The format had only one application: to publish documentary video, children's writings, and other historical records compiled from 1984 to 1986 for the BBC Domesday Project.[disputed – discuss] The Domesday Project LV-ROM discs were played using a BBC Master computer connected via SCSI-1[2] to a Philips AIV VP415 Laserdisc player.[1] A genlock enabled the software stored on the LV-ROM to display computer graphics over the analog video on the BBC Master's computer screen. The buttons and menus of the user interface were accessed with a trackball. The Philips VP415 was shown in the 1989 James Bond film: “License to Kill”.
LD-ROMs owe their greater capacity to a design for constant linear velocity (CLV) playback. Like magnetic tape, the playback speed corresponds with picture quality and audio definition of analog audio-video streams. Since Pioneer intended LD-ROMs primarily for computer software, they chose CLV technology to increase the file storage capacity.
Specialized LD-ROM discs include the MEGA LD (for Sega Mega CD/Sega CD software), the LD-G (for karaoke data or digital photo albums; similar to CD+G), and the LD-ROM² (for PC-Engine CD-ROM² software). Such software was published either on 30-centimeter discs or on 20-centimeter discs with a lesser storage capacity.
Whereas LV-ROM is an abbreviation of "LaserVision Read-Only Memory", LD-ROM is an abbreviation of "LaserDisc Read-Only Memory".