Below is a timeline for every significant event in the history of movies in the home (with more being added). It should be noted that this website uses the term, “Home Video,” in two different ways. Firstly, it uses it as an umbrella term for the viewing of movies in the home, physical or otherwise. Secondly, its also the label given to the era in time where movies are being released on physical video formats.
December, 19th, 1985
The First Blockbuster Video Opens
The first Blockbuster rental store opens in Dallas, Texas by software engineer David Cook and his ex-wife. Their goal is to make their store a family-oriented superstore. On opening day, it has a massive selection of 8,000 titles.
June 1st, 1987 (Variety, 1987/05/20, p. 86)
Pioneer CLD-1010 (CD-Video)
The first laserdisc player compatible with the upcoming CD-Video (CDV) is launched by Pioneer with a price tag of $800. Later that year, the discs are released. They contain 20 minutes of digital audio, and 5 minutes of analog (laserdisc) video. These are the first 5″ discs to contain video.
1988
The First Hollywood Video Opens
Mark Wattles registers the company name “Hollywood Entertainment” in Oregon on June 6th, 1988, and opens the first Hollywood Video location in Portland. It later becomes a mega chain.
October 16th, 1991 (Billboard, 1991/09/28, p. 10)
Philips CDI 910 (CD-i)
Philips launches their first CD-i system, the CDI 910 for $1000. At launch it has 30 titles titles available, which are interactive games and educational programs. Two years later, movies would be available on a sub-format specially made for digital video.
May 24, 1994 (Billboard, 1993/05/24, p. 38)
Panasonic LX-HD10 (MUSE Hi-Vision)
Panasonic releases the LX-HD10, the first laserdisc player compatible with the new high-definition (hi-vision) MUSE format. At 1125 lines of resolution, MUSE discs have twice the clarity of standard laserdiscs. In US dollars, the LX-HD10 costs approximately $5,300, with discs themselves costing several hundred dollars. It is the very first high definition format for the home market.
November 1st, 1996 (Billboard, 1996/11/02, p. 8)
Toshiba SD-3000 (DVD)
Toshiba releases the world’s very first DVD player in Japan for approximately $700. The first two DVD titles released in the region are two “long-form” music videos from artist, Eikichi Yazawa, selling for between $30 and $50.
March 24th, 1997 (Billboard, 1997/04/12, p. 3)
Warner Home Video Releases the First 25 DVD Titles In the U.S.
In a soft test launch involving seven U.S. cities, Warner Home Video distributes their first 25 titles on the new DVD format (the first of which is the disaster film, Twister (1996)). Best Buy reveals that within the the first day of the format’s launch, they sold approximately 2,500 Warner DVDs from the 74 stores that carried the format.
April 21st, 1997 (PR Newswire, 1997/04/21, p. 1)
Reel.com Launches the First Online Movie Rental Service
Reel.com is the first to use an online ordering form for the rental of movies. They launch their service with 35,000 titles available for rent. Although much smaller websites, such as Home Film Festival (homefilmfestival.com), Video Wasteland (slaughter.net) and Video Vault (videovault.com) were already renting videos over the internet, they required calling or e-mailing an order in.
April, 1998 (Billboard, 1998/05/16, p. 53)
Netflix Launches Online DVD Rentals and Sales
With the company established the previous year, Netflix launches their online DVD rental service with 925 titles available for rent for $5 each.
June 8th, 1998 (Billboard, 1998/06/13, p. 79)
DIVX Discs are Test Launched
DIVX discs are launched as an alternative to traditional rental systems. A DIVX disc could be purchased for less than $5 (average price of a rental). Upon playing the disc, he or she would have a 48 hour window to watch the program. They could then extend this viewing period for an additional fee (which required the DIVX player to be connected to the internet via a telephone line). The format was discontinued on June 16th, 1999.
March 31st, 1999 (Tivo, Asselin, 2013, p. 42)
Philips HDR110 (TiVo DVR)
TiVo launches the first consumer DVR device. Like the VCRs before it, the device is primarily used to time-shift television programming. But unlike VCRs, they are digital and allow the pausing and rewinding of live TV. This first TiVo device, the HDR110, had a 14GB hard drive which could record up to 14 hours of content.
June 1st, 1999
Napster Launches the First Widely Popular Peer-to-peer Network
Although mainly a music sharing platform (due to internet speeds at the time), it paved the way for subsequent peer-to-peer sharing programs that would allow the sharing of all files, including videos.
March 14th, 2000
Gnutella Becomes the First Decentralized Peer-to-peer Network
First available for download on the developer’s website, Nullsoft.com, it is the first peer-to-peer network to be decentralized. Rather than searching a single centralized index for the location of files, the load is shared among all the peers of the network, resulting in a more robust system. Unlike Napster, it allowed for the downloading of any file types, including video. The software was quickly reverse engineered and used for subsequent peer-to-peer platforms.
July 2nd, 2001
BitTorrent is First Launched
BitTorrent, a decentralized peer-to-peer protocol which uses torrent files and trackers, is first launched on bitconjurer.org. It later becomes the most used method to download feature films from the internet.
January, 2002 (Sound & Vision, 2002/01, p. 24)
JVC DH30000U (D-VHS)
The first D-VHS VCR is released in the US for $2000. Although the format had been in use since 1999 for data storage, the new machine repackages the technology for the purpose of recording HDTV. Later that year, Hollywood films are released on the format under the “D-Theater” trademark. These require a special D-VHS player equipped to play “D-Theater” movies. They provide 1080i resolution.
December 12th, 2004 (China Daily, 2004/12/13, p. 11)
Sony Launches the Universal Media Disc (UMD)
Sony debuts the UMD (Universal Media Disc) format with the launch of their PSP handheld game system in Japan. Spider-Man 2 (2004) is among the titles available with the system’s release. Movies are released on the format up until 2011 with the introduction of the discless PS Vita.
March 14th, 2006
“A History of Violence” Is the Last Major Film On VHS
New Line Home Entertainment releases A History of Violence onto VHS. It is the last major studio film given a wide release on the format. Disney would continue using VHS exclusively through their “Disney Movie Club” until the end of the year.
March 28st, 2006 (https://www.cnet.com/culture/toshiba-launches-worlds-first-hd-dvd-player)
Toshiba HD-A1 & HD-XA1 (HD-DVD)
Toshiba is the first to release an HD 5-inch disc. Their first players are the HD-A1 ($499) and the HD-XA1 ($749). They delay the roll out in the U.S. until April 18th, when movies will be available on the format.
June 15th, 2006 (Business Wire, 2006/06/15, p. 1)
Samsung BD-P1000 (Blu-ray)
Samsung ships out the very first batch of Blu-ray players to retailers, the BD-P1000. Its cost is $1,000, twice that of Toshiba’s competing player for their HD-DVD format.