White Book (CD Standard)

The White Book, which was released in 1993 by Sony, Philips, Matsushita, and JVC refers to a standard of compact disc that stores not only sound but also still pictures and motion video. These discs, most commonly found in Asia, are usually called "VCDs" or "SVCDs." In some ways, VCD can be thought of as the successor to the Laserdisc and the predecessor to DVD.

Note: that Video CD should not be confused with CD Video which was an earlier and entirely different format.

Here is some information on the format of the VCD itself, as well as the audio and video stored on these discs:

• File system: ISO 9660-compliant
• Format: Mode 2, Form 2/XA
• Maximum Length: Usually 74 minutes
• Audio Format
  • Format: MPEG-1 layer 2
  • Bit rate: 224 kilobits per second
  • Sample rate: 44,100 Hz
  • Number of Channels: 2 (stereo)
• Video Format
  • Format: MPEG-1 (VCD), MPEG-2 (SVCD)
  • Resolution: 352×240 pixel for NTSC video, 352×288 pixel for PAL video (VCD); 480×480 pixel for NTSC video, 480×576 for PAL video (SVCD)
  • Frame rate: 29.97 Hz (NTSC), 25 Hz (PAL)
  • Bit rate: About 1.13 Mbit/s

The White Book also defines other hybrid formats, such as CD-Ready (or "CD-I Ready"), which was a CD-Audio disc that included a CD-i application. The format extended the pre-gap space of the CD-Audio and put special CD-i data there.