What the heck is a VCD?
VCD stands for video compact disk. Most Hong Kong and some Japanese and Korean films are available in this format since it is extremely cheap to manufacture. Each disk can hold approximately 1 hour of play (about 100 Mb) which means most movies in this format come on two disks. They are the same size as music CDs and can be played on a computer (PC with MPEG card or Macs with DVD/CD-ROM drives using QuickTime) or a VCD-compatible DVD player such as the Sony DVP S330. If you are going to purchase a DVD player for the purposes of playing VCDs, check with your electronics dealer and make sure s/he knows what a VCD is. You might consider bringing a sample to try at the store. Overall picture and sound quality differ from manufacturer, title, year, etc. Check your local Hong Kong film forums for tips and advice or write us directly and we’ll do our best to help.
