DVD-ROM (1997 – ) | Museum of Obsolete Media (original) (raw)

DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc – Read-Only Memory) is a read-only high-capacity optical disc format. DVD-Video is a form of DVD-ROM, but DVD-ROM usually refers to DVD discs for data storage. Microsoft were the first major corporation to release software on DVD-ROM in 1997.

Capacities range from 4.7GB (for a single-sided, single-layer disc) to 17GB (for a double-sided, dual-layer disc).

DVD-ROM drives are backwards compatible with CD-ROM discs, and can read rewritable DVD media such as DVD-R/DVD+R and DVD-RW/DVD+RW.

Since around 2007, DVD drives (along with optical disc drives generally) have been disappearing from laptops and of course were never available in tablets. Despite this, a lot of computer software is still available on DVD-ROM.

Sources / Resources

• DVD storage capacities | PC Magazine Encyclopedia
• Is the End in Sight for Built-in Optical Drives? | Low End Mac
• Apple’s plan to wipe out disc drives is nearly complete | CNET
• What is DVD-ROM? – Definition from Techopedia
• DVD – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Preservation / Migration

Media Stability Rating

Obsolescence Rating