mb video selection's video: An Introduction to CD Video Philips 1988

From a 12", CAV demonstration disc for the Philips CD Video format from 1988. There were a number of sampler discs for the format, of which this appears to be the earliest. CD Video was a strange beast, because it was really just an extension of the Laserdisc/Laservision format, tweaked to modulate the video information pits in such a way that those modulations could be invisible to the video circuitry yet be used by separate circuitry to decode CD-format digital audio. This was distinct to pure Laserdisc/Laservision discs at the time which used FM-modulated analogue soundtracks. The CD Video launch was largely a failure due to unreliable early players, high cost of the players and the discs, and the fact that digital codecs were just around the corner - within 18 months the MPEG1 codec was ready and implemented into a new, all-digital, Video CD format. However the CD Video audio specification became standard for Laserdiscs from then on, the Laserdisc name was restored but with the additional mark, "Digital Audio", Philips pulled out of the Laserdisc market but Pioneer picked up the baton and produced a highly-regarded range of players throughout the 1990s, even finishing with a short-lived combined Laserdisc/DVD player.