About DVDs - The History

• 1994 Hollywood ad hoc committee defined plan of movies on 'CD'
  
• 1995 Philips/Sony announce and demonstrate MMCD Toshiba and Warner announce and demonstrate SD
  
• End of 1995 An agreement of a single standard format called DVD
  
• Mid 1996 Publication of DVD-Rom and DVD-Video specifications version 1.0
  
• End of 1996 Outline of protection scheme agreed. First DVD-Video players sold in Tokyo
  
• Early 1997 Launch of DVD in seven cities in the USA
  
• Mid 1997 DVD available across USA
  
• End 1997 DVD Consortium becomes DVD Forum and expands membership
  
• Early 1998 DVD-Video version 1.1 and DVD-ROM version 1.01 specifications
  
• Mid 1998 Soft launch of DVD in Western Europe. DVD Forum publishes DVD-Audio specification version 0.9
  
• End 1998 Full launch of DVD in Europe. 1 million DVD-Video players sold in USA. Also 4.7 GB DVD-R and DVD-RAM version 1.9 specifications released
  
• Mid 1999 DVD-Audio specification version 1.0 released