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DVDs. Excellent quality picture and sound. Loads of interactive extras that make a film very much like a gadget. We sometimes have access to extra scenes, sometimes games, sometimes different camera angles, sometimes the director takes us through his film. We also have the ability on most DVD players to import DVDs and play them, unlike VCRS where if you wanted to watch an American film you had to go and get a new VCR to play them.
With DVDs, a wide range of opportunities have come.
Those classic films should now be looked after, never more being the victim of abuse by the windy thing in the VCR that used to tear and wind apart our beloved videos tape inside it.
We are now starting to be able to copy on to DVDs from television, a move making them more closer to the VCR and a move that will surely make the VCR extinct in several decades time as prices begin to drop.
And we can play our favourite bit of a film without having to go through the events of.... rewind, fast foward, whoops just a bit past the beginning... Rewind a bit more.... Damn too far.... Now I'll have to do slow fast foward.... This takes ages.... Seen that bit, ah there we go the start of the Matrix lobby scene. Now it's just a case of. Interactive menu, chapters, Page 2, Click, Play. Easy.
You can pause without getting those blue screens or frozen picture with lines down it, excellent for those bits when you thought you saw a breast pop out of a bikini.
Are we in heaven? Are they perfect? What is the point of this post?
I’d like to suggest DVDs aren’t perfect. As much as I love the DVD I feel it has flaws that will mean it will soon be replaced by some newer technology. Firstly piracy is a problem. Piracy costs businesses lots of money. Take audio CDs for example. Who wants to buy an album when you can download it off Kazaa or WinMX with your broadband modem and put it on CD in about an hour, less time and much cheaper than going down the shops (obviously I don’t do this, I love going to the shops on the bus or train and paying £15 for one). Singles are especially suffering with sales at their lowest ever. Videos were quite easy to copy if you had 2 VCRs and didn’t mind waiting for the whole film to play while you record it. With DVDs copying has got a bit harder, but with DVD writers having just recently been released, it is not long till they come down in price and become more accessible. As a result DVDs are bound to become much more easy to copy than their ancestor the VCR was.
In terms of how the DVDs work they are still not perfect. Although the chapters are easy to get to, it isn’t too easy to watch an entire film in chunks. For example, when I watch a film I usually can only watch it in chunks as being a student, going out, playing games, I just don't get all the time I want. This usually means I'm in bed watching a DVD and I get halfway through the film and really can't watch anymore due to being too tired. The next night I do the same, but watch the other half. I come back to it, and where with VCRs I could just press play and it would be at the appropriate point, I have to go to the chapter, realise it was halfway through the chapter I was at, and have to do some rewinding. Ah!! I thought that was extinct!
Another thing is sometimes you want to watch it while trying to sleep OR you end up falling asleep because you didn’t realise the film was so dull. You half close your eyes while watching it and end up dosing off. What’s the problem with this? DVDs don't turn themselves off!! You can set TV's to turn themselves off, but not DVDs... This means when you wake up you've wasted a nights electricity if the TV turns itself off, or even worse, you manage to stay awake till the end and then the TV turns itself off a bit too early and then you have to run around and find the remote and end up missing a good bit. VCRs on the other hand are relatively simple. They finish, rewind, eject. Also those that are energy conserving, when they want to go to bed, have to get up and turn the damn thing off, and then try and get to sleep again. It's irritating!
It is also easy to knock one of several buttons on the remote during a film resulting in a quick jump to the interactive menu, which has consequences on the culprit who has pillows thrown at him. My playstation controller for example is very annoying, just knocking it off the bed ends up sending it to the frame before, or stopping it or sending it to the DVD menu (try it yourself if you don’t believe me).
It's also annoying when you just want to quickly get into a film, but have to go through the menu with annoying music. However on the other hand it's better than swimming through all those adverts and special features they usually put before the film on VCR… although saying that American DVDs still have that and you can’t skip them without fast forwarding through them. Damn Americans and their adverts.
The DVD is designed to be perfect for those who have time to watch a whole film in one go. However a lot of people don't. Some people like me love the DVD and everything it brings but we just can't help missing those things that VCRs do so well. I miss stopping a video and then rejoining it the next night.
The DVD is not perfect. I never really imagined films on CDs (sorry DVDs) before it happened; I always imagined that I would always watch films on VCRS. But I’m now sure it’s going to change, maybe drastically or experience some minor changes.
Look at the Nintendo Gamecube. Tiny DVDs - what a great idea. Makes piracy harder, the packaging itself is even even more compact (VCR boxes are annoying by the way) yet it delivers the same crispness of a DVD. Yet again a minor change but it’s making them better (mainly for the film companies here). So what’s the future of the DVD? Time will only inform.
With DVDs, a wide range of opportunities have come.
Those classic films should now be looked after, never more being the victim of abuse by the windy thing in the VCR that used to tear and wind apart our beloved videos tape inside it.
We are now starting to be able to copy on to DVDs from television, a move making them more closer to the VCR and a move that will surely make the VCR extinct in several decades time as prices begin to drop.
And we can play our favourite bit of a film without having to go through the events of.... rewind, fast foward, whoops just a bit past the beginning... Rewind a bit more.... Damn too far.... Now I'll have to do slow fast foward.... This takes ages.... Seen that bit, ah there we go the start of the Matrix lobby scene. Now it's just a case of. Interactive menu, chapters, Page 2, Click, Play. Easy.
You can pause without getting those blue screens or frozen picture with lines down it, excellent for those bits when you thought you saw a breast pop out of a bikini.
Are we in heaven? Are they perfect? What is the point of this post?
I’d like to suggest DVDs aren’t perfect. As much as I love the DVD I feel it has flaws that will mean it will soon be replaced by some newer technology. Firstly piracy is a problem. Piracy costs businesses lots of money. Take audio CDs for example. Who wants to buy an album when you can download it off Kazaa or WinMX with your broadband modem and put it on CD in about an hour, less time and much cheaper than going down the shops (obviously I don’t do this, I love going to the shops on the bus or train and paying £15 for one). Singles are especially suffering with sales at their lowest ever. Videos were quite easy to copy if you had 2 VCRs and didn’t mind waiting for the whole film to play while you record it. With DVDs copying has got a bit harder, but with DVD writers having just recently been released, it is not long till they come down in price and become more accessible. As a result DVDs are bound to become much more easy to copy than their ancestor the VCR was.
In terms of how the DVDs work they are still not perfect. Although the chapters are easy to get to, it isn’t too easy to watch an entire film in chunks. For example, when I watch a film I usually can only watch it in chunks as being a student, going out, playing games, I just don't get all the time I want. This usually means I'm in bed watching a DVD and I get halfway through the film and really can't watch anymore due to being too tired. The next night I do the same, but watch the other half. I come back to it, and where with VCRs I could just press play and it would be at the appropriate point, I have to go to the chapter, realise it was halfway through the chapter I was at, and have to do some rewinding. Ah!! I thought that was extinct!
Another thing is sometimes you want to watch it while trying to sleep OR you end up falling asleep because you didn’t realise the film was so dull. You half close your eyes while watching it and end up dosing off. What’s the problem with this? DVDs don't turn themselves off!! You can set TV's to turn themselves off, but not DVDs... This means when you wake up you've wasted a nights electricity if the TV turns itself off, or even worse, you manage to stay awake till the end and then the TV turns itself off a bit too early and then you have to run around and find the remote and end up missing a good bit. VCRs on the other hand are relatively simple. They finish, rewind, eject. Also those that are energy conserving, when they want to go to bed, have to get up and turn the damn thing off, and then try and get to sleep again. It's irritating!
It is also easy to knock one of several buttons on the remote during a film resulting in a quick jump to the interactive menu, which has consequences on the culprit who has pillows thrown at him. My playstation controller for example is very annoying, just knocking it off the bed ends up sending it to the frame before, or stopping it or sending it to the DVD menu (try it yourself if you don’t believe me).
It's also annoying when you just want to quickly get into a film, but have to go through the menu with annoying music. However on the other hand it's better than swimming through all those adverts and special features they usually put before the film on VCR… although saying that American DVDs still have that and you can’t skip them without fast forwarding through them. Damn Americans and their adverts.
The DVD is designed to be perfect for those who have time to watch a whole film in one go. However a lot of people don't. Some people like me love the DVD and everything it brings but we just can't help missing those things that VCRs do so well. I miss stopping a video and then rejoining it the next night.
The DVD is not perfect. I never really imagined films on CDs (sorry DVDs) before it happened; I always imagined that I would always watch films on VCRS. But I’m now sure it’s going to change, maybe drastically or experience some minor changes.
Look at the Nintendo Gamecube. Tiny DVDs - what a great idea. Makes piracy harder, the packaging itself is even even more compact (VCR boxes are annoying by the way) yet it delivers the same crispness of a DVD. Yet again a minor change but it’s making them better (mainly for the film companies here). So what’s the future of the DVD? Time will only inform.
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er-no wrote:
> The only mainstream film to be completely digital and the first ever
> to be released on DVD is Attack of the Clones.
Nope - A Bug's Life beat it to that "honour" by a good two years.
> The only mainstream film to be completely digital and the first ever
> to be released on DVD is Attack of the Clones.
Nope - A Bug's Life beat it to that "honour" by a good two years.
"No you have an archaic VCR (or a Geordie one ;-))"
Funny how mine's brand new, so is the one downstairs... must be cause they're Geordie! Curse this north-eastern blood in my veins!
Funny how mine's brand new, so is the one downstairs... must be cause they're Geordie! Curse this north-eastern blood in my veins!
MoJoJoJo wrote:
> "VCRs on the other hand are relatively simple. They finish,
> rewind, eject."
>
> Do you have a magic video player? All the ones in my house just stop
> when they get to the end of the tape.
No you have an archaic VCR (or a Geordie one ;-))
Mine when it gets to the end does the nice thing of finishing, rewinding and ejecting. But you have to get right to the end of the tape reel. Try recording something and leaving it to record while you sleep. It will be poking out in the morning.
Gord19 wrote:
>Why dont you just buy a proper DVD player and not allow yourself to watch >them on a below par DVD player via the PS2.
Gord I have a proper DVD player downstairs, but I want a games console in my room, and it's more convenient to watch it on that (cos I watch them at night).
OakeyDokey wrote:
>DVD's are great and they are about to get even better, they are releasing >a new dvd format soon that has 10 times the information on it due to the >laser wavelength used to burn them and read getting shorter. Double edged >sword tho as tehy most likely will only be limitedly backward compatable> >with current format.
Sounds good.
> "VCRs on the other hand are relatively simple. They finish,
> rewind, eject."
>
> Do you have a magic video player? All the ones in my house just stop
> when they get to the end of the tape.
No you have an archaic VCR (or a Geordie one ;-))
Mine when it gets to the end does the nice thing of finishing, rewinding and ejecting. But you have to get right to the end of the tape reel. Try recording something and leaving it to record while you sleep. It will be poking out in the morning.
Gord19 wrote:
>Why dont you just buy a proper DVD player and not allow yourself to watch >them on a below par DVD player via the PS2.
Gord I have a proper DVD player downstairs, but I want a games console in my room, and it's more convenient to watch it on that (cos I watch them at night).
OakeyDokey wrote:
>DVD's are great and they are about to get even better, they are releasing >a new dvd format soon that has 10 times the information on it due to the >laser wavelength used to burn them and read getting shorter. Double edged >sword tho as tehy most likely will only be limitedly backward compatable> >with current format.
Sounds good.
Tiltawhirl wrote:
> If all DVD's where made by the guys who do the HK Legends series then
> yes they would be perfect.
Amen to that!
> If all DVD's where made by the guys who do the HK Legends series then
> yes they would be perfect.
Amen to that!
DVD's are great and they are about to get even better, they are releasing a new dvd format soon that has 10 times the information on it due to the laser wavelength used to burn them and read getting shorter. Double edged sword tho as tehy most likely will only be limitedly backward compatable with current format.
And as for your sound problems try checking you have a 5.1 decoder or not this is often the reason the vioce channel is quiet as most films run in this format and early DVD players work on dolbly 4 speaker surround (sometimes 5 speaker) and 5.1 is 6 speaker.
And as for your sound problems try checking you have a 5.1 decoder or not this is often the reason the vioce channel is quiet as most films run in this format and early DVD players work on dolbly 4 speaker surround (sometimes 5 speaker) and 5.1 is 6 speaker.
If all DVD's where made by the guys who do the HK Legends series then yes they would be perfect.
But unfortunately they're not.
But unfortunately they're not.
DVD's are great but, overpriced and the sound level isn't very high so you end up turning your tv volume u, and then when the DVD has finished you end up making the Dog wet itself as the tv comes on too loud!
Why dont you just buy a proper DVD player and not allow yourself to watch them on a below par DVD player via the PS2.
This is because you can get DVD players now that have a 15 disc memory in them, which means that if you decide to stop a film at any point and take it out the machine, the next time you put it in it will ask if you want to resume at the exact point you stopped it at or if you want to go to the main menu.
Another reason is you get a decent remote with it and not have to use a crappy games console control pad. Another reason is that most standalone DVD players have auto switch-off facilities that when a movie has finished, it will turn itself off after 10 mins.
I rest my case.
This is because you can get DVD players now that have a 15 disc memory in them, which means that if you decide to stop a film at any point and take it out the machine, the next time you put it in it will ask if you want to resume at the exact point you stopped it at or if you want to go to the main menu.
Another reason is you get a decent remote with it and not have to use a crappy games console control pad. Another reason is that most standalone DVD players have auto switch-off facilities that when a movie has finished, it will turn itself off after 10 mins.
I rest my case.
"VCRs on the other hand are relatively simple. They finish, rewind, eject."
Do you have a magic video player? All the ones in my house just stop when they get to the end of the tape.
And unless you turn your DVD player off, then you can resume it later, at any time, just by pressing play. Just leave it on standby.
And yes, I'm sick of knocking my PS2 controller, and having something happen which I didn't even know was possible with the controller (nearly always the subtitles, or audio commentary)
Do you have a magic video player? All the ones in my house just stop when they get to the end of the tape.
And unless you turn your DVD player off, then you can resume it later, at any time, just by pressing play. Just leave it on standby.
And yes, I'm sick of knocking my PS2 controller, and having something happen which I didn't even know was possible with the controller (nearly always the subtitles, or audio commentary)
They aren't perfect because the films within are not originally digital video.
The only mainstream film to be completely digital and the first ever to be released on DVD is Attack of the Clones.
Superb quality, best of the best. Shame the movie is crap.
The only mainstream film to be completely digital and the first ever to be released on DVD is Attack of the Clones.
Superb quality, best of the best. Shame the movie is crap.
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