Introduction
Video CD [VCD]is a popular format for films in the far east with distributors being commonplace in Malaysia and in other neighbouring countries.
VCD never took off in Europe and the USA like it did in the far east. However you can expect to find all the major releases on this format and it should not be overlooked.
VCD is a format that can be played on nearly all DVD players, Sega Saturns, Playstations and even on a low specification PC! You can find out more about Playback here!
Did you know that it is possible to buy the Star Wars Trilogy on Video CD, in the USA and Europe it is only possible to buy it on VHS. The DVD versions are not even planned! So you could be the envy of all your friends and get hold of a copy long before their DVD release!
There is much debate over picture quality however the sound is as clear as you would expect from a compact disc. To give you some indication DVD uses MPEG-2 as a compression standard for films whereas VCD uses a much older compression standard MPEG-1. These terms are explained in the F.A.Q. Having watched VCDs I can say that the quality will vary from film to film and opinions vary but the quality is a good as a lot of VHS releases. Most films will span over two discs, however Gladiator spans over a whole three discs!
This VCD section aims to help you the world wide web browser uncovered the gems that VCD has to offer. This is a compilation of known information in one handy reference site.