DVD is essential a disc with better technology to hold video as well as audio and computer data. DVD stands for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc. Its physical size comes in two types, a 12 centimeters and 8 centimeters in diameter with both 1.2 millimeters thick.

DVD first entered the market place in March of 1997 in the United States of America, since then it has become the most rapidly growing package media format in history. The initial rate of sales of DVD player did not reflect this, however at the end of its first year of exposure in the market the number of DVD players sold was over 1 million units. To put this growth into perspective we can compare it to the number of CD players that was sold in its first year of exposure. The number of unit sold for CD players in its first year was 35,000. That is a drastic difference. And look at where CDs are now, only 15 years after it was first release in 1983. In 1998 the total number of DVD units sold was 9.3 million. Currently for every four Video Cassette Recorders sold there are three DVD players. At the rate DVD is going it will take over majority of the market share within 7 years easily.

The main difference between VHS to DVD is that VHS uses analog technology while DVD uses digital. This results in a gap between the quality level of the two products, with DVD being completely better. Quality is not the only category that DVD has an advantage in, there is also categories of cost, and features.

    Quality plays a major role in consumer's decisions, as a result consumer have reacted in a most favorable was to DVD. The areas where quality is most noticeable by the consumers are; sound, picture, and deterioration (life span).

All DVD players have either a built in Dolby digital (AC-3) or MPEG audio decoder, or both. This helps to provide up to eight tracks of digital audio for multiple languages. The end result of the digital audio is a system with much more crisper and sharper sounds. It is like you are at the movies.

As the number of line of horizontal resolution increase so does the quality of the picture. With the VHS system about 230 lines are produced, while the DVD system produces over 500 lines. This enormous difference reflects the level of quality that DVD has over VHS. A DVD system produces pictures, which is more detail and clear than that of a VHS.

The final area of quality is the deterioration of the disc. Unlike VHS, which uses magnetic tape, DVD uses a disc. Magnetic tape media deteriorate with use since there is contact. External fields like speaker magnets and VCR magnetized component parts also affect it. When coping there is also deterioration in quality in the new copy. With the disc there is no contact when playing it, so the disc does not deteriorate with use. Nor is it affected by magnetic fields.

    The price of DVD was initially very high at the time of release. However since then the cost to produce DVD players and disc has drop with the technological improvements of the manufactures. The price has fell from $7,500 to $450 over the life of the product. Manufactures are now able to produce DVD technology at a cheaper price compared to VHS. As a result the prices will continue to decrease since all manufactures are trying to stay competitive. Also with DVD you probably will not need to repurchase any film since the deterioration of the disc is undetectable. Today there is the ability to copy or record on disc with the new technology of a DVD recorder (DVD-R), so it is possible to obtain a copy of a DVD film without having to pay the purchase price. In the end consumer will benefit financial from DVD technology.

    The number of additional features that a DVD system has over VHS is almost impossible to count. Therefore I will only discuss the main ones. The first is the need to change tape for the second part of a movie. Some DVD are dual layer, and therefore can hold up to eight hours of video. Second, having to rewind or fast-forward a tape. No more with a DVD system, you have instant rewind and fast-forward. You are able to go to the point of the movie that you want to instantly. DVD also come with both width-screen and pan and scan versions. You are even able to change the language used in the film to many foreign types (e.g. French etc.). Other features include the ability to play a movie on your personal computer if you have a DVD-ROM and the convenience of a small, light disc. A disc is considerable smaller and lighter that a VHS cassette.

With a DVD system's quality, cost, and features, the consumer benefit considerable more when compared to having a VHS system.