When Were DVD Players Invented ?

Digital Video Discs are a huge part of our lives today and it is hard to think what would happen or what it was like when these little discs did not exist. Though we use them to listen to music, to watch movies and to play games, very few people can tell when were DVD players invented. Fewer can tell you when DVDs – the lifeblood of any 15 year old, were invented.

So when my 15 year old asked me about when were DVD players invented, I scratched my head, hummed and hawed and finally told him sheepishly that I didn’t know. Admitting to your teenage son that you are ignorant in matters like DVD players is quite an embarrassment! So I spent some time sleuthing and came up with this information on when DVD players were invented. Hope this helps you keep your ground in front of your 15 year olds, mine now truly believes I am on old cow who stopped learning after WordStar!

Several inventors and companies have been involved in the invention of the DVD player. And this process took several years before the first DVD player that looked anything like the present one made its appearance. So it’s hard to pinpoint a time or a name as the inventor of DVD player but one could safely say that DVD players first made an appearance in Japan in November 1996 and close on its heels, the player appeared in the US in March 1997.

The production of DVD players requires patents from 4 different companies – Phillips, Sony, Matshusita and Toshiba and Phillips was the first company to have made the DVD player. Today several other companies like Samsung also produce DVD players and the market for this product is growing exponentially across the world.