Specifications
CD-i FAQ 2000 Edition Revised February 21, 2001
Latest version and more CD-i info: http://www.icdia.org
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4.13 Can a CD-i player read multi-session CDs?
Yes, most players can. Multi-session was defined in the Orange Book part II for CD-Recordable
when Philips and Kodak were working on the Photo-CD specification to allow for the addition of
new pictures at a later time. Since Photo-CD was introduced as a subset of CD-i, multisession
became a standard feature of all consumer CD-i players. Only some early professional CD-i
players that were introduced before the Orange Book/Photo-CD spec was finalized (CDI 180, CDI
601, CDI 602 and CDI 605/00) were unable to read multi-session discs, those players only
access and play the first session. Because of this multi-session capability, some CD-ROM discs
with Audio-content (the so called CD-Plus or CD-Extra discs) can not play audio on a CD-i player.
The CD-ROM part is contained in the second session which is ignored by a regular CD-Audio
player, but not by a CD-i player. Since the TOC in the second session does not refer back to the
CD-Audio tracks, a CD-i player is unable to play them. Multi-session capability is not part of the
Green Book, but is implemented by all manufacturers of consumer CD-i players.
4.14 How can a CD-i player be connected to a TV or stereo system?
It is completely up to the manufacturer of a CD-i player how the player can be connected to a TV
set. There are several connection methods available, such as (ranging from bad to good) RF
(antenna), CVBS (composite video), Y/C (seperated chroma and brightness information,
sometimes referred to as Hi-8 or SVHS) and RGB (component video for each of the red, green
and blue color components). If available use RGB, which is available on most European players
as a SCART- or Euroconnector. If not, use Y/C. Only in all other circumstances use CVBS or RF,
since these provide a significant lower color reproduction quality and sharpness compared to
RGB and Y/C.
Most CD-i player have two standard cinch connectors for audio output. These connectors can be
connected to any stereo-system (make sure not to use the input port for a phonograph if still
available, any other one like tape, aux or TV is fine). Some players (most notably the portables)
have a mini-jack audio output instead of two cinch outputs. Make sure you get the correct cable
set.
4.15 What is the Digital Out connector on some players used for?
Some players have a Digital Ouput connector (newer versions of CDI 220, CDI 740, CDI 615,
CDI 660 and CDI 670). This connection provides a standard S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital
Interface Format) signal. It can be used to connect a CD-i player to a digital recording device like
a MiniDisc-recorder or an Audio CD-Recorder. I would however not advise to use a CD-i player
with digital recording, especially not with write-once media like CD-R, since the player shell does
not allow for very accurate starting and stopping of playback. This is usually delayed some parts
of a second, due to the fact that the player's shell first draws the information on the screen, and
then executes the command. Please note: The Digital Out connector only provides a signal when
playing a CD-Audio disc, not when playing a CD-i title, since CD-i uses a different audio coding
scheme (ADPCM or MPEG audio) that differs from the standard S/PDIF format. The digital output
connectors on the authoring players CDI 180 and CDI 605 are intented for connection to a CD-i
authoring system or emulator, and can not be used for audio.
4.16 Is there a difference between PAL, SECAM and NTSC?
From a hardware point of view there is. A consumer CD-i player is localized for a specific
broadcast system. The output signal of the video connectors is according to this local system.
You can tell which broadcast system is used by looking at the version indication after the normal
type ID (refer to: 4.6 What does the /00, /20, etc. after the type-indication mean?). Most
professional and authoring CD-i players (CDI 180 and CDI 6xx) have a switch at the back panel
which allows you to select the appopriate broadcast system.