DVD...Should you take the plunge?...YES!!!!
Apr 08 '00 (Updated Dec 12 '01)
The Bottom Line See above
I find it funny that depending on who you are talking to, you will always get different answers to the question, " should I get a DVD player ?". I think that the primary reason that most people don't is due to lack of knowledge. There are quite a few misconceptions about DVD, and I think that once they are cleared up people will feel more confident, comfortable, and informed about " the big D " as I like to call it. I will try to touch on the misconceptions that I hear the most.
1. DVD is just a passing fad very similar to Betamax from the early eighties.
2. DVD players cost " like $1000 and up "
3. There's no place to rent DVD's
4. You need a surround sound home theater to watch DVD
5. There are not that many movie title's released on DVD
6. " I am not an electronics wiz, DVD player's are hard to set up "
7. All DVD releases are in the widescreen format which creates the black
bars above and below the picture
8. DVD does not look THAT much better than VHS, so why bother?
These are the types of things that I hear when talking to people who don't know much about DVD. OK, the first thing is that DVD is here to stay, it has already proven that. The format has actually taken off faster than the compact disk did in the mid eighties. DVD rom's are also now included on computer's being sold in the consumer market, and are very affordable. DVD's higher bandwidth capability allow it to store eight times more digital data on a disc which is the same size as a compact disc. This same ability enables even more data to be stored if need be, because it can be multi layered on the disc's surface. The advent of the Super Audio CD, and DVD Audio ensures that the DVD format is here to stay.
When DVD players were first introduced on the market in 1997, the average player was around $450.00. If you wanted one that included on board Dolby Digital decoding the cost was even higher. However if you look at VCR's when they first became available, the cost of a standard one was about $500.00. You can get a DVD player capable of delivering excellent picture, and sound quality, as well as having a remote control for less than $200.00. If you want one with on board digital sound decoding you can get one for less than $300.00. DVD players are very affordable, and depending on where you look you can get one for a song.
It is true that if you go down to Joe's Video emporium that he will not have a huge DVD rental inventory. However there are many places to rent DVD's. Blockbuster video rents DVD's, and so does Hollywood video, these are two large chain stores located throughout the country. If you are internet equipped then you have the world at your finger tips. Netflix.com rents video's online, and they have every title available. It's a snap to rent them with Netflix, once you register with them ( it's quick and simple ), you can browse their inventory online, pick the titles you want, and the DVD ( s ) is sent to you in the mail. It will arrive one to three days after you order it, and it comes with a pre paid mailer which you use to mail it back. You get to keep the movie's for seven days after you RECEIVE them. Netflix also offers the Marquee program for a monthly fee, which will allow you to keep up to four movies at a time with no return deadline ( see their site for details ). Buying DVD's is even easier, either locally ( Circuit City, Best Buy, BJ's, Sam's club, Media Play, Walmart etc ), or online ( DVD Express, 800.com, Ken Cranes, Reel.com etc ).
You can connect a DVD player to your TV, and watch DVD's, it is not necessary to have a home theater set up. However, if you want to enjoy the Digital surround sound which DVD is capable of, then you would need a multi channel audio set up, as well as a surround sound speaker set up. It is possible to get a good surround sound set up which would include a receiver with pro logic and Dolby Digital/DTS decoding, as well as 5 speakers, and a sub woofer ( optional, but recommended ) for much less than a kings ransom. It simply depends on your needs, and your budget.
Currently there are approximately 6,000 to 7,000 titles available on DVD. VHS probably has about 11,000 or so. Is it true that there are more VHS titles out there? yes, for now. Consider that DVD has only been around since 1997. Each week there are titles being released on DVD, from new releases to older classics, to those movies that you may very well have never heard of ( www.dvdreview.com has a list of all current and upcoming releases ).
Connecting your DVD player to your TV requires the use of two cables. One cable carries the sound, and the other the video ( picture ). If you look on the back of your TV, and the back of the DVD player the inputs are color coded so that they match. The DVD player comes with a detailed instruction manual ( which you should read ) if you have a problem. DVD player's controls are very similar to the controls that have on your VCR, and your
CD player, if you can operate them you can operate the DVD player. If you go the surround sound route things do get more involved, but not that much more complicated.
I don't want to get into a huge article about the differing types of widescreen formats, and what letterboxing is etc, but let me say this; Trust me, over all, viewing movies in the widescreen format is better than watching them once they have been pan and scanned. When you put a movie in your VCR and the first thing you see is " this movie has been formatted to fit your screen " then the movie has been pan and scanned. For more info on what widescreen and pan and scan is please email me at placidman@about.com and I will be glad to provide an explanation. For those who prefer to watch movies in pan and scan there are many titles out there that provide a widescreen version on one side of the disc, and a pan and scan version on the other so that you have a choice.
Standard VHS is about 200 to 240 lines of resolution for the picture. DVD is about 500 to 550 lines of resolution. Essentially what that means is that the more lines of resolution you see, the clearer, and sharper the picture will be. Not to mention that you don't get that flicker, and jumping you often get with a videotape.
I have had a DVD player since 1998, and have upgraded several times ( I currently have the Toshiba SD5109 progressive scan DVD player see my review of that here at epinions.com ). I love the fact that with DVD's you get a lot more for your money ( which is only a few bucks more than a comparable VHS tape, cheaper in some cases! ). For example, with DVD's not only do you get the movie on the disc, but it also includes the movie's theatrical trailer, and in some cases a featurette which usually is any where from 10 to 60 minutes on the making of the film. Some discs include deleted scenes from the movie, alternate endings that were shot but not used in the theatrical release, out takes, production notes, cast biographies, and more. DVD's are the same size as a compact disc, and therefore don't take up as much room storage wise as VHS tapes do. DVD's are also encoded with different language tracks, subtitle capability in different languages, and multiple angle capability ( if the movie was shot using multiple angles ). DVD's are chaptered, and set up very similar to CD's, in that you can program your favorite chapter's, or watch them in random order ( I don't know why you would want to but it's capable of it ), DVD player's are capable of slow motion play back at different speeds, fast forward, and reverse at different speeds. DVD vs. VHS is there any comparison? Nope. VHS is not in the same universe. It's not as difficult, and complicated as people think you just have to ask the right questions to the right person. Sorry it's so long folks, but this is not a simple debate! Any questions or comments please feel free to email me at Placidman@about.com
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Epinions.com ID:
Placidman
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Member: Ralph Potts
Location: Middletown, NY
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
I am an Audiophile who loves to read and write about Home Audio/Video.
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