Work on the CD-i began in 1984 and it was first publicly announced in 1986. Competitors included the Tandy VIS and Commodore CDTV. This was facilitated by the use of an additional hardware modem that Philips released in 1996 for $150. The CD-i was also one of the earliest game systems to implement Internet features, including subscriptions, web browsing, downloading, e-mail, and online play. In addition to games, educational and multimedia reference titles were produced, such as interactive encyclopedias and museum tours, which were popular before public Internet access was widespread. 'CD-i' also refers to the multimedia Compact Disc standard used by the CD-i console, also known as Green Book, which was developed by Philips and Sony. The cost savings were due to the lack of a floppy drive, keyboard, mouse, and monitor (a standard television is used), and less operating system software. It was created to provide more functionality than an audio CD player or game console, but at a lower price than a personal computer with a CD-ROM drive at the time. The Philips CD-i (an abbreviation of Compact Disc Interactive) is an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V., who supported it from December 1991 into the late 1990s.

CD-i, Audio CD, CD+G, Karaoke CD, Video CD

Panasonic cd-i emulator