Release/Format

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Description

This field describes which medium a Release is distributed on. Normally a release will be distributed on multiple media with different ReleaseCatalogNumbers and BarCodes; each should have a separate release event.

The values may be:

  • CD
  • DVD
  • SACD
  • DualDisc
  • LaserDisc
  • MiniDisc
  • Vinyl
  • Cassette
  • Cartridge (4/8-tracks)
  • Reel-to-reel
  • DAT
  • Digital Media
  • Other

Exhaustive list

Here's an attempt at listing some/most/all (?) known/existing audio physical support, and how we map them to our own list:

Purely audio physical supports

Name Date of creation Rarity Details Picture Map to
Phonograph cylinder 1877 Very rare Mechanical analog; "hill-and-dale" grooves, vertical stylus motion CylinderRecordsWPackage.jpg/200px-CylinderRecordsWPackage.jpg Wax Cylinder
Piano roll 1883 Very rare Mechanical digital WelteHandnuancierung.jpg/180px-WelteHandnuancierung.jpg Piano Roll
Gramophone record 1895 Common Mechanical analog; lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion. The terms LP record (LP, 33, or 33-1/3 rpm record), EP, 16-2/3 rpm record (16), 45 rpm record (45), and 78 rpm record (78) refers to specific types of gramophone records Vynil record.jpg/156px-Vynil_record.jpg Vinyl
Wire recording 1898 Rare Analog; magnetization; no "bias" Peirce wire recorder.jpg/250px-Peirce_wire_recorder.jpg Other
Reel-to-Reel 1930s Rare Analog; magnetization; "bias" dramatically increases linearity/fidelity Reel-to-reel recorder tc-630.jpg/300px-Reel-to-reel_recorder_tc-630.jpg Reel-to-reel
Vinyl record / Quad Vinyl 1948/1957/1971 Common Is a simple evolution of gramophone record: Analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques (LP, RIAA). Lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion. Monaural were created in 1948, then stereo vinyl came later in 1957 and Quad in 1971: analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques. Combination lateral/vertical stylus motion with each channel encoded 45 degrees to the vertical. Vynil record.jpg/156px-Vynil_record.jpg Vinyl
4 tracks cartridge / 8 tracks cartridge / Quad 8 tracks 1962/1965/1970 Rare? Analog, 1/4 inch wide tape, 3 3/4 inches/sec, endless loop cartridge. Quad: 4 Channel Stereo. 270px-Sexpistols8track 4 Tracks/8 Tracks/Quad 8
Compact cassette 1963 (still) common? Analog, with bias, preemphasis, 1/8 inch wide tape, 17/8 inches/sec. 1970: introduced Dolby noise reduction. Tdkc60cassette.jpg Audio cassette
Microcassette Minicassette 1969 Rare Analog, 1/8 inch wide tape, mostly mono, some stereo. 2.4 cm/s or 1.2 cm/s. CassetteAndMicrocassette.jpg/250px-CassetteAndMicrocassette.jpg Audio cassette
4 tracks/8 tracks/multitracks recording ? Very rare? This is not in itself a physical format (may be performed on a variety of equipments, from tape based equipment to digital equipment and hard disks). Likely to be only available in studios, as professional equipments. Tascam-16Track.jpg/300px-Tascam-16Track.jpg Other
Elcaset 1976 Rare A short lived cassette format. Elcaset.jpg/350px-Elcaset.jpg Audio cassette
Compact Disc 1982 Widely spread PCM, Avaialble in 120mm and 80mm formats. 200px-Typical_Compact_Discsvg CD
DAT 1987 Rare Dat cartridge.jpg/250px-Dat_cartridge.jpg DAT
Mini Disc 1991 Common ATRAC Minidisc Sony MZ1.jpg/250px-Minidisc_Sony_MZ1.jpg Minidisc
Digital Compact Cassette 1992 Very rare Other? DAT?
DTS-CD a.k.a. 5.1 Music Disc 1992 Very rare DTS Audio CD
DVD-Audio 1999 Rare? Common? DVD
SACD 1999 Rare? Common? CD autolev crop.jpg/200px-CD_autolev_crop.jpg SACD

Video and mixed physical supports

Name Date of creation Rarity Details Picture Map to
Betamax 1975 Common? 'Dolby Stereo' cinema surround sound. File:Sony bmc100p.jpg/180px-Sony_bmc100p.jpg Other
Laserdisc 1978 Rare? LDDVDComparison.jpg/250px-LDDVDComparison.jpg Laserdisc
DVD 1997 Widely spread DVD-R bottom-side.jpg/200px-DVD-R_bottom-side.jpg DVD
DualDisc 2003 Common? An audio cd on one side (though not redbook), and a dvd on the other side Dualdisc
HD-DVD 2005 Rare? ?
Blu-Ray 2006 Rare? ?

Partial list of digital audio formats

(*) Rarity is just a rough indication of availability as consumer products - values are: "Very Rare", "Rare", "Common", "Widely spread"

More information


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