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HandWiki. List of Years in Home Video. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/30582 (accessed on 05 December 2025).
HandWiki. List of Years in Home Video. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/30582. Accessed December 05, 2025.
HandWiki. "List of Years in Home Video" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/30582 (accessed December 05, 2025).
HandWiki. (2022, October 21). List of Years in Home Video. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/30582
HandWiki. "List of Years in Home Video." Encyclopedia. Web. 21 October, 2022.
List of Years in Home Video
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The content is sourced from: https://handwiki.org/wiki/List_of_years_in_home_video

This page indexes the individual year in home video pages. Some years are annotated with a significant event as a reference point.

home video

1. 1970s

  • 1971 - Year U-matic launched
  • 1972 - Year Cartrivision launched
  • 1973
  • 1974
  • 1975 - Year Beta launched
  • 1976 - Year VHS launched
  • 1977 - Magnetic Video, the first home video company to release theatrical films to tape, licenses 50 films from 20th Century Fox for VHS and Betamax release.
     - August 23 – VHS is introduced in the United States.[1]
  • 1978 - Laserdisc player launched.[2] MCA issues Universal Studios film library onto laserdisc, and later adds Warner Bros. and Disney film libraries as well.
  • 1979 - Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures form Home Video Divisions; Video Store Magazine (now Home Media Magazine) established as the industry's first trade.

2. 1980s

  • 1980 - Walt Disney Home Video enters the home video market. MCA, Inc. establishes MCA Videocassette, Inc. for VHS and Betamax releases of the Universal City Studios products.
  • 1981 - Year CED and Wizard Video launched. Magnetic Video reorganized into Twentieth Century Fox Video. NBC Home Video signs video distribution deal through Warner Home Video.
  • 1982 - PBV Distribution (Publishing & Broadcasting Video) becomes one of the biggest selling Australian video companies. In the mid-80s, it would later become Communications and Entertainment Limited. Star Wars is released on home video-cassette, becoming one of the most demanded videos of all time. Jane Fonda's Workout rose to number 1 in video sales on Billboard's chart in June, and stayed in the top four for the next three years, breaking all records for VHS sales.[3]
  • 1983 - JVC launches VHD format in Japan. Following a merger in 1982 between Twentieth Century Fox Video and CBS Video Enterprises, CBS/Fox Video is launched to the home video market, with divisions Key Video and Playhouse Video. In Japan, the Bandai-Emotion label is launched on VHS, and becomes one of the biggest selling Japanese home video labels of all time.
  • 1984 - The Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. decision (aka Betamax case). Following the so-called 'video nasty' British tabloid furore, the Video Recordings Act 1984 is introduced resulting in all feature films having to be certified by the British Board of Film Classification. The pioneering American home video company The Criterion Collection is founded, which introduced letterboxing, commentary tracks and special editions that would become standards for the home video industry.[4][5]
  • 1985 - Heron Communications launches the Hi-Tops Video label.
  • 1986 - Video Gems is launched, and becomes a top seller in the UK home video market.
  • 1987 - S-VHS introduced in Japan .
  • 1988 - MGM gains home video rights to all United Artists titles.
  • 1989 - PBS Home Video begins video distribution through Pacific Arts.

3. 1990s

  • 1990 - CBS/FOX reorganized. Fox Video is formed to release mainstream Fox product in the US, while CBS/Fox Video remains for other products such as BBC Video and other non-Fox projects.
  • 1991 - Fox Video is formed.
  • 1992 - Fujitsu gets credit for producing the first full-color plasma display panel in 1992. The very first prototype for a plasma display monitor was invented in July 1964 at the University of Illinois by professors Donald Bitzer and Gene Slottow, and then graduate student Robert Willson.
  • 1993 - The VCD is released as the first compact, affordable optical disc format.
  • 1994 - MUSE Hi-Vision LaserDisc is launched on 20 May in Japan . The first consumer high definition video disc.
  • 1995 - Fox Video changes its name to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, with the release of the Star Wars original trilogy for the last time in its original format, while keeping the Fox Video name.
  • 1996 - DVD is launched in Japan.
  • 1997 - DVD is launched in the United States. Philips produces the first plasma television to be sold to consumers – the display is 42-inches diagonally and begged a premium price of $15,000.
  • 1998 - DVD is launched in Europe and Australia. The CBS/Fox name is dropped.
  • 1999 - The Fox Video name is dropped. DeCSS is released, opening the doors for large-scale DVD copyright infringement.

4. 2000s

  • 2000 - Bringing Out the Dead becomes the last film to be released on Laserdisc.
  • 2001 - In Japan , Tokyo Raiders is the last film to be released on LaserDisc anywhere.[6]
  • 2002 - D-VHS D-Theater high definition films are finally available and affordable. The home media company Flicker Alley is established.[7]
  • 2003 - WMV HD is launched with the arrival of the film Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
  • 2004 - The film festival Il Cinema Ritrovato holds its first DVD Awards.
  • 2005 - Target and Walmart in the United States and several other retailers announce plans to phase out the VHS format entirely by early 2006, in favor of the more popular DVD format.[8]
  • 2006 - HD DVD is launched on 18 April; Blu-ray Disc is launched on 20 June. After nearly 30 years, VHS ends as a format for major motion pictures, with A History of Violence becoming the last major film to be released in the medium.[9]
  • 2007 - AACS is circumvented.
  • 2008 - Blu-ray becomes new video medium after long competition with HD-DVD. British home media company Eureka Entertainment acquires and consolidates the Masters of Cinema organization.[10]
  • 2009 - Mary Poppins released on 45th anniversary DVD

5. 2010s

  • 2010 - The Video Recordings Act of 2010 is introduced in the United Kingdom .[11]
  • 2011 - The Fox and the Hound / The Fox and the Hound 2 re-released as 30th anniversary edition Blu-ray/DVD combos
  • 2012 - Casablanca re-released as 70th Anniversary Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack
  • 2013 - The Wizard of Oz - 75th Anniversary DVD, Blu-ray & Blu-ray 3D
  • 2014 - It is announced that Internet streaming has reduced DVD sales in Sweden.[12]
  • 2015 – Sony announces it will cease producing Betamax tapes from March 2016.[13]
  • 2016 - 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray is launched. Kino Classics releases the Blu-ray/DVD box set "Pioneers of African-American Cinema", which collects numerous restored films by African American filmmakers from the first half of the 20th century.[14] Funai Electric becomes the last company to stop producing videocassette recorders.[15]
  • 2017 - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Vault Series: Collector's Edition DVD
  • 2018 - Kino Classics releases the Blu-ray/DVD box set "Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers", which curates numerous restored films by women filmmakers from the early decades of cinema.[16]
  • 2019 - When Harry Met Sally..., 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray

6. 2020s

  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2022
  • 2023
  • 2024
  • 2025
  • 2026
  • 2027
  • 2028
  • 2029

7. 2030s

  • 2030
  • 2031

References

  1. CED in the History of Media Technology (accessed 8 April 2011) http://www.cedmagic.com/history/vbt200.html
  2. Cornell University Library (2003). "Digital Preservation and Technology Timeline". Digital Preservation Management. US. http://www.dpworkshop.org/dpm-eng/timeline/viewall.html. 
  3. Grein, Paul (August 31, 1985). "Anatomy of a Knockout". Billboard: F-10. 
  4. Virshup, Amy (1 July 1996). "The Teachings of Bob Stein". Condé Nast. https://www.wired.com/1996/07/stein/. 
  5. Ulaby, Neba (12 June 2004). "Criterion DVD Collection". NPR. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1956135. 
  6. "Laserdisc Museum" (in en). Laserdiscplanet. 2000. http://laserdiscplanet.com/museum2.html. 
  7. "About". Flicker Alley. https://www.flickeralley.com/about/. 
  8. "Wal-Mart said to stop selling VHS". Money CNN. 13 June 2005. https://money.cnn.com/2005/06/13/news/fortune500/walmart_vhs/. 
  9. Squires, John (2017-05-04). "What Was the Final Horror Film Officially Released On VHS?" (in en-US). https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3435649/last-horror-film-officially-released-vhs/. 
  10. "Masters of Cinema". https://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc. 
  11. "Video Recordings Act 2010" (in en). UK Parliament. 21 January 2010. http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2009-10/videorecordings.html. 
  12. Emma Engström (5 November 2014). "DVD-försäljningen rasar" (in sv). Sveriges Radio. http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=478&artikel=6009594. 
  13. Samuel Gibbs (10 November 2015). "Betamax is dead, long live VHS" (in en). Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/10/betamax-dead-long-live-vhs-sony-end-prodution. 
  14. Orndorf, Brian (17 July 2016). "Pioneers of African American Cinema Blu-ray Review". Blu-ray.com. http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Pioneers-of-African-American-Cinema-Blu-ray/154727/#Review. 
  15. Hodak, Brittany. "RIP VHS: World's Last VCR Will Be Made This Month" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/brittanyhodak/2016/07/23/rip-vhs-worlds-last-vcr-to-be-made-this-month/. 
  16. "Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers (DVD)". KinoLorber. https://www.kinolorber.com/product/pioneers-first-women-filmmakers-dvd-1. 
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