DiscoVision
DiscoVision is the name of several things related to the video laserdisc format.
It was the original name of the "Reflective Optical Videodisc System" format later known as LaserVision or LaserDisc.
MCA DiscoVision Inc. was a division of entertainment giant MCA, established in 1969 to develop and sell an optical videodisc system. MCA released discs pressed in Carson and Costa Mesa, California on the DiscoVision label from the format's Atlanta, Georgia launch in 1978 to 1982 and the release of the film, The Four Seasons. DiscoVision titles included films from Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount, and Disney. Agreements were made with Columbia Pictures and United Artists, though no discs were released on the DiscoVision label from either studio. Most of these companies later established their own labels for the format, the first being Paramount with a dozen movies released on the Paramount Home Video label in the summer of 1981.
The successor to MCA DiscoVision, Discovision Associates (DVA) was the result of a partnership between IBM and MCA. It was hoped that the merger would provide the basis for improvement of the quality of DiscoVision pressings, but no appreciable improvement ever took hold. In 1981, responsibility for the laser videodisc was sold to Pioneer Electronic Corporation. Pioneer, in association with MCA, had a disc replication facility in Kofu, Japan that produced discs. Some of the last DiscoVision label discs were manufactured by Pioneer in Japan. In the same year, MCA had an abrupt failure from its DiscoVision system and was replaced by MCA Videodisc; this was changed to the "MCA Home Video" name for both its VHS and videodisc releases.
DiscoVision Associates later evolved into a patent holding company which manages and licenses intellectual property related to laserdisc, compact disc, and optical disc technologies, as well as other non-disc related fields.
In 1989, Pioneer acquired DiscoVision Associates where it continues to license its technologies independently.
DiscoVision's license activities covered Laserdisc, CD, DVD and other optical disk products. A lawsuit in Delaware made it clear that Discovision's patent (David Paul Gregg was the inventor) is the basic blocking patent of the CD format.
As the portfolio of patent expires, the presence of DiscoVision become less visible. However, it established the success of a patent holding company, which other companies are stimulated to generate royalty income from their own patent portfolio.
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