Abstract: A portable video compact disc player capable of playing both audio compact discs and MPEG-1 video compact discs is provided. A system control determines the type of signal that is being produced from the disc and controls the processing of that signal. If the signal is audio the system control directs the audio out to the speakers or alternative audio output ports. If the information is encoded MPEG-1 audio/video the system control sends the signal to the digital signal processing section. The digital signal processing section produces an MPEG-1 audio signal and a MPEG-1 video signal. This information is further processed and decoded by an MPEG audio/video processor then sent directly to a display screen through a control circuit board. The power consumed is minimized by reducing the number of semiconductor devices used to display the signal and by limiting the power supplied to the backlight when the device is being operated on DC power.