Development of the Compact Disc, CD-ROM, DVD and Blu-Ray
1841: French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy proposed Sampling Theorem, which was used in the conversion of audio into digital format.
1842: An analytical engine for storing and performing calculations developed by Charles Babbage, a British mathematician and inventor.
1854: George Boole, a British mathematician, published theoretical concept used in digital circuits.
1855: Phono-autograph, a device used to record vibrations on a carbonized paper, was invented by Leon Scott de Martinville, a French printer-turned-inventor.
1877: Thomas Edison, an American inventor and scientist, invented the phonograph, an earlier version of the gramophone.
1887: Edison’s Wax Cylinder Phonograph replaced by the first ever audio disc, which was invented by American Emile Berliner.
1915: First 10-inch 78 rpm gramophone record introduced.
1922: The concept of time sampling in communication introduced by John Renshaw Carson.
1928: Technology used for today’s audio CDs proposed and proved in theory by Harry Nyquist, a Swedish physicist.
1937: Alec Reeves, a British scientist, invented pulse-code modulation technology, which is still being used in audio CDs today.
1947: Magnetic tape recorders introduced in US markets.
1948: Claude Shannon, American mathematician and “Father of Information Theory”, published Mathematical Theory of Communication, which contributed significantly to CD technology.
1949: 7-inch 45 rpm records introduced in the US markets.
1950: Richard Hamming, an American mathematician, published Theory of Error Detection and Corrections, an important document for the manufacturing of error-free CDs.
1958: Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments introduced the integrated circuit.
1960: Laser technology introduced by Theodore Maiman and used for data storage in CDs. Irving Stoy Reed and Gustave Soloman invented the Reed Solomon code, an algebraic error-correcting and detection code, which was used for reading and encoding CDs.
1965: James Russell, an American inventor, introduced the concept of optical digital recording and playback.
1967: 12-bit PCM digital audio recording demonstrated at NHK Technical Research Institute, Japan. The audio was recorded onto a high grade video tape.
1969: The idea of a compact disc was born in the mind of Klass Compaan, a Ducth physicist.
1970: A glass disc prototype that was readable by laser was created by Klass Compaan and Pete Kramer at Philips.
1971: Intel produced the microprocessor.
1972: First color prototype of the compact disc produced by Kramer and Compaan.
1975: Research on laser and optical disc technology started by Sony.
1977: Philips began researching laser and optical disc technology.
1976: Demonstration of an optical digital audio disc by Sony.
1978: Sony demonstrated an advanced version of optical digital audio disc with playing time of 150 minutes.
1979: Philips launched compact disc.
1980: CD-DA format introduced by Philips and Sony, and standards were laid down in the Red Book.
1981: First test CD created in Hannover, Germany by the Polydor Pressing Operations plant.
1982: Manufacturing of CDs began on a large scale in a factory.
1982: First ever album on a CD released by Sony, which was Billy Joel’s 52nd Street.
1983: CD players and discs hit the market in the US and the rest of the world.
1984: Advanced technology to store and retrieve data from CD-ROM introduced.
1985: CD-ROM drives introduced in the US and world markets. Dire Straits became the first artist to sell a million copies on CD.
1986: CD-I, the interactive CD concept, was introduced.
1987: The first Video CD (VCD) format created for storing and playing video and audio.
1988: The concept of CD-R, a recordable CD, was born.
1990: Philips and Sony created a recordable CD called the CD-R.
1991: CD-I format created and launched in the market.
1996: DVD technology hit the world, through the collaboration of leading computer companies such as Sun, Apple, Dell, and many more.
1997: DVD released in the market, sidelining CDs. Rewritable CDs and CD-RW introduced in the market.
1999: Super Audio CD is released by Sony and Philips as a higher quality digital audio recording.
2000: DVD-Audio is released as a competitor to Super Audio CDs, neither of which achieved much success on the mass market
2000: The DVR Blue prototypes are unveiled, later to become known as Blu-Ray discs.
2003: The first comsumer available Blue-Ray player is released in Japan by Sony.
2008: Sales for large label CDs drops 20% due to rising popularity of MP3 audio.
References and Resources
· Sound Recording Technology History
· Inventor of the Compact Disc
· General Introduction to CD Technology
· Compact Disc Interactive (CD-I)
