Logan Voss
Viewing methods have undergone a massive transition from VCRs to DVDs to, eventually, streaming services. You can discover many things about an older form of film consumption here as we uncover when and how the DVD became mainstream.
Who Invented the DVD?
The DVD has been a miraculous invention made by the companies Phillips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic. These companies first created this disc to store data on it, such as computer files. However, film studios realized that they could profit from this.
Surely enough, someone in the HR department nudged one president and said, “Hey, you know, we could profit from putting our movies onto discs. Imagine how much money we could be saving!” Eventually, Hollywood took note, and to minimize their costs of creating multiple copies of videotapes, studios decided to create DVDs since they could hold large files and reduce the need for buying more film tape. From there, DVDs became popular. But when did it fully replace video?
When Did DVDS Replace Video?
Video wasn’t going anywhere until 2002. The early 2000s saw a major turn of events once DVDs overtook VHS. VHS wasn’t necessary once DVDs and DVD players became affordable. By 2001, you could buy a DVD player for less than 100 dollars; in 2003, you could buy one for less than 50 dollars.
DVDS officially overthrew video by 2008. The main reason DVD was the best film distribution method was the lower cost of recreating multiple copies of the same film.
How DVDS Became Mainstream
When and how did the DVD become mainstream? DVDs became popular because they were cheaper for film studios to distribute large quantities of the same film.
The rise and fall of the VCR had led film studios to rethink their film distribution and how they could protect their content from piracy. So film studios used encryption codes on DVDs that prevented American-released films from being played in other places, like Europe.
Though the encryption helped with distribution issues, it has since faded away, making it possible to copy any disc. Additionally, DVD cases now have a link that others can use to watch a film from anywhere.
Will DVDs Still Be Around in the Future?
You bet your bottom dollar that DVDs aren’t going anywhere at any point. Now is the time to add to your collection, with many more films and shows from the ‘70s to now being remastered and released via online viewing and DVD.
On the DL, DVDs aren’t going out of style. These discs are worth keeping, especially if the Wi-Fi goes out one day; how else will you watch your favorite shows without streaming? DVDs! DVDs have been there to keep us company and entertain us for hours. Let’s celebrate the existence of movie discs by popping one in tonight!
