanremo Music Festival, where he won the second place award with his song "Noi Ragazzi Di Oggi".^[7] That same year, he was also presented with the "Antorcha de Plata" Award in the Viña del Mar Music Festival for his duet single "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" ("I Like You Just As You Are") with Scottish singer Sheena Easton.^[3] In 1984, he co-starred in the film Ya Nunca Más and in 1985, Fiebre de Amor with singer Lucero as his co-star.^[7]

In 1986, Luis Miguel gave his career a brief break, as his relationship with his father was souring due to alleged mismanagement, poor financial decisions and risking his earnings of his career. Shortly after signing with Warner Records, in 1987, he fired his father and started to work with Juan Carlos Calderón.^[7] Luis Miguel's album Soy Como Quiero Ser in May 1987 sold well.^[7] The album featured hits such as "Cuando Calienta El Sol", "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar", and "Yo Que No Vivo Sin Ti".

On November 25, 1988, Luis Miguel's second album Busca Una Mujer was released. The first single La Incondicional became a top-ten hit throughout Latin America in the first half of 1989,^[7] thanks in part to the music video. The video was shocking to many fans as he had cut his signature long hair. This cemented his transition from a child star into an adult superstar. By the end of 1989, the second single Fría Como El Viento reached No. 1 on the Hot Latin Tracks.^[9] He also had a top-ten single Separados in early 1990, peaking at #8.

In 1990, he made a successful transition from a child singer to an adult showman with the album 20 Años and an ensuing string of sold-out shows first in Mexico then throughout Latin America and elsewhere in the world. 20 Años which sold 600,000 copies in its first week of release,^[7] resulted in release of three singles Tengo Todo Excepto A Ti, Entrégate, Amante Del Amor with the two former hitting number 1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks in 1990.^[9]

In 1991, Luis Miguel's career went to even greater heights and earned him the respect of a wider audience with the release of Romance, an album of romantic boleros, most of them from the 1940s and 1950s. He has been credited with reinventing the bolero for modern audiences. The album Romance, which became his most successful material ever eventually sold 15 million units worldwide.^[7]

In 1993, Luis Miguel's fifth studio album, Aries, was released, which won him that year's Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album.^[3] That same year, Luis Miguel was personally invited by Frank Sinatra to join him on his Duets II album and to perform live in a nationally televised special in honor of Sinatra's 80th birthday; along with other stars such as Stevie Wonder and Natalie Cole.^[7]

In 1994, he released a sequel to Romance, Segundo Romance, featuring Luis Miguel as a convincing pop singer with mastery over timeless Latin classics such as "Solamente Una Vez" and "Sin Ti". The album went on to earn a Grammy Award^[3] as well as reaching a Platinum status in the United States.^[10]

In 1996, Luis received a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[3] Soon after, Luis Miguel quickly returned to the studios and released Nada Es Igual, a pop album featuring "Sueña", the main theme for Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.^[3] In 1997, Luis Miguel released his third album of the bolero series Romances, which earned him a World Music Award and another Grammy Award.^[7]

In 1999, Luis Miguel released his ninth studio album Amarte Es Un Placer which, in 2000, earned him two Latin Grammys for being Best Album of the Year and Best Pop Album of the Year.^[3] The single "O Tú, O Ninguna" of Amarte Es Un Placer became number 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks and perched at the top position for eight consecutive weeks.^[9] Following the success of Amarte Es Un Placer, Luis Miguel released Mis Romances in 2001, his fourth album in the bolero series. The album, which sold over two million copies worldwide was followed by the launch of Mis Romances Tour which took place throughout the U.S., Europe, and Latin America.

In 2003, Luis Miguel released his first pop album in over four years entitled 33, indicative of his age. The album, which featured a collection of ballads and uptempo songs climbed to number 1 on Billboard's Latin Charts earning Luis Miguel two Billboard Awards as well as Grammy and Latin Grammy award nominations.^[8] On the 33 Tour, Luis Miguel filled the largest halls in the U.S., toured throughout Latin America and in Chile where his album 33 sold 2.5 million copies (more records than any other artist in the history of Chile).^[8] He also performed at Mexico's sold-out National Auditorium, and various sold-out shows at Buenos Aires, as well as other prestigious international venues such as Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Spain. That same year, Prince Felipe of Spain presented him with a special award for being the best-selling foreign artist in his country's history, and hosted a special party in his honor in Madrid.^[7]

In 2004, Luis Miguel released his Mexico En La Piel. The album, which was a collection of traditional Mexican mariachi songs went on to sell three million copies worldwide.^[11] He launched his Mexico En La Piel Tour in 2005. In 2006, Luis Miguel performed thirty sold out shows between January 18 and February 27 at the National Auditorium in Mexico City.^[7] The 123-date tour started in September 2005 in Mexico which then stretched to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

Luis Miguel in 2005

In 2005, Luis Miguel released Grandes Exitos, his first greatest hits album, that featured his greatest songs he recorded during all his career, including two never-released singles: "Misterios Del Amor" and "Si Te Perdiera".

That same year, he released a Christmas album called Navidades. The playlist includes many Christmas standards in Spanish. The album reached number one on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart during the first week of its release.^[12] The album released two singles "Santa Claus Llegó A La Ciudad" ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), and "Mi Humilde Oración" ("My Grown-up Christmas List").

On May 6, 2008, Luis Miguel released Cómplices, produced by him and written by Spanish composer Manuel Alejandro. It sold almost 350,000 copies in the first 24 hours.^[13] The first single, "Si Tú Te Atreves" was released on April 7, 2008, the second single of the album was "Te Desean". His Complices Tour began in Seattle, Washington on September 3, 2008.

Luis Miguel released his self-titled studio album on September 14, 2010. Its first single "Labios de Miel" is a smooth Latin pop song. His current world tour started on November 4, 2010 in the city of Lima, Peru and runs through the United States, South America, Mexico and Spain among other countries.^[14] On February 22, 2012, he sang at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival. With one million dollars for his performance, he became the most expensive artist in the history of the festival.

Summary of Distinctions[link]

At the age of fifteen, Luis Miguel received a Grammy Award for his duet "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" (I Like You Just The Way You Are) with Sheena Easton.^[3] In 1991, the RIAA gave him a recognition for the high sales of the albums Romance and Segundo Romance.^[3] Luis Miguel is the only Latin artist to have two Spanish-language albums (Romance and Segundo Romance) go platinum in the USA.

He was the only Latin artist to perform at the show "SINATRA: 80 Years My Way", along with other pop icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Cole and Bob Dylan.^[3] His album Romances of 1997, became the first Spanish-language album ever debuting at No. 14 on the Billboard Top 200.^[3] Warner Music recognized Luis Miguel as the best-selling artist in the history of Chile with over 2.5 million records sold.^[3] In 2003, Prince Felipe of Spain presented him with a special award for being the best-selling foreign artist in his country's history. In 2008, Luis Miguel's album Navidades became the first Christmas album ever being nominated to the Grammy in the category of Pop.^[3] His album Cómplices broke records in Mexico, by selling over 320,000 copies in its first day of release.^[3] Just three days after its release, his new album achieved Quadruple Platinum certification in Mexico, Platinum in Argentina and gold records in Chile and the United States.

Luis Miguel is also known by his high-grossing tours and his outstanding live performances. His Amarte Es Un Placer Tour had a length of 8 months and run through Mexico, USA, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil and Spain between 1999 and 2000. The tour consisted of 105 concerts and was attended by approximately 1.5 million fans. It was the highest-grossing tour ever made by a Latin artist, as well as the most extended. These two records have been broken by his Mexico En La Piel Tour. His 33 Tour peaked at No. 1 in the Billboard World Top Boxscore.^[3] The Mexico En La Piel Tour of 2005–2007, with a total of 124 concerts, peaked at No. 1 in the Billboard World Top Boxscore. The tour spanned two years with a total of 124 concerts attended by over 1.5 millions spectators, and grossed around $950 million.^[3] In 2006, during the Mexico En La Piel Tour, after giving 30 consecutive sold-out concerts at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico, gathering over 260,000 spectators he was awarded with the "Estela de Plata" at the last concert.^[3] His Luis Miguel Tour is ranked at number five of the highest-grossing tours of 2011 in North America.^[15]

Cultural impact[link]

Luis Miguel's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Luis Miguel is considered as one of the top male pop singers worldwide today. In a career that has spanned over twenty-five years, he has become the main singer from Latin America, having performed successfully pop music, bolero, mariachi and romantic ballads.^[16][17] In the late 1980s, Luis Miguel made the transition from child star to consolidated international singer, and since then, he became one of the most revered and popular Latin American artists ever.^[16][17] His wide vocal range and performance has been praised by critics and other artists all over the world.^[16][17]

Frank Sinatra personally invited Luis Miguel to participate on a duet in the album Duets II. Luis Miguel has been dubbed several times by the press and the media as the "Latin Frank Sinatra".^[18]

His music has reached to non-Spanish speaking continents such as Asia and Africa. The press stated that at the time of his capture, the dictator Saddam Hussein, had the album Segundo Romance, among his belongings.^[19]

Awards and recognitions[link]

Personal life[link]

Luis Miguel refuses to speak to the media about his personal life and keeps the matter private. Luis Miguel rarely grants interviews or attends award ceremonies. He is always escorted by a diligent security team and he is transported in several trucks to distract paparazzis and reporters.^[20]

He is recognized for his taste for haute cuisine and for being a self-taught sommelier. He released his own vintage of wine, "Unico. Luis Miguel", a Cabernet Sauvignon.^[21][22] He is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English, Italian and Portuguese.^[23][24]

Luis Miguel is the father of three children: Michelle Salas, born on June 13, 1989, from his relationship with Stephanie Salas; Miguel, born on January 1, 2007 and Daniel, born on December 18, 2008, both from his relationship with actress Aracely Arámbula. His numerous relationships are widely covered by the Latin media.^[25]

In April 2010, he was briefly hospitalized at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The cause of the hospitalization was not disclosed.^[26]

Discography[link]

Album certifications[link]

• Soy Como Quiero Ser: 5 Platinum Discs, 8 Gold Discs
• Romance: 70 Platinum Discs, 3 Gold Discs
• Aries: 40 Platinum Discs 6 Gold Discs
• Segundo Romance: 50 Platinum Discs
• Nada Es Igual: 30 Platinum Discs
• Romances: 50 Platinum Discs
• Amarte Es Un Placer: 4 Platinum Discs, 4 Gold Discs
• Mis Romances: 8 Platinum Discs, 3 Gold Discs
• 33: 11 Platinum Discs, 2 Gold Discs
• México En La Piel: 1 Diamond Disc, 11 Platinum Discs, 1 Gold Disc
• Grandes Exitos: 5 Platinum Discs, 3 Gold Discs
• Grandes Exitos Videos: 1 Platinum Discs, 1 Gold Disc
• Navidades Luis Miguel: 1 Diamond Discs, 10 Platinum Discs, 2 Gold Disc.
• Cómplices: 1 Diamond Disc, 9 Platinum Discs, 1 Gold Disc

Total career: 3 Diamond Discs, 304 Platinum Discs, 34 Gold Discs

Total career counting singles: 16.7 million discs^{[3][27][28][29][30]}

^[31][32][33]

Tours[link]

• (1990–1991) Gira 20 Años
• (1991–1992) Romance Tour
• (1993–1994) Aries Tour
• (1994–1995) Segundo Romance Tour
• (1995) El Concierto Tour
• (1996) America Tour
• (1997–1998) Romances Tour
• (1999–2000) Amarte Es Un Placer Tour
• (2002) Mis Romances Tour
• (2003–2004) 33 Tour
• (2005–2007) Mexico En La Piel Tour
• (2008–2009) Complices Tour
• (2010–2011) Luis Miguel Tour

References[link]