Los picture disc o foto discos debutaron a inicios de 1930 utilizando varios materiales de forma experimental. Estos primeros picture disc eran láminas muy delgadas de papel pegadas sobre los viniles lo que ocasionaba un audio muy malo.

Durante los 70`s aparecieron ya los foto discos y los viniles de color de forma mucho mas formal, fabricados por Metronome Records GmbH (una subsidiaria de Polydor Records). Estos picture disc fueron logrados poniendo un laminado de papel fabricado por 3M.

Picture discs debuted in the early 1930s, when various materials were used experimentally as gimmicks or for advertising. These early picture discs were simply a sheet of thin vinyl film which was placed over a thick paper print and then pressed with the grooves and had very poor sound quality.

Following introduction of colored vinyl, picture discs started to appear in the 1970s. The first serious pictures discs (with acceptable but still inferior sound quality) were developed by Metronome Records GmbH (a subsidiary of Polydor Records).

These new picture discs were made by creating a five layer lamination consisting of a core of black vinyl with kiln dried paper decals on either side and then outer skins of clear vinyl film (manufactured by 3M) on the outsides.