| There have been a lot of different mediums for | | | | With exception of a little noticed and failed video disc |
| storing video over the years and they just keep | | | | format that used laser technology and that was |
| getting better and better. For example, the first | | | | marketed in the late nineteen seventies, the VHS |
| movies were silent movies because the technology | | | | video cassette format was the dominant technology |
| of the time wasn't capable of encoding sound on | | | | until nineteen ninety eight when the DVD- or digital |
| celluloid (or reading it off of celluloid either for that | | | | video disc- was introduced. The DVD was the |
| matter). In these movies, text was shown on the | | | | successful descendant of the older laser disc format. |
| screen in between shots of the actors to tell the | | | | DVD's were much smaller than the older laser discs, |
| audience what the actors were saying and music | | | | being the same size as CD's, and encoded information |
| was often played along with the movie either by a | | | | much more efficiently. DVD's gradually replaced VHS |
| live piano player or on a record player of some sort. | | | | as the preferred video storage format of consumers. |
| Of course it didn't take long for movie makers to | | | | Now, high definition DVD's are the latest consumer |
| figure out how to encode sound on celluloid and a | | | | video storage technology. Unfortunately though High |
| new era in film making was born. It would still be | | | | Def DVD's have yet to be accepted by the |
| some decades though before color was added to | | | | mainstream because of an ugly war between the |
| the capabilities of video recording, but when it did, it | | | | two formats that arrived on the scene virtually |
| made a huge difference to the quality of the | | | | simultaneously. Both formats are capable of storing |
| entertainment. | | | | huge amounts of data- enough to render an entire |
| Of course technology eventually emerged that | | | | full length movie in movie theater quality from a single |
| allowed people to make their own home movies on | | | | disc the same size as the older DVD format. |
| 35 millimeter film, but it wasn't until the invention of | | | | There has been speculation that another video |
| the video cassette that consumers really got control | | | | storage format could make high def DVD's obsolete |
| over how they recorded and watched video. The | | | | before they really have a chance to take hold. For |
| video cassette was (and is) basically a reel to reel | | | | example, some insiders predict that in the near future |
| magnetic tape that's enclosed in a casing to protect it | | | | people will purchase terabyte sized hard disks that |
| from damage. The video cassette player turned the | | | | contain a huge number of movie titles. As the |
| wheels and dragged the tape over heads that read | | | | owners of these hard disks want to watch the |
| the information encoded on the tape and then | | | | movies stored on them, they can pay a fee to the |
| converted that information into video and audio. | | | | distributor in order to unlock and view each movie. |
| Video cassette tapes came in both VHS and | | | | This would certainly eliminate a lot of the difficulties |
| Betamax formats, but the principle of how they | | | | associated with distributing individual videos, and as |
| worked was basically the same. Video cassette | | | | surprising as it may seem, current technology is close |
| technology allowed people to record their own video | | | | to being ready for such a development. The Internet |
| either off of TV signals or using video cameras. This | | | | is another alternative source of video to look out for. |
| technology also gave rise to stores that rented and | | | | We may be looking at an interesting phenomenon |
| sold movies that were prerecorded on video | | | | where an entire video storage format becomes |
| cassettes. | | | | obsolete before it gets adopted by the mainstream. |