[2.15] What's WebDVD or Enhanced DVD?

WebDVD is the simple but powerful concept of combining DVD content with Internet technology. It combines the best of DVD (fast access to high-quality video, audio, and data) with the best of the Internet (interactivity, dynamic updates, and communication). In general, WebDVD refers to enhancing a DVD with HTML pages, links and scripting, or enhancing a Web site with content from a local DVD drive. WebDVD is not a trademarked term of AOL-Warner, Microsoft, or any other company. Variations on the WebDVD concept are known as iDVD, eDVD, Connected DVD, and so on. It's not a new idea --it's been done with CD-ROM for years-- but the differences with DVD are that the quality of the audio and video are finally better than TV, and the discs can be played in low-cost settop players.

Almost all WebDVD implementations are currently for PCs, but some new DVD players are adding WebDVD features. A working group of the DVD Forum is creating a standardized WebDVD format for set-top DVD players, to be known as Enhanced DVD.

Most professional authoring systems (see 5.4 ) include rudimentary tools for adding HTML enhancements to DVD. For fancier WebDVD development there are a variety of tools; see 4.9 .

For more on WebDVD, see Phil DeLancie's EMedia article . Good examples of WebDVD sites are Mars: The Red Planet , Stargaze , and DVD Demystified . The authors of these sites (Ralph LaBarge and Jim Taylor) encourage you to copy their code as a starting place for your own WebDVD creations. You can request a copy of the WebDVD Demystified disc from DVD.Learn .