VIEWPOINT - VIDEO COMPACT DISC (VCD)

If you have visited Hong Kong in the last five years, you will no doubt have seen the rapid rise of the VCD (video compact disc) format. This was introduced many years ago to replace VHS as the new entertainment medium. Although you cannot record on a VCD (unless you've got a PC and a CD burner), the Hong Kong public embraced it like a long-lost brother. A VCD is exactly the same size as a normal CD, but instead of just holding audio information, it can also hold 60 minutes (approx) of video footage. This makes the VCD incredibly easy and cheap to reproduce on a large scale. Like Laserdiscs, the VCD cannot hold a single film on one disc, so a film is split onto two discs (or more, if the film's running time is long). This might put some people off - after all, who likes to get up in the middle of the film to change discs? But most people put up with it because of the price. VCD was introduced to the West; the CDi format formulated by Philips was one, but it never took off because it did not appeal to consumers. The quality of VCD was low so enthusiasts stuck to Laserdiscs, while Joe Public did not see the point of paying for quality that was the same as VHS.

Pros and cons

The biggest disadvantage of the VCD is the video quality - which is more or less the same sort of quality as VHS. As we all know, VHS quality isn't that great to begin with, but with some VCD pressings, the quality can become worse, due to digital pixellations. Nothing can be done about it, but most people put up with it because VCD offers good entertainment at a very cheap price, and with all of the major electronic giants making VCD machines, the VCD is here to stay. Even Hollywood has seen the advantage of the format and have decided to release all their new films and back catalogue on it; it's their only way to make more money. You can now buy almost any film imaginable on VCD, and not just films either. There are documentaries, general interest, TV series, children's and adult entertainment, etc. Since VCD is cheap to make, whole series of TV programmes have been recorded onto VCD. For anime-lovers, whole series are available on VCD to buy; pirate or legit. The bad point is that these usually don't have English subs.

Price?

A film released on the cinema would be released on the VCD format about a month later (unless it is a pirate, which means it would be released before it is even shown at the cinema), or sooner depending on the film. However, some films may take longer. Prices generally range between HK$35-$60, depending on the shop. Older films are the best bargains. How about $100 for 7? If you are not that fussy about the quality, then these are definite bargains. Sometimes you have to wonder if they actually make a profit on these prices. Another reason for the rise of the VCD is in the piracy sector. These discs are very cheap to produce (less than $10), and they are sold for $20-$30 each. Just a couple of years ago, the piracy market in Hong Kong was huge. You could have bought pirate discs everywhere: street corners, market stalls, even shops in busy shopping centres. Customs still try to curb the flow of pirated discs, but crack down on one shop, and another springs up. It is a huge industry and is controlled by the Triads. Messages have been put around informing people that if they buy pirate discs, they are only putting money into Triads' pockets. Yet people still buy them. To combat piracy, legitimate manufacturers have been forced to bring down their prices on VCDs, so now some recent released titles can be brought for around HK$13, while older titles can be snatched up at a dirt cheap price of HK$10 each.

Porn is everywhere…

Pornography also added to the popularity of the medium, especially imported porn from Japan. Well, technically speaking, they aren't really imports - just cheap copies of them, but they were still sold like cheesecakes. Why? Because VCD is a cheap and user-friendly medium. It is small and compact: easy to put away, easy to throw away. The most infamous place to buy these porn VCDs was in the Sino Centre located in the heart of MongKok - a notorious place in Hong Kong for pirated stuff. At its height, these discs were sold at $100 for 10, but after the crackdown of piracy by the Government, these discs have dwindled down, and now these discs are sold for $100 for 4 (or $100 for 6 if you are lucky). If the market for porn on the Net is huge, then the market for porn on VCD is even bigger. Who wants to download blocky vids onto their PC? (It'll take you ages anyway, unless you've got broadband). Why pay to see girls strip on your browser? VCD offers the very best in adult entertainment. True, the quality isn't great, but nor is the Net's. Yet, that doesn't stop a lot of men buying this stuff. Quality is what you pay for.

Cheap and cheerful

VCDs have since been accepted by the community because it offers light entertainment at a very cheap price. Hong Kongers are always attracted to cheap yet good stuff. But you really can't blame them. Most citizens earn a meagre salary; they have a family to cater for, as well as paying for the rent and bills. They can't afford to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a fancy medium (DVD) - that's why they choose the VCD format. It has acceptable quality, a huge variety of discs to choose from, and above all, it is cheap. Very cheap. You can't even rent a film back in England for the price of a VCD here.

The Verdict

DVD is the future, and is the way to enjoy watching movies, simply because of the superb picture/audio quality as well as the outstanding extras that can be fitted onto a single/double disc. However, DVDs aren't cheap, and for some, remains relatively uneconomical. VCDs offer these people more choice at a hugely better price, especially for Joe Public who doesn't care one bit about the pristine audio/video quality - after all, most Hong Kong people watch films at home on a 25" television. So, for the forseeable future, VCD will remain the number one entertainment medium in Hong Kong (and South East Asia), while DVD will languish behind solely for the film enthusiasts. Although DVD piracy is becoming commonplace now.