Specifications

CD-i FAQ 2000 Edition Revised February 21, 2001

Latest version and more CD-i info: http://www.icdia.org

required files are missing and a CD-i application is not available. Hence, an Adaptec Picture-CD

cannot be played on a Photo-CD player or a CD-i player. Adaptec is likely to use this strategy to

bypass the expensive license fees from Kodak.

5.11 Will CD-i play CD-ROM discs?

The term CD-ROM is used for all types of usage of a CD in computer applications. A CD-ROM

can contain various filesystems (like ISO-9660, Joliet, Apple HFS, Unix, etc.) or programs for a

wide variety of computer systems (Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Linux, Free BSD,

Solaris, BeOS, etc.). A CD-ROM that was made for one particular operating system, cannot be

used on another system. There is no such thing as the "CD-ROM system". The difference

between the CD-ROM specification in the Yellow Book and all other CD-systems is that only the

physical sector format is defined, and not the application of a disc. Hence, a CD-ROM can only

be played on a CD-i player when a CD-i application program is stored on the CD. In this case, a

CD-ROM is called a CD-i Bridge disc (see: 5.6 What is a CD-i Bridge disc?), but usually these

kinds of CDs are not called CD-ROMs on the discs packaging.

5.12 Will CD-i play Sony Electronic Book (Data Discman) titles?

Sony sold a portable playback device in 1991 called Data Discman. It accepted 8 cm CDs in a

cartridge, which contained information in the form of text and very simple graphics. The

application to show this information on the built-in black and white LCD screen was build in the

player. These so-called Electronic Books were used for travel guides, dictionaries and other kinds

of information that can be used on the road.

When Sony first announced Electronic Book, they promised to make the system CD-i compatible

in the near future. For this, a CD-i application would be included on the discs. But some years

later, Sony officially announced to Philips that this was not going to happen. This announcement

was never made available to general public. Hence, an Electronic Book disc cannot be played on

a CD-i player.

5.13 Will CD-i play Super Video-CD?

Super Video-CD is an extension to the Video-CD specification, set up by the original Video-CD

licensees (Philips, Sony, JVC and Matsushita) in 1999. Super Video-CD uses DVD-quality

MPEG-2 video on a standard CD which runs at variable bit rates up to double speed (2.8 kbps).

This allows for 35 to 70 minutes of high quality video on a regular CD. Super Video-CD is a cheap

way of making discs that are playable on compatible DVD-Video players using a regular CD-

Recorder.

Since Super Video-CD uses MPEG-2 video compression instead of MPEG-1 that is used in CD-i,

and because of the fact that the disc can be played up to double speed of which a CD-i player is

not capable, a Super Video-CD cannot be played on a CD-i player. Therefore, the CD-i

application that is mandatory for Video-CD is not available on a Super Video-CD.

5.14 Will CD-i play Super Audio-CD?

Super Audio-CD was introduced by Philips and Sony in 1999 as the succesor of the popular

Audio-CD. The system uses a new audio encoding technique called DSD (Direct Stream Digital),

which comes way much closer to the original analogue audio quaility than PCM which is used for

regular Audio-CDs. To store the large amounts of data that are needed for DSD, a Super Audio-

CD uses a DVD-like high density disc.

One of the great features of Super Audio-CD is that is allows for a CD-compatible data layer on a

disc. When such a CD layer is available on the disc, it can be played on any CD player, including

a CD-i player (in standard CD quality of course). Please note that this CD-Audio layer is a