DVD-Video is a video format used to store digital video on DVD discs. DVD-Video was the most popular home video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia in the 2000s until it was surpassed by Blu-ray Disc. DVD-Discs require a DVD drive and a DVD player. Commercial DVD movies are encoded using a combination MPEG-2 compressed video and audio of varying formats. Typically, the data rate for DVD movies ranges from 3 to 9.5 Mbit/s, and the bit rate changed dynamically. DVD-Video was first available in Japan on 1 November, 1996, it was release on 24 March, 1997 in the United States.
Licensing for DVD
The DVD-Video specification was made by DVD Forum and can be obtained from DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation for a fee of $5,000. Every subscriber must sign a non-disclosure agreement, meaning they cannot share the information publicly. Certain information in the DVD Book is confidential.