High Definition Compatible Digital
Proprietary backward-compatible CD audio format / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) is a proprietary audio encode-decode process that claims to provide increased dynamic range over that of standard Compact Disc Digital Audio, while retaining backward compatibility with existing compact disc players.
Media type | Optical disc |
---|---|
Capacity | Typically up to 700 MB |
Read mechanism | 780 nm wavelength semiconductor laser |
Developed by | Pacific Microsonics Inc./Microsoft |
Usage | Audio storage |
Extended from | Red Book Compact disc |
Released | 1995; 29 years ago (1995) |
Originally developed by Pacific Microsonics, the first HDCD-enabled CD was released in 1995.[1] In 2000, the technology was purchased by Microsoft, and the following year, there were over 5,000 HDCD titles available.[2] Microsoft's HDCD official website was discontinued in 2005; by 2008, the number of available titles had declined to around 4,000.[1]
A number of CD and DVD players include HDCD decoding, and versions 9 and above of Microsoft's Windows Media Player on personal computers are capable of decoding HDCD.
HDCD was a favorite for several artists such as Neil Young, the Beach Boys and the Grateful Dead, all of whom have had multiple titles in their catalogs reissued in this format.[3][4]