Though it is a CD-based format, CD Video was never given a rainbow book designation; the idea of encoding analogue video, which is incompatible between different regions, was poorly received by CD stakeholders other than Philips, who had not consulted them prior to demonstrating the format to the music industry.

[3] CD Video discs have a distinctive gold color,[2][4] to differentiate them from regular silver-colored audio CDs.

The physical size of the 12 cm (4.7 in) discs limited the amount of LaserDisc content[2] to around six minutes, which meant they were primarily suited to pop music videos.

[2] The use of digital audio on the relaunched "CD Video"-branded LaserDiscs rendered them incompatible with older analog-only "LaserVision" players made for the European PAL television standard.

[9] A similar format called Video Single Disc (VSD) was later announced for the Japanese market in 1990.