History
VHD was first demonstrated in 1978, and after numerous advertisements in 1981/1982 National Geographic magazines, it was eventually released in Japan in 1983. By this time, both LaserDisc and CED were already suffering from the onslaught of VHS and Betamax VCRs. Despite demonstrating the player at several Consumer Electronics Shows, JVC opted not to release VHD as a consumer product in North America.
In the UK Thorn EMI, which was the leading consumer provider of the VHS tape system, saw VHD as the next step in the market and committed to the system. In 1981 it invested in a factory to press disks (in Swindon) and a production unit to develop a catalogue of 'interactive' titles - a unique step - to support a planned 1984 launch but cancelled the investment in late 1983. VHD remained on the market in the UK primarily as an educational and training tool, usually linked to a computer, but attracted few customers.
It found its main niche as a karaoke system, and was also used in anime video games and interactive training systems. Commercial versions were available in the UK (and probably the US) for training, demonstration and fault diagnosis.
A stereoscopic system was also sold in Japan, these 3D VHD systems achieved the 3D effect using double-speed discs with alternate-eye images and LCS glasses to pass the correct view to each eye.
VHD was essentially defunct after 1986.
Read more about this topic: Video High Density
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