Did you know

1. The official DVD specification is maintained by the DVD Forum, formerly the DVD Consortium, consisting of the ten founding companies and over 220 additional members. The first DVD players and discs were available in November 1996 in Japan, March 1997 in the United States, 1998 in Europe and in 1999 in Australia.

2. There is a 15-mm hole in the centre of the disc, usually used by some form of clamp or clip device within the player to hold it in place and allow it to be rotated by a motor. The diameter of the hole is the same as that of a former Dutch 10-cent coin. Philips engineers at the time used the coin to determine the size of the hole, and the coin fits inside the hole perfectly.