The VideoNow is a discontinued line of portable video players produced by Hasbro and released by their subsidiary Tiger Electronics in 2003 as part of Tiger's line of Now consumer products. The systems use discs called Personal Video Discs (PVDs), which can store about 30 minutes of video,, enough to store one TV episode with some space left over for additional content (mostly trailers or other advertisements). As such, the majority of releases on VideoNow were TV series, with a small number of movies split onto at least three discs each. As the devices were targeted towards children, their libraries exclusively consisted of content considered kid-friendly, mainly coming from kids' channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. The video is compressed, and runs at 15 fps. Audio is in mono, as video data is stored on the left audio channel, relegating sound to the right channel. The original model plays content in black and white, while later models could play content in color.
Hasbro also produced editing software for creating custom VideoNow Color PVDs called the VideoNow Media Wizard in 2005, which came with blank PVD media.
A number of unofficial solutions are available for creating the oddly-formatted VideoNow files, including a plug-in for the popular video processing program Virtual Dub. The files can then be burned to a CD-R using standard CD burning software, and the disc cut down to the required size.
Models
Standard Models
A VideoNow Color from Europe
VideoNow - The first model, released on July 17, 2003.[citation needed] Its non-backlit screen has a resolution of 80 × 80 non-square pixels and can display up to 16 shades of gray. It uses 85mm (3.3in) discs.
VideoNow Color - The second model, released on July 15, 2004. Its most notable improvement over the original model is the ability to play videos in color. Further, the screen is backlit and its resolution has been increased to 240 × 160. It also adds the ability to fast forward and rewind video; the first model only allowed for skipping between scenes. It is backwards compatible with the original model's PVDs, though the image is cropped to accommodate for the Color's wider resolution. It uses 107mm (4.2in) discs, which would become the standard size of PVDs throughout the line's lifespan.
VideoNow Jr. - The third model, released by subsidiary Playskool on October 16, 2004. It is a variation of the VideoNow Color designed for preschoolers, with a more childish design, rubberized corners, bigger buttons for ease of use, and two eject hatches which have to be pulled at the same time to minimize the risk of opening the disc tray and touching the laser by accident. PVDs made under the VideoNow Jr. brand are also flexible in order to prevent them from breaking when bent. Despite this, they are functionally identical to a VideoNow Color PVD, and can be played on a VideoNow Color or the later model XP. Likewise, the VideoNow Jr. player is compatible with VideoNow Color PVDs.
VideoNow XP - The fourth model, released on August 15, 2005.[citation needed] It uses a clamshell design, has a larger screen than the VideoNow Color, albeit at the same resolution, and was designed with basic gaming functionality, featuring four separated directional buttons and two face buttons labeled "A" and "B". A few dedicated VideoNow XP games were made, though all of them were interactive movies with gameplay consisting entirely of quick time events, similar to Laserdisc-based arcade games such as the Advanced Microcomputer Systems developed- and Don Bluth animated- Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. Standard PVDs released during the XP's lifespan would also feature a simple trivia game with questions about the episode included, which could only be played on the XP. Should a PVD game be put into any other model, the content will play in the order it is stored on the disc.
VideoNow Color FX - The fifth and final model, released in 2006. It is virtually identical to the VideoNow Color in both functionality and form factor; the only difference between the two is that the Color FX uses translucent plastic as opposed to the opaque plastic used for the original Color model.
Special editions
Kool-Aid Red VideoNow (only available through Kool-Aid Kool Points)
VideoNow Light- a light accessory made for the original VideoNow to allow for viewing in dim lighting conditions. It requires a separate AA battery.
Carrying Case- made to store the VideoNow and 5 PVDs in. There are 4 types, one for each model.
VideoNow-branded headphones were available with a standard 3.5 mm audio jack.
VideoNow Media Wizard- a basic editing software used to make custom PVDs to play on a Color/fx, XP, and Jr., released in 2005. Hasbro made recordable PVDs available without the Media Wizard from their online store.[citation needed]
VCamNow- a VideoNow-branded camcorder that came with a copy of the Media Wizard.
Thomas' Rescue Adventures ("Thomas to the Rescue" / "James Goes Too Far" / "You Can Do It, Toby" / "Percy and the Magic Carpet") (Release Date: Mid 2005)
↑Playthings Staff (October 16, 2004). "Wiggles 'live' to promote VideoNow Jr". Gifts & Decorative Accessories. New York, NY and Pawtucket, RI. Retrieved May 15, 2026.
External links
VideoThen, a freeware tool to create black and white discs
PVDTools, an open source set of tools to read black and white disc rips
videonow_dec.c, another open source tool for reading black and white disc rips
