science

High-definition pre-recorded media and compression

High-definition pre-recorded media and compression is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand High-definition pre-recorded media and compression rather than just read about it. In short: The first attempt at producing pre-recorded HDTV media was a scarce Japanese analog MUSE-encoded laser disc which is no longer produced (see MUSE-LD). In the U.S. market, the first currently available prerecorded HD media was D-Theater.

Key takeaways

High-definition pre-recorded media and compression belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect High-definition pre-recorded media and compression to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of High-definition pre-recorded media and compression from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The first attempt at producing pre-recorded HDTV media was a scarce Japanese analog MUSE-encoded laser disc which is no longer produced (see MUSE-LD). In the U.S. market, the first currently available prerecorded HD media was D-Theater. Comprising less than 100 titles and utilizing a 28-Mbit/s MPEG2 stream at 720p or 1080i with either Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS encoding, D-Theater is an encrypted D-VHS format, and only D-Theater-capable D-VHS players can play back these tapes. This format is superior to broadcast HDTV due to its higher bandwidth and, of course, the ability to do non-realtime optimization of the encoding, which is not possible with broadcast HDTV. D-Theater is currently a small niche market even within the niche HDTV community, and it appears as if the final D-Theater title was published in 2005 with the 20th Century Fox release of I, Robot. In 2006, the first pre-recorded digital optical HDTV media were introduced. There were two competing standards, Blu-ray and HD DVD. The first HD DVD players and discs were released in the United States on April 18, 2006, while Blu-ray was released on June 20, 2006.

HD DVD and Blu-ray

Since the DVD Forum and the Blu-ray Disc Association failed to agree on standards for high-definition 12-cm discs, a format war was under way between the DVD Forum's HD DVD (formerly "Advanced Optical Disc") standard and the Blu-ray Disc Association's Blu-ray Disc standard. Although there was disagreement about physical format technology, both the HD DVD and Blu-ray factions selected the same three video codecs to be mandatory in their designs: specifically, MPEG-2 Part 2, VC-1, and H.264/AVC. They were engaged in a format war up until February 2008, to determine which of the two formats will become the leading carrier for high-definition content to consumers. This situation was similar to the VHS/Betamax format war in consumer video recorders in the late 1980s. The manufacturers of HD DVD, Toshiba, announced in February 2008 that they were ceasing production of their HD DVD players indefinitely, citing low demand for HD DVD and the growing use of Blu-ray, which had become popular due to its inclusion as part of the PlayStation 3 among other things. There are now some DVD players that will output enhanced or high-definition signals from standard-definition DVDs. This upconversion process can improve the perceived picture quality of standard-definition video.

Compression codecs Many codecs are in contention such as Microsoft's Windows Media Video version 9 (VC-1), H.264/AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10) and the VP6/VP7 codecs from On2 Technologies.

Microsoft VC-1

In an attempt to provide a bitrate-compatible high-definition format for high-definition video on standard DVD-ROMs, Microsoft introduced their Windows Media 9 Series codec with the ability to compress a high-definition bitstream into the same space as a conventional NTSC bitstream (approximately 5 to 9 megabits per second for 720p and higher). Microsoft is marketing its high-definition Windows Media 9 Series codec as WMV HD. It remains to be seen if the codec will be adopted for widespread use, if only as a Wi-Fi industry standard. As of November 2003, this format required a significant amount of processing power to encode and decode, and the only commercially available movie that used the codec was the Terminator 2: Extreme Edition DVD (see 1). Since then, more titles have become available in this format, such as the acclaimed surf documentary Step Into Liquid. As of the start of 2005, Microsoft recommends a 3.0 GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM and a 128 MB video card for 1080p playback on Windows XP, though there are now commercially available DVD players, like the KiSS DP-600, that will play back WMV HD DVD ROMs in high definition on HDTV sets. The codec has been submitted to, and approved by, SMPTE and is now officially SMPTE Standard 421M, also known as VC-1.

MPEG4/H.264

H.264 as a standard has already been selected and adopted by the biggest broadcasters in the U.S. (DirecTV, DISH Network) and Europe (BSkyB, Premiere, Canal+, TPS, ...). H.264 was chosen for several reasons: The standard was validated as an open standard at least a year before VC-1 was seriously considered as a potential open standard, and, then, there is a lot of uncertainty on the levies Microsoft may want to impose once the algorithm is adopted.

VP6 VP6 was reported by On2 to have been chosen by China for use in the Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD) format initiative. As reported, this was a result of China's desire to avoid royalties on WM9 or AVC. As an advantage, VP6 would not require royalties on recorded media (although royalties would be charged for player devices at a similar cost as for other codecs). As China starts to dominate manufacturing of TV and DVD units, the country's choice of standards becomes more important for everyone. A low cost for the codec itself is not a significant advantage over DVD, however, as the standalone hardware players will be incompatible with standard DVD-Video unless the manufacturer pays the royalties for the technologies necessary to make the player DVD-compatible. Very few titles were made available in any market for this format, although it is presumed that many would be needed to drive purchase of incompatible players. Because of this, it is unlikely any major U.S. studio will commit to movies in this format without some form of copy-protection, which is not yet specified. Soon after the announcement that VP6 would be used on EVD, negotiations between On2 and E-World (the consortium pushing EVD to become a standard) broke down. On2 filed multiple breach of contract claims for arbitration, but in March 2005 the arbitrator ruled that E-World had not broken the contract and owed nothing to On2. It was unclear to On2 and the arbitrator whether the Chinese government ever approved the EVD proposal as a standard.

HDV

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with High-definition pre-recorded media and compression

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what High-definition pre-recorded media and compression claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to High-definition pre-recorded media and compression before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about High-definition pre-recorded media and compression ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of High-definition pre-recorded media and compression

In research: High-definition pre-recorded media and compression appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses High-definition pre-recorded media and compression in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: High-definition pre-recorded media and compression is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics High-definition television, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for High-definition pre-recorded media and compression outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study High-definition pre-recorded media and compression in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what High-definition pre-recorded media and compression means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain High-definition pre-recorded media and compression out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is High-definition pre-recorded media and compression in simple terms?

Why does High-definition pre-recorded media and compression matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study High-definition pre-recorded media and compression?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on High-definition pre-recorded media and compression.