Information On DVD Artricles and News

All eyes on new DVD format war

2007-11-16T03:42:00.000-08:00

With hardware manufacturers and movie studios dividing into the Blu-ray or HD-DVD camp, it's likely consumers will be hesitant to purchase players of either format until the dust settles.

The DVD era has not been kind to Steven Chack.

Chack's Naked Eye News and Video store on San Francisco's Haight Street, tucked in a basement retail space next to a medical marijuana shop, is a film buff's paradise. He amiably rents the latest Tom Cruise and Star Wars films, but his eyes light up when a customer mentions an obscure Italian horror title or a Japanese samurai director.

For the last four years he has been replacing his videotapes with DVDs as quickly as he can afford, but has seen business tumble uncomfortably as customers have turned to alternatives such as online DVD rental service Netflix, or have begun buying their own movies. Now he's looking at the impending release of new, high-definition DVDs with growing worry, leery of investing scarce dollars in either of two new formats before the market settles on one or the other.

"They would be crazy if they didn't agree on a format," Chack said. "They should have learned their lesson from Betamax."

Chack is one of many businesspeople looking at the impending war over next-generation movie formats with growing anxiety. Echoes of the quixotic war between Sony's Betamax and the VHS format that ultimately replaced it remain high in the minds of everyone involved even loosely with Hollywood, a distraction that nobody wants to repeat.

But it may already be too late.

Hollywood studios have committed to releasing scores of high-definition DVD movies later this year. Two camps backing incompatible next-generation technologies, led respectively by Sony and Toshiba, have as yet failed to agree on a way to unify their products. They're still talking, but studio executives increasingly say -- if only privately -- that they are losing hope for an amicable compromise.

DVDs' battle lines The timing could not be worse. Consumers' seemingly insatiable hunger for new DVDs may finally be diminishing. Executives at Dreamworks Animation and Pixar Animation Studios have each issued earnings warnings in recent weeks, blaming slower-than-expected sales of the movies "Shrek 2" and "The Incredibles."

North American retailer Best Buy noted in its quarterly earnings statement last week that sales of DVDs, as well as CDs, had tumbled at the same time that video-game sales had grown by double digits. As with CDs, explanations abound for this phenomenon: The DVD market may finally be saturated, or studios are releasing too many movies too quickly, or maybe this latest batch of movies simply didn't resonate with consumers, analysts say.

Nevertheless, the apparent slowdown has shaken Hollywood executives, who are counting on DVD sales -- already for the majority of their revenues in the United States -- to make up for slumping box-office receipts. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, home video sales were US$16.6 billion in 2004, up 15 percent from the previous year, compared with just US$9.8 billion in ticket sales in the United States.

A new format could breathe new life into those sales. But as long as the two formats, called HD DVD and Blu-ray, remain at odds, few believe that consumers will rush to open their wallets.

"If the PC market has taught consumers anything, it's that if there is not a standard, don't buy," said Gartner analyst Van Baker. "We really believe these things are going to fall flat on their face this Christmas season."

http://www.cnet.com.au/desktops/dvdburners/0,239029405,240055860,00.htm

CD/DVD burning suite complete with backup and photo albums creation (CD/DVD burning suite complete with backup and photo albums creation) CD/DVD burn

2007-11-16T03:40:00.000-08:00

November 2, 2004 Astonsoft announces the release of long-awaited Pro version of the ever popular DeepBurner free CD/DVD burning software suite. DeepBurner Pro integrates backup, photo albums creation and disk labeling software with high-performance CD/DVD burning package, allowing PC users easily create live multimedia disks complete with interactive Autorun shells, backup important data to a CD or a DVD as well as prepare and print disk labels and burn the disks – all from within the same application. Intuitive user interface and WYSIWYG editors make creation of content-rich professional looking disks a snap.

DeepBurner Pro is intended for a broad range of Windows users who would like to take advantage of the latest CD/DVD authoring and burning technologies. The application allows burning data CDs and DVDs as well as Audio CDs and bootable disks. Advanced PC users will definitely enjoy the disk-to-disk copying capability. DeepBurner Pro can also build an ISO image of a disk for further burning. According to recent studies, conducted by independent technology experts, disk burning software costs make up only about 25 per cent of total disk authoring costs. DeepBurner Pro includes all the tools required for time and cost efficient disk authoring, eliminating the additional expenses on the end user side.

"As we have studied the existing CD/DVD burning solutions, we found none of the popular titles offers complete disk authoring process automation, which results in additional software costs for the end user" – said Max McMillan, the CEO of Astonsoft. "When creating DeepBurner Pro we strived to bring CD/DVD authoring features together to form up a package that an average computer user could use to create a disk he needs from scratch without having to even switch to another application!"

According to Mr. McMillan "Astonsoft did its very best to come up with complete CD/DVD burning solution that combines power of the latest technologies with popular disk authoring tools!"

About Astonsoft Ltd.
Founded in 1998, Astonsoft has targeted its development efforts towards providing home PC and corporate users with innovative security and system maintenance software solutions. As of now, Astonsoft offers security, multimedia and business applications as well as web-development and custom applications development for third parties. The company is involved in multiple IT research projects with its major goal being to provide end users with 'software that works'.

http://www.onekit.com/store/review/cd~slash~dvd_burning_suite_complete_with_backup_and_photo_albums_creation.html

No end in sight for DVD format war

2007-11-16T03:38:00.000-08:00

Sales of next-generation DVD players are not seen as likely to take off for another 18 months as consumers are still waiting for prices to fall and for the battle over two competing technologies to be resolved.

Referring to the high-definition DVD format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, Forrester Research said in a report that while the two camps have "been fighting what seems to be a war of attrition for consumers' hearts and minds," few consumers are warming to either type of device.

Sony backs the Blu-ray standard against Toshiba's HD DVD.

Hollywood and electronics manufacturers hope new high-definition DVDs, with better picture quality and more capacity, will revive the slowing $US24 billion home DVD market.

But the format war has curbed adoption in a way reminiscent of the Betamax-VHS videotape format battle of the early 1980s, experts say.

Forrester analyst J.P. Gownder stood behind his company's view that Blu-ray would eventually win out over HD DVD, but he said the Blu-ray camp needs to cut prices.

A stand alone Blu-ray player sells for about $US500, while HD DVD players cost about $US400, and prices are expected to drop further as the holiday shopping season nears.

Gownder said Blu-ray's content advantages are somewhat diminished since the recent decision by Viacom Inc's Paramount studio to commit exclusively to HD DVD. HD DVD hardware prices have also dropped into consumers' preferred price range, he said.

"Weakened by these developments, Blu-ray needs to offer a viable hardware model at the $US250 price point by Christmas 2007," he said in the report. "The Blu-ray camp must also stave off further studio defections, and employ more aggressive promotional tactics to counter HD DVD's recent momentum." Forrester said typical owners of high-definition televisions are not willing to pay more than $US200 on average for a new HD DVD or Blu-ray player.

"Failure to alter strategy would open up Blu-ray to a possible upset defeat at the hands of HD DVD," Gownder said.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/articles/no-end-in-sight-for-dvd-format-war/2007/09/25/1190486287781.html

CD/DVD Duplicators

2007-11-16T03:36:00.000-08:00

Options For Creating Multiple Copies With Ease
If your IT department spends lots of time duplicating large numbers of media, a CD or DVD duplicator is an essential tool you can’t do without. Many of these devices now come with integrated computers and high resolution printers and feature fully automated operation, so generating a large number of media copies is usually a matter of loading up a stack of discs, pushing a few buttons, and walking away. Here’s an overview of a few CD/DVD duplicators that may meet your needs.

CD/DVD Duplicators Explained

The fastest CD/DVD burner in the world won’t be much help when you’re facing a large media duplication project. Manually burning one disc at a time, especially when you need to make dozens, is a one-way ticket to the loony bin. CD/DVD duplicators are perfect for large volume duplication tasks because they let you start with one source disc and automatically duplicate its contents to any number of blank discs.

Duplicator technology is simplicity itself: a source drive, containing the disc you want to duplicate, is connected, via a controller card or some other interface, to any number of “target” drives containing blank discs. Some duplicator models feature robotic arms that continuously feed target drives fresh discs, so you can load up to a maximum (depending on the model) number of blank discs into these devices and walk away. Many duplicator models even include inkjet or thermal printers, so high resolution text or graphics can be automatically printed onto your discs.

Of course, the more money you’re willing to spend, the more features and duplicating prowess you can get in your duplicator of choice. Most manufacturers, such as Microtech, Condre, or Disc Makers, manufacture and market a wide variety of duplicator models running the gamut from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.

If you want 100% automated operation, flexible software control, large capacity, and healthy throughput, be prepared to spend some dollars. But there are plenty of duplicator choices in the marketplace that are quite capable and won’t shatter your budget.

Disc Makers EliteMicro Duplicators

Disc Makers manufactures and markets a wide variety of DVD and CD duplicators, ranging in price from under $1,000 to more than $4,000. The EliteMicro line of duplicators features easy PC connectivity, generous blank disc capacities, and 4800dpi color printers.

Disc Makers’ EliteMicro DVD duplicator features a single 16X Plextor DVD±R/48X CD-R and capacity for up to 75 blank discs. The device is rated for a throughput of nine 2.9GB DVDs per hour, six 4.7GB DVDs per hour, and 12 700MB CDs per hour. Keep in mind that advertised maximum throughputs are based on PC connected systems with 50% color ink coverage on each disc. Disc duplication projects requiring more ink coverage or larger file sizes will result in slower throughputs. These throughputs are possible via a robotic loading mechanism that continuously and automatically loads fresh media into the DVD/CD drives.

All of Disc Makers’ Elite series duplicators also feature 100 free CD-Rs or 50 DVD±Rs with the purchase of a unit, as well as discounted pricing on future media purchases, free lifetime technical support, and a one-year warranty.

In November the company released its Pico single drive CD/DVD duplicator, designed to meet the needs of small business and even home office buyers who need duplication capabilities at a reasonable price. The Pico’s throughput is impressive: up to six 4.7GB DVD±Rs per hour or 12 700MB CD-Rs per hour. The Pico also features a built-in 3-inch disc and Card-Disc adapter, so marketing and promotions departments can use it to generate trade show giveaways.

Condre DVD Tracer Pro

Condre’s Tracer Pro DVD recorder tower duplicator models feature dual format recording capabilities, providing the flexibility to do your duplication projects in the DVD standard of your choice. These Pioneer recorders are controlled via a user interface that allows for easy one-button operation of the recorder tower.

Multiple command functions such as load to hard drive, disc to disc copy, verify, copy and compare, and emulate are all supported. 40 or 80GB internal hard drives allow for plenty of file storage, while multiple fans keep the drives cool and functional.

Condre also manufactures a couple of standalone (that is, automated) DVD/CD duplicators: the Stylus Standalone C180, C300, and C600 models. These duplicators have blank media capacities ranging from 180 to 300 to 600 blank discs. The units do not require a PC to operate and also utilize a robotic mechanism to keep the integrated recorder busy duplicating discs. According to Condre, the device’s relatively small footprint makes it ideal for office environments where space may be at a premium but heavy duty duplication capacities are required.

Microtech Xpress XD

Microtech’s Xpress XD high capacity duplicator is designed for high volume CD and DVD duplication duty. The device features four or six DVD/CD recorders, 600 blank disc capacity, robotics-driven operation, an integrated PC, and an inkjet or thermal (up to 4800dpi) printer. The unit supports a wide variety of formats, including DVD Video, DVD-ROM, HFS, mixed mode, hybrid, Video CD, Joliet, Romeo, Rockridge, and others. Bundled software applications include ImageMaker EZ, DiscPrint, and MyDisc Standalone. The device can also be networked via an integrated 10/100 Base-T Ethernet port.

The company’s Xpress XE duplicator is similar in many respects to the Xpress XD, but it has fewer capabilities than its higher-volume big brother. For example, the Xpress XE duplicator’s capacity is “only” 200 blank discs, and the device includes two CD/DVD recorders.

But, like the XD, the XE duplicator is also network capable, features a thermal or inkjet high resolution printer, and comes with an integrated Windows PC bundled with the same software package included with the XD. If you don’t quite need 600 disc capacity, the Xpress XE may be just what you’re looking for.

If you’re shooting for the moon in terms of DVD/CD duplication firepower, the Microtech Xpress 2400 is a gargantuan duplicator consisting of four Xpress XD devices interconnected using a Gigabit Ethernet link. With a combined 24 recorders and an astounding 2,400 disc capacity, the Xpress 2400 is the duplicating market’s ultimate weapon.

Systor Systems DVD/CD Duplicator

Systor Systems’ 1-8 target DVD/CD duplicators feature 16X Plextor DVD±RW DVD recorders, a 200GB hard drive, and an optional external connection to a PC. According to Systor, the optional hard drive enables faster duplication and enhances the stability of the device.

Other features include a standalone IDE to IDE copy controller, IDT CPU, onboard interface via LCD display, upgradeable firmware, and compatibility with a wide variety of formats, including DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD±R, Business Card CD-R, 3-inch Mini CD-R, and others. You can order the Systor products on ESystor.com, its online shopping site.

Options For Everyone

CD/DVD duplicators are a boon for businesses that frequently generate multiple copies of source DVDs or CDs. Most of the devices discussed in this roundup are designed for easy, unattended operation while they tackle your most demanding CD or DVD duplication jobs. While models vary, the basic features remain the same across the board: the ability to generate multiple disc copies with little or no human intervention.

There is enough pricing wiggle room in the marketplace to satisfy everyone, but a word of caution: It’s important to make sure your duplicator’s amazing capabilities are not used for the wrong reasons. So it’s important to have policy and administrative measures in place to prevent unauthorized use of these devices, especially in environments where copyrighted or licensed content could be easily copied.

http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Fp2802%2F07p02%2F07p02.asp

What's in Your DVD Player, Joss Whedon?

2007-11-16T03:33:00.000-08:00

The creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Firefly," and "Angel" dishes about his DVD player, talks musicals, and sets us straight on the rumors of a "Serenity" sequel.

By Sean Axmaker
Special to MSN Entertainment

"Angel," the greatest TV show ever about a vampire detective, is getting the complete-series treatment in a new DVD edition. To mark the occasion, Joss Whedon -- also the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly" -- dishes on "Angel," talks musicals, and sets us straight on the rumors of a "Serenity" sequel.

What's in your DVD player?

That's a double answer because I've been watching "Newsies" with my kids and I've been watching "Crank," with Jason Statham, while I exercise. "Newsies" and "Crank," yeah! How many fans did I just lose?

"Newsies" is a musical. Have your kids gotten into musicals?

Oh yeah. They don't watch TV and we only watch a few things selectively, and I tend to show them musicals first because I don't like to show them a lot of heavy cutting. I don't like to do that to their brains. I like "Mr. Rogers," I like long takes. Musicals are very peppy and they are very much about just showing you what's going on instead of the magic of cutting and cutting and cutting, so that they become confused, visually. So since I'm easing them into the whole concept of filmed entertainment, it's a good place to start. Besides, I get to watch them.

My sister's kids' favorite movie, at least at one time, was "Singin' in the Rain."

Well, it is the best movie that has ever been and I have shown that to my kids, because it's "Singin' in the Rain." Every number is magical and every joke is actually funny and every bit works, so that makes sense.

Do you ever check out the supplements on other DVDs?

You know, very rarely. If there's a movie I'm really curious about how they did something I'll try to hunt it down. But either I'll try to listen to commentary and somebody will say something that upsets me and I'll stop; or if it's something where I'm completely transported, like "The Matrix," I never want to know how it's made, I want to believe it happened.

Having done commentary yourself and listened to other commentary tracks, what's your take on the concept? For it? Against it?

I'm for it. I love doing it. I get nervous but I love doing it and I love the idea of it. I still think the best commentary I've heard is "Cannibal: The Musical": Trey Parker and Matt Stone and all their buddies just getting drunk and talking about the musical. You really get a bunch of cute insights and a bunch of drunk guys. What more could you ask for? But I haven't watched many since then, even by people I like. Occasionally I do find them kind of dry. But I'm definitely for them, I think there's a lot you can do with them, and they can be really fun.

The "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" DVD sets were some of the first to be filled with multiple commentary tracks and featurettes and other extras. Is there one DVD supplement that stands out for you?

For "Buffy," it was probably the making of the musical, which David Fury sort of oversaw, because that was the first time we said, "OK, we know this is going to be intense. It may be our downfall, but it's going to be an intense one and we should document it." That was really fun. But at first, whenever anybody did an extra, it was always like, "How'd you do vampire teeth?" There was a lot of genre silliness as opposed to, "What are we actually trying to do here?" By the time we were making "Angel," they sort of figured that out, that there were more interesting things to talk about. I can't remember a favorite one particularly for "Angel," but that's because by the time I was making "Angel," I had stopped sleeping several years before and I have little or no memory of it. I think it was about a vampire ...

You weren't sleeping and you were living in Los Angeles. Was there an autobiographical dimension to "Angel" that you're not telling us about?

There is a reason that I write about those guys, and if you've ever seen the color of my skin you'll know I'm not kidding. I can't go in the sun. It burns. (Voice breaks.) It burns!

It must be hard living in L.A.

You know, in retrospect, it might not have been the greatest choice. I probably should be in Seattle.

The "Angel" series DVD box set is coming out, and there's a new show with a vampire detective called "Moonlight" on TV this season. What is it about TV vampires that makes them all want to become detectives?

You know, I think ultimately it's the dream of every young vampire to be a detective. I don't know. I mean there was a time when vampires were all puffy shirts and poetry and that was glorious, when it was Frank Langella. When we started "Angel," people were like, "It's just 'Forever Knight.'" But you take the vampire concept and ultimately it translates into sort of a modern noir and a lot of noir stories were about detectives. The idea with "Angel" was to do a modern noir, was to do a little office with the blinds and the fast patter and the sort of nihilistic toughness and the dark world and the strange turns and all of the things that you find in the great '40s and '50s noirs. And I have a feeling that's probably what everyone else is chasing, a little bit, too. It puts you in a world that's slightly heightened in the way that those were. So it kind of makes sense that they would be detectives.

Fred [played by Amy Acker] has a heavy, honeyed Southern accent when she joins "Angel" in Season 2. It's gone by the end of Season 3. Was she secretly getting speech therapy from Lorne?

She just likes to fit in, that's my theory. Amy's actually from Texas and had the accent but had obviously done a lot of Shakespeare and dropped the accent. I heard it and thought, "I want the accent." But actually she doesn't speak like that anymore and I think it naturally faded away. (Pause.) Now that I realize that, she's fired. I'm not bringing her back.

Where can I get an Angel puppet?

I don't know. They do sell them. I have one, and now there's a Spike puppet, too, even though Spike was never a puppet.

I would love to see the Angel and Spike puppet show.

You know, I kind of want to, too. But like, hardcore noir, with lots of big fights, lots of toughness. Not just "learning and growing," I really want them to kick it old school, but puppet school.

What's the status of the Buffy spin-off "Ripper," which, last I read, you were still negotiating to bring to the BBC?

I tried for a while to do a series and it kind of blew up in my face. Now I'm going to try and see if I can't do it as a 90-minute BBC film. Right now it's sort of in the hands of FOX as to what rights they need to secure and I don't know how long that's going to take. I've been honing the story in the meantime, talking to Tony [Head] and the BBC. Everyone's onboard, it's kind of up to FOX.

I recently watched the new "Serenity" special-edition DVD and I have to say: The easygoing 20-minute featurette "A Filmmaker's Journey" makes the set look like a marvelous and fun place to be.

There will never be another thing like that in my life. The set of "Serenity" exists because the set of "Firefly" was like that. I will do many things that I will enjoy greatly. I do not think I will ever be on a set that feels the way that one did, and I will also never get over the fact that I am not on it right now.

Actor Alan Tudyk mentioned the possibility of another "Firefly" movie in a recent interview. Is that wishful thinking? Is something happening? If so, can you talk about it?

I can talk about it because it's wishful thinking. I always said, they made the special edition DVD because they cannot keep the DVD on the shelves. That's what they told me, and they really went to the mattresses to make something special because they knew I wasn't going to do a "director's cut" because the "director's cut" played in theaters. So they really pumped up the extras and I really appreciated that. And they also (slides into a Peter Lorre-ish voice) made it look pretty, finally. But I think what happened was that I said, "Well, if there's hope for a sequel, it's people buying the DVD," and that translated into something more literal. But, no. Right now, nobody has any plans to do any kind of sequel. If they do, I hope they'll include me, because if I find out Brett Ratner is directing it, I'm going to be so mad. That's not a dig on Brett. I want to do more, but nobody's talking about doing more right now.

http://music.msn.com/new-on-dvd/feature-article/default.aspx?news=281562

The Passion Of The Christ (DVD) Review

2007-11-16T03:30:00.000-08:00

The most controversial film of 2004, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ was widely derided by critics and detractors as a two-hour anti-Semitic pornography/horror flick, complete with splattering blood and arduous torture. But among the Christian community (of which I consider myself a part) and open-minded people who actually saw the film, The Passion stands alone as the most eloquent expression of God's love for mankind ever to grace the big screen.

The Passion certainly is violent, but not anymore violent than similarly rated films of the past ten years. But despite contentions by some evangelical Christians that everyone should see this film, I don't think young children should see it. This movie is for mature audiences only, and I think anyone under the age of sixteen should have a full understanding of the previous events underlying the main focus of the film before viewing it.

The entire movie was filmed in the original Aramaic with English subtitles. This enhances, rather than detracts from, the film's enjoyment because it creates an emotional aura of mystery and sacredness to the subject. Since most people are at least vaguely familiar with the storyline, you won't find yourself distracted by reading subtitles as one might think. With just the opposite effect, you find yourself paying greater attention to the visual images displayed on the screen, and the power of the events unfolding before you is amplified several times over.

The Passion of the Christ combines the four written accounts found in the New Testament Gospels to create a vivid and powerful portrayal of the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The film opens in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus of Nazareth (James Caviezel) is engaged in prayer, asking his Father to deliver him through the events soon to come. A satanic figure lurks in the shadows, dispensing a series of temptations and doubts. "No one man can bear the sin of the world. It's impossible. It's too much," the figure says. When Jesus refuses to give into Satan's temptations, his disciple Judas arrives to betray him to the Temple Guard.

The Temple Guard leads Jesus away in chains to face the high priest. While Peter and John weave their way through the crowd of onlookers, Jesus is questioned by an assembly of leading priests and teachers of religious law. When Jesus responds to their questioning by affirming that he is indeed the Son of God, the leaders hit him, spit on him, and mock him. They then take him before Pilate, hoping to have him killed.

Finding no fault with Jesus, Pilate nevertheless has Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. This sequence is one of the most brutal in the film. James Caviezel is reported to have actually been hit by accident during the filming of this scene. The brutality and utter lack of empathy on behalf of the Roman soldiers is brilliantly illustrated. In my estimation, if you can make it through this scene, then the crucifixion scene should not be a problem.

Furthermore, Gibson's cinematic genius is apparent by his measured and precise use of flashbacks which draws the audience away from the violence in brief intervals so as not to cause an emotional overload. Flashbacks include Jesus teaching to a crowd about his power to "lay down my life, and take it back up again," Jesus washing the feet his disciples at the last supper, and Jesus as a playful personality interacting with Mary. One particularly powerful scene traces back to Jesus as a toddler. When he falls down and injures himself, a panicked Mary runs to his rescue. This flashback correlates with the film's portrayal of Jesus stumbling under the weight of the cross.

Overall, this ranks as one of the greatest films ever made. If you believe Jesus of Nazareth was the Biblical Messiah (which this film reviewer does), then The Passion illustrates the enormity of God's sacrifice. But even if you think Jesus was just a common man, this film serves a valuable purpose in that it underscores the barbarity of a human race that, more often than not, persecutes the innocent. Mel Gibson's greatest production to date is a film every student of history, philosophy, and human nature owe it to themselves to see.

About The Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find where you can find more reviews of movies and TV series. Source: http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/02/passion-of-christ-dvd.html

DVD releases include ''Transformers: Two-Disc Special''; ''Veggie Tales...''

2007-11-16T03:26:00.000-08:00

"TRANSFORMERS: TWO-DISC SPECIAL EDITION"

HD and enhanced widescreen, 2007, PG-13 for intense sci-fi violence, mild language

Best extra: They're surprisingly weak, but let's go with the commentary by egoist … um, director Michael Bay.

Call Ripley's. We have good news regarding "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor."

If Michael Bay hadn't made nice with the Air Force and Navy when he did those movies, the military might not have gotten behind "Transformers."

Says who? Guess.

He has a point. In his commentary, the director says he wanted to broaden the story for audiences unfamiliar with the Transformers saga. He did it by putting the military - and some very cool hardware - in the middle of his slam-bang thrill ride about a grudge match between giant morphing robots.

Not that every camp was receptive. Bay received death threats when Transformer Nation got wind that he was doing the movie. But, he says, for 18 months he thought more about robots than anyone on Earth.

It shows, especially in hi-def, a format made for a flick like this. The detail is fab; the sound shakes and quakes.

Too bad the extras are only serviceable. They include a trivia track, multipart "making of" features and concept paintings. You'll learn that exactly 10,108 digital parts went into animating Optimus Prime, but, all in all, there's nothing more here than meets the eye.

- Craig Shapiro

"PLANET TERROR: EXTENDED AND UNRATED"

Enhanced widescreen, 2007, unrated but contains an onslaught of graphic violence, language and sexuality

Best extra: As always, Robert Rodriguez, who wrote, directed, edited, scored and acted as his own cinematographer on the film, provides an excellent commentary filled with information about how he made the movie.

RODRIGUEZ'S HALF OF "Grindhouse" arrives on DVD this week in a double disc that will certainly tide fans over until next year's release of the complete "Grindhouse" experience. Though not as pure of an homage to the genre as Tarantino's "Death Proof," Rodriguez still manages to entertain with exploding zombies, a stripper with a machine gun instead of a leg, and a scientist who collects testicles as a hobby. "Planet Terror" is the definition of over the top.

"Planet Terror" restores a ridiculous amount of violence that had to be cut from the theatrical cut. The second disc offers an array of featurettes focusing on the casting and the effects. Rodriguez wrote the lead roles specifically for Rose McGowan (whom he's engaged to now) and Marley Shelton. Rodriguez was particularly inspired by the works of director John Carpenter and he considered "Planet Terror" the film Carpenter could have made between "The Thing" and "Escape from New York."

- Josh Boone

"MEERKAT MANOR: SEASON ONE"

Widescreen, 2005, not rated, suitable for all family members, but adults should be available for young viewers

Best extra: Season One Top Ten moments. Not enough!

FORGET "SURVIVOR" AND "The Amazing Race." "Meerkat Manor" is the best reality/survivor show ever made. If you missed the beginning, here come the first 13 episodes of the Whiskers family in a two-disc set. These fierce little critters have been called the Sopranos of the Kalahari. But they're not. They're better. What's more, these episodes can be watched by the entire family.

Matriarch Flower is the boss, protecting her family from invading meerkat tribes, such as the Lazuli, making sure the home (burrow) is fit and that all are well-fed. She is to be the subject of a 2008 theatrical release, "Queen of the Meerkats." The Animal Planet show is the result of a 10-year study by Cambridge University. Students mix into the footage from time to time, taking notes. During these moments, you realize just how small the meerkats are. Adults are about a foot long, pups only a few inches, but when confronting an enemy, these little guys are bigger than life.

Sean Astin's flawless narration moves each episode along from cliffhanger to cliffhanger. The clear Season One favorite is Flower's son, Shakespeare. Whether he's taking a double snake bite for the clan, mentoring a little brother, or squaring off against Big Cy of the Lazuli to protect baby meerkats, he is his mother's son.

Still, there are plenty of personalities to enjoy, including Shakespeare's loving sister, Mozart; their independent sibling, Tosca; Flower's main squeeze, Zaphod; his nutcase brother, Yousarian; and Carlos, the Don Juan of the Kalahari. Those who have been with the Whiskers through Season Three, can flashback to baby Mitch, who started out as a spoiled, mama's-boy bully. And for those who thought Flower was ruthless, we now have Punk, the new queen of the Zappas and her alpha guy, Houdini. Never dull and never contrived, they all have stories to tell.

- Kay Reynolds

"A MIGHTY HEART" HD and enhanced widescreen, 2007, R for language

Best extra: A 20-minute "making of" documentary with interviews with the cast and crew. Just a slight disappointment - it's only in standard def. LAST SUMMER, THIS RIVETING docudrama barely found an audience. In fact, it lost money. Still, for director Michael Winterbottom, actress Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl, and producer Brad Pitt, it was a labor of love.

Winterbottom's hand-held hi-def camera puts you inside the courageous lives of Daniel "Danny" Pearl (Dan Futterman), a Wall Street Journal reporter and his wife Mariane, a French radio journalist, who is six months pregnant. They are covering the war on terrorism just after Sept. 11, 2001. Based on Mariane's memoirs, we pick up their story Jan. 23, 2002, as Danny heads for an interview in Karachi, Pakistan, with the elusive Sheik Mubarak Ali Gilani, to explore a story on shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Danny tells Mariane he should be home by 9 p.m. He never returns.

For five weeks, the director and his fabulous cast - Jolie in her finest role, giving a standout performance - re-create the intense investigation, which involved Pakistani authorities, the FBI, an American diplomatic agent (Will Patton) and longtime journalism friend Asra Nomani (Archie Panjabi).

In the documentary, you'll discover that Winterbottom made sure "Mighty Heart" did not become a standard Hollywood production. First, the camera was always rolling, forcing the cast to stay in character for endless hours. There were no lunch breaks, no makeup checks or spacious, air-conditioned trailers for the stars.

The HD disc reveals how superior the new format compares, especially during busy streets scenes, which were actually filmed at the locations where Danny Pearl was to meet the sheik.

Additional extras include an interview with Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, in which he tells viewers that seven more journalists have been killed in Pakistan since Pearl's kidnapping and slaying. There is also a short message from CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour about the Pearl Foundation. Don't miss it.

- Bill Kelley III

"THE HOAX" Enhanced widescreen, 2007, R for language

Best extra: Newsman Mike Wallace participated in the extras, revealing his admiration for Clifford Irving, who took his lie about being authorized to write Howard Hughes' autobiography so far that even Wallace was taken in by his daring.

In 1971, a struggling author concocted one of the greatest literary hoaxes of all time. Celebrated director Lasse Hallstrom ("The Cider House Rules," "Chocolat") gives Richard Gere one of the best roles of his career as Irving, who lies and schemes to keep his story alive, managing to get over a million dollars from his publishers and Life magazine before it all comes crumbling down.

Extras include two commentaries by Hallstrom, writer William Wheeler and two of the film's producers. The producers' track is actually the best, providing much detail about the real Irving and Hughes. Also included are six deleted scenes and two featurettes.

I highly recommended this. It's one of the best and most engrossing films of the year.

- Josh Boone

"THE INVISIBLE"

HD and enhanced widescreen, 2007, PG-13 for violence, criminality and language - all involving teens

Best extra: Music videos

IF YOU WANT TO BE spooked, just a tad, take a look at "The Invisible," the story about two teens who are invisible to others. One because of his untimely death, the other because of the neglect she's endured since her mother's death.

The Blu-ray version heightens the gloomy world of the Pacific Northwest, as Vancouver, British Columbia, subs for Seattle.

Adding a bit of insight into the plot are two commentaries, one with director David S. Goyer and writer Christine Roum. If you're interested in finding out something about the original Swedish version, listen to writer Mick Davis' commentary. It seems he likes the original version better than his own.

Other bonuses include deleted scenes, a live music video from 30 Seconds To Mars performing its popular single, "The Kill," and another music video from Sparta doing "Taking Back Control." All in all, standard features.

- James Marino, 757 correspondent

"THE REAPING"

HD and enhanced widescreen, 2007, R for violence, disturbing images and some sexuality

Best extra: "Science of the 10 Plagues: The Search for Scientific Explanations"

"The Reaping" is the story of a former Christian missionary (Hilary Swank), who investigates a small town that seems to be suffering from those pesky biblical plagues. The movie was shelved by the studio for more than a year - so you can guess that it's not very good.

Not to leave any plague unexplained, the extras try to shed some light on them with "Science of the 10 Plagues: The Search for Scientific Explanations."

They're believed to have started after the volcano of Santorini erupted between 1500 and 1650 B.C. The ashes then changed the chemical composition of the Nile River, allowing algae to grow and causing a red tide. And so it began. Another feature shows how cast members reacted to all of the bugs they had to interact with.

Another feature is "Cast Members Reflect," which explores the actors' feelings about the parts they played and how they related to the characters.

Finally, viewers can explore where "The Reaping" was shot - in Haven, La., a small town with a unique way of life.

The HD versions (Blu-ray and HD DVD) clearly are sharper and more vibrant and feature the fabulous Dolby TrueHD track for the best possible sound.

- James Marino, 757 correspondent

"GOTHIKA"

HD widescreen, 2003, R for violence, brief language and nudity

Best extra: Commentary with director Mathieu Kassovitz and director of photography Matthew Libatique.

IF WE'RE GIVING POINTS for effort, "Gothika" would reap a basketful. It tries so hard to be a cool Hitchcock-like supernatural mystery. It's got the look. It's got a good cast with actors such as Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz co-starring with fine character players Charles S. Dutton and Bernard Hill. Still, confusion really doesn't count as "mystery."

Berry plays a criminal psychologist. She's on her way home, driving through the typically dark and stormy night, when she runs off the road trying not to hit what turns out to be a ghost girl. She passes out and wakes up in the asylum where she works, accused of taking an ax to her husband, the now-deceased director of the asylum.

The film is available on Blu-ray and HD DVD. The HD picture started out sharp but lost its edge about a third of the way in. Viewing was generally good but not consistent. Sound showed little improvement. The soundtrack remains uneven, with big booms of noise contrasted by fading dialogue. You know the filmmakers meant to do that, and the technique is even more annoying for home viewing.

There are no new or exclusive extras, but there are plenty of special features to enjoy, including documentaries, a Limp Bizkit "Behind Blue Eyes" music video along with an MTV "making of" featurette, an episode of "Punk'd" featuring Halle Berry, a tour of the spooky penitentiary and character profiles.

- Kay Reynolds

"HOLLOW MAN: DIRECTOR'S CUT"

HD widescreen, 2000, R for violence, sexual assault, language and nudity

Best extra: "HBO Making-of, Anatomy of a Thriller"

DIRECTOR PAUL VERHOEVEN ("Basic Instinct") is sure everyone has a fantasy about being invisible. He's also gleefully positive that the invisibility gift would bring out the worst in us. That's probably why "Hollow Man" rings so hollowly plot-wise. Mad scientists, even when played by Kevin Bacon, are notoriously difficult to like.

It's fun to note the film's victims include Greg Grunberg, the psychic cop on "Heroes" and Joey Slotnick, who has had a recurring role on FX's "Nip/Tuck." These faces were much less familiar when "Hollow Man" was first released. Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin also co-star in this tale of an experiment gone wrong.

The best thing about this new Blu-ray presentation is the great picture. There are plenty of elaborate special effects, and they all look great in hi-def. The detail is so good sometimes that the effects shine through. Burned skin, for example, doesn't look exactly like burned skin. There is a look of latex. Still, maybe that's a good thing. The sound is also excellent, well-balanced between dialogue, score and effects.

- Kay Reynolds

"MEDIUM: THE THIRD SEASON" Enhanced widescreen, 2006-07, not rated but look out for scary images and adult themes.

Best extra: "The Story of Medium Season 3" gives insight into the season's story arc, episode by episode.

"MEDIUM," IN ITS THIRD SEASON, remains the best of the paranormal mysteries on television. Based on the experiences of real-life psychic Alison DuBois, who has served as a police consultant, the show gives us a soccer mom played by Patricia Arquette, who won an Emmy for the role. Alison's husband is played by Jake Weber, a man who moves between the arcane abilities of his wife and daughters and his job as an aerospace engineer with can-do spirit and lots of charm. It's a great role, and he does a lot with it. Characters truly shine in this program; the cast is stellar.

If only NBC could find the right home for this masterpiece. "Medium" has been moved around frequently, but loyal fans follow. Although Season 4 won't premiere until January 2008, we can spend time rewatching Season 3. This six-disc, 22-episode set looks and sounds great, and the stories are as complex and fascinating as ever.

An opening two-parter explores how Alison and her daughter, Bridgett (Maria Lark), share similar premonitions in two different styles to help solve a gruesome mystery. Mark Sheppard returns as the killer psychic in "Blood Relation." Ryan Hurst returns as Alison's also-psychic brother, Michael, for a comic turn in "1-900-LUCKY," in an episode directed by Arquette's brother, David. Weber has a chance to shine in "Joe Day Afternoon," when trouble at work ends in tragedy. Weber and Arquette both have a lot of fun with "The One Behind the Wheel," when Alison is possessed by the ghost of another woman.

Fans who have followed the double life of TV series Alison and the real-life Alison DuBois, who also writes books about her experiences, understand that, at some point, our heroine loses her cover as secret-psychic-aide-to-cops. The story of her exposure makes up the three-part finale. Season 4 can't come soon enough.

Extras are mostly a little less than standard for Season 3, but fans will enjoy a breakdown on episodes in "The Story of Medium, Season 3" and "The Making of Medium, Season 3."

- Kay Reynolds

"VEGGIE TALES: THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF HA'S"

Enhanced widescreen, 2007, not rated but appropriate for all ages

Best extra: A brief but intensely silly faux commentary by a pair of animated characters, one of whom declares that anybody who's anybody has been immortalized as a plush toy and insists that all the movie's special effects "were done on an iPhone."

IT'S NOT EASY to combine thoughtful and silly, or Christian and entertaining, for that matter - it's a category of film whose quality often runs the gamut from hideous to unspeakable. The "Veggie Tales" franchise, however, in both its features and extras, has found the light touch it takes to succeed, even here, with the difficult story of the prodigal son (paired with a parody of and tribute to "The Wizard of Oz").

The package balances adult-friendly features with kid-oriented goofiness, conveying an upbeat message about love and forgiveness without being overbearing. The features aimed at parents - among them, a brief "making of" documentary, art gallery with commentary and a bright feature-length commentary - are earnest without being sappy. The kid stuff is a bit uneven - some games and activities, for instance, are too simple for more tech-savvy youngsters - but the high points, particularly the latest, compulsively hummable "Silly Song" - are giddy fun. There's no escaping the fact that for family-friendly entertainment, "Veggie Tales" continues to be the cream of the crop.

- Caroline Luzzatto

"CIVIC DUTY"

Enhanced widescreen, 2006, R for language

Best extra: None

PETER KRAUSE, A LIKEABLE and dependable actor in HBO's "Six Feet Under" and ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money," plays an out-of-work accountant who may or may not be losing his mind when he starts to suspect a Middle Eastern neighbor is a terrorist. Borrowing from both "Rear Window" and "Arlington Road," we soon realize the film isn't interested in whether the neighbor is a terrorist but in the protagonist's unraveling in the face of post-9/11's barrage of fear-inducing news reports and national xenophobia. Though it doesn't quite escape its TV-movie feel, "Civic Duty" is still an interesting failure with a strong performance by Krause.

- Josh Boone

"THE FLY"

HD widescreen, 1986, R for scary images, violence and adult situations

Best extra: Commentary from director/co-writer David Cronenberg.

IT TOOK A LOT OF WORK to get the remake of "The Fly" to the screen according to the detailed documentaries on the single-disc Blu-ray edition. Yet it doesn't seem to have taken too much to make that transfer to HD. The video is still dark and grainy on this sci-fi-horror masterpiece starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. If you're used to having HD images pop with clarity and color, well, you might just want to stick with your standard-def, two-disc collector's edition.

New features include a "Fly Zapper" game and trivia track exclusive to Blu-ray. But new encryption - or something - stalled playback a couple of times. Not much fun. This baby deserves better and, for the bucks, so do viewers.

- Kay Reynolds

"FOX HORROR CLASSICS COLLECTION"

All full-screen black and white, not rated but look out for scary images and adult themes. "The Lodger," 1944; "Hangover Square," 1945; "The Undying Monster," 1942.

Best extra: "The Tragic Mask: The Laird Cregar Story" on the "Hangover Square" disc. The star of "Square" and "The Lodger," Cregar's is a familiar face to any movie buff. This featurette gives a brief bio of this talented gay actor and his untimely end (he was only 28) after a crash diet where he lost 100 pounds, in an effort to reinvent himself as a leading man. Vincent Price provided the eulogy.

SO HERE I AM EXPECTING Cheez Whiz and R.C. and I end up with port and Stilton.

This trio of discs from Fox focuses on the work of John Brahm, a German expressionist director whose name you may not remember. Classic horror/suspense fans are more than familiar with two of his films featured in this collection.

"The Lodger" is a remake of the old Hitchcock silent and - dare I say? - is a better film, especially given Cregar's performance as Jack the Ripper. "The Lodger" did so well for Fox that Darryl Zanuck had Brahm and Cregar revisit foggy old London for "Hangover Square," the story of a composer who commits murders in a sort of fugue state, having no memory of the crimes. Bernard Herrman composed "The Concerto Macabre" played by Cregar's character at the film's climax. "The Undying Monster" is a werewolf story playing out as a mystery in an old English manor house.

In addition to the Cregar bio, special features include an overview of Brahm's work, a "making of" for "The Lodger" and "Hangover Square," radio adaptations featuring Vincent Price, commentary on "Lodger" with film historian and screenwriter Steve Haberman and surviving cast member Faye Marlowe, and commentary on "Square" with film historians Alan Silver and James Ursini.

You may not know who Brahm was, but, if you love old movies, you've probably had the joy of being completely creeped out by his work.

- Mike Reynolds

"MALA NOCHE"

Enhanced widescreen, 1985, unrated but contains language and sexual situations

Best extra: In a meaty interview with director Gus Van Sant about his first feature film, he describes his "seat-of-the-pants" style dictated by a tiny budget.

THIS BLACK AND WHITE film is hard to watch for many reasons. Its dark look is mirrored by its subject matter - based on a memoir by "beat poet" Walt Curtis and his obsession with a Mexican migrant worker. Van Sant says the film out of necessity almost exactly conforms to the "dogme" style of movie - which translates as shaky camera work, murky lighting and a spontaneous, rough look. In another (very amateurish) documentary directed by the animator Bill Plympton, we get to meet Curtis, who leaves an impression of being an extremely irritating exhibitionist. This Criterion disc is recommended only for die-hard Van Sant fans interested in collecting the director's entire body of work.

- Peggy Earle

"CRAZY LOVE"

Enhanced widescreen, 2007, PG-13 for language, including sexual references and mature thematic elements

Best extra: There are many good ones here, but the commentary with the director and documentary subjects comes out on top for its honesty.

THE RELATIONSHIP STARTS out innocently enough. In the 1950s, wealthy, quirky-looking lawyer Burt Pugach sees raven-haired, saucer-eyed beauty Linda on the street, is instantly smitten and asks her out. All goes swimmingly - until she discovers she's married. For the remainder of this nifty little documentary, the true tale takes more twists and turns than a Kings Dominion roller coaster (including an attack on Linda where lye is thrown in her face). Despite a series of almost unbelievable travails, the two end up in a happy place. Relatives, journalists and Bert and Linda themselves weigh in on what happened during a truly strange, yet strangely endearing, journey.

Extras include seven of Burt's heartfelt (yet slightly creepy) prison letters to Linda, a handful of deleted interviews and commentary with director Dan Klores. As mediator for Burt and Linda, who are also featured on the track, he lets them fill in any blanks unanswered from the film. Both frequently exhibit a wry banter -- one that befits a couple with an acute understanding of the committed relationship.

- Carl Hott

"12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST"

Enhanced widescreen, 2007, not rated, language in subtitles

Best extra: A commentary by director Corneliu Porumboiu.

PORUMBOIU DOES AN adequate job of complementing the film for viewers who aren't familiar with Romania or that culture's version of comedy in his commentary with "12:08 East of Bucharest."

No, this is not a sit-com that will have Americans rolling in the aisle; rather, it's a satirical jab at historical interpretations of events. In this case, the key event is whether a revolution occurred 16 years ago, or whether the communists had left before the protests in the capital.

The setting is a TV talk show where two survivors of the supposed revolution are guests and the moderator is trying to find out if, indeed, they were there and what role they played.

But politics and journalism aren't Porumboiu's only targets. The one you'll notice most clearly is education.

In his commentary, Porumboiu discusses a lighting motif - which actually comes into play during the TV talk show when one character likens the revolution to the turning off of the lights in the country - why he broke up the film into two distinct parts and more.

"IRONSIDE: SEASON 2"

Full-screen, 1968-69, not rated, some crime violence

Best extra: None

EIGHT SEASONS ON THE air, and the second season boasts two episodes that earn perfect 10's on Tv.com's rating list. If nothing else, that means "Ironside" had found its stride by the second season.

As is typical in the series, several episodes deal with what were at the time, and sometimes still are, hot-topic issues: race, drug and alcohol abuse, even back-street abortions. But the top-rated episodes, "I, the People" and "An Obvious Case of Guilt," don't touch on any of those.

In "I, the People," which guest stars Milton Berle, Ironside (Raymond Burr) is called upon to protect an obnoxious talk show host who is receiving death threats. In "An Obvious Case of Guilt," the husband of a woman Ironside knows is killed. She is the chief suspect, but the evidence is just too convenient.

Another episode, "Reprise," has Eve (Barbara Anderson) being injured and leaves Ed (Don Galloway) to struggle over whether to kill the suspect outright or bring him in for trial.

"MURDER, SHE WROTE: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON"

Full-screen, 1990-91, not rated family fare

Best extra: "The Perils of Success"

LONGTIME FANS OF "Murder She Wrote" know it went through transformations, some of which almost killed the show. But do they know why?

Well, leading lady Angela Lansbury, who played Jessica Fletcher, was the reason for the show's success and its nearly fatal trip.

Lansbury, in her late 50s when the show started, was committed to memorizing her part. Cue cards were idiot sheets in her mind. Thus, she ended up working 16- to 18-hour days. That took a toll on her.

To try to appease their star and save the show, the creators tried various tactics, such as using her to "bookend" the show - introducing the setup, but letting someone else solve the mystery, a method that did not go over well with viewers.

With such problems to overcome, Season 7 was almost the show's last, which is why the last line of the season's finale had guest star Jerry Orbach's character saying: "That, as they say, is all she wrote."

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=134960&ran=157553

HD DVD vs Blu-ray - Sony PlayStation 3 EU Launch Delayed by Blu-ray

2007-11-15T01:35:00.000-08:00

The good news for US and Japanese gamers is that Sony PlayStation 3 will go on sale in the US as planned in November. The bad news for Europeans, Asians and Australians is that, because of Blu-ray manufacturing problems, they will have to wait until March 2007 before they can get their hands on a PS3.

According to Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi, mass production of the Blu-ray laser diode will be delayed by about a month, which will set back the assembly line of PS3 consoles.

As all PS3 watchers know, the Blu-ray high definition video player is a key feature and major selling point of the PS3, so Sony is anxious to get it right.

Find out more at iTWire.

http://www.allportabledvdplayers.com/news/hd-dvd-vs-blu-ray-sony-playstation-3-eu-launch-delayed-by-blu-ray.html

Samsung Blu-ray Player - Samsung Announces Improvements to Blu-ray Player

2007-11-15T01:33:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Samsung Corp's Samsung America Inc on Thursday said it would make some improvements to its Blu-ray high-definition DVD players ahead of the holiday season.

"As we approach the 2006 holiday season, Samsung will make a running line production improvement to BD-P1000 Blu-ray disc players destined for the U.S. market," the company said in a statement.

The production line improvement will include a modified setting for the noise filter reduction circuit that will provide a slightly sharper picture, it said.

Hollywood is currently split between two camps backing competing high-definition DVD standards. One is Sony Corp.-backed Blu-ray and the other is Toshiba Corp.-championed HD-DVD.

Since Samsung rolled out the first Blu-ray player, priced at $1,000, in late June, Blu-ray has faced complaints of subpar picture quality on discs and other technical issues.

More information at Reuters.com.

http://www.allportabledvdplayers.com/news/samsung-blu-ray-player-samsung-announces-improvements-to-blu-ray-player.html

Toshiba HD DVD Players - Toshiba Announces Two New HD-DVD Players for the US

2007-11-15T01:32:00.000-08:00

The two latest HD-DVD players that Toshiba announced at IFA are also coming to the US at a similar price point, but with different names.

Called the HD-E1 and HE-EX1 in Europe, it seems that in the US their incarnations will be named the HD-A2 and HD-XA2.

The players are the second-generation of Toshiba’s next-generation players; the top of the line HD-XA2 now supports the latest HDMI standard, 1.3.

The high-end HD-XA2 HD-DVD player can output at 1080p, incorporates 297MHz 12-bit Video DAC with 4x oversampling, and comes with a picture setting function that lets users optimise picture quality with adjustable colour, contrast, brightness, edge enhancement, and noise blocking settings.

Find out more about Toshiba's next generation HD DVD players at Pocket-lint.

http://www.allportabledvdplayers.com/news/toshiba-hd-dvd-players-toshiba-announces-two-new-hd-dvd-players-for-the-us.html

Blu-ray Discs - Universal Studios Boss Gives Thumbs Down to Blu-ray

2007-11-15T01:31:00.000-08:00

It looks as though Sony just can't catch a break these days in the news. Last week we learned that Sony was delaying the European launch of its PlayStation 3 from November 17 to March of 2007 along with the announcement that an initial batch of 500,000 total units would be available for the November 11 Japanese launch and November 17 North American launch. The launch delay/shipment reduction is due to Sony's problems with manufacturing blue laser diodes used by the Blu-ray drive on the PS3.

Well today, we learn of even more bad news for the Sony camp. Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, came out swinging against the Blu-ray standard calling HD DVD the "hands down" winner in the next generation movie formats. "Look at the blogs, look at the reviews by the early adopters and even look at the mainstream media – HD DVD has maintained its first-to-market advantage and delivered on the promises of providing the best high definition image and sound quality at the best value for consumers today," said Kornblau.

More information at DailyTech.

http://www.allportabledvdplayers.com/news/blu-ray-discs-universal-studios-boss-gives-thumbs-down-to-blu-ray.html

Writing newsletter articles

2007-11-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

As you read from the "Increase website traffic with articles" article, having newsletters publish your articles is a great way to promote your site
or business. But while that article hopefully helped you to get a general idea on what you need to do, it didn't contain anything about how to actually write newsletter articles.

I originally didn't plan to write anything about the writing process itself, mainly because this site is about website promotion, not writing. However, pretty soon that original plan started to seem silly. Just saying that "Writing newsletter articles is a great way to promote your site" felt like pointing at a mountain and saying that the view from the top is really worth the climb. Great to hear, but that information is useless unless someone also teaches me how to get there.

Because the topic of writing is a broad one and I'm not an expert at it, it is my intention to mostly focus on how to write newsletter articles instead of on how to write. The latter subject has been widely covered by many wise people, but very little has been written about the former one. So, here's a brief set of instructions based on my experiences in this field. I hope that they'll be of use to you when you start writing your first newsletter article.
Taking the first steps

First you'll have to think what to write about. Before you begin your writing career, it's important to select a broad area of topics you will be writing about. For example, let's say you sell consumer electronics on the Internet and specialize in DVD's and DVD players. The optimal strategy for you would be to write articles about DVD's and occasionally about other consumer electronic equipment when you feel like it. You should never, ever venture outside the area you've selected and suddenly write a few articles about politics, football and on the stock market, even while you might know a thing or two about them.

Why? First of all, the reason you're writing all these articles is to get people to your site. If you own a DVD store and write articles about DVD's, odds are that anyone who reads your work is (surprise) interested in DVD's. When they see your byline and notice that you own a DVD store, they just might come to visit it. However, if you start writing about every possible subject under the sun, you'll lose this targeting effect. The audience you'll reach with your articles about other subjects might not be at all interested in the DVD's and won't visit your site.

The second thing is that when you write a lot of good articles that discuss subjects in your area of expertise, your readers will begin to regard you as an expert in said area. Not only will your customers know that you're someone who knows his business, but other people will also become aware of this fact. After some time has passed, people will start contacting you with business proposals or ask you to give an interview for their magazine. Eventually, this will make you a minor Internet celebrity and boost your business tremendously.

Now, if you don't stick to what you know and being writing about everything you can think of, nobody will ever think that you're an expert at something. You'll establish a name as a good writer, but unless your business is writing, it won't help much. If you were buying something, would you buy from someone who knows what he's selling or from someone who writes well about things you aren't interested in? It might be tempting to occasionally voice your opinion about the current events in the form of articles, but usually it's best not to do it.
Let's get down to specifics

Once you've selected what kind of topics you would like to write about, you'll have to select what exactly will be the subject of your first article. Generally, articles that instruct readers how to do something that improves the quality of their life or helps their business prosper are both easiest to write and most often approved to be published. So, think about something in the lines of "Dog Care - How do I know if my dog has worms and how to get rid of them?" or "Internet Business - How to write headlines that attract people's attention". The DVD salesman we used in the above example might write about how to keep your DVD collection in good condition, what to look in a new DVD player, what kind of benefits there are in switching to DVD from VHS and so on.

After you've decided the subject, you'll have to decide what the content will be like. Some like to just start writing, but I personally prefer to create a small "list of contents" before I actually start to write. For this article, it looked like:

* Writing newsletter articles - why did I write this article? What does it contain?

* Choosing subjects. Write inside your area of expertise. Generally How To-articles, such as instructing readers how to repair their cars, create a computer program or design a website are best suited for newsletters. Just giving your opinion about something is rarely good enough..

* etc. etc. etc.

I try to make this list as long as possible. Then I arrange it (what comes first, what comes second and so on) and delete the portions I believe to be unnecessary. Then I start to write. Normally, I rarely look at the list of contents I've made, unless I have no idea on what to write next. This is where the list is really helpful, because I can instantly return to writing after I've taken just one look at it.
Length and other requirements

Some newsletters and ezines have strict article publishing guidelines. They may only publish articles that haven't been published elsewhere before, or they may only accept articles that are of certain length. Some only accept articles in plain text format, while others are completely satisfied if you send them a Word file as an attachment. Before you start writing your article, let alone submit it to anywhere, read the publishing guidelines of the sites/newsletters you'd like to see your work appear on. There's nothing more annoying than writing a brilliant 1400 word article and then noticing that the newsletter you want it to be published in only accepts articles that contain 500 words or less.

Generally, your odds of being published are best if

* Your articles contain roughly 600-800 words

* They are in plain text (ASCII) format, with 65 characters or less in each row

* Your resource box or byline contains four lines or less

* The article is not an advertisement of your own products, nor does it contain any affiliate links

Usually, you shouldn't simply dig up the E-mail addresses of as many editors as possible and start sending out articles. Before doing anything else, ask for a permission to send your article, unless the newsletter explicitly requests readers to submit their own articles. Even when article submissions are requested, it's always a good idea to add a brief message to the editor at the top of your E-mail instead of sending the article without any explanations. Do the following:

* Use a good subject line that makes it easy for the editor to know what your E-mail contains. I usually use 'Article Submission: ""'

* Start out by greeting the editor, use his name if possible

* Explain that you've written this article named "X" and hope that they could review it. Say that if it meets their requirements, they are free to publish it as long as they include your resource box at the bottom of the article.

* Mention the word count of the article and the number of rows it has. Also give an E-mail address where you may be contacted in case the editor wishes to do so.

* Cut and paste your article below, but remember to separate it from the message to the editor with something like "-article begins below-".

One additional thing

Now you're sitting there with an idea for your article and a list of contents. Time to open up a text editor and start writing. But you really don't feel like it, so you sit and watch TV for a few hours. Then you sigh, get to work and write for 20 minutes. You get something done, but now you'll have to rush off to see some of your friends. Late in the same evening, you manage to squeeze another 20 minutes off your schedule, but it's no use. You just sit there with the small bit of text you created earlier in the day without being able to write a single thing. Frustrated, you quit thinking that there's no point in even trying to continue this nonsense.

The thing is, many people are fooled into thinking that it's impossible to write unless you're a talented writer. It's because they work in the wrong way. Unless you're a professional, starting to write takes time. You can't split the task into multiple 10 or 20 minute-long pieces, because it always takes a bit of time to "get in the mood". The longer you can write without any interruptions, the easier it gets. When you're trying to write, make sure that nobody will disturb you. Close the phones, the door and the Internet connection. You'll have to have at least an hour or two of time in order to really get something done. If you're interrupted or decide to "take a break" that turns into an hour, you'll lose the touch and have to start over again.

When you're writing, don't stop to think whether something you just wrote sounds awkward or if a sentence is too long. Just write. You can, and should, always return later to fix the typos and make the text flow smoothly. If you stop to think whether you should use word A or word B, or whether you should split a long sentence into two, you'll lose momentum.

The last phase is to fine-tune your article. Read it a couple of times, out loud if possible. This will help you spot the parts that don't work as well as they should. Having someone else glance through your work may also be of some assistance, provided that you're not overly-sensitive to criticism.
Last words

Learning to write articles for newsletters takes time and effort, but it's not an impossible task. Ultimately, if you keep trying and continuously strive to improve the quality of your work, you will get published.
Tutorials

*Free website promotion tutorial

Directories

*Boost your traffic with website directories
*Getting listed in Yahoo
*How to submit to the Open Directory Project
*Becoming an editor at the Open Directory
*Yahoo's algorithm

Search Engines

*Improve search engine ranking with click popularity
*Cloaking
*CSS tricks
*Doorway pages
*Google's ranking algorithm
*Keyword optimization
*Link popularity
*Meta tags
*Meta tag generator
*PPC search engine advertising
*Search engine submission
*Search engine optimization
*Targeting your search engine marketing
*Website optimization
*Web site promotion mistakes

Other methods

*Banner ads
*Click exchange programs
*Web page design
*FFA pages
*Increase traffic with return visitors
*Reciprocal links
*E-mail signatures
*Topsites
*Build traffic with Usenet advertising
*Winning website awards
*Writing ezine articles

Links & Resources

*Button Maker
*Dealing with spam
*Free website content
*HTML Compressor
*How to stop spam on your phpBB forum
*News headlines
*More promotion tips and tricks

*RSS feed
*Contact Webmaster

Article archive

*Looksmart, the pay per click directory
*Submitting your website to the ODP (old)
*Search engine submission (old)
*Themes
*Top search engines

Friends

*Esseesivusto Kotiaine

http://www.apromotionguide.com/writingna.html

What is a DVD Region Lock?

2007-11-15T01:22:00.000-08:00

Thrilled that you got that British comedy DVD set at an online auction for a rock-bottom price, even if you had to convert currency to pay for it? You DVD purchase may not be such a bargain after all since you probably can’t play it on your DVD player.

DVD movies provide viewers with excellent picture and audio quality, and due to high-volume demand for such quality, DVD production costs are lower and availability is higher than ever before-a plus for all you movie fans. But because distributing the same DVD to the entire world at once would be impractical (and so, less profitable) the movie industry separates the world DVD market into six regions so distributors can focus on one or two areas at a time. That’s why a movie released in the United States and Canada in the summer may not be released in other parts of the world until autumn, winter, or even a year later.

A ”DVD Region Lock” is technology on DVD players that prevents those who live in one region from successfully viewing a DVD movie that was produced and distributed for a different region. Although you could purchase a DVD movie in the United States and mail it to someone in China ten months before the DVD is released there, the DVD will not play on the recipient's Region 6 DVD player.

The geographical regions are:

Region 1 - United States and Canada

Region 2 - Japan , Europe, South Africa , Middle East, and Greenland

Region 3 - S. Korea, Taiwan , Hong Kong, and Parts of Asia

Region 4 - Australia , New Zealand , Latin America, and Mexico

Region 5 - Eastern Europe , Russia , India , Africa

Region 6 - China

Region 0 - This will work on all other regions; Region 0 DVDs can be played worldwide but are still subject to PAL discs and NTSC compatibility

What does this mean to you? If you only view DVDs produced for the region you live in, knowing which DVD player software can handle which regional codes is unimportant. But if you ever purchase and view DVDs across regions it is wise to keep current on region coding methods because industry standards change. You want to be sure that your DVDs and your DVD players always match so that you can view movies trouble-free. Those who frequently purchase across regions often attempt to overcome this viewing problem with Code Free DVD players.

Code Free players are DVD players that have been altered to bypass the Region Lock restriction. In response to their popularity, the movie industry has created a new secure layer of coding called RCE (Regional Code Enhancement). RCE prevents some of the latest Region 1 DVD releases from playing on Code-Free DVD players.

Even if you use a Code-Free DVD player you still may run into problems playing DVDs that have been produced for Japan or Great Britain. These countries often use unique standards, such as NTSC (National Television Standards Committee), PAL (Phase Alternating Line) and SECAM (Sequential Color Memory). These standards dictate differing display lines-per-resolution than those of Region 1.

For example:

* NTSC up to 525 lines of resolution
* PAL up to 625 lines of resolution
* SECAM up to 625 lines of resolution and 25 frames per second

So, if your DVD player and your DVD movies do not always come from the same region, you may not be able to view your movies due to industry-implemented locks and differing national standards. So be alert when you purchase from the world marketplace; always check region codes before you purchase DVDs online.

http://dvd-player-software-review.toptenreviews.com/what-is-dvd-region-lock.html

CD/DVD Protections

2007-11-14T03:30:00.000-08:00

Introduction

The last few years game developers more and more are protecting their games with commercial CD Protections. Until now none of these CD Protections have really helped, in some cases it even can work against you as some CD-ROM players can not handle the protection. So we have to wait before game developers get it that it is a waste of effort and money protecting CD's.

Now the music industry has hopped the bandwagon and now is selling protected audio CD's. These CD's can be backed up using a variety of methods but usually an easy 1:1 backup is not possible. This is exactly what they want, making it harder to make a backup so that people will buy the original. Only they did not think about the fair use laws which are common in most countries, which make it possible to create a backup for personal use!

As CD's are not 100% indestructible many people want to make a backup of their games. Using the backup to play the game thus saving the original. Especially when it involves children it is VERY handy to have them use a backup. Because of these CD Protections it is getting harder and harder just to make a working backup.

Most protection technologies (like SafeDisc & SecuROM) encrypt the main executable using a key, this key is then added to the disc as a digital signature. A software loader program is added to read the digital signature, extract the key and load/decrypt the main executable.

Keep in mind that in most countries you are legally allowed to make a backup of a CD which you legally own. Some gaming companies won't allow you to make a backup and use the argument that a broken (original) CD will be replaced, but in most cases the costs for replacing it is usually more then buying the game again!

This page contains a list of all known CD & DVD Protections which are currently on the market, how they can be detected and how to by-pass many of them.

There are currently a number of tools which are able to detect which CD Protection is being used on you original CD's, checkout the CD/DVD Utilities page to get them! This page also includes tools to create your own protected data & audio CD's!

http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_protections.shtml

JVC creates 8.5GB RW-DVD

2007-11-14T03:29:00.000-08:00

Manufacturer manages to crack dual layered re-recordable conumdrum

JVC has announced that it has developed the world's first single-sided dual layer DVD-RW disc expanding the 8.5GB size limit to re-recordable disks – a size that had previously only been available on dual layer single record discs.

According to the company, it has developed the discs so that they can be recorded and re-recorded over about 1,000 times. JVC also claims that the discs have a 150-fold increase over any other type of DVD thanks to the ‘hard coat’ that the disc has – made necessary because of the need to be able to re-record over and over again.

It also said that the media can resist the build up of oily substances such as fingerprint marks, as well as static build up and dust damage.

The format does have its limitations though. JVC says that it can only be played back in drives that supports the format rendering all current DVD players incompatible.

http://www.pcretailmag.com/news/28658/JVC-creates-85GB-RW-DVD

Inside Microsoft's decision to back HD DVD

2007-11-14T03:26:00.000-08:00

Few were surprised when Microsoft (along with Intel) announced that they would back HD DVD over Blu-ray. While Microsoft's stance on the next-generation of optical storage media was officially neutral, their close working relationship with Toshiba led us to suspect that HD DVD would get the nod. The interesting question is, why?

It has been said that Microsoft simply wouldn't back something put out by Sony, but that argument doesn't have traction. First, Microsoft's VC-1 video codec is supported by both Blu-ray and HD DVD; there's no strategic edge there to speak of. Additionally, over-emphasizing the competition between the PlayStation and the Xbox ignores the fact that Sony and Microsoft have a substantial working relationship. Witness Sony's line of Vaio computers, as well as Sony's Microsoft-DRM-backed music store.

The decision to back HD DVD stems not from a dislike of Sony, but from the assessment of the maturity and consumer-friendliness of HD DVD. No, seriously.

Managed Copy: what is it, and what it isn't

First, a little Realpolitik. We all know about CSS, the encryption scheme used to "protect" DVDs from unauthorized copying. It was cracked (famously), and both Blu-ray and HD DVD are designed to be much, much harder to circumvent. While calling anything crack-proof is pretty foolish, phenomena such as the iTunes Music Store demonstrate quite clearly that many people are comfortable with DRM if it allows for some flexibility. That is, DRM isn't going anywhere, and even the most pointy-haired geek should see that.

Making copies of a DVD is technically illegal in the United States, because circumventing access controls is forbidden by the US Code, except in rare instances. The problem with this, of course, is that it violates our Fair Use rights as citizens, and it punishes those of us who abide by the rules, while the real pirates (organized crime) go on largely unabated.

Microsoft, among others, wants to see this changed.

Currently, HD DVD is the only next-gen format to provide for the ability to legally make copies of optical content. Dubbed "Managed Copy," HD DVD implements part of the AACS control mechanism to allow for things such as putting digital copies of a disc on a hard drive, transferring a movie (legally) to a portable player, or streaming content on a home network. Furthermore, HD DVD makes Managed Copy mandatory: all content provided on HD DVD must give users the option of making at least one copy. Jordi Ribas, director of technical strategy for the Windows Digital Media Division, told me that while the feature is mandatory, the studios will have the option of charging for it. Ribas hopes that studios will allow at least a single copy "for free," but it may be market conditions that ultimately determine the cost of such features. The take-away, at least, is that studios have to offer something, and AACS is structured in such a way that the studios can tap into it to offer users more options.

Furthermore, because Managed Copy is part of the AACS specification, this isn't a feature exclusive to Microsoft or Intel solutions. While both companies believe that their respective products (Media Center Edition, and Viiv, respectively) will shine in a world were Managed Copy is available, AACS defines a set of requirements that technically any company could aspire to, be it Apple, Motorola, or another player in the game.

What about Blu-ray? Currently, Blu-ray has announced no such mandatory support. There are also plenty of questions about whether or not Blu-ray will entertain this option. The Blu-ray Disc Association so far has adopted AACS conditionally; it is still subject to review. Furthermore, Blu-ray to date has adopted content protections above and beyond AACS, adding BD+ and ROM-Mark to their arsenal. Such added protections appear to be part of an appeasement plan: the studios want more than AACS protection, at least least some of them do. The doors haven't closed on Managed Copy for Blu-ray, but Ribas suspects that if it does show, it may be completely optional, to the extent that content producers may simply not offer it at all. It also remains unclear as to how BD+'s unique compliance rules could be made to work with AACS's managed copy scheme. In general, Ribas' view is that the BDA is uncommitted to Managed Copy. I expect to talk to someone in the BDA in the next few days.

Hybrid mode: drop-in upgrade?

Ribas also emphasized that HD DVD's hybrid support was ideal for consumers. As I noted yesterday, the idea is simple: if HD DVD discs can play standard definition content in already-existing DVD players, then the entire industry could theoretically switch to HD DVD printing quickly, and kill two birds with one stone. As you may know, a DVD is comprised of two discs that when bonded together are 1.2mm thick. Toshiba's current plan is to put SD content on one side of the disc, and HD content on the other side. In theory, this eliminates problems with older DVD players having difficulties focusing on dual-layer content on one side of the disc. With the costs of converting existing DVD production lines to HD DVD lines being significantly cheaper than supporting Blu-ray, HD DVD proponents see HD DVD as being a no-brainer. The "future proofing" of the format means everyone goes home happy, including consumers who buy DVDs next year that will play back in HD whenever they get around to upgrading their players two years from now.

Finally, Ribbas said that Microsoft's decision was made with respects to where things are today, not where the respective formats' proponents claim they will be in several months. Today, Ribbas says, HD DVD has bigger capacity, and true hybrid support. In his view, HD DVD is at 30GB, while Blu-ray is at 25GB. On paper, Blu-ray has 50GB support, but outside of a lab context, the 50GB disc is missing in action. How feasible is a 50GB disc in the short term? Once Blu-ray devices ship (such as the PS3), the base configuration will be established. If 50GB disc support isn't nailed by then, then Blu-ray on the consumer player-level will weigh in at 25GB. Toshiba is now pointing to 30GB as the standard HD DVD disc size, and they claim to have perfected the manufacturing process already. So we can expect 30GB HD DVD support at launch. Additionally, HD DVD supports hybrid discs now, while Blu-ray's solution has yet to be demonstrated.

Despite all of this, Ribas indicated that Microsoft was still holding out hope for a universal standard, but such a standard would necessarily need to support things such as Managed Copy and hybrid support.

One thing is clear to me now: HD DVD looked down and out, but it now looks quite promising. The question now is how will the studios react? Is it too little, too late?

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/microsoft-hd-dvd.ars

Toshiba unveils latest HD DVD recorder

2007-11-14T03:25:00.000-08:00

As the holiday shopping season approaches, Toshiba is turning up the heat on the Blu-ray Disc camp with the launch of an HD DVD recorder that can record high-definition video to regular DVDs.

As the holiday shopping season approaches, Toshiba is turning up the heat on the Blu-ray Disc camp with the launch of an HD DVD recorder that can record high-definition video to regular DVDs.

The Vardia RD-A301 will hit Japan in mid-December and can also transcode high-definition MPEG2 broadcasts on the fly to the more efficient MPEG4 compression format. MPEG4 video takes up less space, so more can be stored on an HD DVD disc or on the unit's built-in 300G-byte hard-disk drive.

The increase in recording capacity through the transcoding is impressive: hard disk capacity jumps from 39 hours to 159 hours for terrestrial digital TV (Japanese ISDB-T standard at 17M bps).

Recording high-def video to commodity DVD discs is possible thanks to HD Rec, a recently standardized format from the DVD Forum. HD Rec allows up to 2 hours of transcoded high-def video to be stored on a 4.7G-byte DVD-R disc.

Blank HD DVD discs are still expensive, so the ability to use DVD discs could mean big cost savings for consumers who have a lot of content that they want to put on optical disc.

However, playback of the DVD discs is limited to the RD-A301 at present. There are no other machines -- HD DVD or DVD -- that are currently compatible with HD Rec. That's likely to change over time, but quite how fast is unclear. Supporters of the rival Blu-ray Disc format have their own system, called AVC Rec which is, of course, incompatible with HD Rec.

Other features of the machine include the ability to record two video streams at once through the recorder's dual tuners.

Toshiba estimates that the RD-A301 will go on sale for under ¥100,000 (US$875). It will be available in Japan only.

To coincide with its launch, Toshiba will offer consumers who buy the RD-A301 a copy of the hit movie "Transformers," five blank HD DVD-R and DVD-R discs, and a "Transformers" action figure.

Paramount Pictures, the studio behind "Transformers," claimed HD DVD sales of 190,000 copies of the movie in its first week on sale. That makes it the fastest-selling movie yet released on either of the high-definition formats, according to the company.

http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/news/139126

article // tonex out of the box dvd release party

2007-11-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Well, It's 1:30 AM and I'm back from Tonex's first public DVD release party held in Baltimore. I went to the event with "Majeye" who runs http://www.aphire.com/ so that we could interview Tonex and see what this DVD release is all about.

We left for the event early to make sure we checked in for our press badges on time. It was at New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore and I'd never been there. We found the place pretty well but we did have a little detour before hand. I accidentally motioned for Majeye to turn down an alley that I thought was the street (hey, it looked right!). There's a little more to the story, but I'll save it.

We parked, went in and took our reserved press seats in the front row (pretty nice VIP treatment). The church itself is a cavernous sanctuary with a full balcony and large stage backed by an even larger choir section. There were 3 large movie screens, 5 TV cameras in the sanctuary and it was certainly bigger than it looked from the outside.

The forcasted rain held off just long enough to keep the entering crowd dry. People filed in steadily and I realized that the whole lower level and some of the upper level would soon be filled. I don’t have an accurate count but I’d estimate at least 1,500 people were present. The air was filled with eager anticipation.

Denise Hill-Smith, better known as “The Gospel Lady” (on Washington DC’s WKYS Sunday Morning Gospel show) was the MC for the night, and welcomed everyone to the premier showing of “Out The Box: The Movie“. After that, the action really got started.

For those who already own or have heard the CD, you know that it was recorded live in one night. Well, this DVD is the presentation of that one night, and much more. Essentially, it combines the live recording with behind the scenes footage, commentary, preaching interludes and digital effects. It is part music video, part documentary and part live concert to put it simply. Camera angles are cut together like a music video and images are altered or highlighted with special effects to accentuate this high energy DVD.

I’ll venture to speak for everyone at the event by saying, once the music started, the whole audience was transported back to September 29th, 2003 in San Diego to relive the excitement and energy of that night of live recording. When there was prayer on the DVD, people said “Amen” in the back row. When Tonex said to clap, we all clapped. Throughout the movie there was applause, laughing, hollers, yells and dancing right in step with the movie. We weren’t watching a DVD, we were AT that concert in San Diego!

The DVD followed the double CD’s track listing, keeping true, yet adding a whole new dimension to the musical experience. After the 2nd segment of apparently 6 on the DVD the lights came on and an emotional Tonex took the stage. Later, during the interview, he said that he was surprised at how much energy the audience had while watching. Over a year of effort led to this moment of its first public showing and he was humbled by the results.

When Tonex took to the stage in person, the crowd erupted. I don’t think they reacted simply because they thought a budding “Gospel Superstar” was in the house. I believe that after seeing the talent, diversity and dedication of the man Tonex in the movie, they had a clearer vision of what he is all about. I’d venture to say that they applauded the sacrifice and heart of a man called to change gospel music.

There was more to come from Tonex this night, however. After singing two songs, Tonex proceeded to “Have some CHURCH!”. You know what I’m talking about too. There was singing, dancing, preaching and praying for the following two hours of a scale not soon to be rivaled.
The nights program was altered due to the long praise and worship session and no more of the DVD was shown but I don’t believe many people minded. Majeye and I went into the green room, where a tired Tonex relaxed for a few moments after the concert, and conducted an interview session. The interview will be posted on http://www.aphire.com/ soon so I won‘t get into it here. Tonex then headed out to sign autographs and chat with the large line of people waiting for him.

Overall, I’m glad I went. I enjoyed the DVD. As Tonex said, it’s something “the whole family can enjoy”. The production and behind the scenes footage is interesting and the music and dancing is great. (Oh, did I forget to mention that Tonex dances the whole time, has a full band, a full choir and a dance team on stage? Sorry, I’ll try to fit that in next time)

To be completely candid, I listen to mainly hip-hop and occasionally enjoy gospel music. I picked up Tonex’s first CD “Pronounced toe-nay” in ’97 when it first came out and have kept an eye on him since. I think this DVD would make a good stocking stuffer this Christmas season for fans of gospel music. I’m glad I was able to see and speak with Tonex. He’s grown a lot over the years, as has my appreciation for the work he’s doing to change the face of Gospel music.

http://www.lightonline.org/articles/swtonex.html

DVD Bits Feature Articles

2007-11-14T03:20:00.000-08:00

The DVD Bits visited the Pacific Mirror Imaging DVD and CD manufacturing plant in Melbourne, Victoria and observed the entire process involved in the making of our favourite shinny disc, the DVD. This is the most comprehensive and detailed explanation of DVD manufacturing ever written on the web and there are plenty of pictures of the process for an inside look to the whole process.

Water. We all need it. As the mercury keeps rising this summer, Australians all let us rejoice, for we can find water everywhere on DVD, if not in real life. Allan Harris has had a scan of his DVD collection and revealed water by the bucketload, used in a manner of ways. So come and get wet as he delves into the world of water on DVD.

With DVD being the best video format to view your favourite film on there are still some movies that despite being greatly loved are still stranded in the depths of VHS libraries waiting patiently for their day to come and become available on DVD. Craig Dixon writes on his favourite movies still awaiting for a DVD release.

Want to show off your new home theatre setup in front of your friends. Ben Gourlay has put together a list of the top ten demo scenes on DVD that will put your system through it's paces.

http://www.dvdbits.com/articles/index.asp

How to take care of DVD discs?

2007-11-14T03:19:00.000-08:00

Since DVDs are read by a laser, they are resistant - to a point - to fingerprints, dust, smudges, and scratches. However, surface contaminants and scratches can cause data errors. So it's a good idea to take care of your discs.

* In general, treat them the same way as you would a CD.
* Keep your discs clean, which will also keep the inside of your player clean.
* Never attempt to play a cracked disc, as it could shatter and damage the player.
* Using cleaning disc specially designed for DVD players if you really want to clean the laser lens.
* Handle only at the hub or outer edge. Don't touch the shiny surface with your popcorn-greasy fingers.
* Store in a protective case when not in use. Do not bend the disc when taking it out of the case, and be careful not to scratch the disc when placing it in the case or in the player tray.
* Make certain the disc is properly seated in the player tray before you close it.
* Keep away from hot equipment surfaces, direct sunlight, pets, small children, and other destructive forces. Magnetic fields have no effect on DVDs.
* Coloring the outside edge of a DVD with a marker makes no difference in video or audio quality.

Your first try? Here are some advices:

Fully utilize preview or test function. Some DVD authoring software allow you to create the DVD content in a folder on your hard drive. This is an exact copy of the DVD, but not on DVD media. Play and test your DVD from the hard drive on your computer screen. If you see any artifacts, tears or other signs of poor video quality, go back and transcode videos into MPEG2 again.

Buy some rewritable (DVD-RW or DVD+RW) discs so that you don't have to worry about spending a fortune on blank media while you learn how to master this new technology.

Once you are sure that your DVD is the way you like it, burn it onto a rewritable disc. Test your project directly from disc, either in your computer or your set top player. If you run into any problems with the video quality the first thing you may want to do is try a different burning software to take the data from the folder to the DVD media. Your DVD burner most likely came with this software. If that doesn't get the job done you may want to try transcoding those segments again, possibly using different settings.

When you can burn a rewritable DVD that works 100% you can then go on and produce your single use DVDs. If I am going to be making more than a few copies, I like to do it directly from the folder, using the DVD burning software.

Once you have become more experienced you will know all the right settings for your particular system. At that point you'll be able to skip these extra steps and just burn directly from the authoring software.

Want to know more about DVD?

If you are really interested in more details of DVD, click here for the official online DVD FAQ. It is the most complete source of DVD information. Get yourself ready to read lots of technical stuff, though.

http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DVD-tips.shtml

THE SECRET DVD, THE SECRET TRAILER, THE SECRET on OPRAH

2007-11-14T03:16:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share with you all this amazing dvd-

The Secret
Heres the trailer

It is like a seminar with testimonials, philosophers, teachers, motivators, etc…Oprah has featured it a couple of times (not that I watch her show, but my sister had me Tivo it-Oprah highlights
)

I attend many seminars and bootcamps each year so this is a refresher for me and it still has been impactful for me.

This is for anyone looking to have and live the very best in life- health, wealth, relationships, spirituality, and to give back.

Many people wonder why bad thing always happen to them. Conversely, many great things happen to many people and people wonder why. This dvd will help break it down for you and show you why.

Take from it what you will.

Originally Posted by TravelPUNK

http://travelpunk.com/travel-updates/?page_id=26

Play iPod's Movies In Dvd Quality On A Tv

2007-11-14T03:15:00.000-08:00

HomeDock Deluxe now lets iPod owners enjoy their new iTunes movies on their home television and entertainment systems in DVD quality resolution.

With Apple® Computer's recent announcement of its new iTunes movie service, the DLO HomeDock Deluxe's impact on an iPod owner's ability to enjoy all that an iPod has to offer is greatly enhanced. Notably, now that Apple's iTunes movies and TV shows feature higher resolutions (640 x 480), the HomeDock Deluxe will play a person's movies or video from an iPod on a big-screen TV at near-DVD quality. It does this while giving owners the ability to control their iPod's video from the sofa with an included full-function remote control.

The HomeDock Deluxe also adds a new twist to the iPod by displaying music content onto a television screen and allowing users to navigate, select and play their songs using an included remote control. The HomeDock Deluxe simply connects to a person's TV and home stereo via standard A/V cables or S-video cable, and allows control of iPod's iTunes movies, television shows and videos, photo slideshows and, of course, music - all from the comfort of the couch. Browsing through Playlists, Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres and more from the sofa with the HomeDock Deluxe is a completely new experience for iPod owners. Users can control over 14 playback functions with the remote control.

The HomeDock Deluxe features an original, customizable interface. It even has screensavers to prevent plasma burn. Song information is large and easy to read from anywhere in the room. The HomeDock Deluxe has two distinct modes: On-Screen Navigation Mode for music interface on a TV and iPod Mode to play movies, videos or photo slideshows on a TV directly from the iPod. A person can quickly switch modes on their HomeDock Deluxe with a push of a button to watch and control videos and photo slideshows from an iPod on their television, or browse and play their music with on-screen navigation.

http://www.thegadgetlocker.com/article_info.php/articles_id/10

A bad case of DVD rot eats into movie collections

2007-11-14T03:13:00.000-08:00

If you think your prized collection of DVD movies will last a lifetime, think again - some are already starting to rot while others are falling apart.

Unofficial estimates put the number of affected discs at between one and 10 per cent. Yet some of the largest distributors for Hollywood Studios are accused of refusing to accept the problem exists and replace faulty products.

Last year Australians spent $398 million buying 13.3 million DVD movie titles - a three-fold increase on the 4.3 million sold in 2001, according to research firm GFK.

The technology, sold as a replacement for VHS video tape, with added interactive content, is now five years old and the DVD industry claims it is the most successful packaged media in consumer electronics history.

The failures are a combination of corrosion - known as "DVD rot" - and delamination, where the layers of the disc separate.

Symptoms of the rot include picture break-up and freezing at a specific place on the disk. The main cause is believed to be poorly designed cases. Delamination shows up as a coffee-like stain that prevents the disc from playing.

Among those worst affected are video rental stores, which buy millions of DVDs per year.

"Some stores have reported they only get two or three rentals from a DVD before it's unplayable," said Ross Walden, director of the Australian Video Retailers Association.

Distributors "are washing their hands of it", he said. "Once a DVD has been rented out [distributors] will not take them back."

Rohan Byrnes, 34-year-old science fiction fanatic who owns 350 DVDs, has spent a lot of time looking at rot. He works as a failure analysis engineer, with access to an optical microscope.

Mr Byrnes has studied five cases of DVD rot - four in his own collection - and suspects the microscopic corrosion spots on the aluminium layer inside the disc could be caused by a "chemical attack", possibly related to the glue used.

One DVD website lists 18 titles known to have at least one bad batch, among them Planet of the Apes (1968), Men in Black: Collectors Edition, Independence Day and the Alien Legacy box set.

Mr Byrnes returned his discs to the distributors, 20th Century Fox and Columbia TriStar, enclosing his analysis, and got replacements, but other victims were not so lucky. Peter Longworth, a DVD collector in Newcastle, had an identical problem with Planet of the Apes two years after buying it.

However, 20th Century Fox refused to replace it as it was out of the 90-day warranty.

"The company refused to accept that there was a manufacturing problem," he said. Mr Longworth wrote to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in November, but the watchdog does not act on consumer warranty issues.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox declined to comment on the matter. A spokesman said only: "We always fully compensate our customers for any manufacturing fault found." Warner Home Video's managing director, Stephen Nickerson, said: "If a customer has a problem with a disc and it is clearly a manufacturing problem we will replace it. The question is whether it is caused by a manufacturing problem or customer abuse."

http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/01/31/1043804519345.html

Deaf children given DVD safety lesson

2007-11-14T03:11:00.000-08:00

A DVD warning deaf youngsters about stranger danger in sign language was being launched today. Who is a Stranger? is the first DVD of its kind in the UK, and is a partnership between Bradford Deaf Club, based in Manningham and Bradford Council's youth service.

Members of the youth club star in the film, acting out a series of mini-dramas to teach young people about how to be safe, what to do if they get lost and how to avoid abduction.

continued...
The stories are specifically aimed at different age groups, ranging from four to 16-years-old.

Filmed entirely in sign language with subtitles in English, the movie was made by Bradford-based company Visual Motions, the only deaf-run film production company in the north of England.

The cash for the project was provided by the Children in Need charity.

Youth worker Veronica Harewood was among those behind the production of the DVD.

She said: "This is a fantastic learning tool for young deaf people and it was a great opportunity for members of the youth club to have a go at acting and to see how DVDs are made.

"It is a problem in Bradford and all over the country.

"We quickly realised that deaf people were very much being left out of the usual educational warnings given to youngsters on danger as they could not understand the television adverts etc used with other children.

"The whole DVD is in sign language to try and redress the balance.

"To deaf people, English is a second language and people that are able to sign are instantly felt by a deaf person to be part of their community.

"The youth centre put in their application for funding and Children in Need were able to help out."

Ranjit Singh, assistant producer at Visual Motions, said the movie was providing a vital safety lesson to deaf youngsters in the area.

"Many deaf children miss out on general safety information because they do not overhear discussions by others.

"The DVD will help address this and as well as helping youngsters it is also a valuable DVD for hearing students."

The DVD can be obtained for free by calling Visual Motions on (01274) 678342.

By Mark Casci
http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk/news/tibnews/display.var.798742.0.deaf_children_given_dvd_safety_lesson.php

http://www.4hearingloss.com/archives/2006/06/deaf_children_g.html

Portable iPod video / DVD player

2007-11-14T03:09:00.000-08:00

iLuv sure is making it easy to watch videos these days. The iLuv Portable Multimedia Tablet-Style DVD Player gives you both DVD and iPod viewing in one unit, and they make it very simple with both. More than just inputs for the iPod video signal, you can actually plug your 30, 60 or 80GB 5G iPod into a docking unit on the back of the system (your choice of plastic placeholders on the back will accommodate either a 30GB iPod or the 60/80GB models). Make sure your iPod is set to "TV Out" or "Ask" when playing videos (if set it to Ask, you'll need to select TV Out when prompted), select "iPod" on the iLuv unit (making sure it's on, of course), then hit play on your iPod. Simple as that. A plastic cover will protect the iPod when it's in the iLuv, but you do have access to the click wheel (which you'll need, because you still control the video with your iPod even when it's playing on the iLuv screen).

Obviously, that's the selling point of this device, so we have to throw bulk out the window. Most portable DVD players are quite thin, but not the iLuv. It's about 10"W x 6"H x 2.625"D in the center where the iPod sits. It's a bit heaver than most systems, too, so you'll want to use the enclosed stand. Again, though, all of this is necessary to accommodate the iPod in such a simple manner.

The iLuv sports a 7" widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio) active-matrix LCD display. Considering that iPod movies are meant to be watched on a screen much smaller than that, the picture doesn't rise much above VHS quality. The 640x480 aspect ratio helps, but if you have older iPod videos at 320x240, they'll look a bit blurry on the iLuv.

DVDs, on the other hand, look great. You can sit two or three feet back of the iLuv and really appreciate the video clarity of a DVD. This is helpful, because you'll often want to have more than one person watching at a time. Your choices for DVD viewing are mostly the same as what you'd get with other DVD players, including multiple subtitle and video angle options. The built-in speakers or the two headphone jacks offer stereo sound only, no 5.1 surround, but that's fine for portability.

The iLuv includes S-video and component video/audio out for viewing your movies on a TV set, which seems kind of counter-intuitive, but isn't at all. Obviously, using the iLuv to run your iPod videos and photos from the iPod to a full TV is helpful, and if you don't have a DVD player, the iLuv can serve that function if you don't mind the loss of surround sound. It's also worth mentioning that the iLuv plays video CDs, audio CDs and MP3 CDs, so the audio and video outputs become more valuable.

To support all the connectivity options, the iLuv ships with nearly everything you need for connecting it to your audio and video equipment as well as to your power sources. You get your audio and video cables (though, sadly, not the S-video cable), you get the power adapter and you get a cigarette lighter adapter. The power adapters are important, too, because you only get about 2 to 2.5 hours on the built-in Ni-MH battery before having to recharge. And finally, you get a remote control (as with the on-device controls, the remote doesn't work with iPod viewing) and an acceptable pair of headphones.

For transport, the iLuv comes with a great carrying case designed to accommodate the iLuv and most of its cables (it's hard to work the power adapters in there, but it can be done). An included strap can be attached for over-the-shoulder carrying, and there's also a strap for the iLuv player itself, allowing you to attach it to a car seat, for example.

And that, by the way, is what makes the iLuv Portable Multimedia Tablet- Style DVD Player so worth it. Why pay the auto dealer for a DVD player when you can buy an iLuv for less, get the iPod compatibility, and be able to remove it from the car when you want to watch it elsewhere. The battery life isn't great, but as long as you're near a power source either at home or in the car, that won't be an issue.

You can get smaller portable DVD players with more features, but the iPod compatibility and overall portability make the iLuv Portable Multimedia Tablet-Style DVD Player well worth the price.

http://www.thegadgetlocker.com/article_info.php/articles_id/14

Site-ings: Delving into DVD

2007-11-14T03:08:00.000-08:00

It seems like only yesterday that CD-ROM drives made their appearance. Wow, 600 megabytes of data—more storage than the typical hard drive at the time! Installation floppy disks fell by the wayside as single CD-ROM discs took over. Now the wheel turns again with the arrival of DVD (digital versatile disc) and the DVD-ROM.

Not all computer systems sold are currently configured with DVD-ROM drives, but it's just a matter of time. You have all that storage space to exploit for data (up to 17 gigabytes, or 28 times the size of a CD-ROM disc). Even better, that data can take the form of digital video—movies! For years, I've been waiting for the convergence of computers and video. When the manufacturers of DVD burners adopt a common standard and can sell me an inexpensive DVD writer, I'll be one happy geek.

Don't forget; you can watch movies on a DVD-ROM drive.

You can also watch as the software industry slowly makes the shift from supplying its software on CDs to DVDs. More than 100 years of the National Geographic, anyone? All on DVD.

PC Plus , one of my favorite computer magazines (a British import I'm lucky my local bookstore carries), includes a staggering amount of software on its cover CDs. But according to editor-in-chief Dave Pearman, from the May 2000 issue onward, a stuffed DVD-ROM edition will be offered as well. Funny, I remember when the magazine sported a mere floppy disk as a cover companion.

Did I mention the movies?

That's a wrap

* Looking for DVD FAQs? There are plenty of Web sites that answer frequently asked questions, starting from ground zero. "The Story of DVD So Far " is one such offering, although it provides a very video-centric overview. The story starts with Betamax and VHS and then moves through laserdiscs to MPEG compression and DVD as we now know it.
* DVD Resources at MPEG.ORG branches out to other informational DVD sites that offer a collection of links, with an emphasis on data compression.
* Got a DVD-ROM drive that reads CD-ROMs but balks at DVDs? Does Windows fight with the drive? Just want to know whether you need a software or hardware decoder? Try DVD Digest's Tech Support Zone’s page on DVD troubleshooting . It posts solutions and guides to these issues and more.
* Want a little visual help? Service911.com offers video tutorials in RealPlayer G2 format. Among them is a collection of video clips on installing a DVD-ROM drive.
* The Spy Who Shagged Me in Linux? Why not. DVD movies and Linux now go together, according to the DVD and Linux support page . Configuration poses challenges and problems, but solutions are listed.
* Need to have a DVD authored? Look into Wrightwood Laboratories, based in Cincinnati. The company says it can create a DVD holding up to two hours of MPEG II video, with interface design ranging from simple to complex. It also touts the fact that DVD players are thrown in free with every authoring order.
* Interested in knowing how to copy DVDs—er, for purely intellectual reasons only? Check out DVD-Copy.com for decryption info and news on Hollywood's legal attacks on DVD hack sites.
* Looking for a site that offers a wide selection in DVD-ROM drives, DVD-R and DVD-RAM drives, as well as DVD authoring software? Try Proh PC .

And that's what I've seen worth citing this week.

Lauren Willoughby is a Web editor at The Courier-Journal newspaper in Louisville, KY, where she also writes the weekly "Technophobe" column. At night, she turns into an online auction junkie. When she's not spotting deals on refurbished 486s, she's reading a science fiction novel.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-6228-1043926.html

Build Your Skills: A comparison between DVD and CD-ROM

2007-11-14T03:01:00.000-08:00

If you are curious about the inner workings of your computer’s drives, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s another Daily Drill Down in my “All About” series, which sheds some light on the specifications and usage of various pieces of hardware. Earlier pieces have tackled IDE ("All about IDE"), CD-ROM ("All about CD-ROM standards"), and CD-R ("All about CD-R and CD-RW"), and now it’s time to take on the Digital Versatile Disk, or DVD.

How does DVD compare to CD-ROM?
Let’s start with something easy—comparing a regular DVD drive (nonwritable) to a regular CD-ROM drive (also nonwritable). DVD is basically a souped-up version of CD-ROM, technologically speaking. As you learned in my "All About CD-R and CD-RW" Daily Drill Down, CD-ROM data is stored in patterns of pitted and unpitted (“land”) areas on a disc. DVD data is stored the same way, except the pits are much smaller and closer together. That’s why CD-ROMs top out at about 650-700 MB of data, while DVDs can hold multiple gigabytes of data. Since the pits are more tightly written on a DVD disc, the mechanism in the drive for reading them also has to be finer and more precise. That’s the main reason that DVD drives cost more than CD-ROM drives. DVD drives can also read regular CD-ROM discs with no problem, since the difference is mostly in the spacing.

How much data are we talking about on a DVD? Well, with a single-sided, single-layer disc of the same thickness as a normal CD-ROM (120 mm), it’s 4.7 GB of data or 135 minutes of video. (That’s the DVD-5 standard, by the way.) If the disc is double-sided (DVD-10), you can double that capacity to get a 9.4-GB or 270-minute capacity.

The DVD standard-makers also have figured out another way to squeeze more data onto a disc—they record it in two layers. The top layer is semi-reflective, so the read laser can pass through it to read the second layer of data beneath it. This scheme doesn’t exactly double the amount of data, but almost: A two-layer disc (DVD-9) can hold 8.5 GB. Combine the two methods for a double-sided, double-layer disk (DVD-14), and the capacity tops out at 13.24 GB.

What about DVD-1 through 4?

You might be wondering what happened to DVD-1 through DVD-4. Those were earlier standards that used a disk of different thickness (80 mm as opposed to the normal 120 mm). DVD-1 (single-sided, single-layer) held 1.4 GB or a half-hour of video, while DVD-4 (double-sided, double-layer) held 5.3 GB or 2.5 hours of video.

How do DVD speeds correspond to CD-ROM speeds?

DVD drives spin the disk faster and read the data faster than a normal CD-ROM drive, so you can’t fairly compare the speeds using X ratings alone. Recall from my Daily Drill Down “All About CD-ROM” that CD-ROM speed is measured in relation to the original 1X standard of 150-Kbps data transfer rate. Because the data is stored on a CD at a fixed number of bits per area, you can determine the drive’s raw speed at reading data from the speed at which the disc rotates. Therefore, a 2X drive would have to spin twice as fast as a 1X drive to double the data transfer rate to 300 Kbps.

With a DVD drive, since the data on a DVD disc is stored so much more compactly, a drive spinning at 1X speed can transfer approximately 1.4MBps, which makes it roughly equivalent to a regular 9X CD-ROM. The rates increase from there, with a 16X DVD drive topping out at about 22 MBps, or faster than a 140X CD-ROM (if there were such a drive).

However, you can’t just look at DVD transfer rates when evaluating a DVD drive for your system because in reality you will probably use it mostly for regular CD-ROM discs; with those, the transfer rate drops back down somewhat. A 1X DVD drive spins about three times the speed of a 1X CD-ROM drive, so you can approximately triple the advertised X speed on a DVD drive to determine how it will perform with regular CDs. For example, a 16X DVD drive would be equivalent to a 48X CD-ROM drive when reading from regular CD-ROMs.

Can DVD drives read homemade CD-R and CD-RW?
The earliest DVD drives could not read CD-R and CD-RW discs because of the difference in the light wavelength used for reading the discs. Regular CD-ROM drives use a wavelength of 780 nanometers (nm) to read discs, the same wavelength required by CD-R and CD-RW discs. DVD uses a wavelength of 650 nm. Regular mass-produced CD-ROMs are very reflective and can be read at a variety of wavelengths, so the 650 nm is not a problem for them. However, CD-R and CD-RW discs are not as powerfully reflective at other wavelengths, and a 650 nm laser has trouble reading them.

Drive manufacturers struggled for a while to overcome this problem and finally hit upon a two-laser system that blasts each disc with lasers at both 780 nm and 650 nm at once. That way, no matter what type of disc it is, some data will bounce back from the laser that the drive can interpret. Such drives are designated MultiRead. Almost all DVD drives manufactured today are MultiRead-capable.

When different types of DVD became available (including writable DVDs), the standard underwent a revision, and the result was MultiRead2. A MultiRead2-capable drive can read all CD-ROM formats (including all writable CD-ROMs) and all DVD formats, including DVD-ROM, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, and DVD-RAM.

Are MPEG decoders required?
Many people are confused when they buy a DVD drive (or when one comes with their system) about whether an MPEG decoder card is required. The answer is that it all depends on what you are planning to use the drive for. If you want to use your DVD drive in your PC to play DVD movies, you will need MPEG decoding capability. If you are just using the DVD drive for data, you won’t need it. MPEG decoding processes the audio and video data and allows it to play on your PC. When you are reading data from a DVD data disc, it plays no role.

One type of MPEG decoder is a separate circuit card you install in your PC. You plug your monitor’s VGA plug into it rather than into your video card, and then you run a pass-through cable from the decoder card to your video card input. Some variants let you connect the monitor directly to your video card, but then an internal cable connects the video card to the MPEG decoder card. While this system takes up system resources (a PCI slot, an IRQ, and so on), it does result in good audio and video playback performance. It also takes most of the processing workload off your main system when playing movies.

An alternative to the separate MPEG decoder card is a video card with MPEG decoding built in. This is more convenient because a separate card and separate resources are not required, but the performance can lag behind that of a separate decoder card. In addition, more of your main system resources are consumed when playing a movie, and if you don’t have a fast system with lots of available RAM, playback performance can suffer. Note that some new DVD drives include MPEG-2 software decoding. In theory, these can substitute for a hardware-based decoding solution. However, unless your PC is lightning-fast, you may encounter performance problems.

What is DIVX?
Digital Video Express (DIVX) was a movie distribution format, pushed mainly by Circuit City, a few years ago. DIVX required a special player that connected by modem to a billing system. You would get the discs from Circuit City and then register for a 48-hour viewing period using your DIVX player and its modem. After 48 hours had expired, the disc would not play anymore unless you agreed to be billed for additional time or to buy the movie outright.

DIVX is now obsolete. DIVX movies are no longer being distributed by Circuit City (or anyone else, for that matter). If you have a DIVX player, don’t toss it, because it also plays regular DVD movies.

How do writable DVD systems work?
If you read my Daily Drill Down "All About CD-R and CD-RW," you’ve already got a good handle on how writable and rewritable CDs work. Writable DVDs work using essentially the same technology, but there are some minor differences. First, let’s look at what’s the same. Both technologies use a writable disc that’s coated with an organic dye (for write-once) or a metal composite (for rewritable). The laser heats an area of the disc, changing the properties of that area so that it reflects light differently when the read laser hits it.

Writable DVD discs, unlike CD-ROM, have predefined grooves or “tracks” in the blanks. The grooves are wavy, rather than straight like on a phonograph record (if you remember what those are). The interval of the waves helps keep the timing correct when playing back the disc on different drives that spin at different speeds. Depending on the writing technology, data can be written either in the grooves only, or both in the grooves and in the “land” areas between them.

The other details of writable technology aren’t nearly as clear-cut with DVD as with CD-ROMs. There are a variety of writable DVD standards at the moment, and the jury is still out as to which will prevail. Some standards are write-once, like CD-R; others are rewritable, like CD-RW. Some require the disc to stay in a protective caddy at all times (which means you can’t record videos and then play them on a DVD video player), while others allow a disc to be “loose.” And each technology has its own proprietary blank discs that it writes to.

Competing standards
One of the main competitors in write-once DVD is DVD-RAM. A DVD-RAM blank costs about $25 and can hold about 2.6 GB per side, writing both in the grooves and on the land. This technology requires a disc caddy, so you can’t use its discs in most regular DVD drives, either computer or video. Its main purpose is mass data storage.

The principal competitor to DVD-RAM is DVD-R. It’s a lot like CD-R and uses a similar technology for recording. It writes data only in the grooves on the blank (not on the land) but requires less overhead recording, so it can actually store more data per side than DVD-RAM (about 4 GB). Blanks cost about $40. The discs don’t require a caddy, and most regular DVD drives and players can read them.

On the rewritable front, there are two competing standards: DVD-RW and DVD+RW. These are still fairly new and battling it out. Both are based on the same technology as CD-RW, but they vary in their backward compatibility with other standards. In the next year or two, as the prices begin to fall for rewritable DVDs, expect this rivalry to heat up and a victor to emerge.

Conclusion
Most new PCs today come with DVD—evidence that DVD is here to stay. Standards for DVD players and discs are fairly stable now, to the point that you can buy without “Betamax” anxiety. However, the world of writable and rewritable DVD is still in a state of flux, and early adopters are taking a risk that the standard they choose will not become the definitive standard.

Further reading

Here are some additional resources about DVDs:

* "Who will win the DVD standards fight?": This now-dated, but very informative, article outlines the major writable DVD standards and tells which manufacturers have gotten behind which technologies.
* Competing rewritable DVD standards: This chart neatly summarizes the differences among the emerging writable DVD standards.
* "DVD-RAM standards update": This article from the ever-reliable PC Magazine explains some of the standards and provides links to reviews of many different writable drives, both CD and DVD.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-6349-1047035.html

Transformers DVD Case Transforms

2007-11-13T01:58:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, when we first announced the release of the Transformers film to DVD, we jokingly stated that the box would transform into a six-foot tall, walking, talking instrument of robotic destruction. Apparently, we were only half joking.

In the latest in a long line of ridiculous (or ridiculously awesome) packaging decisions, Target has scored the exclusive on the transforming Transformers DVD case. In what amounts to something as interesting as the plastic toy at the bottom of a Happy Meal, fans can now purchase the two-disc DVD set in a blocky, retro-style case that transforms (through he incredible and complex folding of four plastic parts) into Optimus Prime himself.

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/828/828189p1.html

HD DVD aims to drive sales with price cut

2007-11-13T01:53:00.000-08:00

The HD DVD camp is looking to claw back Blu-ray's lead in the high definition format wars with extensive price cuts for HD DVD players.

The cheapest player, Toshiba's HD-E1, now sells for $499, which includes a $100 cashback offer. On the Blu-ray side the cheapest option is Sony's Playstation 3, which sells for $699.95.

Toshiba's other HD DVD players - the HD-EP10 and HD-XE1 - now retail for $699 (after $100 cashback) and $1299, respectively.

The move is clear evidence the knives have come out in the HD disc format war, which in Australia has largely been dominated by Blu-ray to date.

Delays by Toshiba in bringing HD DVD players to market meant the format's local launch was underwhelming, as movie studios were reluctant to put discs on store shelves when the associated players were thin on the ground.

The result, GfK figures released last month show, is that 85 per cent of high definition disc sales have been Blu-ray titles. Further, 24 of the top 25 HD disc titles were Blu-ray movies; the only HD DVD title to make the list was 300, which ranked 20th.

From January through to September this year, 81,219 Blu-ray movies were sold in Australia compared to 14,632 HD DVD movies, GfK's Sandra Bayly said.

The main factor driving Blu-ray's penetration in Australia is the Playstation 3, which has a built-in Blu-ray player. Around 84,000 units of the games console have been sold locally since it launched here in March, and Sony expects its recent $300 price cut to spur another 84,000 PS3 sales by the end of the year.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 supports HD DVD, but the feature is only enabled through the purchase of a $249.95 external player. GfK said only 3000 units had been sold to date.

There are now 8 stand-alone Blu-ray players on the market and 3 HD DVD players, excluding the Xbox 360 add-on and the PS3.

Of those players, Ms Bayly said only 528 HD DVD and 1644 Blu-ray players had been sold so far this year.

The HD DVD camp is banking on the latest round of player price cuts to drive sales in the lead up to Christmas. Presumably, the fact that HD DVD is an extension of the existing DVD format, rather than an entirely new technology like Blu-ray, has allowed disc and player manufacturers to reduce their production costs quickly.

But Michele Garra, chair of the Blu-ray Disc Working Group and managing director of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, believes her side's superior support from movie studios will see Blu-ray prevail.

Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM and Sony Pictures support the Blu-ray format exclusively, while Paramount and Universal support HD DVD exclusively. Warner Bros. ships its movies in both formats.

"I don't think the format war can be sustained and nor should it," Ms Garra said at a Blu-ray lunch last week.

Both camps are offering package deals whereby people can pick a number of free movie titles when they buy a qualifying player.

Ms Garra said there were now 154 Blu-ray titles on the market and there would be 234 by the end of the year.

A spokeswoman for Toshiba, the main backer of HD DVD, said there were now 47 HD DVD titles on the market but she did not know exactly how many would be on sale by the end of the year.

http://www.theage.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2007/10/15/1192300655298.html

The Accordance Training DVD

2007-11-13T01:50:00.000-08:00

We’ve created this training DVD with over five hours of instruction to help you get the most out of your Accordance investment. These tutorials by our own David Lang cover everything from understanding the basic concepts behind the Accordance interface to performing graphic searches in the original Biblical languages. Whether you’re new to Accordance or have been using it for years, there’s something for everyone.

Two of the tutorials can be downloaded FREE here. They form an excellent introduction to Accordance, and will give you a foretaste of all the good things you'll learn as you work your way through the rest of the tutorials.

You will enjoy the ability to select which tutorial you want to view, and the option to pause and rewind to be sure you have understood that last point. The clear audio instruction accompanies a video of the actions being described, so you can both see and hear how to access each feature or accomplish each task.

The Accordance Training DVD is available at the low price of $29, but is on sale for only $24 during August. Users who have purchased the previous Introduction to Accordance DVD can upgrade to the new DVD for only $10, but this special offer ends on August 31, 07, and thereafter the upgrade price will be $15.

http://www.accordancebible.com/about/articles/dvd.php

The Passion Of The Christ (DVD) Review

2007-11-13T01:47:00.000-08:00

About The Author

DVD releases include ''Transformers: Two-Disc Special''; ''Veggie Tales...''

2007-11-13T01:43:00.000-08:00

And in the Blu corner: Blu-ray v HD DVD

2007-11-13T01:39:00.000-08:00

The stakes are high and the prize is enormous. With everything still to play for Justin Richards reports on the format war that will inevitably be fought in living rooms across the world.

'HD DVD is the future, a new standard for next-generation optical systems that delivers brilliant, high-definition performance'.
HD DVD promotion Group

'The greater capacity and data transfer rates for Blu-ray will allow the movie studios to release their movies with higher quality video and audio than the HD-DVD format'.
Blu- Ray website

On April 18, 2006, Toshiba released the first HD DVD players for the United States, the Toshiba HD-A1 and Toshiba HD-XA1. Samsung rapidly followed this by introducing their Blu-ray player on June 25, 2006, pushed back from May 23, 2006.

These releases mark the beginning of a format war between the Toshiba-led HD DVD and the Sony-led Blu-ray systems. Both technologies use a blue laser to write information. This has a shorter wavelength so more data can be stored.

A Blu-ray disc will eventually be able to store 50GB of high-quality data, while Toshiba's HD DVD will hold 30GB. For comparison, a standard single-layer DVD holds just under 5GB. Both disc formats offer much better quality audio and video, while next-generation console games will have stunning graphics and will fit onto a single disc.

The two rival systems have been battling to win support for their competing approaches from technology companies and Hollywood studios. Toshiba, with NEC, Sanyo and others, is pushing HD DVD; while backers of Sony's Blu-ray discs include Samsung, Dell and Apple. The HD DVD format was given a huge boost last year when technology giants Microsoft and Intel threw their considerable weight behind the standard.

However, Hollywood is also still split over the new formats. Companies like Disney and 20th Century Fox have sided with Sony, while the supporters of HD DVD include Universal. Warner Bros and Viacom have said they will support both. According to Blu-ray seven of the eight major movie studios (Warner, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate) have already announced titles for Blu-ray, whereas HD-DVD only has support from three major movie studios (Warner, Paramount and Universal).

This format war, which has been likened to the Betamax v VHS fight in the early 1980s, may ultimately be won in the games console market.

The gaming industry worldwide is worth over $20 billion, hence is as important as the film industry in terms of money to be made. Games consoles also tend to drive early adoption of technology because hardcore gamers, keen to get their hands on the latest titles, are prepared to buy the latest technology.

For example, Sony's Playstation 3, which will be launched in November, will come with a Blu-ray drive as standard. However, the Xbox 360, which is already available, will require a separate HD DVD drive when it becomes available.

Games giants, such as Electronic Arts and Vivendi, appear to be backing the Blu-ray format, which could swing it for that format.

As a clock-maker once said 'Only time will tell'!
Definitions:

A Blu-ray Disc (BD) is a next-generation optical disc format meant for high-density storage of high-definition video and data. The Blu-ray standard was jointly developed by a group of consumer electronics and PC companies called the Blu-ray Disc association (BDA), spearheaded by Sony.

HD DVD (High Density Digital Versatile Disc or High Definition Digital Video Disc) is a digital optical media format which can hold high definition video or other data. HD DVD is similar to the competing Blu-ray Disc, which also uses the same CD size (120 mm diameter), optical data storage media and 405nm wavelength blue laser. HD DVD is promoted by Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, Microsoft and Intel. HD DVD was also previously known as AOD.

http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.5846

SolutionBase: Tips for avoiding common DVD-burning blunders

2007-11-13T01:35:00.000-08:00

Although DVD burners have been around for a while, they are finally starting to gain popularity because of rapidly declining prices. What a lot of people don't realize though is that burning a DVD isn't quite as simple or reliable of a process as burning a CD. In this article, I will explain why DVD burning can be problematic, and I will give you some tips to maximize your chances of a successful burn.

DVD media

The first consideration that you need to make when preparing to burn a DVD is the media that you are using. Picking out DVD media is a little more involved than picking out blank CDs. When you pick out a blank CD, you basically have two choices, CD-R and CD-RW. Â With DVD though, you have several choices, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD RAM. DVD RAM is cartridge based. Since DVD players can't generally accept DVD RAM cartridges, I will limit my discussion to the other formats.

DVD-R and DVD-RW were the first recordable DVD formats to be compatible with commercial DVD players. The format is compatible with the vast majority of DVD-ROM drives and DVD players, although some older DVD players will not read this format.

DVD+RW is considered to be better than DVD-RW because it has some extra features such as lossless linking and supports writing both CLV and CAV. Like DVD-RW, DVD+RW is compatible with most DVD-ROM drives and most commercial DVD players, although slightly more DVD players support the DVD-R format than do the DVD+R format.

Today, many DVD burners support all four of these formats. Even so, it is important to check to see exactly which formats your burner supports and to buy media that supports the same format as your drive. If your drive is one of the newer types that support all four formats, but you have been having trouble burning a playable DVD, then I recommend using the DVD-R format since it tends to be compatible with more DVD players than the DVD+R format.

When you shop for DVD media, you should also make sure that you buy good quality media that is rated for the appropriate speed. I've never been one of these people who like to shop for fancy brand names, but when you shop for blank DVD media, brands make a huge difference. Many of the DVD burning compatibility problems are related to the blank DVD media. Purchasing blank media made by a reputable manufacturer rather than going for the bargain basement specials greatly increases your chances of success.

When purchasing blank DVDs, you should also check the rated maximum burn speed. It's OK if a disc is rated for a higher speed than what your drive will support, but you don't want to buy discs that are rated at a slower speed than your drive. Some DVD authoring software will allow you to slow down your burner to the speed that the media is rated for, but it's usually better just to buy media that's rated for the higher speeds. Higher speed media is almost always of a higher quality than lower speed media.

While I am on the subject of the DVD media, I want to take a moment and talk about the proper handling of DVD media. Like a CD, you should handle DVD media only by the outer edges or by the hole in the center. To understand why this is so important, you need to understand how DVDs and CDs work.

Like a CD, a DVD's surface is filled with microscopic pits. The non pitted areas of a DVD's surface are called lands. The DVD player bounces a short wave laser off of the DVD's surface. If the laser strikes a land, then the reflective surface causes the laser beam to bounce back and the player treats that spot on the DVD as a binary 1. If, on the other hand, the laser strikes a pit, then the beam is not reflected, and the result is a binary 0.

So what does this have to do with the way that the disc is handled? We've all seen CDs that don't play well because they are dirty. Dirt, finger prints, and scratches can cause lands to not reflect light well enough to be read correctly. Extreme smudges or scratches can also scatter the laser beam. This is usually only a problem for CDs in extreme cases, but you have to remember that DVDs hold a lot more information than a CD, but do so in the same amount of physical space. This means that the pits and lands have to be even smaller than the microscopic ones found on a CD. Since a DVD's pits and lands are so tiny, DVDs are much more susceptible to interference from fingerprints and dirt than CDs are. My advice is to handle DVDs by the edges only, and to not even try to burn data onto a dirty DVD.

Preparing for the burn

So far I have talked about selecting the appropriate media type for the DVD that you are creating, but there are some other things that you can do to maximize your chances of a successful burn. One thing that you can do is to make sure that your PC is up to the challenge. Although the user interface is fairly simple, DVD authoring is a complex task from the PCs standpoint, and tends to be very hardware intensive.

So what makes writing data to DVD so complex? Data is written to a DVD in a different manner from the way that it is written to hard disk. When your PC writes data to a hard disk, it writes data in blocks. The intricate technical details of data blocks are beyond the scope of this article, but to put it simply, blocks are small, manageable chunks of data. When data is written to a DVD, the computer doesn't have the luxury of using blocks. Instead, the data must be written all at once. The DVD burner will record data at a specific, pre-determined speed. If the computer is not able to supply data to the DVD burner quickly enough to keep up with the burn, then a data underflow error will occur, rendering the disc useless.

Most DVD authoring software contains a mechanism for preventing buffer under run errors. However, some of the buffer under run prevention mechanisms work by pausing and restarting the recording process. Every time the recording process restarts, link information must be written that links the data that's currently being written to the previously written data. These types of buffer under run prevention mechanisms will prevent a buffer under run, but they can waste space and they can make it difficult to make copies of the disc. Buffer under run prevention can also result in poor playback quality since the laser may have to jump around the disc a lot more than it would had the disc been burned in a continuous manner. It's better to prevent a buffer under run condition from occurring in the first place.

The trick to preventing buffer under runs is to make sure that your PC can supply data to the DVD recorder at the necessary rate. The easiest way to accomplish this is through the use of a dedicated, high speed hard disk or disk array. The reason why this technique is so effective is because fragmentation greatly decreases the speed at which data can be read. If you are using a dedicated hard disk, then there is no fragmentation because there is nothing on the disc except for the DVD image.

Having a dedicated hard disk is a good idea for another reason. Creating a DVD takes a lot of hard disk space. Although a blank, single sided DVD only holds 4.7 GB, it takes a lot more than 4.7 GB to create a DVD. My experience has been that if you are filling a DVD to capacity, then the source video will consume somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 GB of hard disk space. The computer will then use some more disk space for the rendering process and then write a 4.7 GB DVD image. Depending on the software that you are using, it can take up to about 30 GB of hard disk space to create one DVD.

A fast hard disk with lots of free space and minimal fragmentation is only one of the requirements for successful DVD authoring. You will also need a CPU that can keep pace. I have successfully burned a DVD on a Pentium III with 256 MB of RAM. However, doing so was an all day job because the machine took so long to render the DVD image.

I recommend at least a 3.2 GHz Pentium 4 with 512 MB or more of memory. I also recommend that you close all applications other than your DVD authoring software and your anti virus software. This will allow as much of the processor's power as possible to be dedicated to the task at hand. Keep in mind that many applications run in the background, and you can use the Windows Task Manager to shut down unnecessary background processes or to boost the priority of the DVD authoring software.

Performing a test burn

Now that you've got the necessary hardware and the correct media type, it's time to make your DVD. If you have been having trouble creating DVDs in the past though, then it's better to perform a sort of test burn prior to creating your actual DVD. This will give you the opportunity to work out the kinks prior to the actual burn.

Most DVD authoring software allows you to write a DVD image to the hard disk rather than burning it to DVD. If your software allows you to create a test image, then doing so is a great idea. The test image will allow you to try out your DVD before you waste a disc. You can make sure that the video looks the way that you expected it to and that your menus work correctly. There have been several times in which I have created test images, and then realized that I made some kind of mistake that I needed to correct prior to creating the actual DVD.

Once you are happy with your test image, you should be able to burn the DVD based directly on the image that you have created. This will save time because your computer won't have to render any data. The only thing that has to happen is that the image data must be dumped to disc. If you have been having a lot of trouble creating DVDs, then I recommend burning to a rewritable DVD. Sure, rewritable discs cost a little more, but using a rewritable disc will give you the chance to work out the kinks without wasting a bunch of blank discs, Once you are satisfied that your DVD is working the way that it is supposed to, then you can burn a permanent copy onto DVD-R or DVD+R media.

Choose the appropriate file system

As you probably know, a computer's hard drive can be formatted to use various file systems such as FAT, FAT-32, or NTFS. What you might not realize though is that DVDs use a file system too. Most newer DVD authoring software will use the UDF 1.05 file system by default. The problem is that most older DVD players do not support UDF 1.05. If you try to play a UDF 1.05 formatted DVD on a player that doesn't support it, you will receive a Disk Error message (the actual error varies from player to player).

To get around this problem, you will have to use a file system that the older player understands. I recommend using the UDF 1.02 file system. Most popular DVD authoring software packages will allow you to use UDF 1.02 instead of UDF 1.05, and almost all DVD players can read the UDF 1.02 format.

The method of selecting the DVD's file system varies greatly among DVD authoring products. If your software prompts you for a UDF partition type (in addition to the UDF version), then you will need to set the partition type to Physical Partition and then set the UDF version to 1.02. Most DVD authoring software will also prompt you as to whether or not you want to use multisession. If you are creating a disc for playback on a DVD player then you should not use multisession.

Firmware update

Hopefully by now, you have been able to resolve the problem that was preventing you from being able to burn DVDs. If you are still having problems though, you might consider checking the manufacturer of your DVD burner's Web site. There have been several cases in recent years in which hardware manufacturers have released firmware updates or special drivers for DVD burners that have corrected various burning issues.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-6349_11-5758107.html

DVDs for the Dog Days

2007-11-12T03:26:00.000-08:00

If you're wondering why there aren't any good movies to see in theaters this month, you're not alone. As summer winds to a lethargic close, and all the event movies have busted their last blocks, studios tend to hold back their more prestigious offerings until the fall, when audiences are hungrier -- and when Oscar season begins in earnest. In the meantime, trash like "Underdog," "Hot Rod" and "Rush Hour 3" gets flung at cinema walls to see if it sticks.

In the meantime, filmgoers have but a few desperate options: (1) See the few intriguing new releases on the slate ("The Bourne Ultimatum," "The Invasion," "Superbad"); (2) angrily watch TV reruns while cursing the existence of movies like "Underdog," "Hot Rod" and "Rush Hour 3"; or (3) crank up your Netflix queue -- or go to an actual video store -- and catch up with a few pics you may have missed while Michael Bay's magic transforming robots were battling the evil Mountain Dew machine high atop General Motors mountain or whatever.

And we're here to help. Here's a short list of 10 titles you may have missed this year. Most of them received proper theatrical releases, and some did quite well at the box office and with critics. Some of their windows proved unfairly brief, however, and the films failed to find much of a popular audience -- hey, not every movie can feature animated rats who cook! Regardless, they're all now available on DVD. And even though you're not likely to see most of them during the year-end top-10 roundup, they're all recommended.

In alphabetical order:

"The Astronaut Farmer"
I'm pretty wary of any movie, book or song that comes wrapped in assurances of being "heartwarming." But once in a while, something comes along that's so unexpected, so humble, so genuine that I can't help but notice my cockles heating up. This is the story of a small-town family man named Farmer (get it?) with a dream to build and launch a rocket out of his barn in rural Texas. Though he runs afoul of the bank, the government and even physics itself, his spirit -- helped along by the love of his wife and kids -- is indomitable. Though the rocket stuff is definitely cool, both conceptually and cinematographically, the real heart of the film lies in the small moments between Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, and Jasper and Logan Polish, the adorable girls who play their daughters. (Given that the film serves as something as an allegory for filmmaking, it doesn't hurt that these girls are the daughters of the movie's twin filmmakers Michael and Mark Polish.) These scenes have a quiet realism that allows the more far-flung elements of the story to seem if not quite plausible then at least credible. Though it almost hurts to type these words, "The Astronaut Farmer" genuinely is a film for the whole family.

"Black Snake Moan"
Look beyond the lascivious marketing campaign -- Christina Ricci sporting a torn half-shirt and micro-mini that would make a pornographer blush and being held in chains by Samuel L. Jackson -- and you just might find a film that boldly explores themes of race, class, sexuality and gender, alongside more traditional narrative delights like love, lust, loss, punishment and redemption. You might also, it's fair to point out, simply see a white trash nudie cutie that owes a massive debt to sexploitation filmmakers like Russ Meyer (creator of "Mudhoney" and "Common Law Cabin," among others). If that's true, though, you aren't looking hard enough. Director Craig Brewer ("Hustle & Flow") is no stranger to chancy material, but this (loose) adaptation of "Silas Marner" has more to say about the weird vectors that pass between men and women than what goes on in the bedroom -- or the living room, or the football field, for that matter.

"Breach"
This is an age when nearly every movie that bills itself as a "thriller" has stock characters and a faux-surprise ending you can see a mile away. So, it's disheartening to think that a film like Billy Ray's "Breach," which is not only airtight from a genre perspective but also features a central villain enigmatic enough to keep you guessing even after the final credits roll, didn't catch more of a box-office break. Featuring creepy Chris Cooper as a treacherous FBI agent and Ryan Phillippe (clearly trying to break out of his handsome actor pigeonhole) as the young buck the bureau assigns to snare him, "Breach" is a film in the mold of '70s paranoia/espionage classics like "Three Days of the Condor" and "The Parallax View." Though it may not be quite as eminent as either of those films, it's still a fair sight better than most of what Hollywood serves up in the guise of smart, suspenseful storytelling. And as if all that weren't enough, it's even based on a true story (and I don't have to tell you what Hollywood does with that subgenre).

"Candy"
I have never been a junkie, and I've never been to Australia, but I am well and truly a sucker for movies about drug addiction and movies made Down Under. Imagine my delight when this grimly captivating offering came down the pike. Heath Ledger (guess what: it's time to admit he's a very good actor) and Abbie Cornish (last seen in the troubling "Somersault") play gorgeous Aussie lovers who develop a heroin addiction and cross Australia trying to get clean, with predictably heartbreaking results. There are plenty of movies like this in the world, most of them generically depressing. Aside from clever narration and gorgeous cinematography, what makes "Candy" effective is that, as in any good romance, you really want the couple to make it, even as you feel their time running out. Ledger and Cornish, as a couple of pretentious boho types, are beautifully magnetic; just seeing them together feels good. All the more reason that the vile drug that snares them feels less like a fashionable plot contrivance designed to make their tale a cautionary one and more like an unvanquishable monster.

"Diggers"
Very like the middle period films of John Sayles ("Matewan," "Passion Fish," "Lone Star"), "Diggers" makes fruitful use of a large, talented cast. Maura Tierney, Josh Hamilton, Ron Eldard, Ken Marino, Lauren Ambrose and especially Paul Rudd embody their characters with a very basic human dignity that makes the essentially simple story, about the last generation of independent clam diggers on Long Island in the '70s (before corporate fisheries decimated their livelihoods), into a gripping narrative that skirts cliché and achieves real power. In addition, it's exciting to see Rudd, who has distinguished himself in films like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Anchorman" and this year's "Knocked Up" as the funniest man in American cinema, in a dramatic role -- though not without levity -- that displays his effortless range.

"The Host"
Sometimes scary movies are just a lot of sound and fury, with special effects thrown at the audience like so much rice at a wedding. Then again, sometimes scary movies are so scary that they make you seriously consider never leaving your house again. I'm talking "Jaws." I'm talking "Audition." I'm talking "The Host." OK, that might be hyperbole, but if you're a fan of proper horror, in which unexplained monsters emerge from below ground or underwater to terrorize humankind for its sins of excess, you're going to have to admit sooner or later that this Korean film about a tentacled beast is more or less perfect. I don't care if it's an allegory for the dying planet. I don't care if it's got a silly premise (old formaldehyde???). I just know that it kicks ass.

"Hot Fuzz"
The British comedy whizzes who gave us the estimable "Shaun of the Dead" (which stopped shy of perfection only by misspelling the name "Sean") return with their deeply hilarious spin on the all-American genre of action-adventure. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost pull out every cliché in the book of clichés, from the tough cop looking for redemption to the sleepy provincial town that secretly harbors a den of nefarious killers, all in the service of some of the deepest laughs in recent movie history. Like "Dead" -- and distinctly unlike most popular American comedies -- "Hot Fuzz" specializes in a very smart kind of dumb humor, perhaps best typified by the shootout that begins the series of climactic battles (perhaps one too many, to be fair) that close the film. This allows you to swallow the premise, which is basically Bruce Willis as played by a pasty British lad, without feeling insulted. Quite the contrary, it's inclusive, joyous.

"Inland Empire"
For almost anyone but the most devout fan of David Lynch ("Blue Velvet," "Twin Peaks"), "Inland Empire" will be a very tough sell. It's just shy of three hours long (170 very long minutes), and seems to be about an actress who turns into someone else, lives through a nightmare that involves a family of either people in rabbit masks or people-sized rabbits, winds up on Hollywood Boulevard vomiting blood on her hands and knees, and then lives happily ever after in a song and dance number. Or maybe none of that. Or maybe 50 other things, too. I'll say it plainly: This is the single weirdest movie Lynch has ever made, and that, my friends, is saying something. But though many will disagree, the weirdness isn't just some old trick. There's a method to Lynch's surreal horror show, and just because I don't feel qualified to explain it doesn't mean I don't perceive it. But if that's not enough for you, consider that Laura Dern gives the performance(s) of a lifetime. This film is not for the faint of heart, but who ever wanted to be one of them?

"Old Joy"
Movies about friendship between men, that strangely muted and complex phenomenon in which very little is spoken and even less is understood, are a rare breed indeed. Even rarer is the subset of movies about two friends growing apart because one is growing up and the other refuses to. Rarer still is the film that can treat this subject matter with delicacy, wit and grace, remaining true to both the characters and the subject matter, never forcing pat resolutions on what remains, essentially, open-ended and tricky to navigate for all involved. One film that fulfills all such requirements is Kelly Reichardt's "Old Joy," a story that centers on an uptight young husband and his hippie former best friend as they go on a spur-of-the-moment camping trip. That's all that happens, really. But so much meaning passes between these two characters in the silences of the woods that the film begins to feel almost transcendental. It's also funny. It's also sad. It's also perfect.

"Zodiac"
I must confess that David Fincher's obsessive story of the serial killer that haunted his Bay Area childhood was not easy for me to grasp upon initial viewing. A story about the search for something that can't be found, about the will to keep looking, about, fundamentally, the idea of faith, "Zodiac" registered not at all with me the first time I saw it, mainly because, well, I don't like Jake Gyllenhaal, I don't like David Fincher (except "Fight Club"), I don't like molasses-slow three-hour movies about nondescript people looking at pieces of paper, I knew the ending going in (the Zodiac killer was never caught) ... More to the point, I couldn't see the movie in this movie. But as I re-viewed the film, urged on by friends I respect who swear by Fincher and especially this film, I found myself surrendering to its trancelike self-obsession. It's been pointed out that "Zodiac" is about obsession itself, and the level of detail that suffuses every frame begins to take on a lurid allure. I still can't decide how I feel about "Zodiac," but damned if I don't suddenly feel like I need to see it again. And maybe even again.

What film did you miss early this year that you want to see on DVD? Write us at heymsn@microsoft.com

http://movies.msn.com/new-on-dvd/feature-article/?news=271802

Wal-Mart to sell HD DVD player for under $100

2007-11-12T03:25:00.000-08:00

Bentonville (AR) - Just days after it began selling an HD DVD player for less than $200, budget retailer Wal-Mart has announced a sale to take that price down to just $98.

Wal-Mart will hold a special one-day sale tomorrow, November 2, with the most notable markdown being Toshiba's HD-A2 HD DVD player at $98.

The device debuted earlier this year and carried an initial MSRP of around $500. Wal-Mart began selling it in late October for just under $200, making it the lowest-priced high-def disc player at a major retailer.

The sale is being touted as a pre-Black Friday sale. "Black Friday" is the day after Thanksgiving, where stores hold their most widely publicized sales of the year (so called because it traditionally is the day when retailers go from "red" to "black" in the accounting books).

Tomorrow's sale begins at Wal-Mart stores around the country at 8:00 AM, and is only available while supplies last (no rainchecks).

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/34650/97/

Best Buy follows Wal-Mart with $100 HD DVD player

2007-11-12T03:23:00.001-08:00

Minneapolis (MN) - Almost immediately following the announcement of Wal-Mart's one-day sale where Toshiba's HD-A2 player would be marked down to just under $100, Best Buy changed its permanent price to match.

Shoppers on bargain hunting sites began noticing the new price at Best Buy's website yesterday afternoon. However, since then the page has been taken down and it appears Best Buy is discontinuing the low-end model.

Local brick-and-mortar stores will clear out existing inventory of their players at the $99 price point. Those unable to find a Best Buy with one in stock can go to Wal-Mart where, for today only, the HD-A2 is selling for $98.

Kmart also announced it will begin selling the HD-A2, its only standalone high-def disc player, this holiday season. The choice of retailers identifies this model as a bare-bones device appealing to budgeted consumers. Toshiba also manufactures other HD DVD players ranging in price up to $700.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/34672/97/

Best Buy follows Wal-Mart with $100 HD DVD player

2007-11-12T03:23:00.000-08:00

Toshiba sells nearly 100,000 HD DVD players last weekend

2007-11-12T03:22:00.000-08:00

San Jose (CA) - Toshiba has announced that it sold 90,000 HD DVD players between last Friday and Sunday, thanks to sub-$100 players offered by Best Buy and Wal-Mart, according to trade publication Video Business.

Toshiba's HD-A2 is the lowest priced standalone high-def disc player, and last weekend that was made even more evident when Wal-Mart announced a special one-day sales to bring the price down to $98. The discount retailer normally sells the player for around $200.

In a seemingly immediate reactionary move, Best Buy decided to clear out its existing stock of HD-A2 players, marking the price permanently down to $100. However, most locations sold out within hours.

Media reports said that other, more local retailers also marked down their price to match Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

Because of its price advantage, sales of specific standalone HD DVD players have consistently been ahead of similar Blu-ray sales numbers. For example, Video Business reports the three-day sales of HD DVD players was greater than Sony's BDP-S300 Blu-ray player over the past several months. The S300 is the top-selling Blu-ray player aside from the Playstation 3.

Of course, because of the PS3, Sony has been more easily able to convert people into Blu-ray adopters and has handily taken the lead in overall HD disc market share.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/34742/97/

DVD to DivX (Xvid) Conversion Guide

2007-11-12T03:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the DVD to DivX (and now XviD, which I may generalise it to DivX, since they both share many common features and both came from the same open-source code) conversion guide. The aim of this guide is to give you step-by-step and precise instructions on how to convert your DVD to DivX or XviD.

This is a newly re-written guide based on the old DVD to DivX using FlasK MPEG guide, found on DivX Digest.

There are many methods you can use to convert DVDs to DivX/XviD, each with it's own merits and problems, some for beginners, and some for more advanced users. This guide aims to give you instructions for most of the more common methods (currently, only instructions for FlasK MPEG and Xmpeg are available - more guides coming soon).

This guide divides and generalises some of the fundamental steps in DVD to DivX/XviD conversion, and links to much more detailed guides that will give you step-by-step instructions.

We hope you enjoy this guide.

P.S: Translated versions of our old guide is still available :

* Spanish translation of DivX 3.11 Alpha using FlasK MPEG
* Swedish translation of DivX 4.x using FlasK MPEG

http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/dvdtodivx.html

How To Buy CD-DVD Drives

2007-11-08T01:24:00.000-08:00

The development of optical drives marked a great advancement in PC technology. Before the CD-ROM drive became a ubiquitous component in PCs, users had to use install applications from 1.44MB or smaller floppy diskettes. Of course, as programs grew larger, it often took several floppies to hold them, let alone an OS (operating system) as large as Windows 95 or later. CD-ROMs can store about 650MB of information. DVD-ROMs have a minimum of 4.7GB of storage per disc. The greater storage capacities let software makers put a full program (or possibly several programs) on a single CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

CD Drives. Today, read-only CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives are inexpensive commodities, with many available for less than $20 online. However, we currently recommend buying a quality CD-RW (CD-rewritable) drive for less than $40 as the best balance of functions and price. A CD-RW drive can burn (write) both write-once 700MB CD-R (CD-recordable) and 640MB CD-RW discs. "Combo" drives are CD-RWs that can also read DVD-ROMs and play DVD movies.

CD drives are marked with "X" speed ratings, where 1X equals 150KB per second. For example, a 52X CD-ROM can theoretically read data at a maximum of 7,800KBps, or 7.8MBps (megabytes per second). CD-RW drive speeds are expressed in a write CD-R/rewrite CD-RW/read format, such as 52X/32X/52X. Note that some drives that can read CDs at higher speeds than 40X may actually read at 40X by default, unless the user enables faster reads by holding down the eject button for a few seconds or some other action. The reason for this is that some CD-ROM discs can't withstand 48X or 52X speeds without flying apart.

Some rewritable DVD and CD drives support the Mt. Rainier CD-RW format, also known as CD-MRW. Although Mt. Rainier is still awaiting support from Windows and other operating systems, the format promises to make CD-RWs almost as easy to use as floppies. Currently, CD-RWs require lengthy formatting and third-party software called packet-writing applications to let them accept drag-and-drop file transfers like a Zip disk or diskette. Mt. Rainier eliminates these problems with faster formatting, invisible to the user, and drag-and-drop support in the OS (still on the way at this writing). Get a jump on the future with a drive that supports Mt. Rainier.

As for blank media, be aware that some audio CD players and many CD-ROM drives cannot play or access CD-RW discs, which are reusable. CD-R, at less than 20 cents a disc in many cases, is a cheaper and more compatible option. Most stereos will play audio CD-Rs, but older players may prefer some brands over others. Newer audio CD players for home or automotive use can also play music files such as MP3s from recorded CD-R/RWs, allowing you to fit 11 or more hours of music on one disc.

Finally, don't pay extra for so-called "music" CD-Rs. They have no real advantage over "data" CD-Rs for your audio or data CD burning.

DVD drives. If you have more money to spend, a fast computer, and very large amounts of data to back up—or if you want to create your own DVD-Video discs—consider a rewritable DVD drive for $300 or less. Most new DVD burners can read and write the two major formats, DVD-RW and DVD+RW, so don't buy a single-format drive unless it's a real bargain. Both DVD-RW and DVD+RW formats currently hold 4.7GB per disc, and both have a write-once variant (DVD-R and DVD+R). Meanwhile, new DL (dual-layer) DVD drives can record 8.5GB to compatible blank media. Virtually all current DVD burners also read CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, as well as read and write CD-Rs and CD-RWs, so you only really need one optical drive in your PC.

DVD-RAM drives, which store 2.6GB to 9.4GB in bare discs or cartridges, are considered data backup devices, as they generally can't make DVD-Video discs. Some manufacturers now make drives that can read and write all three recordable DVD formats—DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM.

Rewritable DVDs are rated on a scale nine times faster than CD drives, so 1X DVD equals 1.35MBps (1,350KBps). However, they retain the speed rating convention of write DVD±R/rewrite DVD±RW/read, as in 16X/4X/16X. A drive that can also write dual-layer DVDs or DVD-RAM will have speed ratings for burning those as well, such as 2.4X and 3X, respectively.

To play DVD movies on an older PC, you may need to install an additional card called an MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group) decoder. Newer CPUs are fast enough to decode the DVD data without a card's help. To play DVD movie discs of your own creation on a consumer DVD player, it's better to choose a newer player from a major manufacturer than to look for a particular DVD drive or brand of media. In our tests, newer consumer DVD players could play far more brands and types of DVD media than players that were just a few years old. If you want to make do with an older DVD player, the most compatible DVD formats in our tests were DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RW, in that order.

Internal vs. external. Most internal CD/DVD drives connect to the same EIDE (Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics) interface as your PC's hard drive, although they technically use an interface variation called ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface). SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) optical drives are rare at this writing, but are expected to become commonplace. Try to connect an EIDE optical drive to a different data cable than the one attached to your hard drive(s).

If you want to buy an external CD/DVD drive, first check to see if your PC has Hi-Speed USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, or external SATA ports. Most external optical drives require one of these interfaces to reach maximum speed, although a USB 2.0 CD drive will work on a USB 1.1 port, very slowly. We don't recommend trying to burn DVDs through a USB 1.1 port.

You can add a USB 2.0, FireWire, or SATA card to most PCs to support an external CD/DVD for $50 or less. Some drives even come with adapter cards.

Final thoughts. Whichever type of CD or DVD drive you choose, it will be able to read your application and music CDs. All DVD and CD drives can read CD-ROMs, and all DVD and combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drives can read DVD-ROMs, including DVD-Video movie discs.

A CD-RW is currently your best option under $40. However, you can find new DVD-RW/DVD+RW burners with dual-layer DVD support for less than $170 at this writing, and prices are expected to fall further.

Have fun learning to burn!

http://www.smartcomputing.com/Editorial/Article.asp?article=articles/hardware/2004/h0707/dvdbuy.asp&ArticleID=21514&SearchType=0

Education is Crucial to HD Progress

2007-11-08T01:20:00.000-08:00

Study results from the NPD group show that 73% of HDTV owners claimed to be satisfied with their current DVD player and felt no need to go high-def via either Blu-ray or HD DVD. Only 11% of them expressed a strong interest in buying a high-def player in the next six months, with 62% stating they’re waiting for prices to come down.

In an interview at Beta News, NPD analyst Russ Rubin points out that some consumers only start seeing the differences between up-converted movies versus those playing on high-def players when things are pointed to them.

Another executive NPD analyst said that “Once consumers become convinced of the superiority of high-def, and find a way to navigate the format issues, there will be a great deal of pent-up demand for HD DVD or Blu-ray content.”

These reports of consumer ignorance are consistent with news from a Best Buy study where it seems that lots of people enter into an HDTV purchase without really knowing what they’re getting into. The survey polled 1,012 customers from August 3 to August 5, and found that 89% of people admitted to lacking a proper understanding of HDTV technology. Nearly half (48%) of customers don’t account for the fact that they’ll probably also need to sign up for some kind of HD service from cable or satellite (and probably invest in a high-definition player too).

Irrespective of your “format war” stance, what have your HD experiences been compared to your fence-sitting friends? Other than complaints about cost and movie availability, do they make any compelling arguments for sitting out of the game for so long? The one I hear a lot (it comes up in that Rubin interview) is that digital downloads are the way of the future.

Taking a clue from what happened with music and iTunes, yes, movie downloads are a certain inevitability, but the world of home theater PCs and similar devices is even more complicated than anything people think they might be seeing with high-def DVD formats. The easiest solutions involve getting a dedicated box of some kind, while the home theater PC route often requires setting up a wireless or wired network, and dealing with the multiple ways to get your content downloaded (illegal and legal), and displayed. It’s not the same thing as popping a disc into a player, and it’s also much more expensive.

Maybe it’s just me, but I like physical media. I like having the box and its pictures, and a shelf where I store and show off the collection. I’ve had numerous hard drives crash over the years, and I can’t imagine locking up my movie collection onto a device. Another problem with downloads is that they can’t be shared with friends.

I’m not saying there’s no future in movie downloads, but just that I think it’s too high-tech of a solution to become the clear replacement for discs for a loooong time. I also think that the “downloads are coming” argument is just a way for some people to procrastinate and put things off for another two or three years – at which point they’ll have the next excuse ready such as, “the downloads aren’t 1080p.”

http://www.hddvd.com/go.php/education-is-crucial-to-hd-progress/#more-87

CD/DVD burning suite complete with backup and photo albums creation

2007-11-08T01:18:00.000-08:00

Southern Comfort - DVD

2007-11-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

These days the great American filmmaker Walter Hill mostly concerns himself with exemplary television shows like Deadwood and the soon to be screened mini series Broken Trail. We should not forget, however, that this is the man who brought us some of the most singular and lean joys of 70s and 80s US cinema with The Driver, The Warriors, 48 Hours and, of course, this redneck undergrowth slasher from 1981.

Nine part time National Guardsman (think TA) are sent on a weekend training exercise in the Louisiana bayou. When a simple trip to the local whorehouse goes pear-shaped they manage to anger local Cajuns by stealing their canoes and the grunt hunt begins. This superlative thriller is often overshadowed by John Boorman’s similar Deliverence, but Hill’s movie has a dynamism all of its own - one drawn from anxiety and class and cultural divide. The powerhouse cast includes Keith Carradine (Nashville), Powers Boothe (Sin City) and Fred Ward (Short Cuts) and Ry Cooder’s excellent score adds to the Hill’s vice like grip of the nightmarish scenario. Don’t go down to the woods today. Minimal extras.

http://www.list.co.uk/article/1080-southern-comfort-dvd/

HD DVD vs. Blu-ray: And the Winner is ... No One

2007-11-08T01:13:00.000-08:00

By now, I'm sure you've read a dozen articles like this one. In fact, I debated about whether or not to title it as such, as I was afraid most of you would skip it over. Obviously that is not the case if you are now reading these words.

If you are withholding your Next-Gen DVD player purchase until this so-called format war has a winner, it won't help ... there likely won't be one ... and there definitely won't be one any time soon.

Reading further, you will see how each is making equal progress on almost all fronts, and that both camps are investing heavily in their respective formats heading into the holiday buying season. This is not an in-depth analysis of the two formats, as I'm sure you've read too much about each already ... but rather is intended to be a summary of the "current state" of each of the standards.

HD DVD Status

HD DVDHD DVD has a market lead of about 2 months, they are half the price out of the gate, and all reports from the field are saying the quality is better than Blu-ray (at least from the titles/player available right now).

They also have Microsoft on board, who is coming out with an HD DVD add-on (~$200) for the Xbox 360 this fall ... which will speed adoption of the format.

And while they don't have as many production houses on board at the moment, I predict that many of the production houses in the Blu-ray camp (except for maybe Sony) will follow in footsteps of Warner Home Video and Paramount Pictures and begin producing in both formats once they see HD DVD leading the way into households this holiday season.

You should expect to see more than 200 titles available by the time the holiday buying season arrives. And now that they are through the "testing" phase, and have worked out some disc production kinks, you should also see more blockbuster-type films released.

Blu-ray Status

Blu-rayBlu-ray is making great strides in penetrating the PC market, from a back-up media perspective. Both Sony and TDK are now shipping double-layer 50GB media, and TDK has prototyped 200GB media. The capacity advantage won't matter much for feature films, but the "TV on DVD" market will jump all over it.

Blu-ray also has many more manufacturers on board, which will lead to competition within the format itself, arguably resulting in better hardware.

And let's not forget about the Playstation 3, which is currently scheduled to arrive in the US on November 17th. In my opinion, that will have nearly the same penetrating effect as the Xbox drive will have for HD DVD, despite the PS3's $500-$600 price tag.

Conclusion

Both camps are so far invested, and are making equal headway both in terms of penetration and business partnerships that neither one will have any reason to "give in". And if you take into account the marketing dollars that will be spent through the next 6 months, that even further solidifies my position that we'll be living with both formats for a while to come ... and undoubtedly be reading another hundred articles like this one trying to predict the winner.. So if you're waiting for that, you'll be waiting a while.

I've outlined the key points in the table below for those that prefer a more visual representation:

One final prediction: It is more likely you will see a combo player, or combo media, before you will see either camp begin to pull ahead. While both Europe and Japan have these deeply staked out positions, Korea does not. Today manufacturers in Korea are designing and readying for market a combination player. The premium for doing so is said to be modest, although too early to know specifically.

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2006/08/hd_dvd_vs_blu-r.php

What You Find: Hidden Gems on DVD

2007-11-08T01:11:00.000-08:00

DVD Extras aren't all about dubious 'featurettes' and photo galleries and theatrical trailers. Now and again the format has given the opportunity to release some exceptional features - often early short films by the director or really worthwhile documentaries. Here are just a few:

A Bout de Souffle has the early Godard short Charlotte et son Jules

Both Rene Clair’s A Nous La Liberte and Les Grandes Manoeuvres have his early surrealist film Entr'acte

Waiting for Happiness has the atmospheric 40-minute Sissako film October

Pandora's Box has the essential Louise Brooks documentary Looking for Lulu, which features clips from a number of her other films

All of the recent Art Eye Kieslowski releases have short Kieslowski films too:

Camera Buff has the documentary Talking Heads (1981)

No End has the short documentary satire The Office (1966)

The Scar has Concert of Requests (1967)

A Short Film About Killing has From A Night Porter’s Point of View (1977)

A Short Film About Love has Kieslowski’s first short feature The Tram (1966)

Kandahar has Makhmalbaf’s post 9/11 film Afghan Alphabet

The Last Laugh has a fascinating documentary which gives a good insight into the making of the film, as does Sunrise which also includes the only surviving information regarding Murnau’s lost film Four Devils.

Both M and Metropolis special editions include very good restoration featurettes, good viewing for anyone interested in how films are restored for DVD

The Polanski Box Set has a bonus disc of 8 of his early short films, which includes Two Men and a Wardrobe and The Fat and the Lean

Bande a Part has an excellent and informative A-Z of the film and the extras and menus are designed with the brio of the movie itself.

Le Mepris includes two short films by Jacques Rozier – Paparazzi (1964) and Bardot et Godard (1964)

The Magdalene Sisters has two of Peter Mullan’s earlier films: Fridge (1996) and Close (1993)

Miller’s Alice in Wonderland has a section of the rare 1903 version of the same.

The Charge of The Light Brigade has a fragment of the Edison silent of the same.

Cathy Come Home has Elton & Anstey’s 1935 Housing Problems

Culloden has Peter Watkins' amateur film The Forgotten Faces

The War Game has Watkins’ award-winning The Diary Of An Unknown Soldier

The Edge of the World has the 1978 Return to the Edge of the World documentary and the 1923/28 travelogue, St Kilda - Britain's Loneliest Isle

Renoir’s Partie de Campagne has out-takes and screen tests for the film

All of the recent Warner Chaplin DVDs have copious and worthwhile extras

Gus van Sant’s Elephant has Alan Clarke’s 1989 Elephant

Monsters, Inc has Ralph Eggleston’s 2000 Oscar-winning animated short For the Birds and Finding Nemo has John Lasseter’s 1989 animated short Knick Knack

Y Tu Mama Tambien includes Cuaron’s 2001 short You Owe Me (Me La Debes)

Kurosawa’s Ran also includes the Chris Marker documentary A.K.

Dracula-Pages from a Virgin’s Diary has Maddin’s award-winning short The Heart of the World

La Balance has two short films from Bob Swaim – Portrait of a Pornographer (1971) and Vive Les Jacques (1972)

Kiss of Life has two short films from Emily Young - Tower of Babel and Second Hand

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/scripts/media_view.pl?id=148&type=Articles

How can I have VLC play my DVDs automatically?

2007-11-08T01:07:00.000-08:00

Given the choice, I'd much rather watch DVDs on my Mac with the great free app VLC rather than the lame "DVD Player" that is included with Mac OS X. How the heck do I do that?

First off, credit where it's due: a succinct, albeit somewhat confusing answer to this question is offered up by Michal over at Macosxhints.com (see here). The problem is, most Mac users have no idea how to "create and save" an AppleScript. So let me offer up a more detailed tutorial.

First off, if you just want VLC to start up when you insert a DVD, but you'll have to actually find the DVD then click "play" to get it to start playing the movie, that's easy. Go to Apple Menu --> System Preferences and choose "CDs & DVDs":

To have VLC start up instead of DVD Player, simply click on the "Open DVD Player" menu, choose Open Other Application, find VLC in your Applications folder, and click "Choose". That's all there is to it. If you don't mind having to munge around in the file system to find the newly inserted DVD and click "Play" each time. :-)

There's a smarter alternative, as Michel shows, but it requires you opening up the AppleScript editor and writing a very short little program...

Start out by launching Applications --> Apple Script --> Script Editor. You'll see this starting window:

Now, ever so carefully, type in exactly the following:
tell application "VLC"
OpenURL "dvdnav:///dev/rdisk1"
play
next
end tell

It'll look like this with the automatic formatting in the Script Editor:

Almost done. Really. You can do it. :-)

Now, just choose File --> Save and save the script in a well-known location. I suggest the same place that you have the VLC app, or a new directory called "Scripts" in your Applications folder. Here's what I did:

Last step. Back up in this article to where I show you how to choose VLC instead of DVD Player and instead of choosing VLC in the "CDs & DVDs" system preference, choose "Run Script..." and choose your new script. When I do that, I now see:

That's all there is to it. Now when you insert a DVD, VLC launches and starts playing the movie!

By the way, I don't think it'll take long for the crack team at Videolan.org to add "autoplay newly inserted DVD" as a preference, and perhaps even to allow you to specify a preferred view too (e.g., normal, half size, full screen, etc). That'd be kewl...

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_to_have_vlc_play_dvd_automatically.html

The Impending Implementation of New DVD Anti-Piracy Measures

2007-11-07T03:27:00.000-08:00

The Impending Implementation of New DVD Anti-Piracy Measures

It has been announced that in continuation of the ‘crack down’ on DVD piracy, new anti-piracy
measures have been devised by copy protection company ‘Macrovision’. The new ‘rip-guard’
protection will work by blocking programs that enable ‘ripping’ (copying) by making the program
crash.

The illegal copying and distribution of DVDs has been a major problem to the film industry since
the current protection was defeated by hackers. It is estimated that between 20 to 30% of the
entire market is dominated by piracy. This piracy takes on many forms including the production and
reduced price sale of hard copies, peer to peer file sharing via various internet sites and also
the process of ‘rent, rip and return’. This is the process by which an individual rents a DVD,
copies it and then returns it, thus enabling them to reproduce the film on many occasions for
considerable profit. This technology aims to defeat these methods.

However, it has been stated by ‘Macrovision’ that this technology will not work on all devices.
Whilst these measures will obviously reduce the amount of illegal copying, It could be argued that
those who make a considerable profit from piracy, and thus affect the revenue of the film
industry, will merely seek out the devices which are unaffected by the protection and use these to
continue their business.

These measures are scheduled to be implemented by the middle of this year.

http://www.lawdit.co.uk/reading_room/room/view_article.asp?name=../articles/DVD1.htm

Futuristic new DVD Lounge concept

2007-11-07T03:25:00.000-08:00

Sydney entrepreneur Dean Taylor has opened a prototype called DVD Lounge, in Maroubra, a planned chain of futuristic movie rental stores.

The unique new outlet doesn’t have any movies on display. Instead, customers sit in comfortable viewing pods for two and select previews of any films on a flat-screen menu. The borrowing and payment processes are electronic and movies are provided by a robotic dispenser, resulting in minimal labour costs.

The viewing pods have been designed by Sydney company Design Portfolio. “This project is one where technology and screens form the foundation of the entire retail concept,” said a spokesperson

“There is nothing new about what the business does – it rents DVDs like its competitors. The difference is how it is done. In fact, DVD Lounge is an excellent example of truly understanding customers’ frame of mind, frustrations and expectations.

“The usual scene in a DVD or video rental shop is shelves after shelves of similar-looking movie boxes, with often confused and frustrated customers wandering through aimlessly searching for something they might like to watch tonight.

“There are actually no movies on display at all in this new store, but there are many screens.”

http://www.insideretailing.com.au/articles-page.aspx?articleId=1405&articleType=ArticleView

HD DVD Outpacing All Next-Gen Formats in Sales Growth

2007-11-07T03:23:00.000-08:00

At the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) Home Media Expo 2007, the North American HD DVD Promotional Group today announced that overall HD DVD hardware sales were up 37 percent from Q1 to Q2 2007, while software sales experienced a 20 percent increase in growth. The data is based on NPD reports, Nielsen Netratings reports and point of sale data from the studios. During the same time-frame, overall Blu-ray hardware sales saw a 27 percent decline from Q1 to Q2, and Blu-ray software sales were down 5 percent.

Driven by major spring marketing efforts which brought standalone HD DVD players down to an industry first $299, dedicated HD DVD CE players experienced an astounding 183 percent quarterly increase. There are currently more than 180,000 dedicated HD DVD CE players in the market.

"The numbers are clear -- HD DVD is steadily gaining momentum and market share," said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group. "With HD DVD CE players now at MSRP prices starting at $299 and with strong marketing campaigns around new HD DVD titles with web-enabled interactive features, we're continuing to raise the bar for the consumer experience."

Recent studies have shown most consumers are basing their purchasing decisions on pricing. Benefiting from more than a decade of DVD technology advancements and improvements, HD DVD hardware pricing has already dropped from $499 to $299 since the first players were introduced last year as a result of manufacturing efficiencies, while still maintaining a consistent consumer experience.

"With the total number of titles available for each format differing by only 20-30 titles at this time, the real-world gap in content between the two formats is in actuality not as large as many would perceive," said Paul Erickson, market analyst with IMS Research. "Consumers in the US and Europe continue to show the greatest sensitivity to price, rather than content or branding, in their purchase decision for standalone high-definition players."

With titles like "300" coming later this month from Warner Home Video and "Heroes: Season 1" to be released in August from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, HD DVD owners will have close to 1,000 titles worldwide to choose from by the holidays.

http://news.taume.com/Technology/Industry/HD-DVD-Outpacing-All-Next-Gen-Formats-in-Sales-Growth-1912

Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Moves to $179, Adds Five Free HD DVDs

2007-11-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

Today at Comic-Con International 2007, Microsoft Corp. announced it will lower the price of the popular Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from $199 to $179 ERP starting Aug. 1, 2007, and will add five free HD DVD movies for anyone purchasing an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30. In addition, Microsoft further solidified the Xbox 360 as the ultimate high-definition (HD) entertainment platform, with key announcements around the HD DVD launches of "300" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and "Heroes: Season 1" from Universal Studios.

To promote the HD DVD versions of "300" and "Heroes: Season 1," Microsoft unveiled exclusive content for Xbox LIVE(R) Marketplace. Xbox LIVE will offer "300" on demand in HD starting Aug. 14, and is working with Warner Bros. at Comic-Con on a Bringing It Home campaign featuring "300" and other Warner Bros. properties. In advance of the street date for the "Heroes: Season 1" HD DVD boxed set, Xbox LIVE members will be able to download for free the show's pilot episode in high definition for a limited time. Members will also be able to download trailers, teaser scenes and other promotional materials highlighting the "Heroes: Season 1" boxed set on HD DVD.

Already the most affordable high-definition player available, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is the best solution for movie lovers seeking HD content in the highest possible resolution. The player's price reduction to $179 (U.S. ERP) continues to set the bar for value, making the Xbox 360 platform the most affordable solution for consumers seeking the broadest, most compelling selection of next-generation gaming and HD video experiences.

"With the price reduction to $179, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player continues to be the most affordable way to enjoy high definition," said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of Global Marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "From the beginning, we set out to offer Xbox 360 owners an unrivaled high-definition experience, with a choice of optical discs on the HD DVD format and digital downloads through Xbox LIVE Marketplace -- both of which have a selection of the best content Hollywood has to offer. Today's announcements around '300' and 'Heroes: Season 1' are great examples of how we believe HD content can be offered to consumers."

In addition to the price drop, Microsoft is extending Toshiba's highly successful "Perfect Offer" of five free HD DVD discs to Xbox 360 consumers. Previously exclusive to Toshiba HD DVD Players, with the purchase of an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player at the new low price of $179 ERP, consumers can choose five HD DVD titles for free from a selection of 15 popular titles through a mail-in offer. With a retail value of over $140 (U.S.), this promotion makes the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player one of the most compelling offerings for consumers looking to make the leap into HD this holiday season.
Xbox LIVE

Xbox LIVE is the first and most comprehensive unified online entertainment network seamlessly integrated throughout the entire console experience, making it easy for people to find the friends, games and entertainment they want from the moment they power on their Xbox 360 system. Xbox LIVE connects millions of members across 25 countries to enjoy hundreds of multiplayer games, downloadable games via Xbox LIVE Arcade, free and premium playable game demos, music videos, TV shows and movies in the United States as well as new game levels, characters and vehicles for all their favorite retail games.

Source: Microsoft

http://news.taume.com/Technology/Industry/Xbox-360-HD-DVD-Player-Moves-to-USD179_-Adds-Five-Free-HD-DVDs-2018

TOSHIBA TO DEBUT THIRD GENERATION HD DVD PLAYERS FOR HIGH DEFINITION ENTHUSIASTS

2007-11-07T03:19:00.000-08:00

Toshiba takes the Hi Def movie experience to a whole new level with 24 frames per second support, CE-Link connectivity, High Bit Rate Audio capabilities and unmatched interactivity functionality

Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. ("Toshiba"), announced today its third generation of HD DVD players for the U.S. market. Continuing to outpace the competition in sales of dedicated high definition players and responding to increased consumer demand, Toshiba revealed three new sleek and stylish models for an ultimate HD home movie experience. With all three new models priced under $500 (MSRP), Toshiba is delivering a powerful line-up of HD DVD players designed to meet the aggressive growth in demand for high definition TVs.

"With a majority market share in unit sales of next generation DVD players, consumers are speaking loud and clear, and they are adopting HD DVD as their HD movie format of choice," said Jodi Sally, Vice President of Marketing, Toshiba's Digital A/V Group. "Because of the proven manufacturing efficiencies of the HD DVD format, Toshiba can bring this level of innovation in technology to a new generation of players with cutting-edge functionality at affordable prices."

Building on the success of its first and second generation players, new leading enhancements in select models in the third generation line include an improvement in video performance with 1080p/24 frames per second (24p) support. Movie films are traditionally captured at 24 frames per second and select Toshiba third generation HD DVD players will be able to maintain this frame rate allowing consumers to enjoy movies in their native frame rate.

Also added to the line is "CE-Link" (HDMI™ CEC) connectivity which offers the capability to communicate with and control another CE device in a whole new way. For instance, using "CE-Link" with "One Touch Play" consumers will be able to turn on a CEC capable HDTV and a Toshiba HD DVD player, and start playing a movie, with a single touch of a button on the player remote.
Toshiba Third Generation HD DVD Models

Toshiba's third generation family starts with the entry level HD-A3 player featuring 1080i output capability. The other two new models, Toshiba's HD-A30 and HD-A35, will output 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080p), the highest HD signal currently available. Both models are capable of outputing signals at 1080p/24 frames per second so consumers can enjoy movies in their native frame rate. The HD-A30 and HD-A35 models also feature "CE-Link" (HDMI CEC), allowing two-way control between the HD DVD player and a TV through an HDMI connection.

The top-of-the-line HD-A35 also adds support for Deep Color via HDMI allowing compatible display devices to deliver outstanding video quality - displaying millions of possible colors to billions of possible colors.

Additionally, the HD-A35 offers 5.1 channel analog output and High Bit Rate Audio (up to 7.1 channel) via HDMI. With content encoded in 7.1ch, this advanced surround sound is achieved through the HDMI connection bypassing the player's internal audio processor and sending the signal to a 7.1 capable A/V receiver. High Bit Rate Audio will allow the consumer to integrate the HD-A35 with the latest multi-channel A/V receivers and enjoy a whole new dimension of high definition home entertainment.

All of Toshiba's third generation HD DVD players are refined with new cosmetic designs. Rounded edges, slim chassis (only 59.5 mm - nearly half as tall as first generation players) and high gloss, black acrylic face plates create very sleek devices - a perfect complement to Toshiba's award winning REGZA® HD LCD televisions.
Beyond the Hi Def Movie Experience

Starting with 1st generation players, all of Toshiba's HD DVD players support the enhanced features of the HD DVD format mandated by the DVD Forum including picture-in-picture video, audio commentary and the ability to allow web-enabled network capabilities. Using the Ethernet ports found on all Toshiba HD DVD players, once connected to the network, users can access bonus features, as available, from a movie studio's server. This data is then saved in the player's persistent storage and can be accessed by the user. In addition to accessing new bonus features, some HD DVD discs may include locked prerecorded content which can be unlocked with a downloadable key from the studio's online server. Web-enabled capability is now opening the door to a new entertainment experience beyond hi def video and audio.

"Consumers will always have a consistent experience with HD DVD as we have an established platform to keep the players updated to ensure the ultimate HD movie experience," said Yoshi Uchiyama, Group Vice President, Toshiba's Digital A/V Group. "A mandatory Ethernet port in all HD DVD players ensures that consumers can receive updates to their units to support the latest offerings from the studios and maximizing their investment in the format."

All of Toshiba's HD DVD models are backward compatible allowing users to enjoy their libraries of current DVD and CD software while enhancing the look of regular DVDs by upconverting them to near high definition quality.

For more information on HD DVD, please visit www.toshibahddvd.com.

http://news.taume.com/Technology/Gadgets/TOSHIBA-TO-DEBUT-THIRD-GENERATION-HD-DVD-PLAYERS-FOR-HIGH-DEFINITION-ENTHUSIASTS-2149

Toshiba, DreamWorks Animation Tap GSD&M's Idea City to Promote HD DVD

2007-11-07T03:17:00.000-08:00

GSD&M's Idea City has been tapped by Toshiba North America Consumer Products, LLC and DreamWorks Animation SKG to produce advertising in support of HD DVD, the high-definition DVD format that's riding a wave of industry buzz. Television and print advertisements will launch November 1st, using characters from DreamWorks Animation Shrek franchise, coinciding with the HD DVD release of Shrek the Third.

"With the availability of more HD DVD movie titles from major studios like DreamWorks Animation, together we are offering consumers more choices to enjoy HD content. HD DVD is the perfect complement to the High Definition TV providing consumers with the ultimate HD movie experience," said Maria Repole, director, corporate communications for Toshiba. "Idea City has helped Toshiba and our partner DreamWorks Animation bring the benefits of HD DVD to life."

GSD&M's Idea City brings considerable marketing firepower to the HD DVD alliance through their deep retail electronics experience. "We're very pleased to have Idea City working with us in spreading the message about HD DVD," said Ann Daly, chief operating officer of DreamWorks Animation. "They are uniquely qualified in understanding the entertainment space, consumer behavior and creating ideas that truly make a difference."

With a growing list of content providers and the most affordable and technologically-complete hardware solutions, HD DVD is the high-definition DVD format to watch and Idea City brings a fresh perspective to this nascent category. The agency's strength in purpose-based branding -- highlighting for consumers the positive difference that a product or service offers -- is a great fit with the HD DVD marketing effort.

"Consumers are looking for clear and compelling reasons to consider high-definition DVD products," said Duff Stewart, president and chief operating officer of GSD&M's Idea City. "And we're looking forward to helping build momentum for the superior HD DVD technology."
GSD&M's Idea City

In 1971, a group of friends started an advertising agency after graduating from The University of Texas at Austin. Through 36 years of helping grow some of the world's most successful brands, GSD&M's Idea City has become a leading national marketing communications and advertising company using the power of Purpose-based Branding and Dynamic Collaboration to create a destination for visionary ideas that make a difference for our clients, our people, our country and the world.

Source: GSD&M's Idea City

http://news.taume.com/Technology/Industry/Toshiba_-DreamWorks-Animation-Tap-GSDandM_s-Idea-City-to-Promote-HD-DVD-3189

Enjoy High Definition Content Playback with Double Layer HD DVD ROMs

2007-11-07T03:14:00.000-08:00

Catering to users who need an optical disc drive that is able to provide high definition movie playback, versatile multi-functionality and quiet operations, ASUS, leading producer of multimedia products, has today released the new ASUS HR-0205T Optical Disc Drive. This new generation HD DVD ROM drive supports reading data from DVD+R/RW/DVD-R/RW formats, and is the quietest ODD in the market, operating at a mere 21.1 dB - providing users with the best HD movie playback entertainment experience.

Compatibility with a Wide Range of Disc Formats

The HR-0205T is able to support 2.4X HD DVD ROM/2.4X HD DVD ROM(DL)/2.4X HD DVD-R Read, 5X DVD"R/ 5X DVD+RW/ 5X DVD-RW/ 5X DVD"R (DL), 15X CD-R/ 15X CD-RW; and 15X DVD-ROM/ 15X CD-ROM Read formats - giving the user maximum flexibility and support for any type of disc media.

Supports Playback for Double-layer 30GB HD DVDs

HD DVDs come in two variants - single and double layers; and are equal to 4 hours of HD TV or 8 hours of HD content. The HR-0205T is capable of reading both single layer (15GB) and double layer (30GB) HD DVD-ROM media at 2.4x read speeds - allowing users to enjoy HD movie playback. The HD DVDs also have much more capacity - about 3 times to 6 times more capacity in comparison to ordinary DVDs. The HR-0205T is also able to transfer data at Another advantage of the HR-0205T is the fact that it takes full advantage of the shared physical structure of HD discs and standard DVD discs, which allows it to read HD-DVD-R, and in doing so allow users to read the diverse line-up of discs in the HD DVD-ROM disc family, including twin format disc and pick-up head with only a single objective lens.

Quiet Operations at only 21.1 dB

The HR-0205T also provides quiet operations for better movie enjoyment - operating at only 23.7dB for DVD-9 Movie Disc playback and 21.1dB for HD Movie Disc playback - much lower than leading competing models.

Latest HD Solutions

The HR-0205T can utilize a PATA-SATA adaptor for high-speed and stable read capabilities with both SATA and PATA interface compatibilities, and can also be able to be mounted horizontally or vertically. It is also fully supported by Windows XP/2000/ Vista - making it easy and convenient for installation.

Source: ASUS

http://news.taume.com/Technology/Hardware/Enjoy-High-Definition-Content-Playback-with-Double-Layer-HD-DVD-ROMs-3253

One Million Pounds worth of DVD's Seized

2007-11-07T03:12:00.000-08:00

One Million Pounds worth of DVD’s Seized

A police raid in West London discovered a mass of fake DVD’s with an approximate value of
£1,000,000.

The operation which took place in Park Lane in Southall is said to be the largest uncovered in
Western Europe and the premises was capable of producing 50,000 pirate copies a day.

Three men in occupation of the premises were charged with copyright offences and were remanded by
Ealing Crown Court until early next month.

The police were accompanied by investigators from the British Phonographic Industry along with
trading standards officers. £400,000 worth of equipment and counterfeit stock as well as 50,000
CD’s and 24 multi DVD burners were confiscated from the premises.

It could be argued that raids such as this are an invaluable part of the world wide attempt to
defeat piracy and are certainly more effective and urgent then the recent efforts to penalise
music file sharers whose cumulative financial damage imposed on the entertainment industry is far
less than that imposed by these large scale operations.

http://www.lawdit.co.uk/reading_room/room/view_article.asp?name=../articles/One-Million-Pounds-worth-of-DVDs-Seized.htm

Tech on Deck: The Decline of the DVD Player

2007-11-07T03:10:00.000-08:00

After the compact disc ushered in the first digital music revolution, there were questions about whether the digital versatile disc (DVD) would have a similar impact. It did.

The DVD has become one of the most successful consumer electronics products ever in the decade since it was first test-marketed in seven American cities. About 80 percent of U.S. consumers have a DVD player in their homes; that's more than PCs, VCRs, cable television or even analog televisions for which DVDs were designed. The DVD accelerated home video purchases, and Netflix carries about 85,000 DVD titles.

Much like the CD before it, DVD players have become so ubiquitous that electronics companies are finding them a formidable forebear. At the end of the '90s, two higher-quality music disc formats failed to unseat the CD. Similarly, today's rival Blu-ray and HD-DVD camps are both struggling to compete with cheap DVD players, particularly those that can "upconvert" or "upscale" movies, providing a "near-high-definition" experience.

But the golden age of the DVD player is behind us. While they are still well in excess of 10 million units per year, DVD player sales declined 15 percent for the 12 months ending September 2007; that's coming off a decline of 24 percent the year before. The average price has sunk to just over $60.

Sales of DVD recorders, which were cursed with an extended gestation, high complexity and a format war, were also down 15 percent during the year ending September 2007, crashing after nearly 50 percent growth during the same time period a year ago. And even portable DVD players -- those LCD-equipped baby sitters -- were slightly down in the year ending September 2007, even after their average price came down to just $119 after being at $190 two years ago.

Of course, DVD movies will be with us for many years to come. In addition to the massive installed base of hundreds of millions of DVD players, both Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are backward-compatible with DVDs. Some HD-DVD movies, in fact, come with a regular DVD on one side of the disc so it can be played in a standard DVD player.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/TechOnDeck/story?id=3820318

Studios to Consider 'Managed Copy' Provisions Disabling DVD Copying

2007-11-07T03:08:00.000-08:00

Last July, an agreement was reached between Kaleidescape - a manufacturer of a hard-drive-based DVD content copying device for consumers - and a group representing the rights holders for key DVD copy protection provisions. That agreement presumably enabled licensed copies to be burned through services such as Kaleidescape, which themselves would require licenses.

Despite that agreement, and despite a California court decision last April in Kaleidescape's favor, the DVD Copy Control Association will meet tomorrow with representatives of three movie studios to debate whether to amend their existing licenses in such a way that Kaleidescape's service would be disallowed by other means.

One key provision under consideration is technically - if not euphemistically - called managed copy. Proposed by 20th Century-Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros., it would actually prohibit a copied video DVD from being playable in DVD players without the original DVD also being present in the machine.

"DVD Products, alone or in combination with other DVD Products, shall not be designed to descramble scrambled CSS Data when the DVD Disc containing such CSS Data and associated CSS Keys is not physically present in the DVD Player or DVD Drive (as applicable)," reads the new managed copy clause advanced by the three studios on October 16.

It's a safe estimate that most DVD players in use today only have one tray.

Kaleidescape's key consumer product is a hard drive-based video playback system, onto which DVD owners can copy their existing discs. To prevent copied content from being used in any other way, the company actually adds a layer of content protection to the copy on the hard disk, theoretically disabling its use in any other format or on any other device. However, to comply with the law, the re-protected copy contains an image of the original video which contains the original CSS copy protection.

In an open letter to the DVD CCA's Content Protection Advisory Council (CPAC) last Thursday (PDF available here), Kaleidescape CEO Michael Malcolm noted Judge Leslie Nichols' April decision, which found that the interest holders in DVD CCA felt no ill effects from consumers' use of Kaleidescape equipment. Despite that decision, Malcolm argued that the studios appear to be carefully manipulating the definition of that elusive phrase "managed copy," specifically to thwart the interests of anyone who might want to technologically leverage what they perceive as their intellectual property.

"The current 'Managed Copy Amendment' contains no requirement that any studio make even a single movie available for managed copying," Malcolm wrote. "Thus, even if managed copying technologies are approved and computer or consumer electronics companies build products incorporating managed copying, there is no requirement that the studios make any movies at all available for managed copying. The only mandatory feature of the current 'Managed Copy Amendment' is the final provision...the prohibition on the making of persistent copies...All the rest is illusory and is nothing more than another shameless attempt by certain members of the DVD CCA to put Kaleidescape out of business."

But last September, the DVD CCA proudly announced its members had reached an agreement on how to implement the very technology Malcolm says it's now working to drive out of existence. As a result of the agreement, the group said, retailers could produce licensed DVD copies in-store with CSS protection intact, and consumers could benefit from being able to make licensed copies themselves.

As DVD CCA Board Chairman Chris Cookson said at the time, "This important change is in direct response to industry and consumer demand for new legal alternatives for the creation and digital distribution of secure DVD content. Now that the process needed to enable this exciting capability is complete, we anticipate that new products and services will quickly appear in the marketplace."

A similar attempt to amend the managed copy rules was made last June, but was tabled after an earlier letter from Kaleidescape's Malcolm helped cast doubt upon the concept. As he reminded the DVD CCA in his November 1 letter, and as the judge found in April, it is actually illegal to leverage one's copyright holdings for anti-competitive purposes.

"Here, the studios sponsoring these amendments are attempting to wrongfully extend their copyrights beyond what the law grants them in two directions," he wrote. "First, by proposing these amendments, they are attempting to use the combined leverage of their copyrights to restrict innovation and competition in the market for DVD playback devices and technologies. Because their copyrights give them no right to control this separate market, this is an extension of their copyrights beyond their lawful limits."

The DVD CCA's purview is limited to red-laser video discs, and not high-definition blue-laser discs such as HD DVD or Blu-ray.

Judge Nichols' decision is currently under appeal by the DVD CCA. In the meantime, Kaleidescape says if the CPAC votes in favor of the studios' proposed licensing adjustment tomorrow, the company's response would likely result in more "years of litigation."

http://www.betanews.com/article/Studios_to_Consider_Managed_Copy_Provisions_Disabling_DVD_Copying/1194367243

HD DVD Player Breaks $100 Barrier

2007-11-07T03:06:00.000-08:00

Analysts had predicted that the public wouldn't pay attention to the next-gen DVD wars until the players dropped below $200. That's why the Toshiba HD DVD A2's new price is so significant, said analyst Michael Gartenberg. Now, he said, the consumer might be looking at spending another $20 beyond a $79 DVD player to get HD DVD instead.

Like any good movie, the war between the HD and Blu-ray DVD formats has one side up, then the other. Blu-ray had boasted a recent string of good news, but now HD can point to an under-$100 player and some retailer news that might be swinging the war into its favor.

Wal-Mart is offering on Friday the Toshiba HD DVD A2 under $100 in a "Secret In-Store Special." The price includes five free movies by mail. Best Buy also recently offered the same model under $100, although it has reportedly sold out.

Kmart To Drop Blu-Ray

Up until this new price drop, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Best Buy, and Amazon.com had been offering the Toshiba A2 player for under $200, down from its original $299 price tag. The least expensive Blu-ray player is about $375, with some industry observers predicting the price will be mid-$300 by the time the holidays roll around.

That's not the only good news for the HD DVD camp. On Halloween, BetaNews reported that Kmart decided to drop the higher-priced Blu-ray players and offer only HD DVD machines for the holiday season. However, Kmart still is expected to sell the PlayStation 3, which includes a Blu-ray player.

Many industry observers had predicted that the public wouldn't really be paying attention until players dropped below $200. "That's why this is so significant," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research.

Now, he said, the consumer might be looking at spending another $20 beyond a $79 upscaling DVD player to get HD DVD instead. This new pricing, plus a continued rollout of popular TV shows and movies, is "not yet a slam dunk" for HD DVD, he said, but "it's the kind of thing that needs to happen if HD is going to win."

Blu-ray Not Throwing in Towel

HD was boosted by a surprise August announcement from Paramount, that it would back the HD DVD format exclusively. Later, there were reports that the studio had received a $150 million cash payment and promotional guarantees from the HD format backers and that the deal was only for 18 months. Paramount had previously been hedging its bets by backing both formats.

But Blu-ray hasn't exactly been throwing in the towel. Home Media Magazine has reported that 2.6 million Blu-ray discs were sold from January to September, with 1.4 million HD DVD discs being sold. Blu-ray has been propelled by its inclusion in Sony's PlayStation 3, but there are also reports that HD has taken a large lead in the number of laptop computers with that format.

In June, Blockbuster said it would sell only a Blu-ray player in its stores, although it would continue to offer discs in both formats. When the word hit at the time that BJ's Wholesale club would stock only Blu-ray discs, some observers had begun to predict HD's demise.

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/HD-DVD-Player-Breaks--100-Barrier/story.xhtml?story_id=0120001EEXP0

CinemaNow to get CSS-enabled DVD burning, but you'll need new hardware

2007-11-07T03:05:00.000-08:00

Customers of movie download service CinemaNow will be able to download and burn movies to CSS-protected DVDs... sometime next year. CinemaNow and Sonic Solutions (makers of MyDVD and Easy Media Creator) have announced a deal under which subscribers to the download service will finally be able to burn DVDs that can be played on the majority of living-room DVD players.

"The online video distribution industry will get a massive shot in the arm with the ability to burn downloaded video to DVD with the same protection and ubiquitous playability of packaged DVDs," said Sonic senior VP Jim Taylor in a statement. Well, probably not.

There are a few very important caveats to the announcement:

* You'll need new DVD-R discs
* In fact, you'll need a new DVD burner
* You'll have to wait until the middle of next year to be able to burn CSS-encrypted DVDs

"We'll be talking to the manufacturers along with Sonic about the opportunity," CinemaNow CEO Curt Marvis told Ars. "Unfortunately, this is going to require new hardware, and there aren't any DVD burners or PCs currently shipping that support burning DVDs with CSS."

Prices for DVD-R discs that are capable of burning CSS-encrypted content has not yet been set, according to Marvis, but he believes pricing will be "comparable to current DVD-R discs." Marvis also told Ars that there will be some special promotions slated for mid-2008 in an attempt to get consumers on board, and that he is presuming that the studios will make all of their content that's currently out on DVD available for burning.

CSS-enabled DVD burning has been the holy grail for CinemaNow, as getting downloaded movies from the PC to the TV has been an ongoing problem for movie download services. The easiest solution—allowing customers to burn DVDs so they can pop them into their living room DVD players—has been a no-go for a number of reasons, all of which have to do with the movie industry's insistence that any DVDs burned use DRM.

It was only recently that the DVD Copy Control Association approved changes to the CSS license which enabled PCs to burn DVDs with the long-since-busted CSS DRM. Prior to that, CinemaNow relied on FluxDVD, which one engineer described as "irresponsibly defective" due to its deliberate introduction of Digital Sum Value checksum errors. The checksum errors are intended to prevent the burned DVD from being copied, but it also had the unfortunate side effect of making the discs unplayable on most off-the-shelf DVD players.

It's not entirely fair to blame CinemaNow for the DVD-burning snafus—the company has to play the hand the movie industry deals it, after all. The end result is that the major movie download services are not nearly as attractive as they might otherwise be, since they're generally tied to a PC or set-top box, DRMed, and often time limited. If done right, digital distribution has the potential for transforming the movie industry in the same way that it has the music industry—and that may be what the movie studios are most afraid of.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071106-cinemanow-to-get-css-enabled-dvd-burning-but-youll-need-new-hardware.html

How HD DVD Got its Groove Back

2007-11-07T03:03:00.000-08:00

ANALYSIS: Sources close to retailers indicate that Toshiba sold over 90,000 $99 HD DVD players over the weekend, and that figure only represents a portion of the retailers that participated in the frenzy.

According to Video Business, the 90,000 count includes Toshiba HD-A2 players sold at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Circuit City along with a few other brick and mortar outlets. But it apparently doesn't include online retailers who also participated in the price drop, such as Amazon.com.

BetaNews' own estimates placed sales at around 40,000 to 70,000 within Wal-Mart alone based on information compiled about stocks at the discount retailer's various locations around the country.

Wal-Mart's move spurred a retailer war over prices of the players, even bringing down the cost of other models as a result when HD-A2 stocks depleted. It's fairly likely that total sales of all HD DVD players eclipsed the 100,000 mark during just the past week.

Sales of the Toshiba HD-A3, the successor to the HD-A2, appeared to be equally brisk, with many retailers selling out of their stocks quickly after the older model became hard to find. At many locations, the newer player was selling for $199 - $100 off its original retail price.

Furthermore, sales of the HD-A2 alone over the past few days are nearly equivalent to total sales of the top Blu-ray player, Sony's BDP-S300, which has shipped 100,000 units since its introduction over the summer.

BetaNews has a request in with Toshiba for full sales numbers, but the company thus far has not provided specific figures.

It All Comes Down to Price

Over the weekend, BetaNews talked to several new-to-HD disc consumers and there was almost a universal reaction that price was the primary factor behind the purchases. Buying an HD DVD player, however, did not necessarily mean the door was shut to Blu-ray.

"I was waiting on the price to come down on the hardware to where i thought the return on investment was there, because I know lots of money will be spent on software once I had a player," Mike Taylor of Park City, Utah told BetaNews.

The story was the same from David Balfoort of Syracuse and David Lazerson of Cape Coral, Florida. While Lazerson remains open to Blu-ray if the price drops below $250, Balfoort says he'd only consider the opposite format if it "wins the war."

Another interesting finding of the interviews was that no one felt worried about their purchase, despite the future of high-definition discs remaining up in the air. "I'm not nervous at all about the purchase," Lazerson said, pointing to the upconversion feature of the player, which he noted alone makes it worth the $98 purchase price.

Balfoort, who already had a extensive home theater, said that an HD movie player was the last piece of the puzzle. "I generally purchase a DVD player every 12-18 months so there was no nervousness involved," he told BetaNews.

Blu-ray's Dilemma

Through these interviews, it seems clear that Sony's recent offerings of a small price cut this holiday may not be enough to counter what could be increasing momentum for HD DVD. With so many new players now in consumers' hands, it can only be expected that disc sales will increase as well.

Multiple studies show that the PlayStation 3 alone will not be enough to keep the Blu-ray format afloat. Six out of ten users aren't even aware that the device can play Blu-ray movies, and out of the remaining four, only two had actually used the player in the past month to play a disc, according to NPD Group.

In addition, a rising number of HD DVD owners will make it hard for Sony to make the case to both retailers and studios to support its format exclusively. Consumer demand will keep HD DVD on the radar of the studios who currently support it, and will give the format leverage to lure new studios in.

It is not out of the question that this past weekend's moves by Wal-Mart have in the very least extended the format war much longer than many Blu-ray supporters would have imagined, and very well could have provided the needed momentum toward a successful conclusion for those in HD DVD's camp.

"Wal-Mart doesn't have these sales for no reason, there's always a business aspect," an employee told BetaNews on Friday while customers waited in line to snap up a $99 HD DVD player. "You can fully expect that this will be the price next year; they are always ahead of the curve on that."

From Friday's action, it looks like the nation's leading retailer wants to play kingmaker. And from the results we're seeing today, it just may have.

http://www.betanews.com/article/How_HD_DVD_Got_its_Groove_Back/1194405684

How do I copy a DVD movie onto my hard drive?

2007-11-07T02:53:00.000-08:00

There are several programs available to copy DVD Video files to your hard drive. I personally use DVD Decrypter & SmartRipper. I generally always use DVD Decrypter because I prefer its interface and overall speed. I've also noticed that SmartRipper has issues with some DVDs that contain both encrypted and non encrypted files. SmartRipper also has an issue with files on the DVD being locked until you open your favorite dvd software and start the movie playing. Links to any software mentioned in an article can always be found in the Links Archive. The directions enclosed below are for personal backups of purchased DVDs (nothing worse then having the original scratched).

I generally always copy the entire DVD onto my computer (it is possible to rip the movie without the menus). The only requirements to copy a DVD to your hard drive is having between 3 - 9.4 Gbs free (DVD Content depending), and a DVD Rom.

Steps:
1. Insert DVD into DVD drive.
2. Close any autorun programs (ie DVD software, DVD interactive software etc).
3. Open DVD Decrypter.

4. Click on the Mode drop down menu, and select File (or just type F in the program).
5. Under Source select the DVD drive containing the disc.
6. Under Destination select the folder you wish to place the movie in. The best way usually to do this is to use the same hard drive each time and select a default destination path. The advantage is that each time you place a DVD in the drive it automatically uses the DVD title for the directory (some DVDs use DVD Video as the default Volume though so you might have to do it manual once or twice). It also creates the VIDEO_TS directory for you (this makes other operations later easier). To select a default destination Click on Tools (drop down) then settings. In settings under the General tab select Semi automatic under Default Destinations. Next select the folder chooser imediately below and select a drive, or a directory you want all the DVDs to go in. You may wish to reselect the Drive under Source in the main window to auto generate the new directory name. On a side note if you generate it manually make sure the directory is in ALL CAPS, if not and your planning to ifoedit later it'll stall and ask you to rename it mid process.

7. Click on the Green button at the bottom. If the button isn't green try selecting a different DVD Rom drive (or reinsert the DVD).

http://www.drmadcow.net/ViewArticle/ID/9/

The Successor To Today’s DVD?

2007-11-06T02:09:00.000-08:00

In the latest development in the battle between the rival Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats to succeed today's DVDs, JVC has announced the first combined storage media for both high definition Blu-ray and conventional DVD content.

JVC's new ROM disc, which has a one-side readout, uses a triple-layer structure composed of an outer Blu-ray layer and dual inner DVD layers. The Blu-ray layer, written with a short, blue laser that creates very dense storage, contains high-definition video signals up to a capacity of 25GB. The inner DVD layers, written with a longer red laser, can store up to 8.5GB of standard definition DVD video signals. The disc's dual use was made possible by a high-performance reflective film embedded between the new disc's Blu-ray data area, which is located 0.1mm below the surface, and its DVD area, located at 0.6mm. The film reflects the shorter blue laser beams but is transparent to the longer red laser beams used for DVD data.

As Blu-ray drives become available in desktop systems, smaller businesses have the option of handling backup as many home users do, storing data on removable media. The process is not that cumbersome when you consider the projected capacity of the JVC Blu-ray disc is 50MB. However, there's no need to wait until all networked PCs have Blu-ray drives. JVC's combination discs can always use the DVD rather than the Blu-ray format. When backup appliances providing disk-to-disk backup add Blu-ray drives, even the smallest businesses can build a storage infrastructure economically for backup and disaster recovery.

Blu-ray is a next-generation optical disc format backed by 15 electronics and technology companies including Sony, Dell, HP, JVC, and Matsushita for high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. An opposing standard proposed by Toshiba, NEC, Memory-Tech, and others is called the High Definition/High Density DVD (HD-DVD) format. Both formats use a blue laser instead of today's red lasers to store data, but HD-DVD supplies a smaller 20GB of storage. Both Toshiba and Memory-Tech have announced combination discs capable of storing data in the HD-DVD and conventional DVD formats.

JVC will forward a proposal to the Blu-ray Disc Association to have the combined Blu-ray/DVD technology accepted as a specification for future commercialization. Approval is expected during the first half of 2005. The company has not decided yet when the technology will be commercialized, but JVC may produce the discs itself, according to a company spokesperson.

http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Fp2706%2F38p06%2F38p06.asp

Portable iPod video / DVD player

2007-11-06T02:08:00.000-08:00

DVD On Training

2007-11-06T02:06:00.000-08:00

A training DVD or a sales video can be a new item to use to foster innovation and novel ideas for your typical staff meeting or educational session. A training DVD can offer an outsiders' perspective while still maintaining clarity and your vision for the company. A sales video such as this can be an original way to spark interest in and new debate and ideas around the office.

By Adam Mussa

A training DVD or a sales video can be a new item to use to foster innovation and novel ideas for your typical staff meeting or educational session. A training DVD can offer an outsiders’ perspective while still maintaining clarity and your vision for the company. A sales video such as this can be an original way to spark interest in and new debate and ideas around the office.

Sales videos and training DVDs can be found everywhere. There are hundreds of videos out there that may be effectively utilized within your company.

The key to success with these types of training tools is to find the DVD or video which best works with the ideas and goals of your company.

A training DVD for your company can be located almost anywhere. The key to doing it right is to find the one which best typifies the message of your company and one which encourages employees to meet your high demands and expectations.

Sales videos can be presented during a staff meeting or a separate educational session, but you must decide ahead of time in which manner you wish to present it.

The training DVD should further help your staff discover new ways to treat clients and how to better serve their needs.

A sales video or training DVD can be an effective teaching tool for companies of all shapes and sizes when used appropriately. They should not be used as a way to just kill time for you and your staff.

Sales videos and training DVDs can be excellent teaching tools. However, they have to be used wisely and in a manner that will positively influence those members of the entire sales team.

click on UK sales training to learn more about the latest coaching on businessClick here for other unique sales articles.

Article republished from Copy & Paste Articles

http://www.copypastearticles.com/article/4529/dvd-on-training/

AnyDVD HD coming soon

2007-11-06T02:05:00.000-08:00

AnyDVD HD or AnyHDDVD is on the way
Preliminary reports over at the new SlySoft support forum indicate that SlySoft is hard at work developing AnyDVD HD, a new software product that is designed to help decrypt HD DVD movies (HD DVD-ROMs) on the fly. This is a logical evolution for the company behind the famous AnyDVD app, which is an excellent piece of software that allows users to decrypt DVD discs on-the-fly. This is great news for HD DVD owners who wish to back up their HD DVD movies.

UPDATE: AnyDVD HD now supports BOTH HD DVD and Blu-ray playback and copying! Download a demo of AnyDVD HD today!

The SlySoft support team is top of the line, as they openly ask their customers to send in information on any new discs that AnyDVD has trouble with. With the help of their users, SlySoft continually updates AnyDVD to handle any new DVD protections such as ARccOS and RipGuard.

The move to AnyDVD HD should come at no surprise as SlySoft is a company that is famous for their decryption, burning and disc backup utilities (AnyDVD, Clone CD, Clone DVD). SlySoft will not make any official statements on the product for 3-5 weeks, as they have not yet issued any press releases.

And although they have not yet issued any official statements on the new software, we have learned some information about the upcoming product from SlySoft developer comments on their forum. The early Alpha version of AnyDVD HD has successfully decrypted all of the HD DVD movies that they have tested with. They are also working to implement a “Remove annoying trailers” function, that will allow users to automatically remove non-skip sections of an HD DVD such as the FBI warning, the Universal “HD DVD is great” screen and others. Very nice! There will also be an upgrade path for users who have purchased AnyDVD in the past, although there are currently no concrete details on exactly what type of discount will be offered.

Why AnyDVD HD instead of AnyDVD Blu-ray? The SlySoft developers claim that HD DVD was a logical first target for them because the format has no region coding and less DRM capabilities (eg; no BD+). So will SlySoft ever release a Blu-ray decryption utility? Possibly, but their current focus is solely on HD DVD back up capabilities. Once AnyDVD HD has been launched, they will take a look at the Blu-ray format.

So just how does AnyDVD HD work? Has SlySoft managed to really crack AACS? For now, no one is sure just how AnyDVD HD will work exactly. Chances are that we will not know how it works in the future either, as it is a closed-source commercial product that SlySoft has an interest in protecting. A SlySoft developer has indicated that “nobody’s gonna have to painfully search for title keys in the memory of some badly written player.“. Judging by the history of AnyDVD “classic”, I’m sure that AnyDVD HD will easily allow users to copy and backup HD DVD movies.

http://wesleytech.com/anydvd-hd-coming-soon/95/

Why HD DVD combo format discs suck

2007-11-06T02:03:00.000-08:00

Why HD DVD combo format discs suck

If you have been following the HD DVD format at all, then you have probably heard of the combo disc. A combo disc is a hybrid HD DVD format that contains an HD DVD on one side and a standard DVD on the other side (you must flip over the disc to access the other format).

Why do combo discs suck?

The combo disc may look like an innovative and interesting idea at first glance, but in reality, it simply adds more cost to an already higher priced HD DVD movie title. While browsing the HD DVD titles at a local Circuit City electronics store, I took note of the pricing of ’standard’ HD DVD titles and compared them to the pricing of combo format (HD DVD + DVD) titles.

Most ’standard’ HD DVD titles were priced at $24.99, with some titles priced at $29.99. On the other hand, most of the combo format HD DVD titles were priced at $34.99, with a minority priced at $29.99. This means that consumers will have to cough up an extra $5-$10 per title if they want a movie in the combo format. The worst part of this deal is that most combo format titles are not available as a ’standard’ HD DVD, which means that you are forced to put out the extra $5-$10 for a title, even if you don’t want the crappy DVD that is glued to its’ rear.

Other combo format disadvantages are that the discs are more easily prone to scratching and fingerprinting due to the flipper style disc, missing disc art and in some cases, player compatibility problems.

Combo format discs are not needed

If I wanted a standard DVD, I would buy a DVD, not an HD DVD. If I wanted a standard DVD to go with my HD DVD, I would rip my HD DVD, convert it and burn it to DVD (once I get an HD DVD PC drive). Another option would be to buy a ’standard’ DVD via ebay or another source “on the cheap”. Either way, this forced combo disc nonsense and extra cost is hurting the HD DVD format in my eyes. On the bright side, at least Universal Studios has changed their ways on catalog releases. What do you think about combo discs?

http://wesleytech.com/why-hd-dvd-combo-format-discs-suck/224/

HD DVD love: Why do you love HD DVD?

2007-11-06T02:00:00.000-08:00

HD DVD lovers, speak your mind!

On this Valentines’ Day, I decided to ask my readers and the internet community why they love the HD DVD format. There are a lot of reasons that people might choose HD DVD over Blu-ray, some of these reasons might include an interest in Universal Studios films, owning an XBox 360 HD DVD drive or the lower cost of HD DVD standalone players. Whether you are an avid HD DVD supporter, a fanatic, an early adopter or you just simply like HD DVD better, I want to know why!

Post in the comments section of this article to let me know why you opt for HD DVD instead of Blu-ray. If you love Blu-ray instead of HD DVD, please post in this article.

http://wesleytech.com/hd-dvd-love-why-do-you-love-hd-dvd/128/

In-Car DVD Options: The Pros and Cons

2007-11-06T01:57:00.000-08:00

A rear-seat entertainment system can keep children amused — and parents relaxed — on long journeys.

Of all the technology options you can add to your car, the one that knows no age limits is the in-car DVD player. With one of these devices onboard, kids who get fidgety 30 minutes into a 300-mile trip no longer mind traveling by car, and parents can concentrate on driving — or having an uninterrupted conversation.

A rear-seat entertainment (RSE) system handles more than just DVDs. It can also play audio CDs, MP3s burned onto discs and photos burned onto discs. In addition, there’s a connection for a game console or portable video player such as an iPod Video.

Of the 17 million vehicles sold in the United States annually, about 1.5 million come with rear-seat entertainment systems. And RSE systems are added to another 1.2 million vehicles each year, according to Phil Magney, president of Telematics Research Group, which provides intelligence on the automotive and mobile electronics industries.

“The dominant application is children’s programming, and that will continue into the foreseeable future,” he says. “However, as mobile video services make their way into the car, they will expand the appeal of RSE into new categories, such as news, sports and sitcoms. Furthermore, as new technologies may permit front-seat video to coexist with RSE, the demand grows for video content in cars.” (Magney is referring to a prototype dash-mount screen that would show car-related information to the driver and video to the front-seat passenger.)

Rear-seat entertainment systems can cost as little as $100 for a portable player held in your lap to $3,000 for a pimp-my-ride system with multiple screens. All the systems can provide DVD entertainment for two or more people. The differences involve who provides the player, how many screens are used and how the system is installed. Here are some choices, along with the pros and cons of each.

A new car with an installed RSE:

This is the most convenient option, and it’s built into the monthly car payments. Typically, it’s installed in the roof (headliner) of your new car, van or SUV.

Pros: The size of the screen is designed so it doesn’t interfere with the driver’s rear vision, and the audio can be played through the car’s stereo system (or through headphones). Also, the system is covered by the new car’s warranty.

Cons: At $1,500 to $2,500, this is the most costly way to get rear-seat entertainment.

Pros and cons: Some vehicles have the player in front where parents control the entertainment. This is good for young kids and okay for grade-schoolers, but it definitely can annoy teenagers.

DVD player installed later:

You can have an in-car DVD player kit installed in your existing vehicle. For vans, SUVs and some crossovers, this is a one-piece system in which the DVD drive and display mount in the headliner. You must choose carefully, however, to ensure that the display doesn’t interfere with the driver’s view through the rear window.

For sedans, it’s better to have two LCD displays, one in the back of each front-seat headrest. Passengers listen through wireless (infrared) headsets; most players have two. Extra headsets run $25 to $50, and they’re universal: What works in a GMC SUV also works in a Lexus.

Pros: They have the same quality as, but are less costly than, factory-installed DVD players. Plus, headrest-mount systems can show either the same or different videos.

Cons: With roof-mount DVD players (which are priced at $500 to $1,000), it costs extra to have video cable run to floor level so you can connect a game console or iPod Video. Headrest-mount systems are more costly ($1,000-plus).
Front-seat entertainment (FSE) systems:

You can replace the radio/CD player in your dash with a DVD playing unit. The video signal can be sent to back-seat screens, as well.

Pros: It often doubles as a navigation system. (FSE is more popular in Asia and Europe than it is in the United States.)

Cons: The DVD can’t be used when the car is moving (though the navigation system can be used), and the screen tops out at 7 inches because of the dashboard size constraints.
Portable DVD player:

It looks like a laptop computer, but it plays only movies, CDs and MP3 CDs. These players come with two headphone jacks and power adapters for use in cars, as well as at home and in hotels.

Screen sizes range from 5 inches (fairly small) to 12 inches (provides comfortable viewing for two people). For safety, buy an unfolding travel case (about $50) that straps to the front seats and secures the player.

Pros: Many portable players sell for under $200, and they also can be used in a hotel, at home, and on a train or plane. Battery life is not an issue, as the player can be plugged into the car.

Cons:The device could fall to the floor during a sudden stop, so use a travel case or tether.
Laptop used as a DVD player:

If you’ve got a laptop, you can buy a car power adapter and let the kids watch movies in the back seat. You’ll also need a headphone splitter (about $5 at electronics stores) to connect two headphones.

Pros: You’ve already paid for the laptop. Also, the laptop screen is usually larger than the screen of most portable DVD players.

Cons: You must deal with a maze of cables and wires, and the display screen may go to sleep if you don’t press a key every 15 minutes. Also, any spills and falls could endanger a $1,000 device. If you’re concerned about possible damage to the laptop, you can secure it inside a carrying case.

Which RSE system should you choose for your vehicle? That depends on your requirements, your budget … and your kids.

http://www.progressive.com/auto-tech/in-car-dvd-options.aspx

Choosing DVD Copy Software (copy DVD Movie Software)

2007-11-06T01:55:00.000-08:00

New DVD copy software has made the copying of your DVD movies very easy - to copy DVD movies you no longer need a DVD player! With the mix of simple software programs available on the market, the speed and ease of copying DVD movies has greatly increased. Now, it is possible for practically anyone to make a back-up copy of their DVD movie collections, giving a longer life to the original DVDs.

Find the best DVD Copy Software...

Google Search: DVD Copy Software

Firstly, it is a good idea to find the best DVD copy software available. This way the you can guarantee against the deterioration of the DVD copy that comes with repeated use, some DVD copy software programs do not cater for this. The ideal DVD copy software should not be exclusive to experts. In fact, the ideal DVD copy software should cater more more for the beginner. The software setup should be hassle free and the DVD copy software installation should be uncomplicated and easy.

When you think about it, the very purpose of DVD copy software is to produce duplicates of you DVD movies (and copy other DVDs). The best programs often carry out that task without a reduction in quality of the original DVD. In other words, the DVD copies retain the quality of sound and video of the original DVD. It is important that the DVD copy software works with other programs that are already on the computer.

When purchasing DVD copy software, look for a program that offers a broad range of features.

The best DVD copy software should allow you to create VCDs easily

(VCD stands for "Video Compact Disc". It's simply a way of writing a CD to be readable in VCD players or DVD players. In terms of quality, VCD is somewhere between VHS and DVD; most casual observers will see immediately that VCD is superior to VHS, a bit less than DVD. The benefits of VCD over VHS are varied, such as the cost: VCDs can be cheaply and easily duplicated. They also possess a longer shelf life, and are also easier to store than VHS cassettes, which, in comparison, are rather bulky)

If your DVD copy software allows you to copy DVDs without requiring a DVD player then that is even better.. (you can use just your CD writer to copy DVDs)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/choosing-dvd-copy-software-copy-dvd-movie-software-103866.html

http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/choosing-dvd-copy-software-copy-dvd-movie-software-103866.html

Multiple live CDs in one DVD

2007-11-06T01:54:00.000-08:00

Live CDs do a great job of advertising Linux distributions. In addition to general-purpose live CD distributions, there are lots of task-oriented live CDs. Wouldn't it be great if you could carry multiple live CDs on one DVD disc? Nautopia.net has put up a script that you can use to make a custom DVD to boot multiple live CDs.

The Nautopia script currently supports Knoppix, Kanotix, Kurumin, Livux, MEPIS, ProMEPIS, Slax, Aurox, BerryLinux, Basilisk, Adios, PCLinuxOS, MandrakeMove, Gnoppix, RiP, SystemRescueCD, Ultimate Boot CD, and INSERT distributions. Grab a couple of live CDs of any of the above listed distributions, download the script, and let's get started.

Exploding the zip archive reveals a shell script named dvd_iso and a directory named dvd wherein lies all the magic. Let's put MandrakeMove, Knoppix, and SystemRescueCD in the DVD. All we need to do is copy the boot-related files, such as initrd.gz, vmlinuz, and isolinux*, into the respective distributions' /dvd/boot/ directories. The rest of the distros' files sits under the /dvd directory or in its own directory under /dvd.

From the MandrakeMove live CD copy the contents of the isolinux directory into the target /dvd/boot/mdkmove. Then copy the rest of the CD to /dvd. Moving on to Knoppix, copy the contents of /isolinux into /dvd/boot/knoppix. Then create a KNOPPIX/ directory under /dvd and copy the contents of the /KNOPPIX directory from the live CD into the newly created /dvd/KNOPPIX. Finally, with SystemRescueCD, copy the contents of /isolinux to /dvd/boot/sysrescd/ and copy the sysrcd.dat file to /dvd.

Once the directories have been prepared, execute the dvd_iso shell script, which simply creates a bootable ISO image, dvd_boot.iso, using mkisofs, and places it in the same directory as the script itself. To test the ISO image you can either burn it onto a DVD or run it through QEMU, a free and fast processor emulator. You can apt-get install qemu, download precompiled packages, or compile it from source.

Upon bootup you will be greeted by a GRUB menu that lists all the distributions supported. Selecting one will take you to that distribution's GRUB menu. Make a selection in this menu and you're off.

Right now the options file of all the distributions are in the developer's native language, Spanish. If you run into any problems or want a little help placing the files in the DVD, refer to the developer's article in Spanish. The author promises an English version soon. Until then, use Google's translation tools.

When you are done playing with one distro, simply restart the computer and select another one from the DVD's GRUB menu.

http://www.linux.com/articles/52927

The New HD-DVD/Blu-Ray Hack: What It Might Mean For Us

2007-11-06T01:51:00.000-08:00

That's the so-called "Processing Key" that unlocks the heart of every HD-DVD disk to date. Happy Valentine's day, AACS.

AACS, a DRM scheme used to encrypt data on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disks, would appear to be cracked wide open by that short string of hexadecimal codes, as previously, only disk-specific Volume Keys were compromised. The new hack is the work of Arnezami, a hacker posting at the doom9 forums, fast becoming the front line in the war on DRM.

"The AACS is investigating the claims right regarding of the hack," said AACS spokesporson Jacqueline Price. "It is going to take a appropriate action if it can be verified."

Price said she could not disclose what their investigation might entail, or what "appropriate action" might be.

“We’ve just learned of this claim today and are checking into it,” said Andy Parsons, chair of the Blu-ray Disc Association and senior V.P. of product development at Pioneer Electronics, in an email.

The new crack follows that from earlier this year, when a hacker by the name of muslix64 broke the AACS system as it applied to each movie. While the earlier hack led to 100 HD-DVD titles and a small number of Blu-Ray movies being decrypted one-by-one, the so-called "processing keys" covers everything so far made.:

"Most of the time I spend studying the AACS papers," Arnezami said in his forum post revealing the successful assault on the next-gen DRM system. "... what I wanted to do is "record" all changes in this part of memory during startup of the movie. Hopefully I would catch something insteresting. ... I now had the feeling I had something. And I did. ... Nothing was hacked, cracked or even reverse engineered btw: I only had to watch the "show" in my own memory. No debugger was used, no binaries changed."

It's not yet clear what it means for the consumer's ability to copy movies, or, for that matter, that of mass-market piracy operations. The short form is that the user still needs a disk's volume ID to deploy the processing key and break the AACS encryption — but getting the ID is surprisingly easy.

Arnezami found that they are not even random, but often obvious to the point of foolishness: one movie's Volume ID turns out to be it's own name and the date it was released. There isn't yet an automatic system, however, that will copy any disk, in the manner of DeCSS-based DVD copying systems.

Even so, the new method completely compromises HD-DVD in principle, as it relies on AACS alone to encrypt data, even if there are other parts of the puzzle that are yet to fit together. Blu-Ray has two more levels of protection: ROM-MARK (a per factory watermark, which might revoke mass production rights from a factory but not, it seems individuals) and BD+, another encyption system, which hasn't actually been used yet on sold disks (but which soon will be), meaning that its own status seems less obviously compromised.

How might the companies respond? The processing key can now be changed for future disks. However, the flaws inherent in the system make it appear easy to discover the replacement: the method of attack itself will be hard to offset without causing knock-on effects. For example, revoking player keys (in advance of obfuscating the keys in memory in future revisions of the system) would render current players unable to view future movies. Revoking the volume and processing keys that have been hacked would mean that all movies to date would not run on new players.

Publishers could randomly generate Volume IDs in future releases (as they are still needed for the current hack to work), which would make them harder to brute-force. That said, it's claimed that the "specific structure" of the Volume ID in memory makes it feasible to brute-force randomized ones anyway.

Following are links to the current discussion at the doom9 forums, in which Arnezami and other provide regular updates on their progress. We don't offer any warantee that the software implementations so far produced won't blow up your computer or get you thrown in jail and whipped with wet towels by MPAA lawyers:

Proof of concept code for the process key hack is here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=953484#post953484

Implementation for Windows: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=953496#post953496

Implementation for OSX: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=953516#post953516

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/02/the_new_hddvdbl.html

Daoist Healing Qigong DVD Review

2007-11-05T03:58:00.000-08:00

Gilbert. The DVD, called “Reduce Your Stress, Improve Your Health. Daoist Healing Qigong”. Brad has sent me one of the DVDs for a review. Bradley is a Master of Medical Qigong.

This DVD, produced in 2005, plays for a little more than an hour and is divided into to major parts:

1. A basic Qigong posture, followed by description and demonstration of 13 exercises (about 43 minutes)
2. A 20-minute video where the whole exercsise set is performed without narration, with only a background music. As I understand it, this part is a do-along track.

This program is based a healing qigong and is not for learning martial arts qigong. Its purpose is to release the stress and balance your body’s energies. The back of the DVD cover lists the following benefits of the Doaist Healing Qigong:

* Strengthen your energy
* Release tension in your body
* Feel relaxed and invigorated
* Calm your mind by releasing mental tension
* Know that you an be proactive in your health
* Enjoy your life more fully – your health, relationships

The DVD has the following tracks:

1. Standing Wuji Posture – the posture is the basic standing Qigong posture from which most of the other exercises start and how they end. I know it well from my Qigong lessons.
2. Pulling Down Heavens – for reconnecting with the energies of heaven and earth
3. Dredging the Channels – for releasing excess energy
4. Counter Swing – releasing excess energy
5. Dropping the Post – centering and grounding
6. Trembling Horse – shaking the whole body to release excess energy
7. The Spinal Stretch – stretching and loosenning spinal vertebrae and establishing good flow of fluids and energy in the spine
8. 5 Yang Tonification – strengthening and regulating the 5 yang digestive organs
9. Lung Tonification
10. Kidney Tonification
11. Liver Tonification
12. Heart Tonification
13. Spleen Tonification
14. Closing exercise – to gather any route any excess Chi into lower Dan Tien area
15. Daoist Heart Qigong 13 Movements – that second part where all the exercises are shown one after another without narration

The exercises are easy and well explained. And although there’s no booklet coming with the DVD, the voice narrations of the exercises should be enough. The important part is to listen and to implement every direction of the movements and visualizations as they are explained. All exercises are based on the text “Chinese Medical Qigong Therapy” by Jerry Alan Johnson Ph.D., D.T.C.M., D.M.Q. (China). See some screenshots from the DVD below.

The DVD can be purchased from: http://www.diamond-integration.com/DVDsale.html

http://www.mind-energy.net/archives/166-Daoist-Healing-Qigong-DVD-Review.html

Hitachi to introduce Terabyte DVD Recorder

2007-11-05T03:56:00.000-08:00

If you have a serious TV addition and need to record everything that's broadcast, Hitachi's got you in its sights with its Terabyte DVD recorder, a device with enough space to store up to 128 hours of high-definition digital broadcasting or up to 1700 hours of standard television.

Don't rush out in hopes of recording the entire FIFA World Cup 2006 tournament though, as the recorder is currently only available in Japan, where Hitachi claims it has captured a 23 per cent market share since its launch last year. Maybe by the time it's expected to hit Australian shelves in early 2007, there will be more HD content available locally to make the investment worthwhile.

If you don't want to wait that long, in August Hitachi will be launching 160GB and 250GB HDD/DVD models. Both will feature HDMI, 1080i upscaling, multi-format recording including DVD-RAM, a DV input terminal, plus JPEG and MP3 playback. Pricing has yet to be confirmed, but is expected to be close to AU$699 for the 160GB unit and AU$799 for the higher capacity 250GB recorder.

http://www.cnet.com.au/dvdpvr/dvdrecorders/0,239035839,240062920,00.htm

DVD-length music video sales from iTunes

2007-11-05T03:55:00.000-08:00

Apple has started offering music videos in DVD-length bundles at their online media store iTunes. The first package offered is Tori Amos: Fade to Red - Video Collection, which contains 21 music tracks and a commentary track. The collection was originally released on DVD in February. Most of the videos in the package can be purchased separately at $1.99 per video. The complete bundle costs $24.99, and contains two videos and the commentary track, which cannot be purchased separately. In comparison the DVD is available at Amazon for $16.99 plus shipping.

In addition to the Tori Amos bundle, Apple is offering music video packages from other artists as well. Their full-length movie download service is expected to be launched in the near future. The first movie download was offered at iTunes earlier this month.

Apple will be facing some competition on the movie download field as Amazon is rumored to start offering a download service of its own sometime in the future. UK company Lovefilm.com will start offering its DVD/download hybrid service next month, when customers can purchase the latest King Kong remake for £20.00 (about $35). For that price they will receive the DVD media by mail plus two separate downloads for the movie -- one for desktop use, and another for portable devices. Unfortunately for all iPod users the Lovefilm service will use Windows Media DRM, so the downloadable versions will be completely useless to them.

Apple's proprietary and closed DRM has so far kept iPods and iTunes at the top as far as music download services are concerned. It remains to be seen whether or not Apple can maintain the same EDGE in video/movie downloads as well.

Apple continues to experiment with DVD-length video downloads: it now offers a 21-video clip collection of Tori Amos as a complete digital set.

The 21 video clips are already available as a DVD release, called 'The Tori Amos Video Collection: Fade to Red'. Individual videos cost £1.89 or you can buy the whole collection for £14.99. The DVD's set retail price is £19.99.

Apple is also offering video compilation albums consisting of six or seven video clips from various artists, and also sells videos with their corresponding single. For example, the new Massive Attack 'Collected' album, released today, ships with video content.

Apple began selling its first full-length DVD in the US this month, a made-for-TV Disney movie called 'High School Musical'.

The company is widely expected to launch a full-length movie download service, perhaps as soon as April.

Last week, Universal Pictures confirmed a deal with the UK firm Lovefilm to sell movies online in Windows Media format. Users of this service can buy a version of the movie for download to their PC. They also receive a version of the movie for portable devices and are posted a full DVD of the movie.

Speaking to Reuters, Apple's head of iTunes Eddie Cue described video sales as a "natural fit" for iTunes users. "These are not replacements for people buying individual songs or albums. But they're great for well-established artists with a fan base behind them that wants more product (sic)."

http://www.topvideopro.com/news/ipod/060329.htm

The Big Trend: Short Run DVD Production For Musicians

2007-11-05T03:54:00.000-08:00

Today's independent musicians have started using new technologies including On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production, enabling them to order smaller batches of CDs and DVDs in real time online 24/7 and ship to customers, one at a time.

Today, there’s a new trend among independent musicians. They have started using new technologies including On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production. This enables them to order smaller batches (one at a time) of CDs and DVDs online, 24/7, and then ship to customers.

The Internet has always held promise of being a new outlet for independent musicians, and today there are new technologies that can help musicians get ahead. Social media platforms like YouTube and Google Video allow posting music clips online, while some independent musicians have started using something called On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production, enabling them to order smaller batches of CDs and DVDs in real time online 24/7 and ship to customers, and even promoters.

This platform allows artists to retain ownership of their music and all rights to any content. The on demand platform makes it possible for artists to sell their music without manufacturing a thousand discs, so a lack of financial resources is not a determining factor as to whether an artist’s music is heard by the public.

For example, a musician can send a finished product directly to a radio station without having to produce thousands of copies. Artists can provide graphics and the master and CD, or the DVD orders can be filled on an as needed basis. Orders can be filled for the artists, their distributors or for cosnumers. This makes it possible for artists to get their music in front of the public with very little expense and little or no inventory.

On demand technology offers multiple packaging choices, retail finish quality, quick turnaround and no minimum orders. The entire process of ordering, production, packaging and shipping is automated with an on demand engine, enabling the management of thousands of unique orders.

Jazz musician, Alaadeen said, “In order to get a good rate to manufacture CDs, I had to manufacture large quantities. This led to excessive inventory, and there was the distribution issue. CD On Demand is appealing for artists.”

With traditional CD/DVD replication services, significant quantity orders are required at one time and customers need a method to distribute them to the end user. There are many situations when this does not work. The new on demand production technology helps people avoid the hassle of inventory, packaging and fulfillment; delivers personalized or custom content when and where customers want it; and automates and tracks order processing.

http://www.copypastearticles.com/article/7623/the-big-trend-short-run-dvd-production-for-musicians/

DVD CCA Authorizes Copy Protection For DVDs

2007-11-05T03:52:00.000-08:00

Consumers can now legally record content in their own homes including movies offered by the content owners. They can also obtain special content that is now unavailable on DVDs, since the existing demand does not economically allow the mass reproduction. This news, in a recent announcement on September 19, 2007 by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVDCCA), was the final approval of a copy-protection specification for on-demand disc burning.

A recent announcement on September 19, 2007 by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVDCCA), gives the final approval of a copy-protection specification for on-demand disc burning. Consumers can now legally record content in their own homes including movies offered by the content owners and they can obtain special content that is now unavailable on DVDs.

Final approval of the copy-protection specification, which is called Content Scramble System (CSS), was authorized by DVD CCA members. The DVD CCA is an industry copy protection organization who has authorized companies to sell digital downloads for on demand viewing.

The ruling also allows consumers to download the content and burn it to a physical DVD—a move that could dramatically change the way movies are sold. This way, movies bought over the Internet can now be burned onto a DVD that can play on any machine, anytime, anywhere.

The Content Scramble System (CSS) is a copy protection used on most commercially produced DVDs, vendors can now create protected DVDs in custom runs.

There are companies now offering On Demand Production enabling customers to create, publish and deliver custom content for DVD and CD distribution worldwide.

said President and Chief Executive Officer Raj Barman of Acutrack, Inc. said, “Interestingly, nobody thought about the fact that some day there would be something called the Internet where people could download content back when DVDs were invented twenty years ago.”.

The problem is that consumers still need a fast Internet connection, a DVD burner and DVD discs, plus they would have to hand write the title onto the disk.

New On Demand engines are able to download content from a distributor’s site and produce a physical DVD with professional retail printing and packaging, then mail it on demand as consumesr make a DVD request. This gives customers the ability to produce and ship custom packaged CDs or DVDs one at a time. On Demand Production allows manufacturing of CDs and DVDs on an as needed basis, eliminating the up-front costs of producing multiple titles normally associated with CD/DVD production.

Standard DVD players are hardwired with the keys to unlock the digital security system built into pre-recorded DVDs, but DVD burners on computers and writeable DVD discs don’t contain the locks.

CSS was devised for this purpose to make copyright infringement difficult. This special process uses special blank DVDs with CSS encryption. Copies are compatible with DVD players in businesses and homes today.

Rresponsible for making sure that all parties have agreed, the DVD CCA’s standards allowed the digital locks to be included in a downloaded movie file and then transferred to a protected DVD to work on current players.

http://www.copypastearticles.com/article/6457/dvd-cca-authorizes-copy-protection-for-dvds/

Recordable DVD: Worth the Wait or Worth Waiting For?

2007-11-05T03:51:00.000-08:00

It may be a bit hasty to declare the end of the CD-ROM era, but the signposts are pointing in that direction. Although the CD provides a convenient way for presenters to store multimedia, distribute data and back up hard drives, the medium's space limits in the coming era of 100GB and larger hard drives and ever more ambitious multimedia projects will become increasingly evident. Indeed, many see the recordable DVD as the next killer app in computing the one that makes the most compelling use of all that digital horsepower sitting idle on desktops everywhere, at home and at the office. More than a million recordable-DVD drives were sold in 2001, and the market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) predicts that number will grow to more than 30 million by 2005. Apple, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony and other major computer manufacturers already ship recordable-DVD drives with their top-of-the-line models. Drives supporting the highly anticipated DVD+RW format (a format presenters should like because of its greater flexibility and superior write speed) have finally hit the market. And, as with almost all digital technology, recordable-DVD drives and media, not to mention video camcorders and software, are getting cheaper and more widely available by the day.

http://tc.eserver.org/18529.html

How To Buy CD-DVD Drives

2007-11-05T03:49:00.000-08:00

No end in sight for DVD format war

2007-11-03T03:06:00.000-07:00

The First Frankenstein Comes to DVD

2007-11-03T03:04:00.000-07:00

The Frankenstein story has been told many times on film, most notably in the string of pictures released by Universal in the 1930s and 1940s starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi, as well as the Hammer films of the 1950s through the 1970s featuring Peter Cushing as the doctor who brings life to a creature assembled out of parts. But few know that the first rendition of Mary Shelley's story was released nearly one hundred years ago, in 1910, shot by the Thomas Edison studios. Long believed to be a lost film, this treasure has finally resurfaced on DVD.

Monster being created
The Edison Frankenstein has for many years been on the American Film Institute's list of most wanted lost films, even though it had been known for decades that this single surviving print had surfaced in the possession of Alois Dettlaff, a long-time Wisconsin film collector. The film was given a gala public showing on April 24, 2003, as a fundraiser for the Fort Lee Film Commission, and Mr. Dettlaff there released the first copies of a DVD version of this ultra-rarity.

Although only 975 feet long, and running a brief 12m:38s, this pivotal film stars Charles Ogle (who would have a quite successful career during the silent era) as the monster. Ogle reportedly did his own makeup for the part, and it's quite a nasty vision. The influence of Ogle's makeup can be seen in the Universal pictures, most notably in the extended brow and flat head. Ogle's monster also features long talons, a detail that would be echoed in Max Schrek's rendition of Count Orlok in Nosferatu. Ogle seems to be having a great time here, as he madly chews the scenery as the monster, vindictive against his creator. The supporting roles of Dr. Frankenstein (Augustus Phillips) and his fiancée Elizabeth (Mary Fuller) are essentially stiff and unconvincing. J. Searle Dawley directed, and even though bound to the convention of the tableau-style shot—where the camera remains fixed at a medium distance—the staging still manages to carry an impact. Particularly noteworthy is the creation scene, using puppetry and running the film in reverse to create an illusion of the figure of the monster taking shape. Cleverly, the director doesn't give us a good look at the creature until a bit later, when it bursts through some curtains (talons first) in Frankenstein's bedroom. The result must have been truly horrifying to 1910 viewers. This same effect was echoed by James Whale in the 1931 Frankenstein, when Karloff's appearance is held back until just the right shocking moment.

Dr. Frankenstein excited by his discoveries
Although a videotape version of the film was released in conjunction with a book some years ago, that was reportedly both an iffy reproduction and suffered from the scrolling legend, "Property of Alois Dettlaff." Obviously, that is not acceptable for a discriminating film fan, and the new DVD is a big improvement over that primitive form of copy protection. Taking a page from the methods of American Biograph and Edison himself, there is a small "ADA" (Alois Dettlaff Archives) logo in the lower left throughout the film. However, it is usually not distracting since it's covered by the tinting. There are also script "E" logos, which Edison often used, marked in the upper left and lower right of the picture; the photos of the actual film I've seen don't appear to have these, so I expect that they were added for whatever reason by Mr. Dettlaff himself.

The Monster (Charles Ogle) turns on its Master
Be that as it may, the transfer is quite well done. The beginning of the picture has a bit of nitrate decomposition, indicating that it was probably just saved in the nick of time. The critical sequences featuring the monster are all more or less intact and plainly legible, absent a couple of jumpy splices. The tinting is subtle and appropriate and does not obliterate detail. I didn't notice any compression artifacts either. The musical score is performed on an uncompressed PCM track, featuring music from the original Edison cue sheets for a truly authentic viewing experience. The sound on Frankenstein is quite good and the score works nicely with the picture. The titles and intertitles appear to be freshly minted; there's no indication as to whether the original titles survive.

The Monster skulks about, plotting mischief
Accompanying Frankenstein, under the banner title of "Movies' First Monsters" is the first (and illegal) adaptation of Dracula, F.W. Murnau's 1922 Nosferatu. The print used here is derived from the Museum of Modern Art print, featuring the character names from Bram Stoker's novel instead of Murnau's. It's in slightly rough but decent shape, suffering a bit from high contrast. While it doesn't match up to either the Image or Kino DVD releases of this public domain staple, it does feature one important advantage: the film (like Frankenstein) has been generously windowboxed, with the entire frame retained so that it can be viewed without loss of critical information to overscan; this, more than any other film, uses the entire frame and so makes an attractive option for someone who doesn't already own the aforementioned releases. A very thoughtful touch.

The disc is available directly through Mr. Dettlaff's company, at $24.50 for the DVD and shipping/handling of $5.50 as of this writing (free shipping if 3 or more are ordered). For lovers of silents or horror films, this limited release is truly a dream come true.

Contact information:
A.D. Ventures
email: oldtimemovies@tds.net

In addition, a package of the limited edition book (which we've not seen) and DVD is available at firezine@intrepid.net Contact that email address for details.

http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showarticle.php3?ID=63

DVD Advantage - Many Advantages Less Limitations

2007-11-03T03:02:00.000-07:00

The article deals with the advantages of DVD both as a medium for data storage and entertainment medium. It appears that the advantages are many and limitations are few, giving it the edge over other alternatives.

History of DVD

Digital versatile disk (DVD for short) was developed initially as a substitute for VHS tapes, but quickly came up as portable data storage device. The development of audio CD into DVD took nearly 25 years. Whereas the audio CD was developed as a medium of entertainment in 1972, the DVD took over only in 1997 as a medium of entertainment and as a data storage device.

DVD as Storage Device - Compact and Useful

Compared to CD the DVD has more tracks since the pitch is reduced from 1600 nanometers to 740 nanometers and redundant information is reduced to minimum and hence the capacity can go up from 700 MB in case of CD to 4.5 GB in case of DVD. Also, unlike CD, the information can be stored in layers and on both sides of DVD giving it the obvious advantage in terms of size and cost.

Superior Data Storage - Advantage DVD

When it was developed, the only serious competition of DVD was from 3.5 inch floppies. The floppies had been in existence for quite a long time and had slowly been coming down in size from 10 inch to 5.5 inches and then to the standard 3.5 inches.

High density advantage of DVD: The capacity of floppies remained at a measly 1.44 MB, whereas the CD could store 700 MB and the DVD could store initially 4.5 GB and now you can have double sided double layer storing up to 17 GB. This had the advantage of storing 11000 times more data at just double the size of floppy.

Cost advantage of DVD: The cost of blank DVD is just 4 to 10 times that of the floppy or the audio CD, but the data storage capacity is huge and thus the cost per bit of data stored comes down considerably. With the costs coming down rapidly, the cost advantage of DVD becomes further obvious.

Duplication advantage of DVD: With DVD writers becoming just as cheap as the CD writers, the cost of carrying of data with you has reduced considerably. You can carry the data as cheaply and easily as the floppies themselves. You can do this without bothering about the costs.

This makes transfer of data quick and easy. Imagine sending 17 GB of data over 256 KBPS modem or through floppies and you will understand the advantage immediately. You might require remaining connected over the internet for more than one year or sending 11000 floppies instead of just one DVD

DVD For General Public

All the above might mean balderdash for you, if you are not connected with information technology. What if you are the member of general public for whom the movies is still the best source of entertainment? Do you propose carrying all those bulky VHS tapes around with you?

Stop and use technology of DVD. The best advantage in using the DVD technology is the portability. You can easily carry a stack of DVDs instead of carrying those bulky tapes and the bulkier VHS player. The DVD player can be fitted below the passenger seat in your car or at any suitable place in your toy hauler and every one can enjoy the movies you always wanted to watch together even while traveling.

The full length movie can be stored in a single DVD and the quality will not deteriorate over the time as there is no contact between the disk reader and the disk. This is obvious advantage over the VHS tapes where the quality deteriorates over a period of time.

Therefore, throw away all your floppies, VHS tapes and switch to DVD format for all your data storage and entertainment. You will have all the advantages without the accompanying costs.

Your #1 Resource for DVD Articles, Products, News and Info! For more information please visit ==>DvdResources.info
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Dawber

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DVD - Converting VHS Tapes

2007-11-03T02:59:00.000-07:00

Back in the bad old days when Windows turned up its nose at anything to do with multimedia, getting your analog videotapes into your PC required the brains of physicist Stephen Hawking and a very large shoehorn. Fortunately, Windows is no longer a slouch when it comes to manipulating moving pictures, which is just as well because the closets of the world are groaning with analog videotapes dying to find a computer to give them a new lease on life.

Even if you don't intend to edit your videotapes so they are bearable to watch, simply getting them onto DVD will greatly extend their life. (Videotapes last about 20 years, while DVDs are supposed to have a lifespan at least five times that.) And should you or someone else ever decide to get creative with your memories, the raw footage will be easily accessible.

Read on for solutions to common problems that PC users seeking to rescue all that analog birthday party and beach scene footage face.

The Proper PC

Question: I like Windows 98, and I want to use it for my PC video work. Is it possible?

Answer: If you have a large supply of headache medication on hand, go right ahead. Few PC projects are more resource-intensive than working with video. Unfortunately, Win98 is a poor resource manager—hence, its propensity for crashing—and with video capture and DVD authoring, its inherent flaws will likely be exposed before the opening credits have played. Try not to use anything older than Windows 2000. Windows XP is ideal.

Question: Do I need to use a special PC to transfer my analog videotapes?

Answer: No. And yes. Modern PCs are more powerful than the computers used to land men on the moon in 1969, and as such, they are more than equal to the task of digitizing your analog videotapes. But while you don't need a special PC, you do need one with the right stuff.

• Invest in the fastest processor you can afford. If you can only put extra dollars in one area, put them here. When it comes to video, the processor is the engine that drives the train.

• In regard to RAM, 256MB is good, but 512MB is better. (Beyond 512MB, you enter the realm of diminishing returns.)

• Your hard drive needs to be at least 20GB. Perhaps the most important figure you should keep in your head here is that about 4.5 minutes of digital video equals 1GB of hard drive space. Plan accordingly.

Question: Does it matter if I use my PC for things while I'm working with video?

Answer: When working with video (capturing, editing, burning), don't risk putting a monkey in the works by stealing resources to run other programs, such as a word processor or an Internet browser. When you're working with video, work with video. That's plenty of work for your PC. Should you venture deeper into the world of video and get bitten by the editing bug, a dedicated video capture and editing station is the best answer.

Question: Should I defragment my hard drive before I begin capture?

Answer: Yes. Fragmentation means that data is broken up into multiple segments and placed wherever you have adequate space on your hard drive. The more segments a file is broken up into, the longer it takes to put Humpty Dumpty back together again when you want to retrieve said file. For a word processing file, it's not really an issue. But for one hour of video (about 13GB of data), the word begins with "m-i-g" and ends with "r-a-i-n-e." In short, defragmenting is prudent—it coalesces all of those segments into contiguous files and hard drive space, which results in more efficient operation.

For optimal performance, especially if you plan on using your PC fairly regularly for either video archiving (that is, videotape to DVD) or editing, consider purchasing a dedicated hard drive for the task.

Capture & DVD Production

Question: I tried to capture a VHS tape, but when I got to 4GB, the process stopped. What went wrong?

Answer: A case of FAT being thin. Before the Windows development team guessed that users would process huge video files on their PCs, hard drives were only formatted in something called FAT (file allocation table), which, in one of its incarnations (FAT32), commonly limits file size to 4GB. WinXP uses a formatting schema called NTFS, which lets you create files as large as your hard drive will permit. To find out what file system is on any particular drive, right-click the drive name and select Properties. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 to NTFS, but you cannot revert.

Question: I tried to save hard drive space by capturing at 320 x 240, but the video looked crummy on DVD.

Answer: Always capture at the resolution (or higher) you intend to output to. In the case of DVD, this is 720 x 480. Not only does capturing at a lower resolution than your output resolution rob you of quality, but capturing at a lower resolution and then trying to increase the resolution in a video editor also yields poor video quality.

Question: I captured a VHS tape via composite video, and the results were disappointing. Any ideas?

Answer: Analog video is stored on tape and transferred to your PC in one of three signal formats: composite video (noisy), S-Video (less noisy), and component video (least noisy), where noise refers to video quality. The bad news is that VHS and 8mm cameras store video in composite video format, which accounts for its relatively poor quality. And even if you could capture it in a less noisy format (and usually you can't), it still wouldn't change the ugly duckling into a swan. The good news is that if your analog tapes were created using an SVHS or Hi8 camera, the video is saved as S-Video, and you can capture it as such. For consumer analog capture, S-Video is as good as it gets, and it's pretty good. And what of the superior component video? Only high-end analog devices using formats such as BetaSP use it.

Question: My analog capture card has no audio inputs. How can I transfer sound?

Answer: Put your heads together. If your card has a connector for composite video output, you can get a three-head RCA cable and use one of the three heads for the video and connect the other two to your PC's sound card. This, however, presents another problem: Most sound cards don't accept dual RCA connections. Solution? Get a Y-connector. You plug your two RCA connectors into the branches of the Y and then the stem of the Y into your PC.

A final point: While, as we've shown, there is a solution to this problem, the solution may yield another problem, namely synchronization. Sending the video through the composite input and the audio through the sound card separates the two signals. It's possible that doing so may lead to a problem when syncing them. For this reason, if possible, select a device that captures video and audio as a synchronized stream.

Question: I have a TV card in my PC and would like to use it to capture my analog videotapes. Is this possible?

Answer: Now hear this. TV cards, which can be very alluring, are great for what they were designed to do—transmitting TV signals. However, they are often unsatisfactory when it comes to successfully syncing the audio and the video streams on analog videotapes. It's worth spending a little more to get a device designed to capture analog video that locks the audio and video streams, which greatly reduces any syncing issues.

Question: I have no desire to install a capture card inside my PC's case. Is there any way I can get around it?

Answer: Then just plug and play. Believe it or not, even technophiles aren't always crazy about getting under the hood of a PC. Fortunately, there are several USB (Universal Serial Bus) analog capture devices that are as easy to install as plugging in a toaster. The downside of such devices is that they usually require external power and can cause clutter. (Internal devices are powered by your PC's power supply and, once installed, they never get tangled in your shoelaces.)

Question: I want to use a USB 2.0 capture device, but I don't have a USB 2.0 port on my PC. Am I out of luck?

Answer: USB 2.0 devices are backward-compatible with computers that have USB 1.0 and USB 1.1 ports. USB 2.0 devices are 40 times faster than their predecessors, which doesn't mean video quality is 40 times better, but it does mean better quality video and more efficient capture.

Question: FireWire and iLink ports look the same, and what the heck is IEEE (Institute For Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394?

Answer: The same by any other name. The three monikers are different names for the same thing: speedy serial bus transfer of data. FireWire, which was first developed by Apple just two years after it rolled out the first Mac in 1984, is a major force in bringing digital video to the rest of us. If you intend to edit your video before outputting it to DVD, a FireWire capture device will usually produce superior and more manageable video than a USB capture device.

Question: MPEG-1 is said to be a universal format for video, so why don't I use that?

Answer: It's a numbers (and letters) game. MPEG-1 is indeed as ubiquitous as the computer mouse, but when it comes to compression technology, the DVD is not so versatile: It will only work with MPEG-2 video. (MPEG stands for Moving Pictures Experts Group, a group that develops standards for video and audio representation.)

Question: I tried editing some of my tapes captured with MPEG-2, and the process was as slow as molasses. Is there any way to speed the process along?

Answer: DV (digital video), you'll find, is sweeter. Because of the heavy math MPEG-2 does to create its compression, it can make editing slow to a crawl. If you're not planning on taking a direct flight from tape to DVD but instead wish to edit before outputting, make your analog capture in DV, which is speedier for editing.

Question: Who stole my timecode?

Answer: If you've worked with digital video, perhaps input from your digital camera, you know that during the editing process, timecode is your compass and your lifesaver. Timecode produces identification numbers, in the form of 00-00-00-00 (hours-minutes-seconds-frames) that are automatically placed on digital videotape as you shoot it, making it easier to identify and locate places in your tape. Unfortunately, analog video cameras, like VHS, simply don't have this capacity, so editing analog videotapes, even after they've been digitized, means shuttling back and forth until you find where you need to be. For direct tape-to-DVD transfer, the lack of timecode is neither here nor there.

Question: DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW. Trying to figure this stuff out makes my hair hurt.

Answer: Since the DVD revolution swept the land, there has been a war going on among DVD media vendors, and we've all been caught in the crossfire. In one camp is DVD-R (and its rewriteable sister product, DVD-RW), and in the other is DVD+R (and its rewriteable sister product DVD+RW). Although DVD+R is said by some to be technically superior, DVD-R leads in overall media sales. The bottom line is that unless you intend to play your DVD on a very old player, the chances are good that either format will work just fine.

Question: If I can get 50 blank DVDs for $75, why should I pay $35 for a 10-pack of name-brand discs?

Answer: In a word: quality. The commitment to quality—and, by extension, the quality control—at firms such as Verbatim and Pioneer is usually higher than at no-name firms. The result is that name-brand DVD media will usually play better on a wider range of DVD players. Usually doesn't mean always: Even a name-brand manufacturer can occasionally turn out crummy product, just as a no-namer can shine. As a general rule, though, go with a name you trust.

Question: Why does my DVD sometimes pixelate, freeze, or shudder at the end of a movie?

Answer: Measly media. In most cases, the culprit is your DVD, usually because it's inferior quality. (See the previous question and answer for more details.)

Question: Why does my DVD media say I can burn 4.7GB of data, but only 4.38GB fits on there?

Answer: Madison Avenue strikes again. DVD makers really deserve some stick on this one because they know full well what you have found out the hard way. And no, they aren't lying, technically. It has to do with the way bytes are counted in the real world and in the computer world. Keep your projects to under 4.37GB and hope the disc folks grow up some day.

Question: Can I get more video on a DVD by using lower-res content like I can do with my digital still camera?

Answer: Digital is as digital does. If your project doesn't require the highest video resolution, you can indeed get more video on your DVD by using a higher compression and slightly lower video quality.

Question: Why were my results so disappointing when I burned directly to disc?

Answer: Kick the tires. Before you buy a car, you take it for a spin. If your authoring program permits, before you burn to disc, burn first to your hard drive so you can make sure it all looks and works the way you want it to look and work.

Question: I can't tell you how many recordable DVDs I've ruined trying to get a project right.

Answer: Write first, burn second. If you're new to DVD production, save yourself chest pains (and cash drain) by burning to a rewriteable disc until you feel like you're captain of your ship.

Question: Why have my attempts to digitize a silent movie flopped?

Answer: It's an unsound decision. First of all, bless your heart for trying to emulate the great Lumiere brothers of yesteryear. Regrettably, DVD media technology doesn't share your refined taste in movie making, so when it comes across a video with no audio, it just throws in the towel. If you add blank audio tracks to your video, your encoding should work fine.

http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?guid=&bJumpto=true&Isfrm=IN&article=articles/webonly/techsupport/447w10/47w01.asp&ArticleID=31249

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles (DVD)

2007-11-03T02:56:00.000-07:00

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is a satisfying continuation of the series and an entertaining film in its own right.

At GenCon in summer 2006, Musashi and I were delighted to learn that Harmony Gold, the outfit that produced Robotech, were planning a theatrical motion picture that would (not unlike Death & Rebirth / End of Evangelion) wrap up some loose ends from the landmark animation series. On viewing the DVD release of the film, I was delighted to discover that Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is a satisfying continuation of the series and an entertaining film in its own right.

The story picks up after the conclusion of the TV series (more precisely, overlapping with the end of Robotech: The New Generation). The alien Invid remain in control of Earth despite an abortive attempt to retake the planet. As the film opens, the Robotech Expeditionary Force has assembled a new armada to reclaim humanity’s home planet. Among the Veritech pilots is young Marcus Rush (Yuri Lowenthal), whose sister Marlene (Melanie MacQueen) and her fiancée Scott Bernard (Gregory Snegoff, who also voiced Golgo 13 in the English dub of The Professional) were in the previous attack on Earth and presumed lost. Marcus retains a holographic pendant of Marlene and Scott, and carves a notch into it for each Invid he kills.

The pilots assemble, giving Marcus an opportunity to flirt with foxy fellow pilot Maia Sterling (Edie Mirman), leader of Skull Squadron (and daughter of Max Sterling and his Zentraedi wife Miriya from the original series). Unfortunately, his clumsy advances fail spectacularly, prompting the laughter and jibes of his fellow pilots, even his best friend Alex Romero (Arthur Santiago). Fortunately for Marcus, the commencement of the attack by the Robotech Expeditionary Force armada changes the subject. Unfortunately, his embarrassment is compounded when Maia saves him from an Invid attack.

The human forces have one advantage: “shadow technology,” provided by a mysterious alien race, which makes their ships impossible for the Invid to target automatically. The Invid do have numbers on their side, though, and the ground attack on the alien citadel at Reflex Point hovers on the brink of failure.

Making matters worse, a garbled message from Admiral Rick Hunter indicates the flagship SDF-3 is in some kind of trouble, and the armada can spare only a single ship, the Icarus, led by Captain Vince Grant (Richard Epcar), to investigate. The Icarus discovers the SDF-3 and a research vessel under attack by unknown alien ships near a mysterious black hole. They manage to rescue the research vessel, but the SDF-3 is lost, fate unknown.

Back on Earth, the Robotech Expeditionary Force manages to contact Scott Bernard, who has survived on Earth as a resistance fighter since the abortive invasion that cost his fiancée’s life. He reveals that he’s near the Reflex Point citadel, but has no hope of capturing it single-handedly. After he signs off, an alien appears next to him – Ariel (Kari Wahlgren), and Invid princess who has fallen in love with Scott. Realizing they have little time to convince their respective sides that the two races can coexist peacefully, Ariel enters the citadel to plead with her mother, the Regess of the Invid, while Scott attempts to dissuade the REF from using the devastating new Neutron-S missiles, also based on Shadow technology.

He fails, but Ariel’s pleas to the Regess prove more persuasive. The Regess warns her daughter that the humans are being used by an alien race that wants to destroy all those who rely on the protoculture energy source, humans and Invid alike. After destroying the Neutron-S missiles before they can explode, the Regess and the rest of the Invid then abandon the Earth, granting an unexpected victory to the humans.

Investigating the wreck of the rescued research vessel, Icarus science officer Louie Nichols (another series character, voiced by Eddie Frierson) discovers all the humans dead but an android, Janice (Chase Masterson) still functional. Janice, designed as a liaison between the humans and their benefactors, a race calling themselves the Haydonites, indicates that the ship was severely damaged during a test of the Neutron-S missiles, but she doesn’t remember what exactly went wrong.

The humans regroup on their moon base, where Marcus and Alex are transferred to Maia’s Skull Squadron and Marcus is reunited with Scott, who sadly informs him that his sister died in the attempt to retake Earth. But when Marcus discovers Scott talking with Ariel, his hatred of the Invid leads him to have his former friend arrested as a traitor. Meanwhile, the research by Sparks and Janice, and Ariel’s warning to Scott, hints that the Haydonites may not be the benevolent race they appear.

Then contact is lost with Space Station Liberty, and the Icarus – with Marcus, Alex, and even Scott aboard – is dispatched to investigate. They discover the station under attack by mysterious ships against which shadow technology is a vulnerability, not an advantage. True to the Robotech tradition, a desperate battle against overwhelming odds ensues, with plenty of heroics, narrow escapes and personal sacrifice.

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is a long-awaited delight for Robotech fans. The film advances the story, blends new characters with some familiar with the original series, and remains faithful to the series’ themes of heroism, sacrifice and friendship. The anime production values occasionally reveal the budget constraints of a limited-release production, but that factor is actually in keeping with the original series, since animation quality has evolved since Super Dimension Fortress Macross was created back in 1982. The film’s animation was done, not in Japan, but by the Korean shop Dr. Movie, which results in slight differences to the character design. Extensive use of CGI to depict the space vessels and transforming Veritech fighters probably saved some of the animation budget and provides some nifty visuals as well.

According to the documentary accompanying the DVD and our conversations with Harmony Gold at GenCon 2006, The Shadow Chronicles was made with appreciation for longtime fans of the series firmly in mind. Several of the series’ original voice actors – Snegoff, MacQueen, Frierson and Tony Oliver as Admiral Rick Hunter, among others) reprise their roles. (As a bonus, Mark Hamill provides the voices of an RDF commander and one of the Haydonites.) The mecha design of the series is faithfully incorporated in the CGI models of the Veritech fighters, Cyclone motorcycles and Invid ships. And there are numerous references to the original series thrown in, from characters singing or humming Minmei songs to the fact that Maia follows in her parents’ footsteps by having her Veritech painted a distinctive color (pink, in this case).

As much as Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is sure to appeal to legions of Robotech fans, its appeal to wider anime fandom – or audiences outside existing anime fans – may be more limited. The sprawling Robotech storyline is daunting to recap, as you might guess from the partial summary on this review, so those unfamiliar with the series may feel a bit lost. And since the Robotech was famously stitched together from three separate anime series, and then spawned a host of sequels, novelizations, video games and other spinoffs, maintaining continuity must have been a nightmare. Given these limitations, the creators can be forgiven if the story hits the right anime space opera notes but doesn’t sparkle with originality.

One big plus is the stirring music by Scott Glasgow (Chasing Ghosts). It quotes the original Robotech score in all the right places, including an impressively orchestrated big-screen rework of the series’ title theme.

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is admittedly a niche feature, but the earnest efforts of its creators to craft a film that’ll appeal to loyal fans while offering pleasing entertainment to casual animation fans are undeniable. Plus, it’s impossible to overstate the pleasure of seeing a new Robotech story more than 20 years after the original series spawned a generation of American anime fans. Appropriately, The Shadow Chronicles truly is American anime – inspired by its Japanese roots, created on both sides of the Pacific, but with an American creative team in the lead. For this fact alone, the film is another impressive milestone for the Robotech universe and anime in general

http://www.yellow-menace.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=54

Hi-Def DVD - Audio Streaming Over HDMI

2007-11-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

In April 2007, as part of my analysis about Hi-Def DVD and Multi-channel audio in my annual HDTV Technology Review, I discussed the subject with Craig Eggers and Roger Dressler, Dolby executives. Some of the items discussed were: soundtrack streaming pass-through feature over HDMI in near future players, streamed Dolby Digital Plus not supported by HDMI versions 1.1 and 1.2 (while DTS HD is), audio-mix encoders for legacy connectivity, Dolby Digital at 640 kbps, etc. This article summarizes those conversations as follows:

Streaming Pass-through on HD DVD Players

All this started upon my invitation to visit Dolby Labs in NY for their HDMI 1.3 tour in December 2006. One of the slides of the presentation by Dolby made reference to an "audiophile feature" that would allow the Hi-Def DVD player's soundtrack stream read from the disc to bypass all the internal mixing of the player and be outputted undisturbed using the HDMI output of the player.

The stream would certainly have to be decoded externally by an A/V receiver or Pre/pro enabled with the decoders for the soundtrack format of the stream.

One immediate value I saw with this feature was the potential for improved sound quality because the soundtrack would not be submitted to any mixing or audio processing for advanced interactivity features one might not want to have, if the audio would be better without them.

Another value I saw was that a player having this pass-through feature, but not having all the multi-channel advance decoders, could offer a consumer the flexibility to compensate for the lack of decoders by doing the decoding in a newer A/V receiver (if suited with those decoders), without having to replace the player, specially considering that some Blu-ray players cost above $1000.

Even when the new Toshiba player has an HDMI 1.3 output it does not pass-through any native (undecoded) soundtrack streams from the disc over HDMI in Advanced Content mode, regardless of the audio coding format. This is because the interactive advanced content mix is considered a key element of the HD DVD format, which would not be able to be enjoyed to its fullest if the pass-through streaming function is implemented.

In the HD DVD format, the Advanced Content flag in the disc impedes the pass-through function and the player mixing cannot be avoided. It is not a manufacturer's or a consumer's choice.

According to Dolby, in the future, the DVD forum may consider the subject of allowing the pass-through function in HD DVD players, but no action has been taken at this time.

However, there may be opposition from the content makers for such pass-through feature. They may not want to compromise the interactive advance content feature of the format because they invested a lot of time defining that format the way they wanted it.

The software companies, who are also members of the DVD Forum, asked for this capability not to be optional in the HD DVD format, so that they can insure that consumers would not turn it off, and always obtain the full interactive experience of the format.

If the DVD Forum approves the pass-though feature, its implementation would most probably be done only in future players, and it is not known at this time if a revision to current HD DVD players could be made with a firmware upgrade. A similar implementation scenario could be applicable to Blu-ray as well, more on that below.

According to Dolby, this subject was better to be discussed with the HD DVD Promotion Group. I exchanged emails with them, but since no comments were made I assumed that the statements from Dolby about HD DVD and the DVD Forum were correct.

Streaming Pass-through on Blu-ray Players

Dolby stated that technically it is possible to pass-through advanced audio streams thru HDMI 1.3, provided the right protocols are implemented at both ends of the connection.

Dolby commented that it believed that the HDMI 1.3 suited Sony Play Station 3 most likely did not implement the stream-out pass-through feature for its next generation high definition codecs because the needed HDMI 1.3 protocols were still in development at product introduction.

The first HDMI 1.3 enabled Blu-ray players do not have at the present the stream-out functionality implemented. However, later players are expected to support the feature.

As with HD DVD players, Blu-ray players can only have the full interactive experience if they decode the advanced multi-channel audio soundtrack and mix it with the added audio interactive features within the player.

Another key reason for all the Hi-Def DVD players to do the decoding within the player is to assure playback compatibility with current and legacy AV receivers in the marketplace.

When HD DVD and BD players were first introduced, the HDMI protocols to deliver high-resolution audio bit-streams were not completed, nor did very many A/V receivers include an HDMI input. It is only with the advent of HDMI 1.3 that both next generation audio codecs from Dolby could be transported over HDMI.

Unlike HD DVD, the Blu-ray format left it up to the player manufacturer (and to the consumer) whether or not to use the interactivity feature and permit the streaming of the undecoded soundtrack using a pass-through feature.

In summary, if the pass-through feature is eventually used for the advanced audio streaming of only the soundtrack, it will not carry the audio add-on mixes, regardless of the audio format of the soundtrack.

Encoder for Legacy Audio Mix

An optional encoder in the player would allow the addition of the audio mixing over the soundtrack to output the legacy Dolby Digital 5.1 using the SPDIF or HDMI outputs streaming at 640Kbps.

However, the manufacturer of the player has the right to build the player without such legacy encoder. If a consumer is interested in the feature of audio mix over legacy audio connections it is recommended for the consumer to verify that such feature has been actually implemented in the player.

Streamed Dolby Digital Plus Not Carried Over HDMI 1.1/1.2 (While DTS HD is)

HDMI 1.3 is required to transport streamed Dolby Digital Plus. DTS-HD could be streamed thru HDMI 1.3 as well, but it could be streamed also thru earlier versions 1.1 and 1.2. The reason for the DTS-HD capability of the HDMI 1.1 and 1.2 specifications is because they were revised to carry up to 6 Mbps and to handle the protocols of DTS-HD, but not to support Dolby Digital Plus.

However, even when an A/V receiver might have HDMI 1.1 or 1.2 connections, it would not be able to decode DTS-HD unless it is a new model that is also suited with a new DTS-HD decoder. Otherwise, it will only decode legacy DTS.

Although Dolby Digital Plus has a lower bit rate requirement that the 6Mbps (3Mbps for HD DVD and 4.7 Mbps for current Blu-ray), the format was not included in the revision of the specification per Dolby's choice. To avoid confusing the market, the company preferred to maintain both Dolby advanced audio formats (Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD) together and only within the same 1.3 specification.

According to Dolby, while it may have been possible to transport Dolby Digital Plus bit-streams over traditional optical or coaxial digital audio outputs, the company made a conscious decision not to license Dolby Digital Plus equipped A/V receivers until the HDMI 1.3 spec was fully implemented.

Dolby's position was that it made more sense ---and the enthusiast would be better served--- to introduce new technologies as a "package", as opposed to releasing Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD technologies incrementally into the marketplace in different generations of A/V receivers.

The 4.7 Mbps for Dolby Digital Plus for Blu-ray is the maximum data rate needed should the Blu-ray group authorize more than 7.1 channels, in the future. The current maximum data rate for 7.1 channel Dolby Digital Plus in Blu-ray is 1.7 Mbps.

However, Dolby recommends that consumers avoid only using data rate as a measurement of quality. A significant contributor to quality in lossy codecs such as Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus is the efficiency of the technology as well as the density of data.

According to Dolby, not implementing Dolby Digital Plus streaming over commonly used HDMI 1.1/1.2 connections, as DTS does with DTS HD, is actually not an issue, because the existing HD DVD movies carry the Advanced Content flag that would not permit the player to avoid the audio mix over the soundtrack anyway.

On the Blu-ray side, even when the discs do not use such flag, in order to use Dolby Digital Plus, according to Dolby, the soundtrack must have 6.1 or 7.1 discrete signals, and because the few hundred movies available on Blu-ray do not have encoded more than 5.1 channels, there is no multi-channel signal capable to reach the threshold into the Dolby Digital Plus territory.

Dolby Digital Improved at 640kbps

As you might have been aware already, a higher bit-rate of 640 kbps for Dolby Digital 5.1 is obtained by a Hi-Def player from the disc, and is outputted using the legacy optical/digital audio connections (and HDMI).

Every Dolby Digital A/V receiver manufactured is capable of decoding the 640kbps Dolby Digital bit-stream, and there is an audible increase in audio quality with 640kbps Dolby Digital, compared to lower bit rate implemented in Standard Definition DVD discs.

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2007/08/hi-def_dvd_-_au.php

Convert any video file to DVD with open source tools

2007-11-02T04:41:00.000-07:00

You've just downloaded the new episode of your favorite video podcast, and you'd like to watch it on your big-screen TV. Unfortunately, the video is encoded in XviD or QuickTime format, which your DVD player doesn't support. Don't worry -- here's how you can convert any video file to DVD using dvdauthor and MPlayer.

Packages for both programs are available for most Linux distributions and BSDs, so you can install them on your favorite OS easily. Compiling the programs from source isn't difficult, as long as you get their dependencies right. Both programs provide adequate documentation about the installation. You can burn the final files to a DVD disc with the help of the growisofs utility from the dvd+rw-tools suite.

Converting the files to MPEG-2

First, you must convert your file to MPEG-2 for the video and to AC3 for the audio, in order to be compliant with the DVD video specifications. If the audio on your file is already encoded in AC3 format, you can use it as is without re-encoding it. Run this command to check the audio format of the file:

mplayer -vo dummy -ao dummy -identify your_video.avi 2>&1 | grep AUDIO_FORMAT | cut -d '=' -f 2

If it returns hwac3, the audio part of your file is encoded in AC3, and you can convert the file to MPEG-2 with the following command:

mencoder -oac copy -ovc lavc -of mpeg -mpegopts format=dvd -vf scale=720:576,harddup \
-lavcopts vcodec=mpeg2video:vrc_buf_size=1835:vrc_maxrate=9800:vbitrate=5000:keyint=15:aspect=16/9 \
-ofps 25 -o your_video.mpg your_video.avi

If it isn't encoded in AC3, run this command:

mencoder -oac lavc -ovc lavc -of mpeg -mpegopts format=dvd -vf scale=720:576,harddup \
-srate 48000 -af lavcresample=48000 \
-lavcopts vcodec=mpeg2video:vrc_buf_size=1835:vrc_maxrate=9800:vbitrate=5000:keyint=15:aspect=16/9:\
acodec=ac3:abitrate=192 -ofps 25 -o your_video.mpg your_video.avi

The previous commands create an MPEG-2 file in phase-alternating line (PAL) format with an aspect ratio of 16:9. PAL is used in most of Europe (except France). If you want to create a National Television System Committee (NTSC) DVD, which is the North American video standard, replace scale=720:576 with scale=720:480, keyint=15 with keyint=18, and -ofps 25 with -ofps 30000/1001. If you don't have a wide-screen TV, you should encode your file with an aspect ratio of 4:3 by replacing aspect=16/9 with aspect=4/3.

For more information, check the MPlayer's man page, which provides detailed explanations about each option used in these commands.

This process should take some time to finish. My 1.5GHz Centrino laptop took about 25 minutes to convert a file with a one-hour runtime that was encoded in XviD.

Creating the DVD structure

Now you can use dvdauthor to create the layout of the DVD from the MPEG-2 file of your video. Although you can pass any options to dvdauthor directly from the command line, it's easier and more flexible to create an XML file with the appropriate options instead. Open your favorite editor and create a file called dvd.xml with the following contents:

I split my hour-long video into six 10-minute chapters. Adjust the chapters= option for your video, or remove the option from your XML file if you don't want chapters.

Type dvdauthor -o dvd -x dvd.xml to create the layout of the DVD; the -o switch defines the output directory, and -x is used for the XML file. This command takes five to 10 minutes, depending on your video size and your CPU speed. Once it completes, you'll have a directory named dvd with two subdirectories: AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. Before burning the video to a disc, you can check it by running mplayer dvd:// -dvd-device ./dvd.

If the video plays correctly, you can burn it onto a DVD disc with growisofs by running growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/dvdrw -dvd-video ./dvd/. Make sure to replace /dev/dvdrw with the device name of your DVD recorder.

The only thing left is to make some popcorn, get your favorite beverage, and enjoy the show.

http://www.linux.com/feature/53702

What Is On Demand DVD Replication?

2007-11-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

On Demand DVD Replication or more commonly known as ODCP (On Demand CD-R and DVD-R Publishing) is a process that allows clients to transmit their custom CD or DVD content directly to a dedicated and secure FTP server.

A transaction-processing server prepares the data and then communicates the information to an automated replication robot. On demand DVD Replication simplifies the process. The replication robots then master the cd, duplicates it, labels it, and verifies its content. The CD or DVD is then packaged and labelled ready for immediate postal dispatch.

The benefits of On Demand DVD Replication include

· Priority Scheduling with on demand DVD replication
· Rapid Turnaround
· No requirement for you to forecast demand
· Eliminate the need to hold and manage expensive stocks
· Contract Pricing

Very few companies can offer this kind of service, due to equipment costs and technical expertise.

http://www.dvdreplication.co.nz/DVDarticles/On-Demand-DVD-Replication.htm

Spider-Man 3 DVD Details

2007-11-02T04:37:00.000-07:00

Spider-Man 3 is coming to DVD on October 30th, jam-packed with over six hours of fresh bonus material, including bloopers and over 10 featurettes.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced today that the blockbuster flick will be released in a slew of different versions -- naturally, so you can collect them all. Fans can expect a single-disc release, a two-disc Special Edition release, PSP, and a three-pack DVD release which will include Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 on DVD with collectible O-Ring packaging. You'll also be able to scoop up the Spider-Man High Definition Trilogy, a three-pack release of all three films on Blu-ray. Suh-weet!

All the cool extras will, of course, be included on the two-disc Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray High-Def and two-disc Special Edition DVD versions.

Included will be six hours of bonus materials, the highlight being three villain-centric behind-the-scenes featurettes. They are: "Grains of Sand," which follows the creation of Sandman by the FX gurus of Sony Pictures Imageworks; "Re-Imagining the Goblin," exploring the changes in the New Goblin character; and "Covered in Black," a feature about Venom.

There are also three stunt featurettes: "Hanging On…Gwen Stacy & the Collapsing Floor," which features stunt coordinator Scott Rogers dissecting the dangerous Bryce Dallas Howard sequence; "Fighting, Flying & Driving - The Stunts," with Stunt Coordinator/2nd Unit Director Dan Bradley and Stunt Coordinator Scott Rogers; and "Wall of Water," about the creation of one of the biggest stunts in the flick.

Additionally, the bonus material includes bloopers, a Snow Patrol music video, and two audio commentary tracks with cast and filmmakers.

Here's a breakdown of the entire contents of both bonus-packed versions...

Spider-Man 3 Special Features (Single-Disc DVD)

-- Digitally Mastered Audio and Video.
-- Audio: English Dolby True HD 5.1, English PCM 5.1 (Uncompressed), French, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai 5.1 (Dolby Digital).
-- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Thai, Chinese Mandarin, Chinese Cantonese.
-- Bloopers.
-- Photo Galleries.
-- Snow Patrol Music Video.
-- Audio Commentary with Director Sam Raimi and cast members Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, and Bryce Dallas Howard.
-- Audio Commentary with Producers Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad and Grant Curtis, Editor Bob Murawski and Special Effects Supervisor Scott Stokdyk.
-- Closed Captioned.
-- Bonus Previews.

Spider-Man 3 Two-Disc Special Edition DVD, Two-Disc Blu-ray High-Def

Disc One Special Features:
-- Digitally Mastered Audio and Video.
-- Audio: English Dolby True HD 5.1, English PCM 5.1 (Uncompressed), French, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai 5.1 (Dolby Digital).
-- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Thai, Chinese Mandarin, Chinese Cantonese.
-- Bloopers.
-- Photo Galleries.
-- Snow Patrol Music Video.
-- Audio Commentary with Director Sam Raimi and cast members Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, and Bryce Dallas Howard.
-- Audio Commentary with Producers Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad and Grant Curtis, Editor Bob Murawski and Special Effects Supervisor Scott Stokdyk.
-- Closed Captioned.
-- Bonus Previews.

Disc Two Special Features:
-- Digitally Mastered Audio and Video.
-- Audio: English, Spanish 5.1 (Dolby Digital). English, Spanish (Dolby Surround).
-- Subtitles: English, Spanish.
-- Featurette: Grains of Sand - Building Sandman.
-- Featurette: Re-Imagining the Goblin.
-- Featurette: Covered in Black - Creating Venom.
-- Featurette: Hanging On…Gwen Stacy and the Collapsing Floor.
-- Featurette: Fighting, Flying & Driving - The Stunts.
-- Featurette: Tangled Web: The Love Triangles of Spider-Man 3.
-- Featurette: Wall Of Water.
-- Featurette: On Location Cleveland - The Chase on Euclid Avenue.
-- Featurette: On Location New York - From Rooftops to Backstreets.
-- Featurette: The Science of Sound.
-- Featurette: Inside The Editing Room.
-- Theatrical TV Spots From Around the World.
-- Closed Captioned.

And here's a recap of the various versions being offered. All have an order date of 9/27.

Spider-Man 3 DVD Single-Disc
SLP: $28.97

Spider-Man 3 DVD 2-Disc Special Edition
SLP: $36.95

Spider-Man 3 Standard-Def DVD 3-Pack
SLP: $38.96

Spider-Man 3 PSP
SLP: $28.97

Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray High-Def 2-Disc
SLP: $49.95

Spider-Man Blu-ray High-Def 3-Pack
SLP: $98.95

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/810/810443p1.html

DVD Reviews

2007-11-02T04:35:00.000-07:00

DVDs are changing the way we watch movies. With audio commentaries and behind-the-scenes footage, the experience and process of the art is revealed and viewers get to see the real deal behind the screen.

Watch for DVD reviews ranging from Korean Television dramas with superior English subtitles to award-winning Canadian Series. From New Releases to Classic Special Edition Box Sets, to the Latest New Releases on DVD. From Hollywood to Bollywood, from European Art Houses to North American indie productions, join me on the couch as I dissect and obsess over Film and Television DVD.

For any questions, comments, suggestions or if you've been looking for your favorite show to see if it has been released on DVD check out my articles, blog, and post in the discussions or email me.

http://dvdreviews.suite101.com/

DVD CCA Authorizes Copy Protection For DVDs

2007-11-01T03:20:00.000-07:00

Consumers can now legally record content in their own homes including movies offered by the content owners. They can also obtain special content that is now unavailable on DVDs, since the existing demand does not economically allow the mass reproduction. This news, in a recent announcement on September 19, 2007 by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVDCCA), was the final approval of a copy-protection specification for on-demand disc burning.

By Kristin Gabriel

A recent announcement on September 19, 2007 by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVDCCA), gives the final approval of a copy-protection specification for on-demand disc burning. Consumers can now legally record content in their own homes including movies offered by the content owners and they can obtain special content that is now unavailable on DVDs.

Final approval of the copy-protection specification, which is called Content Scramble System (CSS), was authorized by DVD CCA members. The DVD CCA is an industry copy protection organization who has authorized companies to sell digital downloads for on demand viewing.

The ruling also allows consumers to download the content and burn it to a physical DVD—a move that could dramatically change the way movies are sold. This way, movies bought over the Internet can now be burned onto a DVD that can play on any machine, anytime, anywhere.

The Content Scramble System (CSS) is a copy protection used on most commercially produced DVDs, vendors can now create protected DVDs in custom runs.

There are companies now offering On Demand Production enabling customers to create, publish and deliver custom content for DVD and CD distribution worldwide.

said President and Chief Executive Officer Raj Barman of Acutrack, Inc. said, “Interestingly, nobody thought about the fact that some day there would be something called the Internet where people could download content back when DVDs were invented twenty years ago.”.

The problem is that consumers still need a fast Internet connection, a DVD burner and DVD discs, plus they would have to hand write the title onto the disk.

New On Demand engines are able to download content from a distributor’s site and produce a physical DVD with professional retail printing and packaging, then mail it on demand as consumesr make a DVD request. This gives customers the ability to produce and ship custom packaged CDs or DVDs one at a time. On Demand Production allows manufacturing of CDs and DVDs on an as needed basis, eliminating the up-front costs of producing multiple titles normally associated with CD/DVD production.

Standard DVD players are hardwired with the keys to unlock the digital security system built into pre-recorded DVDs, but DVD burners on computers and writeable DVD discs don’t contain the locks.

CSS was devised for this purpose to make copyright infringement difficult. This special process uses special blank DVDs with CSS encryption. Copies are compatible with DVD players in businesses and homes today.

Rresponsible for making sure that all parties have agreed, the DVD CCA’s standards allowed the digital locks to be included in a downloaded movie file and then transferred to a protected DVD to work on current players.

http://www.copypastearticles.com/article/6457/dvd-cca-authorizes-copy-protection-for-dvds/