A rare French (PAL) VHD that has, as of so far, only been seen as a Japanese import.

This disc takes advantage of a unique feature of the VHD format. A sticker applied to the front of the import's jacket states that this PAL/SECAM import is compatible with Japanese (NTSC) televisions. I've verified this to be true; the disc plays back with full color on Japanese VHD players. However, as the sticker also states, there is a 20% elongation of the picture past the bottom of the screen.

Knowing the disc's title, there is no surprise that the content of the disc is all about the Châteaux of the Loire Valley in France; however, the content itself is quite unique. It is one of the few interactive VHD discs. The disc is broken down into 39 chapters. Many of the chapters do not exist and "skip" to a greater chapter. There are many menus on the disc which pause the player; however, I've found both my Victor HD-V1 and HD-9500 do not respond to the menus and I have to manually punch in the chapter to skip to, or I have to frame step ahead. The disc's jacket says (in French) that the disc contains 54,000 "instantly accessible" documents such as videos & photographs. The disc also contains some 1980's-microcomputer-quality 2D/2.5D CG of the various castles and scenes discussed.

SALAMANDRE
P2 12.12.85
JVFD85/011A3110
21863