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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• Compatibility. Every CD-i disc is compatible with every CD-i player. There are no "system
requirements". A content-provider can be sure that its disc can be played without troubles,
without worrying about the type of display-adapter, sound card, version of the operating system,
screen resolution, CD-ROM drive speeds, drivers, hardware conflicts, etc.
• Ease-of-use. A CD-i player and it software are very easy to use. Just pop-in the disc and you're
gone. No need of setting up the software, adjusting the hardware or other compex installation
procedures. Besides this, CD-i's easy pointing-device interface allows it to be virtually fool-proof.
• TV-based. CD-i can be connected to any TV set and stereo-systems, which allows it to be used
virtually everywehere. As an additional advantage, it has a TV-style look-and-feel, making it a far
more comfortable system for many people to use over a PC.
• Worldwide standard. CD-i is a worldwide standard, crossing the borders of various
manufacturers and TV-systems. Every disc is compatible with every player, regardless of its
manufacturer or the TV system (PAL, NTSC of SECAM) that is being used.
1.12 How is CD-i related to other TV-based interactive systems?
In the early nineties, several other TV-based interactive playback devices using a CD as their
main storage device existed. They were sold by different companies trying to pick a share of the
market. Some of them were clearly based on all CD-i marketing techniques, others choose a
slightly different approach.
The most important of them were:
• 3DO. Game/children's device designed by The 3DO Company, and build under license by
Panasonic and Goldstar.
• CDTV. Commodore Dynamic Total Vision. An interactive videoplayer based on Commodore's
Amiga technology. The player was build by Matsushita and sold by Commodore and included a
caddy-loading CD drive. A later version was called CD32, which had slightly improved hardware.
• VIS. Video Information System. Sold by Tandy, based on a PC-architecture (80286) using a
Microsoft operating system.
None of these formats were interchangable. 3DO played Photo-CDs, 3DO and CDTV/CD32
played CD+Graphics and 3DO and CD32 could be expanded with a Video-CD add-on. None of
these devices managed to gain a market share comparable to CD-i, and none of them were ever
used in professional applications, unlike CD-i. They all quickly dissapeared from the market.
Currently, there are too some TV-based disc systems which are used in "CD-i like" applications.
One of them is M2 by Panasonic, which is an interactive player based on 3DO-technology (but
they do not mention that!) incorporating a CD or DVD drive. The unit never gained much
popularity. And of course there is DVD-Video. Standard DVD-Video provides some interactive
features, but lacks the degree of interactivity that is offered by CD-i. For more information refer to:
11.9 What good alternatives are there for CD-i in the professional field?.
1.13 What is the official CD-i logo?
The official CD-i logo is the Compact Disc trademark with the word Interactive in a box in negative
color beneath it. This logo may only be used on software or hardware products that comply 100%
to the CD-i specification (see: 1.4 What is the Green Book?). The word Interactive may
alternatively be white on a negative or positive surface. The logo may never be displayed smaller
than 9 milimeters wide.
In addition to the standard CD-i logo, Philips also created a marketing logo for CD-i, which is the
one you can see on top of this page (and all other pages in my CD-i section). This logo may only
be used by Philips, but in some cases Philips allowed other manufacturers to carry it too. It may