Digital versatile disc

Digital versatile disc (DVD) is a type of compact optical disc storage system first released in Japan on November 1st, 1996. Developed by the DVD Forum, the format was designed to replace the VHS format and other physical media such as CD-ROMs and floppy disks. DVDs offer much higher storage capacity than those formats, which is why they quickly outpaced VHS in popularity.

Unlike its predecessor VHS, the DVD has a far greater storage capacity and can contain video, audio, and computer data up to a maximum of 4.7 gigabytes (GB). DVDs are also much sturdier than other types of storage media. They are non-rewritable and generally scratch-resistant, making them ideal for taking with you on the go.

DVDs are widely used in both the consumer market and business fields. In homes, DVDs are commonly used to watch movies, store photographs, and listen to music. In business, DVDs are often used for backup or transport of business data.

Various types of DVD formats exist, including single-layer and dual-layer discs. The single-layer discs have a capacity of up to 4.7 GB and single-sided (with a single layer of plastic). The dual-layer discs have a capacity of up to 8.54 GB and are double-sided (with two layers of plastic). Additionally, rewritable DVD formats exist which allow users to write data to the disc multiple times. These are primarily used for data archiving and backup.

The digital versatile disc also has various sizes. The most common sizes are the 12 cm disc (4.7 GB storage) and the 8 cm disc (1.4 GB storage). Some versions also have increased capacity up to 20GB (DL-DVD-Rs), but this format proved to be too expensive to be widely adopted.

Since the introduction of the Blu-ray disc in 2006, the format of the DVD has seen a decrease in popularity, although it still remains a widely used format today.