ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>DVD - It does to Movies what CD did to Music </TITLE></HEAD> <hr> <font size=+2>DVD Players</font><br> <hr> If You bought a CD and a CD Player, You'll know that CDs are more durable than cassettes. In fact, with the ability to make and record Your own CDs at little cost, CD are quickly replacing cassettes, but that is a different story You can read <a href="cdwriter.htm">here</a>. <p> DVDs are very similar. They're called DVDs and not Video CDs because DVDs, though they're the same size, hold much more information than CDs do. Compared to 700 Megabytes on a CD, a standard DVD holds up to 4.7 Gigabytes. An 8 centimeter DVD (used by the <a href="gamecube.htm">Nintendo Gamecube</A> holds up to 1.5 Gigabytes compared to 165 on a CD of the same size. <p> DVD opens the door to not only a clearer picture, but also extra materials on a DVD movie. Scene selections, behind the scenes documentaries, and audo commentaries by the directors are just some of the few pluses You get on a DVD movie that You usually won't find on a VHS. DVDs are like Super CDs, they're ramdom access so their's is no rewinding or fast forwarding. It's just like a CD, You can jump to Your favourite spot. <p> Their is one catch for a DVDs. That is they're <i>regionally coded</I>. That means that if You go on Your next vacation, purchase a DVD movie as a souvinier, and try to play it. You most likely won't be able to. The move studios say it's to control the release of a movie because movie are released here on DVD at the same time they're playing in theatres overseas. While that may hold true for new movies, it seems that <i>every</i> movie released on DVD is coded. Consider Star Wars Episode 1, it was released all over the globe so coding it is superflous. It seems like the movie studios are only thinking of themselves rather than the consumer because they're esentially depriving overseas consumers from the high quality picture and they have to buy the movie on video and no DVD. Computer DVD drive don't help either because You can only change the code a few times after which You have to remove the driver and send it back the the manufacturer. That's like You can change something in Your car and it's stuck after a few times and only the dealer can let You change it more. Protecting copyrights is one thing, but it's no excue for making a system, with TV formats like NTSC, PAL and SECAM already in place to stymie consumers from using legit copies of movies outside of a region. Fortunately, a ready solution exists, You can buy a code-free DVD player <a href="http://www.codefreedvd.com">here</A> if You own DVDs with more then one region. <p> Will the DVD Player replace the VCR? Well the answer lies in the abilty to record on DVD. Since a DVD recorder is extremely expensive (try $1000), and a writable DVD is about the cost of a DVD movie, the VCR is here to stay for many years to come. I've tried Computers with DVD writers, but the software used to make a DVD is very difficuly to use, so until the DVD recorder because more afforable, don't throw away that VCR yet. <hr> <a href="universe.htm">Return to the list of characters<a><br> <a href="index.htm">Go to My main webpage</a> </BODY></HTML>