DVD forum
The DVD Forum (without a hyphen, because it is the organization's own name) is a voluntary association of more than 230 companies that have set themselves the goal of coordinating industry standards for the entertainment and IT industries with regard to DVD . This industry association was founded in 1995 under the name DVD Consortium and was renamed the DVD Forum in 1997 . The DVD Forum is based in Tokyo .
Over the years the DVD Forum has acquired a very “bureaucratic structure” due to the diverse interest groups. With recordable DVD formats in particular, there are so great conflicts of interest between device manufacturers and the entertainment industry that device manufacturers often went their own way:
- The first case occurred with DVD-R and DVD -RW. For both DVD formats, some device manufacturers wanted cheaper recordable DVD formats and developed the DVD + R and DVD + RW. These two DVD formats were not able to reach a consensus in the DVD forum, so that their market establishment was undertaken via the DVD + RW Alliance .
- The second case occurred with the development of the DVD successor. While the DVD Forum provides the HD DVD for this, some device manufacturers see the Blu-ray Disc as more promising for this. Blu-ray Disc supporters are organized in the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), which further undermines the power of the DVD Forum.
But also within the DVD Forum there are interest groups that organize themselves in their own organizations, such as:
- the RWPPI (for DVD-R and DVD-RW),
- the RDVDC (for DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM) or
- the RAMPRG ( DVD-RAM only ).
In addition to the task of standardizing DVD formats, the DVD Forum also owns the rights to DVD names and DVD logos. Only the DVD formats that have been approved by the DVD Forum are allowed to carry the DVD logo. Devices such as media that bear the DVD logo must be compatible with each other.
Working groups
The Technical Coordination Group (TGC) of the DVD Forum currently consists of the following nine working groups (WG for short) as of November 28, 2004:
- WG1: DVD-Video and video recording applications.
- WG2: Physical specifications for DVD-ROM.
- WG3: File system specifications for discs.
- WG4: DVD-Audio applications.
- WG5: Physical specifications for DVD-RAM.
- WG6: Physical specifications for DVD-R and DVD-RW.
- WG9: Copyright protection.
- WG10: Professional applications.
- WG11: Blue Laser DVD.
Founding company
The DVD Forum was founded in 1995 by the following ten companies under the name "DVD Consortium":
- Hitachi, Ltd. ,
- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. ,
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation ,
- Pioneer Electronic Corporation ,
- Royal Philips Electronics NV ,
- Sony Corporation ,
- Thomson SA ,
- Time Warner Inc. ,
- Toshiba Corporation and
- Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.
The membership list now includes over 230 companies (as of September 12, 2004).
Web links
- dvdforum.org - Official homepage of the DVD Forum (in English).
- dvdfllc.co.jp - Licensing DVD logo usage (English).
- dvddemystierter.de - Frequently asked questions about DVD from the newsgroup [1] . The DVD forum is dealt with in chapter 6.1.
- tecchannel.de - Historical development of the DVD, note the descriptions of the various organizations.