Posted by Allan on 01/14/06 03:22

http://lifestyle.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=4398

There's been a lot of rather soft news about high-def DVD formats
coming out of this month's Las Vegas CES. But neither high-def format
is yet available and standard-def DVD is far from dead. Here are five
(hard-ish) facts we think you ought to know about high-def and
standard-definition SD DVD

1/ If you want to play standard-definition DVD Video discs encrypted
for geographical regions other than your own, you can

Just check before you buy a DVD player that it is already set up for
multi-region playback or can be easily hacked. Internet search engines
are your friend - if in doubt, do a Google search for information.
Know, though, that DVD players from big-brand names, such as Sony and
Panasonic, tend not to be multi-region-enabled and often can't be
hacked. Cheap, no-name brands, in contrast, often come
multi-region-enabled as standard or can be easily hacked.

Many cheapo players also have the ability to play a wider selection of
media than big-brand models, often including MP3 music, JPEG stills
and DivX movies, along with other stuff you'd really like to be able
to burn to DVD and play on your set-top DVD machine. Google can also
help you locate sources of DVDs encrypted for different regions.

2/ It is astonishingly easy to copy standard-definition DVD Videos,
even if they use dual-layer discs

If you can be bothered, that is. It's not very quick. Want to know
more - well, remember, Google is your friend and will help you find
free - and rather elegant - programs to download, such as DVD
Decrypter and DVD Shrink.

3/ There are four main reasons for the forthcoming launch of
high-definition DVD formats

* To make it harder to create copies of DVDs that you can give to
friends or sell. Movie studios, especially, want standard DVDs
replaced so that discs are a lot harder to copy. Both Blu-ray Disc and
HD DVD will have much tougher copy-protection but with HD DVD likely
to allow users to make one copy for backup purposes. It's quite
possible, though, that these systems will be cracked sooner or later,
at which point the studios are back at square one and may have to do
what they should have done years ago - bite the bullet and massively
cut prices so that it's not worth anyone's while spending time copying
discs. And who would bother if the saving were just a few quid?

* To provide owners of high-definition TV sets with an extended range
of suitable content to watch. If you've spent out big bucks on a
large-screen HDTV set, you're going to be well miffed if you end up
mostly watching standard-def and are doing so from the same distance
as you used to watch standard-def TV - you'll see the line-structure,
and that's not going to make you happy at having spent out all that
money for a better user experience. For more about why HDTV users are
gagging for hi-def DVD, check out this DVdoctor opinion piece.

* So the studios can sell you high-def versions of the movies you
already have on VHS or DVD - and likely at a price premium, too

* So that makers of disc-players and burners can sell you a whole new
generation of DVD hardware.

4/ Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD each offers more sophisticated built-in
interactivity than today's standard-definition DVDs
Blu-ray uses a Java-based system, while HD-DVD's is HTML-based and
likely to result in lower-cost hardware and discs.

5/ It is possible to offer sophisticated interactivity on SD DVD Video
titles
Such titles are already available - a notable example is the
big-selling Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The latest WWTBAM was
created using the crafty DVD-EXTRA STUDIO authoring environment from
UK firm, ZOOtech and so are a lot of other interactive titles. Despite
the pending arrival of high-def DVD formats, the number of available
highly-interactive standard-def DVD Video discs looks certain to grow
rapidly - and encompass movies, TV spin-offs and music videos, not
just games. The main limiting factor is the creativity of the disc
authors and those who commission them, not the technology.






"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

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