Chapter 1

DVD’s Relationship to Other Products and Technologies 65
Hitachi’s switchable objective lens assembly, and Matsushita’s holographic
dual-focus lens. The MultiRead logo guarantees compatibility with CD-R
and CD-rewritable (CD-RW) media, but unfortunately few manufacturers
are using it. The bottom line is that if you want a DVD player that can read
CD-R discs, look for a dual laser, twin laser, or dual optics feature.
DVD-ROM drives can’t record on CD-R discs or any other media, but a
few combination DVD-ROM/CD-RW drives can write to CD-R and CD-RW
discs. Most newer recordable DVD drives (see “What About Recordable
DVDs: DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD�RW, and DVD�R?” in Chapter
4, “DVDs and Computers”) can also record on CD-R or CD-RW discs.
CD-R burners, however, can’t read or write DVD discs of any kind.
Is CD-RW Compatible with DVD?
Usually. CD-RW discs (Orange Book Part III) have a smaller reflectivity difference,
requiring new automatic gain control (AGC) circuitry in CD-ROM
drives and CD players. Most existing CD-ROM drives and CD players can’t
read CD-RW discs. The multiread standard addresses this, and some DVD
manufacturers have suggested they will support it. The optical circuitry in
even first-generation DVD-ROM drives and DVD players is usually able to
read CD-RW discs, because CD-RW discs do not have the “invisibility”
problem of CD-R discs (refer to the previous section). Most newer recordable
DVD drives (see Chapter 4) can also record on CD-R or CD-RW. CD-
RW burners can’t read or write DVD discs of any kind.
Are Video CDs Compatible with DVD Players?
Sometimes. It’s not required by the DVD spec, but it’s trivial to support the
Video CD (White Book) standard because any MPEG-2 decoder can also
decode MPEG-1 from a Video CD. About two-thirds of DVD players can
play Video CDs, including most Panasonic, RCA, Samsung, and Sony models.
Japanese Pioneer models play Video CDs, but American models older
than the DVL-909 don’t. Also, Toshiba players older than models 2100,
3107, and 3108 don’t play Video CDs.
Video CD resolution is 352�288 for PAL and 352�240 for NTSC. The
way most DVD players and Video CD players deal with the difference is to
chop off the extra lines or add blank lines. When playing PAL Video CDs, the
Panasonic and RCA NTSC players apparently cut 48 lines (17 percent) off
the bottom, whereas Sony NTSC players scale all 288 lines to fit.
Because PAL Video CDs are encoded to play 24 frames per second (fps)
film at 25 fps, usually a 4 percent speedup occurs. The playing time is
shorter, and the audio is shifted up in pitch unless it was digitally processed