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Originally Posted by Goldsplinter
What's an OVA?
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The most complete answer was given by xris,
here. The relevant portion is this,
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Originally Posted by xris
What's an OVA (or OAV).
Note: the term OAV (Original Animated Video) is sometimes used but means the same thing.
An OVA release means that the series hasn't been shown on TV before but is released straight into the 'video marketplace'. That's where the name comes from, it's an original video release (and the term was used many years ago before these new fangled DVDs were popular).
The OVA release schedule can be several weeks or months between one episode and the next (and please note, it is common for just one 30 minute episode to be released on a DVD in Japan). Due to this, the animation for an OVA can be very high quality. OVAs are funded before the project is started so they can put time and money into the story and artwork.
The length of an OVA can vary a lot but 4 or 6 episodes is common (or used to be). I think the general consensus is that the OVA marketplace is declining and so not as many are being made now as 5-10 years ago.
A typical OVA episode lasts for 30 minutes (since they don't have to allow for any advert breaks).
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Originally Posted by Forbin
Correct me if I'm wrong, but OVA's are specials that may be on TV as a special but usually will go straight to Video. TV means it was on regular or paid late night TV.
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Not quite. Sometimes an OVA is aired on TV as a promotion to convince people to purchase the DVDs, but it is usually edited in some way. For instance Dokoro-chan's OVAs were aired in a censored form with advertisements for the DVD covering part of the artwork. More recently Hellsing was also aired in a edited form as a sort of advance taste of the DVD version.