This guy hasn't seen the Encore...
Top Spinner: DVDs Offer More Than Just Audio Cd Replacement
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11/15/97
Dow Jones Online News
(Copyright (c) 1997, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
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Your Technology:
By Simon Fluendy
The Far Eastern Economic Review
When Sony launched the original compact disc, it could have squeezed a lot more music onto each little silver platter, but chose not to. Apparently, or so goes the apocryphal tale, Akio Morita, Sony's legendary chief executive, decided that as his wife's favourite symphony lasted 70 minutes, that's how much music every CD would hold.
The latest disc design, called DVD , doesn't waste an atom of space, and proves just how much can be packed into the same-size disc. The brainchild of a consortium of big electronics firms including Toshiba, Matsushita, Philips and Sony, DVD (for digital video disc-or digital "versatile" disc, depending on who you ask) could replace music CDs, video laserdiscs, computer CD-ROMs and perhaps even videogame console cartridges. Each DVD can give you up to 133 minutes of movies and have room for up to eight different sound tracks and 32 different sets of subtitles.
Picture quality is higher than VHS video tapes or even laserdiscs. DVDs can also support the new wide-screen formats, which make movies look like they do on the big screen. Sound quality is better than on ordinary CDs because the disc can hold more detail. I saw several machines at the Comdex computer show in the United States last year and was very impressed.
Just one DVD machine would replace a hi-fi's CD player, and also a VCR and laserdisc player. It could also play Video CDs -- a format for watching movies that is proving very popular in Asia right now.
DVD machines are easier and quicker to use than VCRs. For example, you can jump to any spot in a film instantly, so no rewinding. What's more, you could have multiple cuts of the same film on one disc-one that's a cleaned-up, child-friendly version and another that's got all the adults-only scenes intact.
You'll have to hunt, but it should be possible to find DVD machines made by Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba. Plenty more from firms like Philips, JVC, Samsung and Denon are also around but might not be in Asian shops yet.
You're sold on the DVD already, I can tell. Well, not so fast -- not only are DVD players only just arriving in the shops, they cost at least $600 and there are only about 65 films available for them. There may be more than 100 titles out by the end of the year, but there are a few problems.
Since a DVD costs little more than a VHS videotape, while its quality is far superior -- and does not degrade with each copy made -- it's a real threat to the movie industry. Remember all the headaches Microsoft suffered from CD-ROM piracy? Imagine how damaging it would be to movie-makers if perfect copies of high-budget films could be run off by the truck load.
DVDs are supposedly protected by an encryption system to prevent copying, but scepticism abounds in the movie industry and will likely limit the number of films available for some time to come.
One solution to the problem sounds worse than the disease as far as consumers are concerned: Different versions of the discs may be sold in different regions. You wouldn't be able to play a disc bought in China on a machine bought in America, for example. But while the scrambling system might stop you or me from running off copies, a well-equipped pirate will probably laugh at such puny safeguards.
Another immediate problem is that you can't record onto a DVD , which is precisely the drawback that prevented laserdiscs catching on outside the crazy world of karaoke.
And DVD will not be able to support the future TV standard, High Definition TV, or HDTV. Mind you, since HDTV always seems to be three years from the market, I wouldn't let that stop me buying a DVD machine.
Where DVD looks very attractive is when it's used in conjunction with computers as a replacement for a CD-ROM player. Huge catalogues and databases which used to take up multiple CDs can be put on one disc. And if computer companies want to make fully-interactive video content then they'll find plenty of takers. DVD players will also play CD-ROMs, of course, so no need to throw out all the old titles.
You'll be able to watch DVD movies on your computer as long as it's fast enough-and you have the right software. Fast enough means a 233 MHz Pentium with MMX. Slower machines will need extra hardware so retro-fitting a pricey DVD player into your existing computer and then shelling out for more hardware isn't such a bright idea. Probably a better way to go is wait until it's time to buy a new computer that's already fully equipped.
Another good application is in-car navigation. Using a small device linked to the Global Positioning System -- such devices can now be bought easily -- anyone can use the information beamed down constantly by the U.S. military's constellation of navigation satellites to pinpoint their position on earth to within a few metres.
Some firms have developed systems which add a map on CD-ROM to help navigate. The problem with CD-ROMs is they don't hold big enough maps. A DVD , on the other hand, will turn this product into a real winner. Imagine gliding through the traffic in a strange town while a dashboard map shows you where you are and an electronic voice tells you where to turn.
DVD could be a real "fast forward" into the future. |
