VCD file extension is associated with virtual CD files which are data images of moving pictures and sound recorded on a CD. A VCD file is capable of storing a lot of data related to motion pictures including quality stereo sound and up to 80 minutes of motion video. Because of the capacity to store large volumes of data, VCD files use the MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) compression standard to reduce file size without sacrificing video quality.
VCD stands for Video Compact Disc and the files contain data related to video, audio, and extra elements. The data contains specifications for each of these components, such as pixels, frames per second, audio layers, subtitles, menus and chapters, and still images. The data relates to DVD players that support VCD and provides instructions for delivery and viewing.
Since VCD files are a data image, the CDs and DVDs can be opened and played on your PC’s operating system without having to actually insert a disk into the CD/DVD drive. You can also play a VCD file on PCs that are networked together without inserting the disk in any PC which is a member of the network.
How to Open VCD Files
You can open and play VCD files on any standard DVD player and any PC that has a CD/DVD drive installed. This includes PCs that run on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
If you run Windows, you can also use Roxio Creator 2012 to open and play VCD files. You can also choose to use H+H Software Virtual CD or WinMount International WinMount which allows you to compress and decompress VCD files as well as mount the files so you can open and view them. You can also opt to use a VCD converter to change the format of the file so it is viewable with different applications. There are a variety of VCD conversion programs available on the CNET website.
To open VCD files in Mac OS X, you can use Roxio Toast II or Popcorn 4. MPlayer will also open VCD files on a Mac-based PC. If you want to convert VCD files to another format, ffmpegX and Video Converter are reliable conversion programs for Mac OS X.
If you use Linux, you can open VCD files using MPlayer which is an open source media player available as a free download. Xine is another media player application that will open VCD files in Linux.
VCD files can also be opened and played on PlayStation devices that have the VCD add-on. If you live in Asia, there are standalone VCD players available on the market that will open VCD files. Additional programs for playing VCD files include Sega Saturn and Dreamcast, both of which require the VCD-add-on.
