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DVD Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers)

This is the December 17, 2002 revision of the official Internet DVD FAQ for the rec.video.dvd Usenet newsgroups.
(See below for what's new.) Please send corrections, additions, and new questions to Jim Taylor <[email protected]>.

This FAQ is updated at least once a month. If you are looking at a version more than a month old, it's an out-of-date copy. The most current version is at DVD Demystified.

Contents

• [0] Where can I get the DVD FAQ?

  • [0.1] Has the DVD FAQ been translated into other languages?

  • [0.2] This FAQ is too long and technical. Is there a simpler version?

  • [0.3] Is this FAQ any good? How do I know it's accurate?

  • [0.4] How big is this thing?

• [1] General DVD

  • [1.1] What is DVD?

  • [1.2] What are the features of DVD-Video?

  • [1.3] What's the quality of DVD-Video?

  • [1.4] What are the disadvantages of DVD?

  • [1.5] What DVD players and drives are available?

    • [1.5.1] Which player should I buy?

  • [1.6] What DVD titles are available?

    • [1.6.1] Where can I read reviews of DVDs?

    • [1.6.2] How do I find out when a movie will be available on DVD?

    • [1.6.3] How can I find DVDs with specific features or characteristics?

    • [1.6.4] Why do some rental stores not carry widescreen DVDs?

  • [1.7] How much do players and drives cost?

  • [1.8] How much do discs cost?

  • [1.9] How is DVD doing? Where can I get statistics?

  • [1.10] What are "regional codes," "country codes," or "zone locks"?

  • [1.11] What are the copy protection issues?

  • [1.12] What about DVD-Audio or Music DVD?

  • [1.13] Which studios are supporting DVD?

  • [1.14] Can DVD record from VCR/TV/etc?

  • [1.15] What happens if I scratch the disc? Aren't discs too fragile to be rented?

  • [1.16] VHS is good enough, why should I care about DVD?

  • [1.17] Is the packaging different from CD?

  • [1.18] What's a dual-layer disc? Will it work in all players?

  • [1.19] Is DVD-Video a worldwide standard? Does it work with NTSC, PAL, and SECAM?

  • [1.20] What about animation on DVD? Doesn't it compress poorly?

  • [1.21] Why do some discs require side flipping? Can't DVDs hold four hours per side?

  • [1.22] Why is the picture squished, making things look too skinny?

  • [1.23] Do all videos use Dolby Digital (AC-3)? Do they all have 5.1 channels?

  • [1.24] Can DVDs have laser rot?

  • [1.25] Which titles are pan & scan only? Why?

  • [1.26] How do I make the subtitles on my Pioneer player go away?

  • [1.27] What is a layer change? Where is it on specific discs?

  • [1.28] The disc says Dolby Digital. Why do I get 2-channel surround audio?

  • [1.29] Why doesn't the repeat A-B feature work on some discs?

  • [1.30] What's the difference between first, second, and third generation DVD?

  • [1.31] What's a hybrid DVD?

  • [1.32] What's the deal with DTS and DVD?

  • [1.33] Why is the picture black and white?

  • [1.34] Why are both sides fullscreen when one side is supposed to be widescreen?

  • [1.35] Why are the audio and video out of sync?

  • [1.36] Why does the picture alternate between light and dark?

  • [1.37] How do I find "Easter eggs" and other hidden features?

  • [1.38] How do I get rid of the black bars at the top and bottom?

  • [1.39] How should I clean and care for DVDs?

  • [1.40] What's a progressive DVD player?

  • [1.41] Why doesn't disc X work on player Y?

  • [1.42] How do the parental control and multi-ratings features work?

  • [1.43] Which discs include multiple camera angles?

  • [1.44] Is it ok to put labels or magnetic strips on DVDs?

  • [1.45] What's the difference between Closed Captions and subtitles?

  • [1.46] What do the "D" codes on region 2 DVDs mean?

  • [1.47] What's firmware and why would I need to upgrade it?

  • [1.48] Are there discs to help me test, optimize, or show off my audio/video system?

  • [1.49] What do Sensormatic and Checkpoint mean?

  • [1.50] What are Superbit, Infinifilm, and other variations of DVD?

  • [1.51] I don't know the parental control password for my player. What do I do?

• [2] DVD's relationship to other products and technologies

  • [2.1] Will DVD replace VCRs?

  • [2.2] Will DVD replace CD-ROM?

  • [2.3] Can CD-R writers create DVDs?

  • [2.4] Is CD compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.1] Is CD audio (CD-DA) compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.2] Is CD-ROM compatible with DVD-ROM?

    • [2.4.3] Is CD-R compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.4] Is CD-RW compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.5] Is Video CD compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.6] Is Super Video CD compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.7] Is Picture CD or Photo CD compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.8] Is CD-i compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.9] Is Enhanced CD compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.10] Is CD+G compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.11] Is CDV compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.12] Is MP3 compatible with DVD?

    • [2.4.13] Is HDCD compatible with DVD?

  • [2.5] Is laserdisc compatible with DVD?

  • [2.6] Will DVD replace laserdisc?

  • [2.7] How does DVD compare to laserdisc?

  • [2.8] Can I modify or upgrade my laserdisc player to play DVD?

  • [2.9] Does DVD support HDTV (DTV)? Will HDTV make DVD obsolete?

  • [2.10] What is Divx?

  • [2.11] How can I record from DVD to videotape?

  • [2.12] Will high-definition DVD or 720p DVD make current players and discs obsolete?

  • [2.13] What effect will FMD have on DVD?

  • [2.14] How does MPEG-4 affect DVD?

  • [2.15] What's WebDVD?

  • [2.16] What's a Nuon player?

• [3] DVD technical details

  • [3.1] What are the outputs of a DVD player?

  • [3.2] How do I hook up a DVD player?

    • [3.2.1] Will I have problems connecting my VCR between my TV and my DVD player?

    • [3.2.2] Why is the audio or video bad?

  • [3.3] What are the sizes and capacities of DVD?

    • [3.3.1] When will double-sided, dual-layer discs (DVD-18) be available?

  • [3.4] What are the video details?

    • [3.4.1] What does "lines of resolution" mean?

  • [3.5] What's widescreen? How do the aspect ratios work?

  • [3.6] What are the audio details?

    • [3.6.1] Details of DVD-Audio and SACD

    • [3.6.2] Audio details of DVD-Video

    • [3.6.3] Can you explain this Dolby Digital, Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic, DTS stuff in plain English?

  • [3.7] How do the interactive features work?

  • [3.8] What is the difference between interlaced and progressive video?

  • [3.9] What is edge enhancement?

  • [3.10] Does DVD work with barcodes?

  • [3.11] What is BCA?

  • [3.12] How long do DVDs last?

• [4] DVD and computers

  • [4.1] Can I play DVD movies on my computer?

    • [4.1.1] Can I play DVD-Audio discs on my computer?

  • [4.2] What are the features and speeds of DVD-ROM drives?

  • [4.3] What about recordable DVD: DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+R?

    • [4.3.1] Is it true there are compatibility problems with recordable DVD formats?

    • [4.3.2] DVD-R

    • [4.3.3] DVD-RW

    • [4.3.4] DVD-RAM

      • [4.3.4.1] How do I remove a DVD-RAM type 2 disc from the cartridge?

    • [4.3.5] DVD+RW and DVD+R

    • [4.3.6] Other recordable optical formats

    • [4.3.7] How long does DVD recording take?

  • [4.4] Why can't I take a screenshot of DVD video? Why do I get a pink or black square?

  • [4.5] Why can't I play movies copied to my hard drive?

  • [4.6] Why do I have problems playing DVDs on my computer?

  • [4.7] Can I stream DVD over a network or the Internet?

  • [4.8] What is DeCSS?

  • [4.9] How do I play DVD video in HTML, PowerPoint, Director, VB, etc.?

  • [4.10] What are .IFO, .VOB, and .AOB files? How can I play them?

  • [4.11] How do I get the Microsoft Windows DVD player application to run?

  • [4.12] I upgraded to Windows XP, why did my DVD software stop working?

  • [4.13] How can I rip audio from a DVD to play as MP3 or burn to a CD?

• [5] DVD production

  • [5.1] How much does it cost to produce a DVD? Isn't it more expensive than videotape, laserdisc, and CD-ROM?

  • [5.2] What DVD-ROM formatting tools are available?

  • [5.3] What DVD production tools are available?

    • [5.3.1] Video encoding tools

    • [5.3.2] Audio encoding tools

    • [5.3.3] Other production tools

    • [5.3.4] Other production services

  • [5.4] What DVD authoring systems are available?

  • [5.5] Who can produce a DVD for me?

  • [5.6] What testing/verification services and tools are available?

  • [5.7] Can I put DVD-Video content on a CD-R or CD-RW?

  • [5.8] How do I copy my home videos/movies/slides to DVD?

  • [5.9] How can I copy a DVD?

    • [5.9.1] What's with those "Copy any DVD" e-mails?

  • [5.10] How do I get a job making DVDs?

  • [5.11] Where can I get DVD training?

  • [5.12] How can I sell DVDs that I made?

• [6] Miscellaneous

  • [6.1] Who invented DVD and who owns it? Whom to contact for specifications and licensing?

  • [6.2] Who is making or supporting DVD products?

    • [6.2.1] Consumer electronics

    • [6.2.2] Studios, video publishers, and distributors

    • [6.2.3] Hardware and computer components

    • [6.2.4] Computer software titles on DVD-ROM

  • [6.3] Where can I buy (or rent) DVDs and players?

    • [6.3.1] Where can I buy blank recordable DVDs?

  • [6.4] Where can I get more information about DVD?

    • [6.4.1] A few of the top DVD info sites

    • [6.4.2] DVD utilities and region-free information

    • [6.4.3] Information and discussion groups for DVD authors

    • [6.4.4] DVD info for specific regions

    • [6.4.5] DVD info in other languages

    • [6.4.6] Books about DVD

  • [6.5] What's new with DVD technology?

• [7] Leftovers

  • [7.1] Unanswered questions

  • [7.2] Notation and units

  • [7.3] Acknowledgments

Recent changes (last posted to newsgroups on Feb 9):

• 02-12-17: Updated production costs. (5.1)

• 02-12-17: More on aspect ratio issues between progressive-scan players and TVs. (1.40)

• 02-11-18: Emphasized that regions don't apply to DVD-Audio or recordable DVD. (1.10)

• 02-11-16: Explained a bit better what a pressed disc is. (5)

• 02-11-14: Note about DVD-R/RW lead-out writing time. (4.3.7)

• 02-11-13: Updated Nuon section to better reflect its demise. (2.16)

• 02-11-07: Updated section on DVD recorders replacing VCRs. (2.1)

• 02-10-29: Noted the demise of C3D. (2.13)

• 02-10-21: New questions:
  [1.51] I don't know the parental control password for my player. What do I do?
  [4.3.7] How long does DVD recording take?

• 02-10-19: Added HDMI info to DTCP section and HDTV section. (1.11 and 2.9)

• 02-10-10: Updates to recordable DVD info and link to CustomFlix's DVD-R compatibility chart. (1.14, 4.3, and 4.3.1)

• 02-10-10: Got around to including minor detail that encrypted files can be copied if disc is authenticated. (4.5)

• 02-10-04: Finally, DVD-Audio can be played on a PC. (4.1.1)

• 02-10-04: Updated laserdisc section to admit that it's completely dead. (2.6)

• 02-10-04: More on DVD and HDTV. (2.9)

• 02-10-04: Newer players can read Picture CDs and Photo CDs. (2.4.7)

• 02-10-04: Got around to mentioning that most new DVD burners can write CD-R/RW. (2.4.3 and 2.4.4)

• 02-10-01: Updated links to MSWebDVD docs. Addition of link to MSVidWebDVD. (4.9)

• 02-10-01: Updated section on DVD video recorders. (1.14)

• 02-09-30: Updated link to Joe Clark's DVD accessibility page. (1.45)

• 02-09-29: 1394 digital audio output now available. (3.1 and 1.12)

• 02-09-27: Additional info on user operation control. (3.7)

• 02-09-16: Updated description of DivX, moved from 4.8 to 2.10.

• 02-09-14: More on using zoom feature to "home pan and scan" widescreen discs. (1.38)

• 02-09-12: New question:
  [5.12] How can I sell DVDs that I made?

• 02-09-11: Panasonic Blu-ray variation not confirmed. (6.5)

• 02-08-26: More candidates for HD-DVD. More Blu-ray tech details. (6.5)

• 02-08-15: Links to Kodak disc longevity info. (3.12)

• 02-07-26: Nuon Semiconductor closed down. (2.16)

• 02-07-22: Note on copying DVD-9s. (5.9)

• 02-07-12: Link to The Simpsons' DVD Q&A. (0.2)

• 02-07-12: New company marketing Nuon chips. (2.16)

• 02-07-10: A few 2001 stats and projections. (1.9)

• 02-07-07: Minor revisions to feature section. Removed Divx playback from list. (1.2)

• 02-07-03: Additions to hookup section. (3.2)

• 02-06-27: Link to Jukka Aho's Quick Guide to Digital Video Resolution and Aspect Ratio Conversions. (3.5)

• 02-06-22: Link to DVD-Video Information page for format details. (6.1)

• 02-06-21: New 3-cm disc demo from Philips. (6.5)

• 02-06-14: Updated .VOB explanation, added .VRO info. (4.10)

• 02-06-09: Link to DVD Direct DVD authoring system comparison table. (5.4)

• 02-06-04: Removed defunct DVDArtist link. (5.10)

• 02-06-03: Hungarian translation available. (0.1)

• 02-05-14: New question:
  [5.9] How can I copy a DVD?
  (Renumbered old 5.9 and 5.10 to make room, changed 1.11.1 to 5.9.1) 

• 02-05-14: More updates on making your own DVDs. (5.8)

• 02-05-03: Updated DVD+RW info. (4.3.5)

• 02-05-01: Updated MP3 section to reflect growing number of MP3-capable players. (2.4.12)

• 02-04-30: Standards-converting players can't handle anamorphic conversion. (1.22 and 1.19)

• 02-04-30: Updated link to The Widescreen Movie Center. (3.5)

• 02-04-29: Revamped list of DVD databases. (1.6 and 1.6.3)

• 02-04-29: Improved list of sources for price searches and coupons (1.8, moved from 6.3)

• 02-04-28: Updated InterActual (PCFriendly) links (1.41)

• 02-03-31: Laserviews Web site defunct. Link to list of anamorphic titles at Widescreen Review instead (3.5)

• 02-03-18: Refined compatibility chart. (4.3.1)

• 02-03-15: VM Labs Nuon technology sold to Genesis in bankruptcy. (2.16)

• 02-03-10: New question:
  [6.5] What's new with DVD technology?

• 02-02-07: Definition of title. More information about number of titles available. (1.6)

• 02-02-03: Suggestion to use zoom feature to get rid of letterbox bars. (1.38)

• 02-02-02: New question:
  [6.3.1] Where can I buy blank recordable DVDs?

• 02-01-21: New questions:
  [1.6.3] How can I find DVDs with specific features or characteristics? (modified 1.6 accordingly)
  [1.6.4] Why do some rental stores not carry widescreen DVDs?
  [4.12] I upgraded to Windows XP, why did my DVD software stop working? (renumbered old 4.12 to 4.13)

• 02-01-21: A bit more info on DTS and Dolby Digital tracks. (1.23 and 1.32)

• 02-01-14: New question:
  [4.1.1] Can I play DVD-Audio discs on my computer?

• 02-01-05: Updates on DVD playback in Windows. (4.1)

• 02-01-02: Suggestions about discs suspected of deteriorating. (1.24)

• 02-01-02: New question:
  [1.50] What are Superbit, Infinifilm, and other variations of DVD?

• 02-01-01: Notes about label adhesive deterioration and disc printers. (1.44)

[0] Where can I get the DVD FAQ?

• The most current version is on the Web at <dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html>.

• A text version is posted periodically as "rec.video.dvd Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" to rec.video.dvd.tech, rec.video.dvd.misc, rec.answers, news.answers, and other relevant newsgroups.

• Official mirror copy locations:

  • U.S. (Digital Bits) <www.thedigitalbits.com/officialfaq.html>

  • U.S. (Home Theater Forum) <www.hometheaterforum.com/bbs/faq/faq.html>

  • U.S. (DVD Review) <www.dvdreview.com/faq/dvdfaq.shtml>

  • U.S. (DVDPhD) <www.dvdphd.com/dvdfaq.shtml>

  • DVD City <www.dvdcity.com/officialfaq.html> (optimized by Adero for faster access in Australia France, Germany,  Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain)

  • Poland (DVD'mension) <dvd.wp.pl/knowhow/faq/faq_en.html>

  • Ireland (DVDDirect) <www.dvddirect.ie/faq.html>

  • Germany (Area DVD) <www.areadvd.de/dvdfaq.html>

  • UK (DVD Reviewer) <www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/recfaq.asp>

  • UK (DVD Guide) <216.71.152.46/DVDGuide/faq.htm>

  • Norway (DVDnett.no) <www.dvdnett.no/dvdfaq>

  • South Africa (DVDSA) <www.theshoppingmatrix.com/dvd/faq.asp>

  • Netherlands (DVD-Info Point) <www.dvdfaq.nl/dvdfaq/faquk.html>

  • Austria (dvd.at); <www.pro.at/dvd/facts/fact15a.htm>

  • Australia (aus.dvd) <www.ozemail.com.au/~brierley/dvd>

• A text archive of the version last posted to newsgroups is at <www.faqs.org/faqs/rec-video/dvd-faq> and other FAQ mirrors, as well as <www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.txt>.

[0.1] Has the DVD FAQ been translated into other languages?

The following translations of the DVD FAQ are available. Translations to a few other languages are in progress.

• Chinese <dvdfaq.126.com>. Míngxiè to Wu Lingchao.

• French <www.mygale.org/~abela/DVD/DVDfaq.html>. (Site is no longer accessible.) Merci beaucoup to Zahir Abela.

• Hungarian <www.dvdcenter.hu/dvdfaq.html>. Köszönöm szépen to Ferenc Fellner.

• Italian <digilander.iol.it/pierugo1/traduzione_faq_dvd.html>. Molti ringraziamenti to Pierugo Mazzaccheri.

• Japanese <http://discaid.co.jp/dvd/dvdfaq_j.html>. Otsukaresama to Yoshida Toshinori.

• Korean <www.dvdprime.com/dvdfaq_kor.html>. Gamsahamnida to Park, Jin Hong.

• Norwegian <www.dvdnett.no/dvdfaq/norsk/>. Tusen takk to Paul H. Brekke and Lasse Hatletvedt.

• Russian <http://www.rusdvd.com/dvdfaq>. Spasibo bolshoye to Alexander Lokshin.

• Spanish <club.idecnet.com/~modegar/video/dvdfaq.html>. Muchisimas gracias to Modesto Garrido.

• Turkish (portions only) <www.film.gen.tr/dvd/dvdfaqtr.cfm>. Cok tesekkurler to Bilgehan Maraþ.

If you'd like to translate the DVD FAQ into another language (Klingon, anyone?), please contact Jim.

Also see 6.4.5 for DVD info in other languages.

[0.2] This FAQ is too long and technical. Is there a simpler version?

You betcha. Take a gander at Earl's Famous DVD Technology Exposition Web Page Extravaganza Supreme Deluxe <lonestar.texas.net/~bdub/earl/dvd.htm>.

Or you might prefer The Simpsons' DVD Q&A. (Although Lisa erroneously claims DVD stands for "digital versatile disc" -- who you gonna believe, me or an 8-year old genius?)

[0.3] Is this FAQ any good? How do I know it's accurate?

Here are a few user comments on the DVD FAQ. It's the most accurate source of DVD information in this galaxy. If you find something you think is in error, please let Jim know.

Pointers to other DVD sites are scattered throughout the FAQ and in section 6.4.

[0.4] How big is this thing?

Since you asked, here are the stats as of Oct, 2002:

Size: 538 KB (551,169 bytes)
Number of words: 64,016
Number of external links: 2,776

If you're wondering why it's all in one big piece instead of broken into smaller pieces that would load faster, the main reason is so you can use the find feature of your browser to easily search the entire FAQ. I realize this causes problems with WebTV browsers. Sorry. I might break it up some day.

[1] General DVD

[1.1] What is DVD?

DVD once stood for digital video disc or digital versatile disc, but now it just stands for DVD -- the next generation of optical disc storage technology. DVD is essentially a bigger, faster CD that can hold cinema-like video, better-than-CD audio, and computer data. DVD aims to encompass home entertainment, computers, and business information with a single digital format, eventually replacing audio CD, videotape, laserdisc, CD-ROM, and video game cartridges. DVD has widespread support from all major electronics companies, all major computer hardware companies, and all major movie and music studios. With this unprecedented support, DVD has become the most successful consumer electronics product of all time in less than three years of its introduction.

It's important to understand the difference between the physical formats (such as DVD-ROM or DVD-R) and the application formats (such as DVD-Video or DVD-Audio). DVD-ROM is the base format that holds data. DVD-Video (often simply called DVD) defines how video programs such as movies are stored on disc and played in a DVD-Video player or a DVD computer (see 4.1). The difference is similar to that between CD-ROM and Audio CD. DVD-ROM includes recordable variations DVD-R/RW, DVD-RAM, and DVD+R/RW (see 4.3). The application formats include DVD-Video, DVD-Video Recording, DVD-Audio (see 1.12), DVD-Audio Recording, DVD Stream Recording, and SACD. There are also special application formats for game consoles such as Sony PlayStation 2.

[1.1.1] What do the letters DVD stand for?

All of the following have been proposed as the words behind the letters DVD.

• Delayed, very delayed (referring to the many late releases of DVD formats)

• Diversified, very diversified (referring to the proliferation of recordable formats and other spinoffs)

• Digital venereal disease (referring to piracy and copying of DVDs)

• Dead, very dead (from naysayers who predicted DVD would never take off)

• Digital video disc (the original meaning suggested by some of DVD's creators)

• Digital versatile disc (the meaning later suggested by some of DVD's creators)

• Nothing

And the official answer is? "Nothing." The original acronym came from "digital video disc." Some members of the DVD Forum (see 6.1) tried to express that DVD goes far beyond video by retrofitting the painfully contorted phrase "digital versatile disc," but this has never been officially accepted by the DVD Forum as a whole. The consensus is now that DVD, as an international standard, is simply three letters. After all, who cares what VHS stands for? (Guess what, no one agrees on that one either.

[1.2] What are the features of DVD-Video?

• Over 2 hours of high-quality digital video (a double-sided, dual-layer disc can hold 8 hours of high-quality video, or 30 hours of VHS quality video).

• Support for widescreen movies on standard or widescreen TVs (4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios).

• Up to 8 tracks of digital audio (for multiple languages, DVS, etc.), each with as many as 8 channels.

• Up to 32 subtitle/karaoke tracks.

• Automatic "seamless" branching of video (for multiple story lines or ratings on one disc).

• Up to 9 camera angles (different viewpoints can be selected during playback).

• Menus and simple interactive features (for games, quizzes, etc.).

• Multilingual identifying text for title name, album name, song name, cast, crew, etc.

• Instant rewind and fast forward (no "be kind, rewind" stickers and threats on rental discs)

• Instant search to title, chapter, music track, and timecode.

• Durable (no wear from playing, only from physical damage).

• Not susceptible to magnetic fields. Resistant to heat.

• Compact size (easy to handle, store, and ship; players can be portable; replication is cheaper than tapes or laserdiscs).

• Noncomedogenic.

Note: Most discs do not contain all features (multiple audio/subtitle tracks, seamless branching, parental control, etc.), as each feature must be specially authored. Some discs may not allow searching or skipping.

Most players support a standard set of features:

• Language choice (for automatic selection of video scenes, audio tracks, subtitle tracks, and menus).^*

• Special effects playback: freeze, step, slow, fast, and scan (no reverse play or reverse step).

• Parental lock (for denying playback of discs or scenes with objectionable material).^*

• Programmability (playback of selected sections in a desired sequence).

• Random play and repeat play.

• Digital audio output (PCM stereo and Dolby Digital).

• Recognition and output of DTS Digital Surround audio tracks.

• Playback of audio CDs.

^* Must be supported by additional content on the disc.

Some players include additional features:

• Component video output (YUV or RGB) for higher quality picture.

• Progressive-scan component output (YUV or RGB) for highest quality analog picture.

• Digital video output (SDI, 1394, or DVI) for perfect digital picture.

• Six-channel analog output from internal audio decoder.

• Playback of Video CDs or Super Video CDs.

• Playback of laserdiscs and CDVs.

• Playback of MP3 CDs.

• Reverse single frame stepping.

• Reverse play (normal speed).

• RF output (for TVs with no direct video input).

• Multilingual on-screen display.

• Multiple disc capacity.

• Digital zoom (2x or 4x enlargement of a section of the picture). This is a player feature, not a DVD disc feature.

[1.3] What's the quality of DVD-Video?

DVD has the capability to produce near-studio-quality video and better-than-CD-quality audio. DVD is vastly superior to consumer videotape and generally better than laserdisc (see 2.8.). However, quality depends on many production factors. As compression experience and technology improves we will see increasing quality, but as production costs decrease we will also see more shoddily produced discs. A few low-budget DVDs will even use MPEG-1 encoding (which is no better than VHS) instead of higher-quality MPEG-2.

DVD video is usually encoded from digital studio master tapes to MPEG-2 format. The encoding process uses lossy compression that removes redundant information (such as areas of the picture that don't change) and information that's not readily perceptible by the human eye. The resulting video, especially when it is complex or changing quickly, may sometimes contain visual flaws, depending on the processing quality and amount of compression. At average video data rates of 3.5 to 5 Mbps (million bits/second), compression artifacts may be occasionally noticeable. Higher data rates can result in higher quality, with almost no perceptible difference from the master at rates above 6 Mbps. As MPEG compression technology improves, better quality is being achieved at lower rates.

Video from DVD sometimes contains visible artifacts such as color banding, blurriness, blockiness, fuzzy dots, shimmering, missing detail, and even effects such as a face that "floats" behind the rest of the moving picture. It's important to understand that the term "artifact" refers to anything that was not originally present in the picture. Artifacts are sometimes caused by poor MPEG encoding, but artifacts are more often caused by a poorly adjusted TV, bad cables, electrical interference, sloppy digital noise reduction, improper picture enhancement, poor film-to-video transfer, film grain, player faults, disc read errors, etc. Most DVDs exhibit few visible MPEG compression artifacts on a properly configured system.. If you think otherwise, you are misinterpreting what you see.

Some early DVD demos were not very good, but this is simply an indication of how bad DVD can be if not properly processed and correctly reproduced. Many demo discs were rushed through the encoding process in order to be distributed as quickly as possible. Contrary to common opinion, and as stupid as it may seem, these demos were not carefully "tweaked" to show DVD at its best. In-store demos should be viewed with a grain of salt, since most salespeople are incapable of properly adjusting a television set. 

Most TVs have the sharpness set too high for the clarity of DVD. This exaggerates high-frequency video and causes distortion, just as the treble control set too high for a CD causes it to sound harsh. Many DVD players output video with a black-level setup of 0 IRE (Japanese standard) rather than 7.5 IRE (US standard). On TVs that are not properly adjusted this can cause some blotchiness in dark scenes. DVD video has exceptional color fidelity, so muddy or washed-out colors are almost always a problem in the display (or the original source), not in the DVD player or disc.

DVD audio quality is superb. DVD includes the option of PCM (pulse code modulation) digital audio with sampling sizes and rates higher than audio CD. Alternatively, audio for most movies is stored as discrete, multi-channel surround sound using Dolby Digital or DTS audio compression similar to the digital surround sound formats used in theaters. As with video, audio quality depends on how well the processing and encoding was done. In spite of compression, Dolby Digital and DTS can be close to or better than CD quality.

The final assessment of DVD quality is in the hands of consumers. Most viewers consistently rate it better than laserdisc, but no one can guarantee the quality of DVD, just as no one should dismiss it based on demos or hearsay. In the end it's a matter of individual perception and the level of quality delivered by the playback system.

[1.4] What are the disadvantages of DVD?

• It will take years for movies, TV shows, other video programming, and computer software to become widely available.

• Vagueness of spec and inadequate testing of players and discs has resulted in incompatibilities. Some movie discs don't function fully (or don't play at all) on some players. (See 1.41)

• DVD recorders are still expensive. (See 1.14 and 4.3)

• It has built-in copy protection and regional lockout. (See 1.11 and 1.10)

• It uses digital compression. Poorly compressed audio or video may be blocky, fuzzy, harsh, or vague. (See 1.3)

• The audio downmix process for stereo/Dolby Surround can reduce dynamic range. (See 3.6)

• It doesn't fully support HDTV. (See 2.9)

• Some DVD players and drives may not be able to read CD-Rs. (See 2.4.3)

• Current DVD players and drives can't read DVD-RAM discs. (See 4.3)

• Very few players can play in reverse at normal speed.

• Variations and options such as DVD-Audio, DVD-VR, and DTS audio tracks are not supported by all players.

[1.5] What DVD players and drives are available?

Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic. Delivery was initially held up for "political" reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November, 1996, followed by U.S. players in March, 1997. Players slowly trickled in to other regions. Now, almost four years after the initial launch, over two hundred models of DVD players are available from dozens of electronics companies. Prices for the first players were $1000 and up. By the end of 2000, players were available for under $100 at discount retailers.

See section 6.2 for a list of companies that provide DVD players.

Fujitsu supposedly released the first DVD-ROM-equipped computer on Nov. 6 in Japan. Toshiba released a DVD-ROM-equipped computer and a DVD-ROM drive in Japan in early 1997 (moved back from December which was moved back from November). DVD-ROM drives from Toshiba, Pioneer, Panasonic, Hitachi, and Sony began appearing in sample quantities as early as January 1997, but none were to be available before May. The first upgrade kits (combination DVD-ROM drive and decoder hardware) became available from Creative Labs, Hi-Val, and Diamond Multimedia in April and May of 1997.

Today, every major PC manufacturer has models that include DVD-ROM drives. The price difference from the same system with a CD-ROM drive ranges from $30 to $200 (laptops have more expensive drives). Upgrade kits for older computers are available for $100 to $700 from Creative Labs, DynaTek, E4 (Elecede), Hi-Val, Leadtek, Margi Systems (for laptops), Media Forte, Pacific Digital, Sigma Designs, Sony, STB Systems, Toshiba, Utobia, and others. For more information about DVDs on computers, including writable DVD drives, see section 4.

Note: If you buy a player or drive from outside your country (e.g., a Japanese player for use in the US) you may not be able to play region-locked discs on it. (See 1.10.)

The first DVD-Audio players were released in Japan by Pioneer in late 1999, but they did not play copy-protected discs. Matsushita (under the Panasonic and Technics labels) released full-fledged players in July 2000 for $700 to $1,200. DVD-Audio players are now also made by Aiwa, Denon, JVC, Kenwood, Madrigal, Marantz, Nakamichi, Onkyo, Toshiba, and Yamaha. Sony released the first SACD players in May 1999 for $5,000. Pioneer's first DVD-Audio players released in late 1999 also played SACD. SACD players are now also made by Accuphase, Aiwa, Denon, Kenwood, Marantz, Philips, and Sharp. (See 1.12 for more information on DVD-Audio and SACD.)

More information on players and drives:

• CNET DVD players and DVD-ROM drives

• The uk.media.dvd FAQ.

• aus.dvd (Australia/New Zealand/region 4 player info)

• Computer Shopper DVD players and DVD-ROM drives

[1.5.1] Which player should I buy?

There are many good players available. Video and audio performance in all modern DVD players is excellent. Personal preferences, your budget, and your existing home theater setup all play a large role in what player is best for you. Unless you have a high-end home theater setup, a player that costs under $400 should be completely adequate. Make a list of things that are important to you (such as ability to play CD-Rs, ability to play Video CDs, 96 kHz/24-bit audio decoding, DTS Digital Out, internal 6-channel Dolby Digital decoder) to help you come up with a set of players. Then try out a few of the players in your price range, focusing on ease of use (remote control design, user interface, front-panel controls). Since there is not a big variation in picture quality and sound quality within a given price range, convenience features play a big part. The remote control, which you'll use all the time, can drive you crazy if it doesn't suit your style.

Some players, especially cheaper models, don't properly play all discs. Before buying a player, you may want to test it with a few complex discs such as The Matrix, The Abyss, Independence Day, and DVD Demystified. See 1.41 for more information.

In certain cases, you might want to buy a DVD PC instead of a standard DVD player, especially if you want progressive video. See 1.40 and 4.1. 

Here are a few questions to ask yourself.

- Do I want selectable sound tracks and subtitles, multiangle viewing, aspect ratio control, parental/multirating features, fast and slow playback, great digital video, multichannel digital audio, compatibility with Dolby Pro Logic receivers, on-screen menus, dual-layer playback, and ability to play audio CDs? If so, this is the wrong question to ask yourself, since all DVD players have all of these features.
- Do I want DTS audio? If so, look for a player with the "DTS Digital Out" logo. (See 3.6.2.) 
- Do I want to play Video CDs? If so, check the specs for Video CD compatibility. (See 2.4.5.)
- Do I need a headphone jack?
- Do I want player setup menus in languages other than English? If so, look for multilanguage setup feature. (Note: the multilanguage menus on certain discs are supported by all players.)
- Do I want to play homemade CD-R audio discs? If so look for the "dual laser" feature. (See 2.4.3.)
- Do I want to replace my CD player? If so, you might want a changer that can hold 3, 5, or even hundreds of discs.
- Do I want to control all my entertainment devices with one remote control? If so, look for a player with a programmable universal remote, or make sure your existing universal remote is compatible with the DVD player.
- Do I want to zoom in to check details of the picture? If so, look for players with picture zoom.
- Do I want to play HDCDs? If so, check for the HDCD logo. (See 2.4.13.)
- Does my receiver have only optical or only coax digital audio inputs? If so, make sure the player has outputs to match. (See 3.2.)
- Do I care about black-level adjustment?
- Do I appreciate special deals? If so, look for free DVD coupons and free DVD rentals that are available with many players.

For more information, read hardware reviews at Web sites such as DVDFile or in magazines such as Widescreen Review. You may also want to read about user experiences at Audio Review and in online forums at Home Theater Forum and DVDFile. There's more advice at DVDBuyingGuide and at eCoustics.com, which also has a list of links to reviews on other sites.

See sections 3.1 and 3.2 for specific information on what audio/video connections are needed to fit into your existing setup.

[1.6] What DVD titles are available?

[In the video distribution industry, a title refers to a movie or other production release, like Snow White, or Star Wars, or a boxed edition of one season of a TV series. All of these are collectively referred to as software.]

DVD started off slowly. Rosy predictions of hundreds of movie titles for Christmas of 1996 failed to materialize. Only a handful of DVD titles, mostly music videos, were available in Japan for the November 1996 launch of DVD. The first actual feature films appeared in Japan in December 20 (The Assassin, Blade Runner, Eraser, and The Fugitive from Warner Home Video). By April there were over 150 titles in Japan. The first titles released in the U.S., on March 19, 1997, by Lumivision, authored by AIX Entertainment, were IMAX adaptations: Africa: The Serengeti, Antarctica: An Adventure of a Different Nature, Tropical Rainforest, and Animation Greats. (Other movies such as Batman and Space Jam had been demonstrated earlier, but were not full versions available for sale.) The Warner Bros. U.S. launch followed on March 24, but was limited to seven cities.  Almost 19,000 discs were purchased in the first two weeks of the US launch -- more than expected. InfoTech predicted over 600 titles by the end of 1997 and more than 8,000 titles by 2000. By December 1997, over 1 million individual DVD discs were shipped, representing about 530 titles. By the end of 1999, over 100 million discs had shipped, representing about 5,000 titles. By the end of 2000 there were over 10,000 titles available in the US and over 15,000 worldwide. By the end of 2001 there were about 14,000 titles available in the U.S. Compared to other launches (CD, LD, etc.) these are a huge numbers of titles released in a very short time. (Note that this does not include adult titles, which accounts for an additional 15% or so.)

See 6.3 for a list of Web sites where you can buy or rent DVDs.

Availability of DVD hardware and software in Europe runs about a year behind the US. A number of launches were announced with little follow-through, but DVD began to become established in Europe around the end of 1998.

There are many searchable DVD databases on the Internet. Here are a few of the best:

• Internet Movie Database DVD Browser (all regions)

• Doug MacLean's Home Theater Info list (region 1, downloadable list)

• DVD Entertainment Group (region 1, searchable and downloadable database)

• Perry's DVD Release List (region 1, text list)

• Widescreen Review (widescreen-specific DVD titles)

• Most Internet DVD stores also have searchable lists (see 6.3).

DVD-Audio started even slower than DVD-Video. The first commercially available DVD-Audio title, Big Phat Band, was released in October 2000 by on the Silverline label of 5.1 Entertainment. Major music labels BMG Entertainment, EMI Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music have committed to DVD-Audio titles, although in fall 2001 Universal announced that it would release SACD titles first. As of the end of 2001, just under 200 DVD-Audio titles were available. The first SACD titles were released in Japan in May 1999.

DVD-ROM computer software is slowly appearing. See 6.2 for a list. Many initial DVD-ROM titles are only be available as part of a hardware or software bundle until the market grows larger. IDC expected that over 13 percent of all software would be available in DVD-ROM format by the end of 1998, but reality didn't meet expectations. In one sense, DVD-ROMs are simply larger faster CD-ROMs and will contain the same material. But DVD-ROMs can also take advantage of the high-quality video and multi-channel audio capabilities being added to many DVD-ROM-equipped computers.

[1.6.1] Where can I read reviews of DVDs?

The following sites have reviews of at least 800 discs. Also see the list of DVD review sites at Yahoo.

• The Big Picture

• BinaryFlix (menu pictures included with every review)

• The Cinema Laser

• The Digital Bits

• DVD Authority

• DVD File

• DVD Review

• DVD Shrine

• DVD Talk

• DVD Verdict

• Widescreen Review Magazine (widescreen movies only)

[1.6.2] How do I find out when a movie will be available on DVD?

First, check one of the lists and databases mentioned in 1.6 to make sure it's not already available. Then check the upcoming release lists at DVD Review and Laser Scans. There's also the release list at Image Entertainment. A good source of info about unannounced titles is The Digital Bits Rumor Mill.

[1.6.3] How can I find DVDs with specific features or characteristics?

Use one of the searchable databases in 1.6. Select the features you're looking for (anamorphic widescreen, French audio track, Flemish subtitles, and so on). If a database doesn't include the characteristic you're looking for, try another one.

[1.6.4] Why do some rental stores not carry widescreen DVDs?

Rental chains such as Blockbuster and Hollywood Video have decided to only carry full-screen (pan-scan) versions of movies when both widescreen and a full-screen versions are available. This has infuriated a certain segment of DVD fans who could never countenance watching a non-widescreen version of a movie on DVD. Blockbuster and Hollywood Video hide behind the claim that directors, not the rental outlets, choose the format when releasing a DVD. This is true to a point, but in cases where there are both widescreen versions and full-screen versions of a title the rental chains carry only the full-screen version. If you would like to voice your opinion about this, sign the online petition.

See 3.5 for more about widescreen. See 1.38 for pros and cons of letterboxing.

[1.7] How much do players and drives cost?

Mass-market DVD movie players currently list for $140 to $3000. (See 1.5 for more information.) DVD-ROM drives and upgrade kits for computers sell for around $50 to $600. (OEM drive prices are around $60.) Prices are expected to eventually drop to current CD-ROM drive levels.

[1.8] How much do discs cost?

It varies, but most DVD movies list for $20 to $30 with street prices between $15 and $25, even those with supplemental material. Low-priced movies can be found for under $10. So far DVD has not followed the initial high rental-price model of VHS.

DVD-ROMs are usually slightly more expensive than CD-ROMs since there is more on them, they cost a bit more to replicate, and the market is smaller. But as the installed base of drives grow, DVD-ROMs will eventually cost about the same as CD-ROMs do today.

Search for lowest prices and online discount coupons:

• BargainFlix

• DVD Price Search

• DiVerse DVD

• DVD Cellar

[1.9] How is DVD doing? Where can I get statistics?

DVD did not take off quite as fast as some early predictions, but it has sold faster than videotape, CD, and laserdisc. In fact, before its third birthday in March 2000, DVD had become the most successful consumer electronics entertainment product ever.

Here are some predictions:

• InfoTech (1995): Worldwide sales of DVD players in 1997 will be 800,000. Worldwide sales of DVD-ROM drives in 1997 will be 1.2 million, with sales of 39 million drives in 2000.

• Toshiba (1996): 100,000 to 150,000 DVD-Video players will be sold in Japan between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 1996, and 750,000-1 million by Nov. 1, 1997. (Actual count of combined shipments by Matsushita, Pioneer, and Toshiba was 70,000 in Oct-Dec 1996.) Total worldwide DVD hardware market expected to reach 120 million units in the year 2000. Worldwide settop DVD player market will be 2 million units in the first year, with sales of 20 million in the year 2000.

• Pioneer (1996): 400,000 DVD-Video players in 1996, 11 million by 2000. 100,000 DVD-Audio players in 1996, 4 million by 2000.

• InfoTech (1996): 820,000 DVD-Video players in first year, 80 million by 2005.

• CEMA (1997): 400,000 DVD-Video players in U.S. in 1997, 1 million in 1998.

• Time-Warner (1996): 10 million DVD players in the U.S. by 2002.

• Paul Kagan (1997): 800,000 DVD players in the U.S. in 1997, 10 million in 2000, and 40 million in 2006 (43% penetration). 5.6 million discs sold in 1997, 172 million discs in 2000, and 623 million in 2006.

• C-Cube (1996): 1 million players and drives in 1997.

• BASES: 3 million DVD-Video players sold in first year, 13 million sold in 6th year.

• Dataquest (1997): over 33 million shipments of DVD players and drives by 2000.

• Philips (1996): 25 million DVD-ROM drives worldwide by 2000 (10% of projected 250 million optical drives).

• Pioneer (1996): 500,000 DVD-ROM drives sold in 1997, 54 million sold in 2000.

• Toshiba (1996): 120 million DVD-ROM drives in 2000 (80% penetration of 100 million PCs). Toshiba says they will no longer make CD-ROM drives in 2000.

• IDC (1997): 10 million DVD-ROM drives sold in 1997, 70 million sold in 2000 (surpassing CD-ROM), 118 million sold in 2001. Over 13% of all software available on DVD-ROM in 1998. DVD recordable drives more than 90% of combined CD/DVD recordable market in 2001.

• AMI (1997): installed base of 7 million DVD-ROM drives by 2000.

• Intel (1997): 70 million DVD-ROM drives by 1999 (sales will surpass CD-ROM drives in 1998).

• SMD (1997): 100 million DVD-ROM/RAM drives shipped in 2000.

• Microsoft (Peter Biddle, 1997): 15 million DVD PCs sold in 1998, 50 million DVD PCs sold in 1999.

• Microsoft (Jim Taylor, 1998): installed base of 35 million DVD PCs in 1999.

• Forrester Research (1997): U.S. base of 53 million DVD-equipped PCs by 2002. 5.2% of U.S. households (5 million) will have a DVD-V player in 2002; 2% will have a DVD-Audio player.

• Yankee Group (Jan 1998): 650,000 DVD-Video players by 1998, 3.6 million by 2001. 19 million DVD-PCs by 2001.

• InfoTech (Jan 1998): 20 million DVD-Video players worldwide in 2002, 58 million by 2005. 99 million DVD-ROM drives worldwide in 2005. No more than 500 DVD-ROM titles available by the end of 1998. About 80,000 DVD-ROM titles available by 2005.

• Screen Digest (Dec 1998): 125,000 DVD-Video player in European homes in 1998, 485,000 in 1999, 1 million in 2000.

• IRMA (Apr 2000): 12 million players will ship worldwide in 2000.

• Baskerville (Apr 2000): Worldwide spending on DVD software will surpass that of VHS by 2003. There will be a worldwide installed based of 625 million DVD players by 2010 (55% of TV households).

• Jon Peddie (Jun 2000): Almost 20 million DVD players will be sold in the U.S. in 2004.

• IDC (July 2000): 70 million DVD players and drives will be sold by year's end.

• Screen Digest (June 2000): European installed base of DVD-Video players (1998) 0.3m; (1999) 1.5m; (2000) 5.4m; (2003) 47.1m.

• Japanese Electronics and Information Technologies Association (December 2000): 37 million DVD players worldwide by 2001.

• DVD Entertainment Group (July 2001): Approximately 30 million DVD players sold in the U.S. by the end of 2001.

• Understanding & Solutions (April 2002): DVD player penetration in the UK could grow to 70% by 2006 (CD player penetration reached only 50% in the same time period after launch).

Here's reality:

• 1997

  • 349,000 DVD-Video players shipped in the U.S. (About 200,000 sold into homes.)

  • 900 DVD-Video titles available in the U.S. Over 5 million copies shipped; about 2 million sold.

  • Over 500,000 DVD-Video players shipped worldwide.

  • Around 330,000 DVD-ROM drives shipped worldwide with about 1 million bundled DVD-ROM titles.

  • 60 DVD-ROM titles (mostly bundled).

• 1998

  • 1,089,000 DVD-Video players shipped in the U.S. (Installed base of 1,438,000.)

  • 400 DVD-Video titles in Europe (135 movie and music titles).

  • 3,000 DVD-Video titles in the U.S. (2000 movie and music titles).

  • 7.2 million DVD-Video discs purchased.

• 1999

  • 4,019,000 DVD-Video players shipped in the U.S. (Installed base of 5,457,000.)

  • Over 6,300 DVD-Video titles in the U.S.

  • About 26 million DVD-ROM drives worldwide.

  • About 75 DVD-ROM titles available in the U.S.

• 2000

  • 8.5 million DVD-Video players shipped in the U.S. (Installed base of 13,922,000.)

  • About 46 million DVD-ROM drives worldwide.

  • Over 10,000 DVD-Video titles available in the U.S.

  • Belgium: 100 thousand installed base

  • France: 1.2 million installed base

  • Germany: 1.2 million installed base

  • Italy: 360 thousand installed base

  • Netherlands: 200 thousand installed base

  • Spain: 300 thousand installed base

  • Sweden: 120 thousand installed base

  • Switzerland: 250 thousand installed base

  • UK: 1 million installed base

• 2001

  • 12.7 million DVD-Video players shipped in the U.S. (Installed base of 26,629,000.)

  • Over 45 million DVD-ROM drives shipped

  • Over 90 million DVD-ROM drives worldwide.

  • UK: 3 million installed base

For comparison, there were about 700 million audio CD players and 160 million CD-ROM drives worldwide in 1997. 1.2 billion CD-ROMs were shipped worldwide in 1997 from a base of about 46,000 different titles. There were about 80 million VCRs in the U.S. (89% of households) and about 400 million worldwide. 110,000 VCRs shipped in the first two years after release. Nearly 16 million VCRs were shipped in 1998. In 2000 there were about 270 million TVs in the U.S. and 1.3 billion worldwide.When DVD came out in 1997 there were about 3 million laserdisc players in the U.S. 

For latest U.S. player sales statistics, see the CEA page at The Digital Bits. Other DVD statistics and forecasts can be found at IRMA, MediaLine, Twice. Industry analyses and forecasts can be purchased from Adams Media Research, Alexander & Associates, British Video Association, Cahners In-stat, Centris, Datamonitor, Dataquest, DVD Intelligence, eBrain, International Data Corporation (IDC), InfoTech, Jon Peddie Associates (JPA), Paul Kagan Associates, Screen Digest, SIMBA Information, Strategy Analytics, Understanding & Solutions and others.

[1.10] What are "regional codes," "country codes," or "zone locks"?

Motion picture studios want to control the home release of movies in different countries because theater releases aren't simultaneous (a movie may come out on video in the U.S. when it's just hitting screens in Europe). Also, studios sell distribution rights to different foreign distributors and would like to guarantee an exclusive market. Therefore they required that the DVD standard include codes that can be used to prevent playback of certain discs in certain geographical regions. Each player is given a code for the region in which it's sold. The player will refuse to play discs that are not coded for its region. This means that discs bought in one country may not play on players bought in another country. Some people believe that region codes are an illegal restraint of trade, but there have been no legal cases to establish this.

Regional codes are entirely optional for the maker of a disc. Discs without region locks will play on any player in any country. It's not an encryption system, it's just one byte of information on the disc that the player checks. Some studios originally announced that only their new releases would have regional codes, but so far almost all Hollywood releases play in only one region. Region codes are a permanent part of the disc, they won't "unlock" after a period of time. Region codes don't apply to DVD-Audio, DVD-ROM, or recordable DVD (see below for more detail).

There are 8 regions (also called "locales"). Players and discs are often identified by the region number superimposed on a world globe. If a disc plays in more than one region it will have more than one number on the globe.
1: U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
2: Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
3: Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
5: Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
6: China
7: Reserved
8: Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)
(See the map at <www.unik.no/~robert/hifi/dvd/world.html>.)

Technically there is no such thing as a region 0 disc or a region 0 player. There is such thing as an all-region disc. There are also all-region players. Some players can be "hacked" with special command sequences from the remote control to switch regions or play all regions. Some players can be physically modified ("chipped") to play discs regardless of the regional codes on the disc. This usually voids the warranty, but is not illegal in most countries. (The only thing that requires player manufacturers to region-code their players is the CSS license. See 1.11) On Feb. 7, 2001, NASA sent two multiregion DVD players to the International Space Station. Information about modifying players and buying region-free players can be found on the Internet (see 6.4.2)

Some discs from Fox, Buena Vista/Touchstone/Miramax, MGM/Universal, Polygram, and Columbia TriStar contain program code that checks for the proper region setting in the player. (There's Something About Mary and Psycho are examples.) In late 2000, Warner Bros. began using the same active region code checking that other studios had been using for over a year. They called it "region code enhancement" (RCE, also known as REA), and it received much publicity. RCE was first added to discs such as The Patriot and Charlie's Angels. "Smart discs" with active region checking won't play on code-free players that are set for all regions (FFh), but they can be played on manual code-switchable players that allow you to change the region using the remote control. They may not work on auto-switching players that recognize and match the disc region. (It depends on the default region setting of the player. An RCE disc has all its region flags set so that the player doesn't know which one to switch to, then it queries the player for the region setting and aborts if it's the wrong one. A default player setting of region 1 will fool RCE discs from region 1. Playing a region 1 disc for a few seconds will set most auto-switching players to region 1 and allow them to play an RCE disc.) When an RCE disc detects the wrong region or an all-region player, it will usually put up a message saying that the player may have been altered and that the disc is not compatible with the player. A serious side effect is that some legitimate players fail the test, such as the Fisher DVDS-1000.

There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when RCE first appeared, but DVD fans quickly learned that it only affected some players. Makers of player modification kits that didn't work with RCE soon modified their chips to get around it. For every higher wall there is a taller ladder. See DVDTalk's RCE FAQ for more info and workarounds.

In addition to region codes, there are also differences in discs for NTSC and PAL TV systems (see 1.19).

Region codes do not apply to DVD-Audio. In general, region codes don't apply to recordable DVDs. A DVD that you make on a DVD PC or a DVD video recorder will play in all regions (but don't forget NTSC vs. PAL differences, see 1.19).

Regional codes apply to game consoles such as PlayStation 2 and Xbox, but only for DVD-Video (movie) discs (see DVDRegionX for region modifications to PS2). PlayStation has a separate regional lockout scheme for games. Regional codes also apply to DVD-ROM systems, but affect only DVD-Video discs, not DVD-ROM discs containing computer software. Computer playback systems check for regional codes before playing movies from a CSS-protected DVD-Video (see 1.11 for CSS info). Newer RPC2 DVD-ROM drives let you change the region code several times. (RPC stands for region protection control.) Once an RPC2 drive has reached the limit of 5 changes it can't be changed again unless the vendor or manufacturer resets the drive. The Drive Info utility can tell you if you have an RPC2 drive (it will say "This drive has region protection"). Drive Info and information about circumventing DVD-ROM region restrictions is available from Internet sites such as Visual Domain and DVD Infomatrix, as well as links listed above. After December 31, 1999, only RPC2 drives are being manufactured.

[1.11] What are the copy protection issues?

CPSA (content protection system architecture) is the name given to the overall framework for security and access control across the entire DVD family. Developed by the "4C" entity (Intel, IBM, Matsushita, and Toshiba) in cooperation with the Copy Protection Technical Working Group (CPTWG), it covers encryption, watermarking, protection of analog and digital outputs, and so on. There are many forms of content protection that apply to DVD.

1) Analog CPS (Macrovision)
Videotape (analog) copying is prevented with a Macrovision 7.0 or similar circuit in every player. The general term is APS (Analog Protection System), also sometimes called copyguard. Computer video cards with composite or s-video (Y/C) output must also use APS. Macrovision adds a rapidly modulated colorburst signal ("Colorstripe") along with pulses in the vertical blanking signal ("AGC") to the composite video and s-video outputs. This confuses the synchronization and automatic-recording-level circuitry in 95% of consumer VCRs. Unfortunately, it can degrade the picture, especially with old or nonstandard equipment. Macrovision may show up as stripes of color, distortion, rolling, black & white picture, and dark/light cycling. Macrovision creates problems for most TV/VCR combos (see 3.2.1) and some high-end equipment such as line doublers and video projectors. Macrovision was not present on analog component video output of early players, but is required on newer players (AGC only, since there is no burst in a component signal). The discs contain "trigger bits" telling the player whether or not to enable Macrovision AGC, with the optional addition of 2-line or 4-line Colorstripe. The triggers occur about twice a second, which allows fine control over what part of the video is protected. The producer of the disc decides what amount of copy protection to enable and then pays Macrovision royalties accordingly (several cents per disc). Just as with videotapes, some DVDs are Macrovision-protected and some aren't. (For a few Macrovision details see STMicroelectronics' NTSC/PAL video encoder datasheets at <www.st.com/stonline/books/>.) There are inexpensive devices that defeat Macrovision, although only a few work with the new Colorstripe feature. These devices go under names such as Video Clarifier, Image Stabilizer, Color Corrector, and CopyMaster. Or you can build your own. Professional time-base correctors (TBCs) that regenerate line 21 also remove Macrovision. APS affects only video, not audio. 

2) CGMS
Each disc also contains information specifying if the contents can be copied. This is a "serial" copy generation management system (SCMS) designed to prevent copies or copies of copies. The CGMS information is embedded in the outgoing video signal. For CGMS to work, the equipment making the copy must recognize and respect the CGMS information. The analog standard (CGMS-A) encodes the data on NTSC line 21 (in the XDS service) or line 20. CGMS-A is recognized by most digital camcorders and by some computer video capture cards (they will flash a message such as "recording inhibited"). Professional time-base correctors (TBCs) that regenerate lines 20 and 21 will remove CGMS-A information from an analog signal. The digital standard (CGMS-D) is not yet finalized, but will apply to digital connections such as IEEE 1394/FireWire. See section 6, below.

3) Content Scrambling System (CSS)
Because of the potential for perfect digital copies, paranoid movie studios forced a deeper copy protection requirement into the DVD standard. Content Scrambling System (CSS) is a data encryption and authentication scheme intended to prevent copying video files directly from DVD-Video discs. CSS was developed primarily by Matsushita and Toshiba. Each CSS licensee is given a key from a master set of 400 keys that are stored on every CSS-encrypted disc. This allows a license to be revoked by removing its key from future discs. The CSS decryption algorithm exchanges keys with the drive unit to generate an encryption key that is then used to obfuscate the exchange of disc keys and title keys that are needed to decrypt data from the disc. DVD players have CSS circuitry that decrypts the data before it's decoded and displayed. On the computer side, DVD decoder hardware and software must include a CSS decryption module. All DVD-ROM drives have extra firmware to exchange authentication and decryption keys with the CSS module in the computer. Beginning in 2000, new DVD-ROM drives are required to support regional management in conjunction with CSS (see 1.10 and 4.1). Makers of equipment used to display DVD-Video (drives, decoder chips, decoder software, display adapters, etc.) must license CSS. There is no charge for a CSS license, but it's a lengthy process, so it's recommended that interested parties apply early. CSS is administered by the DVD DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA). Near the end of May 1997, CSS licenses were finally granted for software decoding. The license is extremely restrictive in an attempt to keep the CSS algorithm and keys secret. Of course, nothing that's used on millions of players and drives worldwide could be kept secret for long. In October 1999, the CSS algorithm was cracked and posted on the Internet, triggering endless controversies and legal battles (see 4.8).

4) Content Protection for Prerecorded Media (CPPM)
CPPM is used only for DVD-Audio. It was developed to improve on CSS. Keys are stored in the lead-in area, but unlike CSS there are no title keys in the sector headers. Each volume has a 56-bit "album identifier," similar to a CSS disc key, stored in the control area. Each disc contains a media key block, stored in a file in the clear on the disc. The media key block data is logically ordered in rows and columns that are used during the authentication process to generate a decryption key from a specific set of player keys (device keys). If the device key is revoked, the media key block processing step will result in an invalid key value. As with CSS, the media key block can be updated to revoke the use of compromised player keys. The authentication mechanism is the same as for CSS, so no changes are required to existing drives. A disc may contain both CSS and CPPM content if it is a hybrid DVD-Video/DVD-Audio disc.

5) Content Protection for Recordable Media (CPRM)
CPRM is a mechanism that ties a recording to the media on which it is recorded. It is supported by all DVD recorders released after 1999. Each blank recordable DVD has a unique 64-bit media ID etched in the BCA (see 3.11). When protected content is recorded onto the disc, it can be encrypted with a 56-bit C2 (Cryptomeria) cipher derived from the media ID. During playback, the ID is read from the BCA and used to generate a key to decrypt the contents of the disc. If the contents of the disc are copied to other media, the ID will be absent or wrong and the data will not be decryptable.

6) Digital Copy Protection System (DCPS)
In order to provide for digital connections between components without allowing perfect digital copies, five digital copy protection systems were proposed to the CEA. The frontrunner is DTCP (digital transmission content protection), which focuses on IEEE 1394/FireWire but can be applied to other protocols. The draft proposal (called 5C, for the five companies that developed it) was made by Intel, Sony, Hitachi, Matsushita, and Toshiba in February 1998. Sony released a DTCP chip in mid 1999. Under DTCP, devices that are digitally connected, such as a DVD player and a digital TV or a digital VCR, exchange keys and authentication certificates to establish a secure channel. The DVD player encrypts the encoded audio/video signal as it sends it to the receiving device, which must decrypt it. This keeps other connected but unauthenticated devices from stealing the signal. No encryption is needed for content that is not copy protected. Security can be "renewed" by new content (such as new discs or new broadcasts) and new devices that carry updated keys and revocation lists (to identify unauthorized or compromised devices). A competing proposal, XCA (extended conditional access), from Zenith and Thomson, is similar to DTCP but can work with one-way digital interfaces (such as the EIA-762 RF remodulator standard) and uses smart cards for renewable security. Other proposals have been made by MRJ Technology, NDS, and Philips. In all five proposals, content is marked with CGMS-style flags of "copy freely", "copy once," "don't copy," and sometimes "no more copies". Digital devices that do nothing more than reproduce audio and video will be able to receive all data (as long as they can authenticate that they are playback-only devices). Digital recording devices are only able to receive data that is marked as copyable, and they must change the flag to "don't copy" or "no more copies" if the source is marked "copy once." DCPS in general is designed for the next generation of digital TVs, digital receivers, and digital video recorders. It will require new DVD players with digital connectors (such as those on DV equipment). These new products won't appear until 2003 at the earliest. Since the encryption is done by the player, no changes are needed to existing discs.

7) High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)
HDCP is similar to DTCP, but designed for digital video monitor interfaces such as DVI. In 1998, the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG) was formed to create a universal interface standard between computers and displays to replace the analog VGA connection standard. The resulting Digital Visual Interface (DVI) specification, released in April 1999, was based on Silicon Image's PanelLink technology, which at 4.95 Gbps can support 1600×1200 (UXGA) resolution, which covers all the HDTV resolutions. Intel proposed a security component for DVI: High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection. There is now a new connection standard called HDMI that combines DVI and HDCP. Many new HDTV displays are likely to have both IEEE 1394 and HDMI connections. HDCP provides authentication, encryption, and revocation. Specialize circuitry in the playback device and in the display monitor encrypts video data before it is sent over the link. When an HDMI output senses that the connected monitor does not support HDCP, it lowers the image quality of protected content. The HDCP key exchange process verifies that a receiving device is authorized to display or record video. It uses an array of forty 56-bit secret device keys and a 40-bit key selection vector -- all supplied by the HDCP licensing entity. If the security of a display device is compromised, its key selection vector is placed on the revocation list. The host device has the responsibility of maintaining the revocation list, which is updated by system renewability messages (SRMs) carried by newer devices and by video content. Once the authority of the receiving device has been established, the video is encrypted by an exclusive-or operation with a stream cipher generated from keys exchanged during the authentication process. If a display device with no decryption ability attempts to display encrypted content, it appears as random noise.

The first four forms of copy protection are optional for the producer of a disc. Movie decryption is also optional for hardware and software playback manufacturers: a player or computer without decryption capability will only be able to play unencrypted movies. CPRM is handled automatically by DVD recorders. DCPS and HDCP will be performed by the DVD player, not by the disc developer.

These copy protection schemes are designed only to guard against casual copying (which the studios claim causes billions of dollars in lost revenue). The goal is to "keep the honest people honest." The people who developed the copy protection standards are the first to admit that they won't stop well-equipped pirates.

Movie studios have promoted legislation making it illegal to defeat DVD copy protection. The result is the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (December 1996) and the compliant U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), passed into law in October 1998. Software intended specifically to circumvent copy protection is now illegal in the U.S. and many other countries. A co-chair of the legal group of the DVD copy protection committee stated, "in the video context, the contemplated legislation should also provide some specific assurances that certain reasonable and customary home recording practices will be permitted, in addition to providing penalties for circumvention." It's not at all clear how this might be "permitted" by a player or by studios that routinely set the "don't copy" flag on all their discs.

DVD-ROM drives and computers, including DVD-ROM upgrade kits, are required to support Macrovision, CGMS, and CSS. PC video cards with TV outputs that don't support Macrovision will not work with encrypted movies. Computers with IEEE 1394/FireWire connections must support the final DCPS standard in order to work with other DCPS devices. Every DVD-ROM drive must include CSS circuitry to establish a secure connection to the decoder hardware or software in the computer, although CSS can only be used on DVD-Video content. Of course, since a DVD-ROM can hold any form of computer data, other encryption schemes can be implemented. See 4.1 for more information on DVD-ROM drives.

The Watermarking Review Panel (WaRP) --the successor to the Data-Hiding Sub-Group (DHSG)-- of the CPTWG selected an audio watermarking system that has been accepted by the DVD Forum for DVD-Audio (see 1.12). The original seven video watermarking proposals were merged into three: IBM/NEC, Hitachi/Pioneer/Sony, and Macrovision/Digimarc/Philips. On February 17, 1999, the first two groups combined to form the "Galaxy Group" and merged their technologies into a single proposal. The second group has dubbed their technology "Millennium." Watermarking permanently marks each digital audio or video frame with noise that is supposedly undetectable by human ears or eyes. Watermark signatures can be recognized by playback and recording equipment to prevent copying, even when the signal is transmitted via digital or analog connections or is subjected to video processing. Watermarking is not an encryption system, but rather a way to identify whether a copy of a piece of video or audio is allowed to be played. New players and software are required to support watermarking, but the DVD Forum intends to make watermarked discs compatible with existing players. There were reports that the early watermarking technique used by Divx caused visible "raindrop" or "gunshot" patterns, but the problem was apparently solved for later releases.

[1.12] What about DVD-Audio or Music DVD?

When DVD was released in 1996 there was no DVD-Audio format, although the audio capabilities of DVD-Video far surpassed CD. The DVD Forum sought additional input from the music industry before defining the DVD-Audio format. A draft standard was released by the DVD Forum's Working Group 4 (WG4) in January 1998, and version 0.9 was released in July. The final DVD-Audio 1.0 specification (minus copy protection) was approved in February 1999 and released in March, but products were delayed in part by the slow process of selecting copy protection features (encryption and watermarking), with complications introduced by the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI). The scheduled October 1999 release was further delayed until mid 2000, ostensibly because of concerns caused by the CSS crack (see 4.8), but also because the hardware wasn't quite ready, production tools weren't up to snuff, and there was lackluster support from music labels. Pioneer released some early models of DVD-Audio players in Japan in late 1999, but they don't play copy-protected discs.

Matsushita released Panasonic and Technics brand universal DVD-Audio/DVD-Video players available in July 2000 for $700 to $1,200. Pioneer, JVC, Yamaha, and others released DVD-Audio players in fall 2000 and early 2001. By the end of 2000 there were about 50 DVD-Audio titles available. By the end of 2001 there were just under 200 DVD-Audio titles available.

DVD-Audio is a separate format from DVD-Video. DVD-Audio discs can be designed to work in DVD-Video players, but it's possible to make a DVD-Audio disc that won't play at all in a DVD-Video player, since the DVD-Audio specification includes new formats and features, with content stored in a separate "DVD-Audio zone" on the disc (the AUDIO_TS directory) that DVD-Video players never look at. New DVD-Audio players are needed, or new "universal players" that can play both DVD-Video and DVD-Audio discs. Universal players are also called VCAPs (video-capable audio players).

Plea to producers: Universal players won't be available for some time, but you can make universal discs today. With a small amount of effort, all DVD-Audio discs can be made to work on all DVD players by including a Dolby Digital version of the audio in the DVD-Video zone.
Plea to DVD-Audio authoring system developers: Make your software do this by default or strongly recommend this option during authoring.

DVD-Audio players (and universal players) work with existing receivers. They output PCM and Dolby Digital, and some will support the optional DTS and DSD formats. However, most current receivers can't decode high-definition, multichannel PCM audio (see 3.6.1 for details), and even if they could it can't be carried on standard digital audio connections. DVD-Audio players with high-end digital-to-analog converters (DACs) can only be hooked up to receivers with 2-channel or 6-channel analog inputs, but some quality is lost if the receiver converts back to digital for processing. New receivers with improved digital connections such as IEEE 1394 (FireWire) are needed to use the full digital resolution of DVD-Audio.

DVD audio is copyright protected by an embedded signaling or digital watermark feature. This uses signal processing technology to apply a digital signature and optional encryption keys to the audio in the form of supposedly inaudible noise so that new equipment will recognize copied audio and refuse to play it. Proposals from Aris, Blue Spike, Cognicity, IBM, and Solana were evaluated by major music companies in conjunction with the 4C Entity, comprising IBM, Intel, Matsushita, and Toshiba. Aris and Solana merged to form a new company called Verance, whose Galaxy technology was chosen for DVD-Audio in August 1999. (In November 1999, Verance watermarking was also selected for SDMI.) Verance and 4C claimed that tests on the Verance watermarking method showed it was inaudible, but golden-eared listeners in later tests were able to detect the watermarking noise.

Sony and Philips have developed a competing Super Audio CD format that uses DVD discs. (See 3.6.1 for details.) Sony released version 0.9 of the SACD spec in April 1998, the final version appeared in April (?) 1999. SACD technology is available to existing Sony/Philips CD licensees at no additional cost. Most initial SACD releases have been mixed in stereo, not multichannel. SACD was originally supposed to provide "legacy" discs with two layers, one that plays in existing CD players, plus a high-density layer for DVD-Audio players, but technical difficulties kept dual-format discs from being produced until the end of 2000, and only then in small quantities. Pioneer, which released the first DVD-Audio players in Japan at the end of 1999, included SACD support in their DVD-Audio players. If other manufacturers follow suit, the entire SACD vs. DVD-Audio standards debate could be moot, since DVD-Audio players would play both types of discs.

Sony released an SACD player in Japan in May 1999 at the tear-inducing price of $5,000. The player was released in limited quantities in the U.S. at the end of 1999. Philips released a $7,500 player in May 2000. Sony shipped a $750 SACD player in Japan in mid 2000. About 40 SACD titles were available at the end of 1999, from studios such as DMP, Mobile Fidelity Labs, Pioneer, Sony, and Telarc. Over 500 SACD titles were available by the end of 2001.

A drawback related to DVD-Audio and SACD players is that most audio receivers with 6 channels of analog input aren't able to do bass management. Receivers with Dolby Digital and DTS decoders handle bass management internally, but most receivers with 6-channel audio inputs simply pass them through to the amplifier. Until new audio systems with full bass management from 6-channel inputs are developed, any setup that doesn't have full-range speakers for all 5 surround channels will not properly reproduce all the bass frequencies. In the interim, you may be able to use an outboard bass managment box, such as from Outlaw Audio.

If you are interested in making the most of a DVD-Audio or SACD player, you need a receiver with 6-channel analog audio inputs. You also need 5 full-frequency speakers (that is, each speaker should be able to handle subwoofer frequencies) and a subwoofer, unless you have a receiver that can perform bass management on the analog inputs.

For more on DVD-Audio, including lists of titles and player models, visit Digital Audio Guide.

[1.13] Which studios are supporting DVD?

All major movie studios, most major music studios.

When DVD players became available in early 1997, Warner and Polygram were the only major movie studios to release titles. Additional titles were available from small publishers. The other studios gradually joined the DVD camp (see 6.2 for a full list, see 1.6 for movie info). Dreamworks was the last significant studio to announce full DVD support. Paramount, Fox, and Dreamworks initially supported only Divx, but in summer 1998 they each announced support for open DVD.

[1.14] Can DVD record from VCR/TV/etc?

Yes. When DVD was originally introduced in 1997 it could only play. DVD video recorders appeared in Japan at the end of 1999, and in the rest of the world at the end of 2000. Early units were expensive: $2,500 to $4,000. DVD recorders are still quite expensive (typically $500 to $2000 as of fall 2002), but will eventually be as cheap as VCRs. DVD recorders are already being added to satellite and cable receivers, hard-disk video recorders, and similar boxes.

A DVD recorder is just like a VCR -- it has a tuner and A/V inputs, and it can be programmed to record shows. An important difference is that you never have to rewind or fast forward -- recordings on a disc are instantly accessible, usually from an on-screen menu. Note that DVD video recorders can't copy most DVD movie discs, which are protected.

Unfortunately there is more than one recordable DVD format, and they don't all play together nicely. It's nothing like the old "VHS vs. Betamax battle" as many in the press would have you believe, but it is rather confusing. See 4.3 to get more confused.

Don't be further confused by DVD recordable drives for computers (see 4.3). These recorders can store data, but to create full-featured DVD-Videos requires additional software to do video encoding (MPEG), audio encoding (Dolby Digital, MPEG, or PCM), navigation and control data generation, and so on (see 5.4 and 5.8).

[1.15] What happens if I scratch the disc? Aren't discs too fragile to be rented?

Most scratches will cause minor data errors that are easily corrected. That is, data is stored on DVDs using powerful error correction techniques that can recover from even large scratches with no loss of data. A common misperception is that a scratch will be worse on a DVD than on a CD because of higher storage density and because video is heavily compressed. DVD data density (say that fast ten times!) is physically four times that of CD-ROM, so it's true that a scratch will affect more data. But DVD error correction is at least ten times better than CD-ROM error correction and more than makes up for the density increase. It's also important to realize that MPEG-2 and Dolby Digital compression are partly based on removal or reduction of imperceptible information, so decompression doesn't expand the data as much as might be assumed. Major scratches may cause uncorrectable errors that will produce an I/O error on a computer or show up as a momentary glitch in DVD-Video picture. Paradoxically, sometimes the smallest scratches can cause the worst errors (because of the particular orientation and refraction of the scratch). There are many schemes for concealing errors in MPEG video, which may be used in future players.

See 1.39 for information on care and cleaning of DVDs.

The DVD computer advisory group specifically requested no mandatory caddies or other protective carriers. Consider that laserdiscs, music CDs, and CD-ROMs are likewise subject to scratches, but many video stores and libraries rent them. Major chains such as Blockbuster and West Coast Entertainment rent DVDs in many locations. Most reports of rental disc performance are positive, although if you have problems playing a rental disc check for scratches.

[1.16] VHS is good enough, why should I care about DVD?

The primary advantages of DVD are quality and extra features (see 1.2). DVD will not degrade with age or after many playings like videotape will (which is an advantage for parents with kids who watch Disney videos twice a week!). This is the "collectability" factor present with CDs vs. cassette tapes.

If none of this matters to you, then VHS probably is good enough.

[1.17] Is the packaging different from CD?

Manufacturers are worried about customers assuming DVDs will play in their CD player, so they would like the packaging to be different. There are a number of DVD packages that are as wide as a CD jewel box (about 5-5/8") and as tall as a VHS cassette box (about 7-3/8"), as recommended by the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA). However, no one is being forced to use a larger package size. Some companies use standard jewel cases or paper and vinyl sleeves. Divx discs came in paperboard and plastic Q-Pack cases the same size as a CD jewel case.

Most movies are packaged in the Amaray "keep case," an all-plastic clamshell with clear vinyl pockets for inserts, that's popular among consumers. Time Warner's "snapper," a paperboard case with a plastic lip, is less popular. There's also a "super jewel box," the stretch-limo version of a CD jewel case, that's common in Europe. 

[1.18] What's a dual-layer disc? Will it work in all players?

A dual-layer disc has two layers of data, one of them semi-transparent so that the laser can focus through it and read the second layer. Since both layers are read from the same side, a dual-layer disc can hold almost twice as much as a single-layer disc, typically 4 hours of video (see 3.3 for more details). Many discs use dual layers. Initially only a few replication plants could make dual-layer discs, but most plants now have the capability. The second layer can use either a PTP (parallel track path) layout where both tracks run in parallel (for independent data or special switching effects), or an OTP (opposite track path) layout where the second track runs in an opposite spiral; that is, the pickup head reads out from the center on the first track then in from the outside on the second track. The OTP layout is designed to provide continuous video across both layers. The layer change can occur anywhere in the video; it doesn't have to be at a chapter point. There's no guarantee that the switch between layers will be seamless. The layer change is invisible on some players, but it can cause the video to freeze for a fraction of a second or up to 4 seconds on other players. The "seamlessness" depends as much on the way the disc is prepared as on the design of the player. OTP is also called RSDL (reverse-spiral dual layer). The advantage of two layers is that long movies can use higher data rates for better quality than with a single layer. See 1.27 for more about layer changes.

There are various ways to recognize dual-layer discs: 1) the gold color, 2) a menu on the disc for selecting the widescreen or letterbox version, 3) two serial numbers on one side.

The DVD specification requires that players and drives read dual-layer discs. There are very few units that have problems with dual-layer discs--this is a design flaw and should be corrected for free by the manufacturer. Some discs are designed with a "seamless layer change" that technically goes beyond what the DVD spec allows. This causes problems on a few older players.

All players and drives also play double-sided discs if you flip them over. No manufacturer has announced a model that will play both sides. The added cost is hard to justify since discs can hold over 4 hours of video on one side by using two layers. (Early discs used two sides because dual-layer production was not widely supported. This is no longer a problem.) Pioneer LD/DVD players can play both sides of an LD, but not a DVD. (See 2.12 for note on reading both sides simultaneously.)

[1.19] Is DVD-Video a worldwide standard? Does it work with NTSC, PAL, and SECAM?

The MPEG video on DVD is stored in digital format, but it's formatted for one of two mutually incompatible television systems: 525/60 (NTSC) or 625/50 (PAL/SECAM). Therefore, there are two kinds of DVDs: "NTSC DVDs" and "PAL DVDs." Some players only play NTSC discs, others play PAL and NTSC discs. Discs are also coded for different regions of the world (see 1.10).

All DVD players sold in PAL countries play both kinds of discs. These multi-standard players partially convert NTSC to a 60-Hz PAL (4.43 NTSC) signal. The player uses the PAL 4.43-MHz color subcarrier encoding format but keeps the 525/60 NTSC scanning rate. Most modern PAL TVs can handle this "pseudo-PAL" signal. A few multi-standard PAL players output true 3.58 NTSC from NTSC discs, which requires an NTSC TV or a multi-standard TV. Some players have a switch to choose 60-Hz PAL or true NTSC output when playing NTSC discs. There are a few standards-converting PAL players that convert from a NTSC disc to standard PAL output. Proper standards conversion requires expensive hardware to handle scaling, temporal conversion, and object motion analysis. Because the quality of conversion in DVD players is poor, using 60-Hz PAL output with a compatible TV provides a better picture. (Sound is not affected by video conversion.)

Most NTSC players can't play PAL discs. A very small number of NTSC players (such as Apex and SMC) can convert PAL to NTSC. External converter boxes are also available, such as the Emerson EVC1595 ($350). High-quality converters are available at TenLab and Snell and Wilcox.

Many standards-converting players can't convert anamorphic widescreen video for 4:3 displays. See 1.22.

There are three differences between discs intended for playback on different TV systems: picture size and pixel aspect ratio (720x480 vs. 720x576), display frame rate (29.97 vs. 25), and surround audio options (Dolby Digital vs. MPEG audio). (See 3.4 and 3.6 for details.) Video from film is usually encoded at 24 frames/sec but is preformatted for one of the two display rates. Movies formatted for PAL display are usually sped up by 4% at playback, so the audio must be adjusted accordingly before being encoded. All PAL DVD players can play Dolby Digital audio tracks, but not all NTSC players can play MPEG audio tracks. PAL and SECAM share the same scanning format, so discs are the same for both systems. The only difference is that SECAM players output the color signal in the format required by SECAM TVs. Note that modern TVs in most SECAM countries can also read PAL signals, so you can use a player that only has PAL output. The only case in which you need a player with SECAM output is for older SECAM-only TVs (and you'll probably need a SECAM RF connection, see 3.1).

A producer can choose to put 525/60 NTSC video on one side of the disc and 625/50 PAL on the other. Most studios put Dolby Digital audio tracks on their PAL discs instead of MPEG audio tracks.

Because of PAL's higher resolution, the movie usually takes more space on the disc than the NTSC version. See 3.4 for more details.

There are actually three types of DVD players if you count computers. Most DVD PC software and hardware can play both NTSC and PAL video and both Dolby Digital and MPEG audio. Some PCs can only display the converted video on the computer monitor, but others can output it as a video signal for a TV.

Bottom line: NTSC discs (with Dolby Digital audio) play on over 95% of DVD installations worldwide. PAL discs play on very few players outside of PAL countries. (This is irrespective of regions -- see 1.10.)

[1.20] What about animation on DVD? Doesn't it compress poorly?

Some people claim that animation, especially hand-drawn cell animation such as cartoons and anime, does not compress well with MPEG-2 or even ends up larger than the original. Other people claim that animation is simple so it compresses better. Neither is true.

Supposedly the "jitter" between frames caused by differences in the drawings or in their alignment causes problems. An animation expert at Disney pointed out that this doesn't happen with modern animation techniques. And even if it did, the motion estimation feature of MPEG-2 would compensate for it.

Because of the way MPEG-2 breaks a picture into blocks and transforms them into frequency information it can have a problem with the sharp edges common in animation. This loss of high-frequency information can show up as "ringing" or blurry spots along edges (called the Gibbs effect). However, at the data rates commonly used for DVD this problem does not occur.

[1.21] Why do some discs require side flipping? Can't DVDs hold four hours per side?

Even though DVD's dual-layer technology (see 3.3) allows over four hours of continuous playback from a single side, some movies are split over two sides of a disc, requiring that the disc be flipped partway through. Most "flipper" discs exist because of producers who are too lazy to optimize the compression or make a dual-layer disc. Better picture quality is a cheap excuse for increasing the data rate; in many cases the video will look better if carefully encoded at a lower bit rate. Lack of dual-layer production capability is also a lame excuse; in 1997 very few DVD plants could make dual-layer discs, but this is no longer the case. No players can automatically switch sides, but it's not needed since most movies less than 4 hours long can easily fit on one dual-layer (RSDL) side.

There is a list of "flipper" discs in the Film Vault at DVD Review. Note: A flipper is not the same as a disc with a widescreen version on one side and a pan & scan version or supplements on the other. Please send additions to [email protected]. (The list has gotten too long to keep in this FAQ.)

[1.22] Why is the picture squished, making things look too skinny?

Answer: RTFM. You are watching an anamorphic picture intended for display only on a widescreen TV. (See 3.5 for technical details). You need to go into the player's setup menu and tell it you have a standard 4:3 TV, not a widescreen 16:9 TV. It will then automatically letterbox the picture so you can see the full width at the proper proportions.

In some cases you can change the aspect ratio as the disc is playing (by pressing the "aspect" button on the remote control). On most players you have to stop the disc before you can change aspect. Some discs are labeled with widescreen on one side and standard on the other. In order to watch the fullscreen version you must flip the disc over.

See 1.38 for more on letterboxing.

Apparently most players that convert from NTSC to PAL or vice-versa (see 1.19) can't simultaneously letterbox (or pan and scan) an anamorphic picture. Solutions are to use a widescreen TV, a multistandard TV, or an external converter. Or get a better player.

[1.23] Do all videos use Dolby Digital (AC-3)? Do they all have 5.1 channels?

Most DVD-Video discs contain Dolby Digital soundtracks. However, it's not required. Some discs, especially those containing only audio, have PCM tracks. It's also possible for a 625/50 (PAL) disc to contain only MPEG audio, but so far MPEG audio is not widely used. Discs with DTS audio are required to also include a Dolby Digital audio track (or in a few rare cases they have a PCM track). See 1.32 for more on DTS.

Don't assume that the "Dolby Digital" label is a guarantee of 5.1 channels. A Dolby Digital soundtrack can be mono, dual mono, stereo, Dolby Surround stereo, etc. For example, Blazing Saddles and Caddyshack are mono movies, so the Dolby Digital soundtrack on these DVDs has only one channel. Some DVD packaging has small lettering or icons under the Dolby Digital logo that indicates the channel configuration. In some cases, there is more than one Dolby Digital version of a soundtrack: a 5.1-channel track and a track specially remixed for stereo Dolby Surround. It's perfectly normal for your DVD player to indicate playback of a Dolby Digital audio track while your receiver indicates Dolby Surround: it means that the disc contains a two-channel Dolby Surround signal encoded in Dolby Digital format.

See 3.6 for more audio details.

[1.24] Can DVDs have laser rot?

Laserdiscs are subject to what's commonly called laser rot: the deterioration of the aluminum layer due to oxidation or other chemical change. This often results from the use of insufficiently pure aluminum during replication, but can be exacerbated by mechanical shear stress due to bending, warping or thermal cycles (the large size of laserdiscs makes them flexible, so that movement along the bond between layers can break the seal). Deterioration of the data layer can be caused by chemical contaminants or gasses in the glue, or by moisture that penetrates the acrylic substrates.

Like laserdiscs, DVDs are made of two platters glued together, but DVDs are more rigid and use newer adhesives. DVDs are molded from polycarbonate, which absorbs about ten times less moisture than the slightly hygroscopic acrylic (PMMA) used for laserdiscs.

It's too early to know for sure, but DVDs will probably have few laser rot problems. There have been reports of a few discs going bad, possibly due to poor adhesive, chemical reactions, or oxidation of the aluminum layer. See www.mindspring.com/~yerington/. If a disc seems to go bad, make sure it's not dirty, scratched, or warped (see 1.39). Try cleaning it and try playing it in other players. If the disc consistently has problems then it may have deteriorated. If so, there's nothing you can do to fix it. Request a replacement from the supplier.

[1.25] Which titles are pan & scan only? Why?

Some titles are available only in pan & scan because there was no letterbox or anamorphic transfer made from film. (See 3.5 for more info on pan & scan and anamorphic formats.) Since transfers cost $50,000 to $100,000, studios may not think a new transfer is justified. In some cases the original film or rights to it are no longer available for a new transfer. In the case of old movies, they were shot full frame in the 1.37 "academy" aspect ratio so there can be no widescreen version. Video shot with TV cameras, such as music concerts, is already in 4:3 format.

The list of pan & scan only titles has gotten too big to keep here. You can get a list from the Film Vault at DVD Review, or from Internet Movie Database (which also includes discs with both widescreen and pan & scan versions).

[1.26] How do I make the subtitles on my Pioneer player go away?

On the remote control, press Subtitle, then either Clear or 0 (zero). No need to use the menus.

[1.27] What is a layer change? Where is it on specific discs?

Some movies, especially those over two hours long or encoded at a high data rate, are spread across two layers on one side of the disc. When the player changes to the second layer, the video and audio may freeze for a moment. The length of the pause depends on the player and on the layout of the disc. The pause is not a defect in the player or the disc. See 1.18 for details.

There is a list of layer switch points in the Film Vault at DVD Review. Please send new times to [email protected]. (The list has gotten too long to keep in this FAQ.)

[1.28] The disc says Dolby Digital. Why do I get 2-channel surround audio?

Some discs (many from Columbia TriStar) have 2-channel Dolby Surround audio (or plain stereo) on track one and 5.1-channel audio on track two. Since some studios create separate sound mixes optimized for Dolby Surround or stereo, and they feel the default track should match the majority of sound systems in use. Unless you specifically select the 5.1-channel track (with the audio button on the remote or with the on-screen menu) the player will play the default 2-channel track. (Note: Some players such as the Sony 3000 have a feature to automatically select the first 5.1 track.)

Dolby Digital doesn't necessarily mean 5.1 channels. See 3.6.

[1.29] Why doesn't the repeat A-B feature work on some discs?

Almost all features of DVD such as search, pause, and scan can be disabled by the disc, which can prevent the operation the player needs to back up and repeat a segment. If the player uses time search to repeat a segment, then a disc with fancy non-sequential title organization may also block the repeat feature. In many cases the authors don't even realize they have prevented the use of this feature.

[1.30] What's the difference between first, second, and third generation DVD?

There is no meaningful answer to this question, since you'll get a different response from everyone you ask. The terms "2nd generation" and "3rd generation," and so on refer both to DVD-Video players and to DVD-ROM drives. In general, they simply mean newer versions of DVD playback devices. The terms haven't been used (yet) to refer to DVD products that can record, play video games, or so on.

According to some people, second-generation DVD players came out in the fall of 1997 and third-generation players are those that came out in the beginning of 1998. According to others, the second generation of DVD will be HD players (see 2.12) that won't come out until 2003 or so. There are many conflicting variations between these extremes, including the viewpoint that DTS-compatible players or Divx players or progressive-scan players or 10-bit video players or players that can play The Matrix constitute the second, third, or fourth generation.

Things are a little more clear cut on the PC side, where second generation (DVD II) usually means 2x DVD-ROM drives that can read CD-Rs, and third generation (DVD III) usually means 5x (or sometimes 2x or 4.8x or 6x) DVD-ROM drives, a few of which can read DVD-RAMs, and some of which are RPC2 format. Some people refer to RPC2 drives or 10x drives as fourth generation. See section 4.2 for more speed info. See section 1.10 for RPC2 explanation.

[1.31] What's a hybrid DVD?

Do you really want the answer to this one? Ok, you asked for it...

1. A disc that works in both DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM PCs. (The most common use of the term hybrid, but more accurately called an enhanced DVD)

2. A DVD-ROM disc that runs on Windows and Mac OS computers. (More accurately called a cross-platform DVD.)

3. A DVD-ROM or DVD-Video disc that also contains Web content for connecting to the Internet. (More accurately called a WebDVD or Web-connected DVD.)

4. A disc that contains both DVD-Video and DVD-Audio content. (More accurately called a universal or AV DVD.)

5. A disc with two layers, one that can be read in DVD players and one that can be read in CD players. (More accurately called a legacy or CD-compatible disc.) There are at least three variations of this hybrid (none were commercially available as of 12/99):

   1. A 0.9 to 1.2 mm CD substrate bonded to the back of a 0.6 mm DVD substrate. One side can be read by CD players, the other side by DVD players. The resulting disc is 0.6 mm thicker than a standard CD or DVD, which can cause problems in players with tight tolerances, such as portables. Sonopress, the first company to announce this type, calls it DVDPlus. It's colloquially known as a "fat" disc. There's a variation in which an 8-cm data area is embedded in a 12-cm substrate so that a label can be printed on the outer ring. 

   2. A 0.6 mm CD substrate bonded to a semitransparent 0.6 mm DVD substrate. Both layers are read from the same side, with the CD player being required to read through the semitransparent DVD layer, causing problems with some CD players.

   3. A 0.6 mm CD substrate, with a special refractive coating that causes a 1.2 mm focal depth, bonded to the back of a 0.6 mm DVD substrate. One side can be read by CD players, the other side by DVD players.

6. A disc with two layers, one containing pressed (DVD-ROM) data and one containing rewritable (DVD-RAM, etc.) media for recording and re-recording. (More accurately called a DVD-PROM,  mixed-media, or rewritable sandwich disc.)

7. A disc with two layers on one side and one layer on the other. (More accurately called a DVD-14.)

8. A disc with an embedded memory chip for storing custom usage data and access codes. (More accurately called a chipped DVD.)

Did I miss any?

[1.32] What's the deal with DTS and DVD?

Digital Theater Systems Digital Surround is an audio encoding format similar to Dolby Digital. It requires a decoder, either in the player or in an external receiver. See 3.6.2 for technical details. Some people claim that because of its lower compression level DTS sounds better than Dolby Digital. Others claim there is no meaningfully perceptible difference, especially at the typical data rate of 768 kbps, which is 60% more than Dolby Digital. Because of the many variances in production, mixing, decoding, and reference levels, it's almost impossible to accurately compare the two formats (DTS usually produces a higher volume level, causing it to sound better in casual comparisons).

DTS originally did all encoding in house, but as of October 1999 DTS encoders are available for purchase. DTS titles are generally considered to be specialty items intended for audio enthusiasts. Most DTS are also be available in a Dolby Digital-only version.

DTS is an optional format on DVD. Contrary to uninformed claims, the DVD specification has included an ID code for DTS since 1996 (before the spec was even finalized). Because DTS was slow in releasing encoders and test discs, players made before mid 1998 (and many since) ignore DTS tracks. A few demo discs were created in 1997 by embedding DTS data into a PCM track (the same technique used with CDs and laserdiscs), and these are the only DTS DVD discs that work on all players. New DTS-compatible players arrived in mid 1998, but theatrical DTS discs using the proper DTS audio stream ID did not appear until January 7, 1999 (they were originally scheduled to arrive in time for Christmas 1997). Mulan, a direct-to-video animation (not the Disney movie) with DTS soundtrack appeared in November 1998. DTS-compatible players carry an official "DTS Digital Out" logo.

Dolby Digital or PCM audio are required on 525/60 (NTSC) discs, and since both PCM and DTS together don't usually leave enough room for quality video encoding of a full-length movie, essentially every disc with a DTS soundtrack also carries a Dolby Digital soundtrack. This means that all DTS discs will work in all DVD players, but a DTS-compatible player and a DTS decoder are required to play the DTS soundtrack. DTS audio CDs work on all DVD players, since the DTS data is encapsulated into standard PCM tracks that are passed untouched to the digital audio output. DTS discs often carry a Dolby Digital 2.0 track in Dolby Surround format instead of a full Dolby Digital 5.1 track.

[1.33] Why is the picture black and white?

You are probably trying to play an NTSC disc in a PAL player, but your PAL TV is not able to handle the signal. If your player has a switch or on-screen setting to select the output format for NTSC discs, choosing PAL (60-Hz) may solve the problem. See section 1.19 for more information.

Or you may have connected one of the component outputs (Y, R-Y, or B-Y) of your DVD player to the composite input of your TV. See section 3.2 for hookup details. 

[1.34] Why are both sides fullscreen when one side is supposed to be widescreen?

Many DVD's are labeled as having widescreen (16:9) format video on one side and standard (4:3) on the other. If you think both sides are the same, you're probably seeing uncompressed 16:9 on the widescreen side. It seems to be 4:3 pan & scan, but if you look carefully you'll discover that the picture is horizontally compressed. The problem is that your player has been set for a widescreen TV. See 1.22 for details.

[1.35] Why are the audio and video out of sync?

There have been numerous reports of "lip sync" problems, where the audio lags slightly behind the video, and even reports of the audio coming before the video. Perception of a sync problem is highly subjective--some people are bothered by it while others can't discern it at all. Problems have been reported on a variety of players (notably the Pioneer 414 and 717 models, possibly all Pioneer models, some Sony models including the 500 series and the PS2, new Toshiba models including the 3109, and some PC decoder cards). Certain discs are also more problematic (notably Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels; Lost In Space; TRON; The Parent Trap; and Austin Powers).

The cause of the sync problem is a complex interaction of as many as four factors

1. Improper sync in audio/video encoding or DVD-Video formatting.

2. Poor sync during film production or editing (especially post-dubbing or looping).

3. Loose sync tolerances in the player.

4. Delay in the external decoder/receiver.

Factor 1 or 2 usually must be present in order for factor 3 or 4 to become apparent. Some discs with severe sync problems have been reissued after being re-encoded to fix the problem. In some cases, the sync problem in players can be fixed by pausing or stopping playback and then restarting, or by turning the player off, waiting a few seconds, then turning it back on.

A good way to test your player is to simultaneously listen to the analog and digital outputs (play the digital output through your stereo and the analog output through your TV). If the audio echoes or sounds hollow, then the player is delaying the signal and is thus the main cause of the sync problem.

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer and no simple fix. More complaints from customers should motivate manufacturers to take the problem more seriously and correct it in future players or with firmware upgrades. Pioneer originally stated that altering the audio-visual synchronization of their players "to compensate for the software quality would dramatically compromise the picture performance." Since then Pioneer has fixed the problem on its new players. If you have an older model, check with Pioneer about an upgrade.

For many more details, see Michael D's Pioneer Audio Sync page.

[1.36] Why does the picture alternate between light and dark?

You are seeing the effects of Macrovision copy protection (see 1.11), probably because you are running your DVD player through your VCR or VCR/TV combo (see 3.2.1).

[1.37] How do I find "Easter eggs" and other hidden features?

Some DVD movies contain hidden features, often called "Easter eggs." These are extra screens or video clips hidden in the disc by the developers. For example, Dark City includes scenes from Lost in Space and the Twin Peaks movie buried in the biography pages of William Hurt and Keifer Sutherland. There's also an amusing "Shell Beach" game entwined throughout the menus. On Mallrats, perhaps indicating that DVD has already become too postmodern for its own good, there's a hidden clip of the director telling you to stop looking for Easter eggs and do something useful.

It's more fun to search for hidden features on your own, but if you need some help, the best list is at DVD Review.

[1.38] How do I get rid of the black bars at the top and bottom?

The black bars are part of the letterbox process (see 3.5), and in many cases you can't get rid of them. If you set the display option in your player to pan & scan (sometimes called fullscreen or 4:3) instead of letterbox, it won't do you much good since no DVD movies have been released with this feature enabled. If you set the player to 16:9 widescreen output it will make the bars smaller, but you will get a tall, stretched picture unless you have a widescreen TV.

In some cases, there may be both a fullscreen and a letterbox version of the movie on the same disc, with a variety of ways to get to the fullscreen version (usually only one works, so you may have to try all three):

1. Check the other side of the disc (if it's two-sided)

2. Look for a fullscreen choice in the main menu

3. Use the "aspect" button on the remote control

DVD was designed to make movies look as good as possible on TV. Since most movies are wider than most TVs, letterboxing preserves the format of the theatrical presentation. (Nobody seems to complain that the top and bottom of the picture are cut off in theaters.) DVD is ready for TVs of the future, which are widescreen. For these and other reasons, many movies on DVD are only available in widescreen format.

About two thirds of widescreen movies are filmed at 1.85 ("flat") aspect ratio or less. In this case, the actual size of the image on your TV is the same for a letterbox version and a full-frame version, unless the pan & scan technique is used to zoom in (which cuts off part of the picture). In other words, the picture is the same size, with extra areas visible at the top and bottom in the fullscreen version. In more other words, letterboxing covers over the part of the picture that was also covered in the theater, or it allows the entire widescreen picture to be visible for movies wider than 1.85, in which case the letterboxed picture is smaller and has less detail than a pan & scan version would.

If there's not a fullscreen version of the movie on the disc, one solution is to use a DVD player with a zoom feature to enlarge the picture enough to fill the screen. This will cut off the sides of the picture, but in many cases it's a similar effect to the pan and scan process. Just think of it as "home pan and scan."

For a detailed explanation of why most movie fans prefer letterboxing, see the Letterbox/Widescreen Advocacy Page. For an explanation of anamorphic widescreen and links to more information and examples on other Web sites, see 3.5.

The best solution to this entire mess might be the FlikFX Digital Recomposition System, "the greatest advance in entertainment in 57 years."

[1.39] How should I clean and care for DVDs?

Since DVDs are read by a laser, they are resistant—to a point—to fingerprints, dust, smudges, and scratches (see 1.15 for more info). However, surface contaminants and scratches can cause data errors. On a video player, the effect of data errors ranges from minor video artifacts to frame skipping to complete unplayability. So it's a good idea to take care of your discs. In general treat them the same way as you would a CD.

Your player can't be harmed by a scratched or dirty disc, unless there are globs of nasty substances on it that might actually hit the lens. Still, it's best to 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. It doesn't hurt to leave the disc in the player (even if it's paused and still spinning), but leaving it running unattended for days on end might not be a good idea.

In general, there's no need to clean the lens on your player, since the air moved by the rotating disc keeps it clean. However, if you commonly use a lens cleaning disc in your CD player, you may want to do the same with your DVD player. I recommend only using a cleaning disc designed for DVD players, since there are minor differences in lens positioning.

There is no need for periodic alignment of the pickup head. Sometimes the laser can drift out of alignment, especially after rough handling of the player, but this is not a regular maintenance item.

Care and feeding of DVDs

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 radiators/heaters, hot equipment surfaces, direct sunlight (near a window or in a car during hot weather), pets, small children, and other destructive forces. Magnetic fields have no effect on DVDs. The DVD specification recommends that discs be stored at a temperature between -20 to 50 °C (-4 to 122 °F) with less than 15 °C (27 °F) variation per hour, at relative humidity of 5% to 90%.

Coloring the outside edge of a DVD with a green marker (or any other color) makes no difference in video or audio quality. Data is read based on pit interference at 1/4 of the laser wavelength, a distance of less than 165 nanometers. A bit of dye that on average is more than 3 million times farther away is not going to affect anything.

Cleaning and repairing DVDs

If you notice problems when playing a disc, you may be able to correct them with a simple cleaning.

• Do not use strong cleaners, abrasives, solvents, or acids.

• With a soft, lint-free cloth, wipe gently in only a radial direction (a straight line between the hub and the rim). Since the data is arranged circularly on the disc, the micro scratches you create when cleaning the disc (or the nasty gouge you make with the dirt you didn't see on your cleaning cloth) will cross more error correction blocks and be less likely to cause unrecoverable errors).

• Don't use canned or compressed air, which can be very cold and may thermally stress the disc.

• For stubborn dirt or gummy adhesive, use water, water with mild soap, or isopropyl alcohol. As a last resort, try peanut oil. Let it sit for about a minute before wiping it off.

• There are commercial products that clean discs and provide some protection from dust, fingerprints, and scratches. Cleaning products labeled for use on CDs work as well as those that say they are for DVDs.

If you continue to have problems after cleaning the disc, you may need to attempt to repair one or more scratches. Sometimes even hairline scratches can cause errors if they just happen to cover an entire ECC block. Examine the disc, keeping in mind that the laser reads from the bottom. There are essentially two methods of repairing scratches: 1) fill or coat the scratch with an optical material; 2) polish down the scratch. There are many commercial products that do one or both of these, or you may wish to buy polishing compounds or toothpaste and do it yourself. The trick is to polish out the scratch without causing new ones. A mess of small polishing scratches can cause more damage than a big scratch. As with cleaning, polish only in the radial direction.

Libraries, rental shops, and other venues that need to clean a lot discs may want to invest in a commercial polishing machine that can restore a disc to pristine condition after an amazing amount of abuse. Keep in mind that the data layer on a DVD is only half as deep as on a CD, so a DVD can only be re-polished about half as many times.

[1.40] What's a progressive DVD player?

A progressive-scan DVD player converts the interlaced (480i) video from DVD into progressive (480p) format for connection to a progressive display (31.5 kHz or higher). Progressive players work with all standard DVD titles, but look best with film source. The result is a significant increase in perceived vertical resolution, for a more detailed and film-like picture.

There's enormous confusion about whether DVD video is progressive or interlaced. Here's the one true answer: Progressive-source video (such as from film) is usually encoded on DVD as interlaced field pairs that can be re-interleaved by a progressive player to recreate the original progressive video. See 3.8 for further explanation of interlaced and progressive scanning.

You must use a progressive-scan display in order to get the full benefit of a progressive-scan player. However, all progressive players also include interlaced outputs, so you can buy one to use with a standard TV until you upgrade to a progressive TV. (You may have to use a switch on the back of the player to set it to interlaced output.)

Toshiba developed the first progressive-scan player (SD5109, $800) in mid 1998, but didn't release it until fall of 1999 because of copy protection concerns. Panasonic also released a progressive-scan player (DVD-H1000, $3000) in fall of 1999. Many manufacturers have released progressive models since then. It's also possible to buy an external line multiplier to convert the output of a standard DVD player to progressive scanning. All DVD computers are progressive players, since the video is displayed on a progressive monitor, but quality varies. (See 4.1 and 2.12.)

Converting interlaced DVD video to progressive video involves much more than putting film frames back together. There are essentially two ways to convert from interlaced to progressive:
1- Re-interleaving (also called weave). If the original video is from a progressive source, such as film, the two fields can be recombined into a single frame.
2- Line doubling (also called bob). If the original video is from an interlaced source, simply combining two fields will cause motion artifacts (the effect is reminiscent of a zipper), so each line of a single field is repeated twice to form a frame. Better line doublers use interpolation to produce new lines that are a combination of the lines above and below. The term line doubler is vague, since cheap line doublers only bob, while expensive line doublers (those that contain digital signal processors) can also weave.
(3- There's actually a third way, called field-adaptive de-interlacing, which examines individual pixels across three or more fields and selectively weaves or bobs regions of the picture as appropriate. Most systems that do this well cost $10,000 and up, so it will be a while before we see it in consumer DVD players.)
(4- And there's also a fourth way, called motion-adaptive de-interlacing, which examines MPEG-2 motion vectors or does massive image processing to identify moving objects in order to selectively weave or bob regions of the picture as appropriate. Most systems that do this well cost $50,000 and up (aside from the cool but defunct Chromatic Mpact2 chip).

There are three common kinds of de-interlacing systems:
1- Integrated. This is usually best, where the de-interlacer is integrated with the MPEG-2 decoder so that it can read MPEG-2 flags and analyze the encoded video to determine when to bob and when to weave. Most DVD computers use this method.
2- Internal. The digital video from the MPEG-2 decoder is passed to a separate deinterlacing chip. The disadvantage is that MPEG-2 flags and motion vectors may no longer available to help the de-interlacer determine the original format and cadence. (Some internal chips receive the repeat_first_field and top_field_first flags passed from the decoder, but not the progressive_scan flag.)
3- External. Analog video from the DVD player is passed to a separate de-interlacer (line multiplier) or to a display with a built-in de-interlacer. In this case, the video quality is slightly degraded from being converted to analog, back to digital, and often back again to analog. However, for high-end projection systems, a separate line multiplier (which scales the video and interpolates to a variety of scanning rates) may achieve the best results.

Most progressive DVD players use an internal Genesis gmVLX1A de-interlacing chip. The Princeton PVD-5000 uses a Sigma Designs decoder with integrated de-interlacing. The JVC XV-D723GD uses a custom decoder with integrated de-interlacing. Toshiba's "Super Digital Progressive" players and the Panasonic HD-1000 use 4:4:4 chroma oversampling, which provides a slight quality boost from DVD's native 4:2:0 format. Add-on internal de-interlacers such as the Cinematrix and MSB Progressive Plus are available to convert existing players to progressive-scan output. Faroudja, Silicon Image (DVDO), and Videon (Omega) line multipliers are examples of external de-interlacers.

A progressive DVD player has to determine whether the video should be line-doubled or re-interleaved. When re-interleaving film-source video, the player also has to deal with the difference between film frame rate (24 Hz) and TV frame rate (30 Hz). Since the 2-3 pulldown trick can't be used to spread film frames across video fields, there are worse motion artifacts than with interleaved video. However, the increase in resolvable resolution more than makes up for it. Advanced progressive players such as the Princeton PVD-5000 and DVD computers can get around the problem by displaying at multiples of 24 Hz such as 72 Hz, 96 Hz, and so on.

A progressive player also has to deal with problems such as video that doesn't have clean cadence (as when it's edited after being converted to interlaced video, when bad fields are removed during encoding, when the video is speed-shifted to match the audio track, and so on). Another problem is that many DVDs are encoded with incorrect MPEG-2 flags, so the re-interleaver has to recognize and deal with pathological cases. In some instances it's practically impossible to determine if a sequence is 30-frame interlaced video or 30-frame progressive video. For example, the documentary on Apollo 13 is interlaced video encoded as if it were progressive. Other examples of improper encoding are Titanic, Austin Powers, Fargo, More Tales of the City, the Galaxy Quest theatrical trailer, and The Big Lebowski making-of featurette.

One problem is that many TVs with progressive input don't allow the aspect ratio to be changed -- they assume all progressive-scan input is anamorphic. When a non-anamorphic (4:3) picture is sent to these TVs they distort it by stretching it out! Before you buy a DTV, make sure that it allows aspect ratio adjustment on progressive input. Or get a player with an aspect ratio control option that "windowboxes" 4:3 video into a 16:9 rectangle by squeezing it horizontally and adding black bars on the side. Because of the added scaling step this may reduce picture quality, but at least it gets around the problem. 

Just as early DVD computers did a poor job of progressive-scan display of DVDs, the first generation of progressive consumer players are also a bit disappointing. But as techniques improve, and as DVD producers become more aware of the steps they must take to ensure good progressive display, and as more progressive displays appear in homes, the experience will undoubtedly improve, bringing home theaters closer to real theaters.

For more on progressive video and DVD, see part 5 and player ratings in the excellent DVD Benchmark series at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity.

[1.41] Why doesn't disc X work in player Y?

The DVD specification is complex and open to interpretation. DVD-Video title authoring is also very complex. As with any new technology, there are compatibility problems. The DVD-Video standard has not changed substantially since it was finalized in 1996, but many players don't properly support it. Discs have become more complex as authoring tools improve, so recent discs often uncover engineering flaws in players. Some discs behave strangely or won't play at all in certain players. In some cases, manufacturers can fix the problem with an upgrade to the player (see 1.47). In other cases, disc producers need to re-author the title to correct an authoring problem or to work around a player defect. Problems can also occur because of damaged or defective discs or because of a defective player.

If you have problems playing a disc, try the following:

1. Check the list below to see if it's a reported problem. Also check the list of problem discs in DVD Review's Film Vault and at InterActual's tech support page. Try a newsgroup search at Deja.

2. Try playing the disc a few more times. If you don't get the exact same problem every time, then it's probably a defective or damaged disc. Make sure the disc isn't dirty or scratched (see 1.39).

3. Try the disc in a different player. (Visit a friend or a nearby store that sells players.) The problem is usually the player, not the disc. If the disc plays properly in a different player, contact the manufacturer of your player for a firmware upgrade. Or, if you bought the player recently, you may wish to return it for a different model.

4. Try a different copy of the disc. If the problem doesn't recur, it indicates that your first copy was probably damaged or defective. If more than one copy of the disc has problems in more than one player, then it may be a misauthored disc. Contact the distributor or the studio about getting a corrected disc.

For other DVD and home theater problems, try Doc DVD, or DVD Digest's Tech Support Zone. If you have a Samsung 709, see the Samsung 709 FAQ. For troubleshooting DVD on computers, see 4.6. The Dell Inspiron 7000 DVD Movie List has Inspiron-specific problems.

Below are problems reported by readers of this FAQ. The FAQ author has not verified these claims and takes no responsibility for their accuracy. Please report other confirmed problems. 

[1.42] How do the parental control and multi-rating features work?

DVD includes parental management features for blocking playback and for multiple versions of a movie on a single disc. Players (including software players on PCs) can be set to a specific parental level using the onscreen settings. If a disc with a rating above that level is put in the player, it won't play. In some cases, different programs on the disc have different ratings. The level setting can be protected with a password.

A disc can also be designed so that it plays a different version of the movie depending on the parental level that has been set in the player. By taking advantage of the seamless branching feature of DVD, objectionable scenes are automatically skipped over or replaced during playback. This requires that the disc be carefully authored with alternate scenes and branch points that don't cause interruptions or discontinuities in the soundtrack. There is no standard way to identify which discs have multi-rated content.

Unfortunately, very few multi-rating discs have been produced. Hollywood studios are not convinced that there is a big enough demand to justify the extra work involved (shooting extra footage, recording extra audio, editing new sequences, creating branch points, synchronizing the soundtrack across jumps, submitting new versions for MPAA rating, dealing with players that don't properly implement parental branching, having video store chains refuse to carry discs with unrated content, and much more). If this feature is important to you, let the studios know. A list of studio addresses is available at DVD File, and there's a Studio and Manufacturer Feedback area at Home Theater Forum. You might also want to visit the Viewer Freedom site.

Multi-ratings discs include Kalifornia, Crash, Damage, Embrace of the Vampire, Poison Ivy, Species II. In most cases these discs provide "un-cut" or unrated versions that are more intense than the original theatrical release. Discs that use multi-story branching (not always seamless) for a director's cut or special edition version include Dark Star, Stargate SE, The Abyss, Independence Day, and Terminator 2 SE (2000 release). Also see www.multipathmovies.com.

Another option is to use a software player on a computer that can read a "play list" telling it where to skip scenes or mute the audio. Play lists can be created for the thousands of DVD movies that have been produced without parental control features. There was a shareware Cine-bit DVD Player that did this, but it has been withdrawn apparently because of legal threats from Nissim, who seem determined to stifle the very market they claim to support. A Canadian company, Select Viewing, is releasing software for customized DVD playback on Windows PCs. A few similar projects are under development.

Yet another option is TVGuardian or Curse Free TV, a device that attaches between the DVD player and the TV to filter out profanity and vulgar language. The box reads the closed caption text and automatically mutes the audio and provides substitute captions for objectionable words. (Note that current versions of these devices don't work with digital audio connections.)

[1.43] Which discs include multiple camera angles?

There's actually a euphemism in the DVD industry, where "multi-angle titles" --spoken with the right inflection-- means adult titles. However, apart from hundreds of X-rated discs, not very many DVDs have multiple angles, since it takes extra work and limits playing time (a segment with two angles uses up twice as much space on the disc).

Short Cinema Journal vol. 1 was one of the first to use camera angles, in the animated "Big Story," which is also available on the DVD Demystified sample disc. Ultimate DVD (Gold or Platinum) is another sample disc with examples of angles. King Crimson: Deja Vroom has excellent angles, allowing you to focus on any of the musicians. Other multi-angle music discs include Dave Matthews Band: Listener Supported, Metallica Cunning Stunts, Sarah McLachlan Mirrorball. Some movies, such as Detroit Rock City (KISS video), Ghostbusters SE, Mallrats, Suicide Kings, Terminator 2 SE, and Tomorrow Never Dies SE use multiple angles in supplements. Some discs, especially those from Buena Vista, use the angle feature to show credits in the selected language (usually with the angle button locked out).

You can get an incomplete list of multi-angle discs by doing an extended search at DVD File or a power search at DVD Express. To weed out the adult titles at DVD Express, select all entries in the category list (click top entry, Shift-click bottom entry) then deselect Adult (Ctrl-click).

[1.44] Is it ok to put labels or magnetic strips on DVDs?

Labels and adhesive strips are a bad idea since they can unbalance the disc and cause errors, or even damage a player, especially if they peel off while the disc is spinning. Pressure-sensitive adhesives break down over time, so it's possible for labels to come loose after a few years. Libraries and DVD rental outlets often want to label discs or attach magnetic strips for security, but it's best not to use them at all. If you must, use a ring-shaped "donut" label that goes around the center of the disc. As long as the circular label doesn't interfere with the player clamping onto the hub, it should be ok. If you have to use a non-circular sticker, place it as close to the center as possible to minimize unbalancing. Placing a second sticker straight across from the center will also help. Writing with a marker in the clear (not reflective) area at the hub is better than using a sticker, although there's not much room to write. Write only in the area inside a 44-mm diameter. Writing anywhere else on the disc is risky, since the ink could possibly eat away the protective coating and damage the data layer underneath.

In most cases a better alternative is a security case that can only be opened with special equipment at the register or checkout counter. Barcodes, stickers, and security strips can be placed on the case without endangering discs (or players). This is especially good for double-sided discs, which have no space for stickers.

Full-size round labels designed to go on recordable DVDs may work, but have been known to cause problems. A better (but more expensive) solution is to use an inkjet disc printer (IMT, Odixion, Primera, Rimage, Trace Affex) and printable-surface discs.

[1.45] What's the difference between Closed Captions and subtitles?

Closed Captions (CC) are a standardized method of encoding text into an NTSC television signal. The text can be displayed by a TV with a built-in decoder or by a separate decoder. All TVs larger than 13 inches sold in the US since 1993 have Closed Caption decoders. Closed Captions can be carried on DVD, videotape, broadcast TV, cable TV, and so on.

Even though the terms caption and subtitle have similar definitions, captions commonly refer to on-screen text specifically designed for hearing impaired viewers, while subtitles are straight transcriptions or translations of the dialogue. Captions are usually positioned below the person who is speaking, and they include descriptions of sounds and music. Closed captions are not visible until the viewer activates them. Open captions are always visible, such as subtitles on foreign videotapes.

Closed Captions on DVDs are carried in the MPEG-2 video stream and are automatically sent to the TV. You can't turn them on or off from the DVD player. Subtitles, on the other hand, are DVD subpictures, which are full-screen graphical overlays (see 3.4 for technical details). One of up to 32 subpicture tracks can be turned on to show text or graphics on top of the video. Subpictures can also be used to create captions. To differentiate from NTSC Closed Captions and from subtitles, captions created as subpictures are usually called "captions for the hearing impaired."

If this is all too confusing, just follow this advice: To see Closed Captions, use the CC button on the TV remote. To see subtitles or captions for the hearing impaired, use the subtitle button on the DVD remote or use the onscreen menu provided by the disc. Don't turn both on at once or they'll end up on top of each other. Keep in mind that not all DVDs have Closed Captions or subtitles. Also, some DVD players do not reproduce Closed Captions at all.

See DVD File's A Guide to DVD Subtitles and Captioning, Gary Robson's Caption FAQ, and Joe Clark's DVD Accessibility for more about Closed Captions. Note that DVD does not support PAL Teletext, the much-improved European equivalent of Closed Captions.

[1.46] What do the "D" codes on region 2 DVDs mean?

Some non-U.S. discs from Warner, MGM, and Disney are marked with a distribution zone number. "D1" identifies a UK-only release. These often have English-only soundtracks with BBFC censoring. "D2" and "D3" identify European DVDs that are not sold in the UK and Ireland. These often contain uncut or less cut versions of films. "D4" identifies DVDs that are distributed throughout all of Europe (region 2) and Australia/New Zealand (region 4).

[1.47] What's firmware and why would I need to upgrade it?

DVD players are simple computers. Each one has a software program that controls how it plays discs. Since the software is stored on a chip, it's called firmware. Some players have flaws in their programming that cause problems playing certain DVDs. In order to correct the flaws, the player must be upgraded with a replacement firmware chip. This usually has to be done in a factory service center, although some players can be upgraded simply by inserting a CD. See 1.41 for more on compatibility problems.

[1.48] Are there discs to help me test, optimize, or show off my audio/video system?

There are a few DVDs designed specifically for testing and optimizing video and audio playback. There are also some that demonstrate special features of DVD.

• AVIA Guide to Home Theater, Ovation Software (extensive video and audio test patterns and setup tutorials)

• Video Essentials, Joe Kane Productions (the original system optimization disc, from the master)

• Ultimate DVD Platinum, Henninger Interactive (examples of many DVD features, plus test and demo material)

• DVD Demystified demo disc (examples of almost every DVD feature, plus demo material)

Here are a few movies that work especially well for demonstrating DVD's video and audio quality.

• Dinosaur - Direct-to-DVD digital transfer gives sharp, clear images; good bass on footsteps and fights

• The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over - outstanding 5.1-channel music (DTS only, Dolby Digital tracks are 2-channel)

• The Fifth Element - excellent video, especially in beginning desert scenes; stellar audio as well

• Gladiator - stunning surround audio with brilliantly mixed orchestration

• O Brother, Where Art Thou - Beautiful color and incredible detail (check out facial stubble); well-rendered shadows

• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Ultimate Edition) - great video for shadows and reds; highly dimensional audio

• Toy Story 2 - Perfect all-digital transfer results in sharp, rich images; sound effects are nicely staged

• U-571 - earthshaking bass, great subwoofer demo

Films on Disc has a list of ISF DVD citations -- examples of the best of the craft.

[1.49] What do Sensormatic and Checkpoint mean?

Sensormatic and Checkpoint are two point-of-sale security systems. They refer to the little metal tags that are inserted into DVD packaging to set off an alarm if you go through the sensors at the store entrance without having the tags deactivated during checkout. The tags are placed in the packages at the replication plant so that it doesn't have to be done at the store. This is called source tagging.

[1.50] What are Superbit, Infinifilm, and other variations of DVD?

There is one single DVD-Video standard. However, within the DVD-Video format there is a great deal of flexibility in the way discs can work. Different studios have come up with brand names for their particular implementations of advanced features. There's nothing extraordinary about any particular variation, other than a studio spending a lot of time and effort making it work well and promoting it. These kinds of advanced DVDs should play on most players but may reveal more player bugs than standard discs (see 1.41).

Superbit DVDs, from Columbia TriStar, use a high data rate for the video to improve picture quality. Additional language tracks and other extras are left off the disc to make room for more video data and for a DTS audio track. In most cases the difference is subtle, but it does improve the experience on high-end players and progressive-scan displays. See superbitdvd.com for marketing fluff.

Infinifilm DVDs, from New Line, let you watch a movie with pop-ups that direct you to extra content such as an interview, behind-the-scenes-footage, or historical information. See infinifilm.com for more hype.

[1.51] I don't know the parental control password for my player. What do I do?

Most DVD players allow you to lock out discs above a certain rating. The rating level is protected by a password so that children (or spouses) can't change it. If you don't know the password you won't be able to play some discs. You might be able to clear the password by resetting the player (see the user manual) or unplugging it for a few days. Otherwise you'll have to call the customer service number of the manufacturer and see if they can help you. Make sure you speak in a deep voice so they don't think you are kid trying to hack his parents' player.

[2] DVD's relationship to other products and technologies

[2.1] Will DVD replace VCRs?

Eventually. DVD recorders are available (see 1.14), but it will take a while before the size of the market drives costs down to VCR levels. DVD has many advantages over VCRs, such as no rewinding, quick access to any part of a recording, and fundamentally lower technology cost for hardware and disc production. Some projections show DVD recorder sales passing VCR sales in 2005. By 2010 or so, VHS may be as dead as vinyl records are today.

[2.2] Will DVD replace CD-ROM?

Yes. Some CD-ROM drive manufacturers plan to cease CD-ROM drive production after a few years in favor of DVD-ROM drives. Because DVD-ROM drives can read CD-ROMs, there is a compatible forward migration path.

[2.3] Can CD-R writers create DVDs?

No. DVD uses a smaller wavelength of laser to allow smaller pits in tracks that are closer together. The DVD laser must also focus more tightly and at a different level. In fact, a disc made on a current CD-R writer may not be readable by a DVD-ROM drive (see 2.4.3). It's unlikely there will be "upgrades" to convert CD-R drives to DVD-R, since this would probably cost more than purchasing a new DVD-R drive.

[2.4] Is CD compatible with DVD?

This is actually many questions with many answers, covered in the following sections.
[Note the differentiation between DVD (general case) and DVD-ROM (computer data).]

[2.4.1] Is CD audio (CD-DA) compatible with DVD?

Yes. All DVD players and drives will read audio CDs (Red Book). This is not actually required by the DVD spec, but so far all manufacturers have made their DVD hardware read CDs.

On the other hand, you can't play a DVD in a CD player. (The pits are smaller, the tracks are closer together, the data layer is a different distance from the surface, the modulation is different, the error correction coding is new, etc.) Also, you can't put CD audio data onto a DVD and have it play in DVD players. (Red Book audio frames are different than DVD data sectors.)

[2.4.2] Is CD-ROM compatible with DVD-ROM?

Yes. All DVD-ROM drives will read CD-ROMs (Yellow Book). Software on a CD-ROM will run fine in a DVD-ROM system.

However, DVD-ROMs are not readable by CD-ROM drives.

[2.4.3] Is CD-R compatible with DVD?

Sometimes. The problem is that most CD-Rs (Orange Book Part II) are "invisible" to DVD laser wavelength because the dye used to make the blank CD-R doesn't reflect the beam. Some first-generation DVD-ROM drives and many DVD players can't read CD-Rs. The formulation of dye used by different CD-R manufacturers also affects readability. That is, some brands of CD-R discs have better reflectivity at DVD laser wavelength, but even these don't reliably work in all players.

The common solution is for the DVD player or drive to use two lasers at different wavelengths: one for reading DVDs and the other for reading CDs and CD-Rs. Variations on the theme include Sony's "dual discrete optical pickup" with switchable pickup assemblies with separate optics, Sony's dual-wavelength laser (to be initially deployed on Playstation 2), Samsung's "annular masked objective lens" with a shared optical path, Toshiba's similar shared optical path using an objective lens masked with a coating that's transparent only to 650-nm light, Hitachi's switchable objective lens assembly, and Matsushita's holographic dual-focus lens. The MultiRead logo guarantees compatibility with CD-R and CD-RW media, but unfortunately, few manufacturers are using it.

Bottom line: If you want a DVD player that can read CD-R discs, look for a "dual laser" or "dual optics" feature.

An effort to develop CD-R "Type II" media compatible with both CD and DVD wavelengths was abandoned.

DVD-ROM drives can't record on CD-R or any other media. There are a few combination DVD-ROM/CD-RW drives that can write to CD-R and CD-RW. Most newer recordable DVD drives (see 4.3) can also record on CD-R or CD-RW.

CD-R burners can't read or write DVD discs of any kind.

[2.4.4] Is CD-RW compatible with DVD?

Usually. CD-Rewritable (Orange Book Part III) has a smaller reflectivity difference, requiring new automatic-gain-control (AGC) circuitry in CD-ROM drives and CD players. CD-RW discs can't be read by most existing CD-ROM drives and CD players. The "MultiRead" standard addresses this, and some DVD manufacturers have suggested they will support it. The optical circuitry in even first-generation DVD-ROM drives and DVD players is usually able to read CD-RW discs, since CD-RW does not have the "invisibility" problem of CD-R (see 2.4.3).

Most newer recordable DVD drives (see 4.3) can also record on CD-R or CD-RW.

CD-RW burners can't read or write DVD discs of any kind.

[2.4.5] Is Video CD compatible with DVD?

Sometimes. It's not required by the DVD spec, but it's trivial to support the Video CD (White Book) standard since any MPEG-2 decoder can also decode MPEG-1 from a Video CD. About two thirds of DVD players can play Video CDs. Panasonic, RCA, Samsung, and Sony models play Video CDs. Japanese Pioneer models play Video CDs but American models older than the DVL-909 don't. Toshiba players older than models 2100, 3107, and 3108 don't play Video CDs.

VCD resolution is 352x288 for PAL and 352x240 for NTSC. The way most DVD players and Video CD players deal with the difference is to chop off the extra lines or add blank lines. When playing PAL VCDs, the Panasonic and RCA NTSC players apparently cut 48 lines (17%) off the bottom. The Sony NTSC players scale all 288 lines to fit.

Because PAL VCDs are encoded for 25 fps playback of 24 fps film, there is usually a 4% speedup. Playing time is shorter, and the audio is shifted up in pitch unless it was digitally processed before encoding to shift the pitch back to normal. This also happens with PAL DVDs (see 1.19).

All DVD-ROM computers can play Video CDs (with the right software).

Standard VCD players can't play DVDs.

Note: Many Asian VCDs achieve two soundtracks by putting one language on the left channel and another on the right. The two channels are mixed together into babel on a stereo system unless you adjust the balance or disconnect one input to get only one channel.

For more on Video CD, see Glenn Sanderse's Video CD FAQ at CDPage, or Russil Wvong's Video CD FAQ.

[2.4.6] Is Super Video CD compatible with DVD?

Not generally. Super Video CD (SVCD) is an enhancement to Video CD that was developed by a Chinese government-backed committee of manufacturers and researchers, partly to sidestep DVD technology royalties and partly to create pressure for lower DVD player and disc prices in China. The final SVCD spec was announced in September 1998, winning out over C-Cube's China Video CD (CVD) and HQ-VCD (from the developers of the original Video CD). In terms of video and audio quality, SVCD is in between Video CD and DVD, using a 2x CD drive to support 2.2 Mbps VBR MPEG-2 video (at 480x480 (NSTC) or 480x576 (PAL) resolution) and 2-channel MPEG-2 Layer II audio. As with DVD, it can overlay graphics for subtitles. It's technically easy to make a DVD-Video player compatible with SVCD, but it's being done mostly on Asian DVD player models. The Philip's DVD170 player can be upgraded (using a special disc) to play SVCD discs.

SVCD players can't play DVDs, since the players are based on CD drives.

See Jukka Aho's Super Video CD Overview and Super Video CD FAQ for more info.

[2.4.7] Is Picture CD or Photo CD compatible with DVD?

Sometimes. Since Picture CDs and Photo CDs are usually on CD-R media, they suffer from the CD-R problem (see 2.4.3). That aside, some DVD players can play Picture CDs. Only a few can play Photo CDs.

Most DVD-ROM drives will read Picture CDs or Photo CDs (if they read CD-Rs) since it's trivial to support the XA and Orange Book multisession standards. Picture CDs are designed to work with Windows. Photo CDs require specific support from an application or an OS.

[2.4.8] Is CD-i compatible with DVD?

In general, no. Current DVD players do not play CD-i (Green Book) discs. Philips once announced that it would make a DVD player that supported CD-i, but it has yet to appear. Some people expect Philips to create a "DVD-i" format in an attempt to breathe a little more life into CD-i (and recover a bit more of the billion or so dollars they invested in it). A DVD-ROM PC with a CD-i card should be able to play CD-i discs.

There are also "CD-i movies" that use the CD-i Digital Video format that was the precursor to Video CD. Early CD-i DV discs won't play on DVD players or VCD players, but newer CD-i movies, which use standard VCD format, will play on any player that can play VCDs (see 2.4.5).

See Jorg Kennis' CD-i FAQ for more information on CD-i.

[2.4.9] Is Enhanced CD compatible with DVD?

Yes. DVD players will play music from Enhanced Music CDs (Blue Book, CD Plus, CD Extra), and DVD-ROM drives will play music and read data from Enhanced CDs. Older ECD formats such as mixed mode and track zero (pregap, hidden track) should also be compatible, but there is a problem with Microsoft and other CD/DVD-ROM drivers skipping track zero.

[2.4.10] Is CD+G compatible with DVD?

Only the Pioneer DVL-9 player and Pioneer karaoke DVD models DV-K800 and DVK-1000 are known to support CD+G. Most other DVD players don't support this mostly obsolete format. All DVD-ROM drives are able to read the CD+G information, but special software is required to make use of it.

[2.4.11] Is CDV compatible with DVD?

Sort of. CDV, sometimes called Video Single, is actually a weird combination of CD and laserdisc. Part of the disc contains 20 minutes of digital audio playable on any CD or DVD player. The other part contains 5 minutes of analog video and digital audio in laserdisc format, playable only on a CDV-compatible laserdisc player. Pioneer's combination DVD/laserdisc players are the only DVD players that can play CDVs.

Standard laserdisc/CDV players can't play DVDs. (See 2.5 for more LD info.)

[2.4.12] Is MP3 compatible with DVD?

Not officially. MP3 is the MPEG Layer 3 audio compression format. (MP3 is not MPEG-3, which doesn't exist.) The DVD-Video spec allows only Layer 2 for MPEG audio (MP2). However, MP3 can be played any computer with a DVD-ROM drive, and many DVD players (particularly those manufactured in Asia) can play MP3 CDs. However, oddly enough, most of the players that can play MP3s from a CD can't play MP3s from a DVD.

[2.4.13] Is HDCD compatible with DVD?

Yes. Pacific Microsonics' HDCD (high-definition compatible digital) is an encoding process that enhances audio CDs so that they play normally in standard CD and DVD players (and allegedly sound better than normal CDs) yet produce an extra 4 bits of precision (20 bits instead of 16) when played on CD and DVD players equipped with HDCD decoders.

[2.5] Is laserdisc compatible with DVD?

No. Standard DVD players will not play laserdiscs, and you can't play a DVD disc on any standard laserdisc player. (Laserdisc uses analog video, DVD uses digital video; they are very different formats.)

Pioneer used to produce combo players that played laserdiscs and DVDs (and also CDVs and audio CDs), but these models have been discontinued.

[2.6] Will DVD replace laserdisc?

When this question was first entered in the FAQ in 1996, before DVD was even available, people wondered if DVD would replace laserdisc. Some argued it never would -- that DVD would fail and it's adherents would come groveling back to laserdisc. After DVD was released, it soon became clear that it had doomed laserdisc to quick obscurity. Pioneer Entertainment, the long-time champion of laserdisc, abandoned it in June of 1999. This was sooner than even Pioneer thought possible, (in September 1998, Pioneer's president Kaneo Ito said the company expected laserdisc products to be in the market for another one-and-a-half to two years).

Laserdisc still fills niches in education and training, but is fading even there. Existing players and discs will be around for a long time, and a few new discs are still being produced. There were once over 9,000 laserdisc titles in the US and a total of over 35,000 titles worldwide that could be played on over 7 million laserdisc players. It took DVD several years to reach this level, and there are still rare titles available on laserdisc but not on DVD. One bright point is that laserdiscs can now be had at bargain prices.

[2.7] How does DVD compare to laserdisc?

• Features: DVD has the same basic features as CLV LD (scan, pause, search) and CAV LD (freeze, slow) and adds branching, multiple camera angles, parental control, video menus, interactivity, etc., although some of these features are not available on all discs.

• Capacity: Single-layer DVD holds over 2 hours, dual-layer holds over 4 hours. CLV LD holds one hour per side, CAV holds half an hour. A CAV laserdisc can hold 104,000 still images. DVD can hold thousands of still pictures accompanied by hundreds of hours of audio and text.

• Convenience: An entire movie fits on one side of a DVD, so there's no need to flip the disc or wait for the player to do it. DVDs are smaller and easier to handle. DVD players can be portable, similar to CD players. Discs can be easily and cheaply sent through the mail. On the other hand, laserdiscs have larger covers for better art and text.

• Noise: Most LD players make a whirring noise that can be heard during quiet segments of a movie. Most DVD players are as quiet as CD players.

• Audio: LD can have better quality on Dolby Surround soundtracks stored in uncompressed PCM format. DVD has better quality on Dolby Digital or music only (PCM). LD has 2 audio tracks: analog and digital. DVD has up to 8 audio tracks. LD uses PCM audio sampled with 16 bits at 44.1 kHz. DVD LPCM audio can use 16, 20, or 24 bit samples at 48 or 96 kHz (although PCM is not used with most movies). LD has surround audio in Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital (AC-3), and DTS formats. 5.1-channel surround sound is available by using one channel of the analog track for AC-3 or both channels of the digital track for DTS. DVD uses the same Dolby Digital surround sound, usually at a higher data rate of 448 kbps, and can optionally include DTS (at data rates up to 1536 kbps compared to LD's 1411 kbps, but in practice DTS data rates are often 768 kbps). DVD players convert Dolby Digital to Dolby Surround. The downmixing, combined with the effects of compression, often results in lower-quality sound than from LD Dolby Surround tracks.

• Video: DVD usually has better video. LD suffers from degradation inherent in analog storage and in the composite NTSC or PAL video signal. DVD uses digital video, and even though it's heavily compressed, most professionals agree that when properly and carefully encoded it's virtually indistinguishable from studio masters. This doesn't mean that the video quality of DVD is always better than LD. Only that it can be better. Also keep in mind that the average television is of insufficient quality to show much difference between LD and DVD. Home theater systems or HDTVs are needed to take full advantage of the improved quality.

• Resolution: In numerical terms DVD has 345,600 pixels (720x480), which is 1.3 times LD's approximately 272,160 pixels (567x480). Widescreen DVD has 1.7 times the pixels of letterboxed LD (or 1.3 times anamorphic LD). As for lines of horizontal resolution, DVD has about 500 while LD has about 425 (more info in 3.4.1). In analog output signal terms, typical luma frequency response maintains full amplitude to between 5.0 and 5.5 MHz. This is below the 6.75 MHz native frequency of the MPEG-2 digital signal. Chroma frequency response is one-half that of luma. Laserdisc frequency response usually begins to fall off at 3 MHz. (All figures are for NTSC, not PAL.)

• Legacy titles: There are some movies on laserdisc that will probably never appear on DVD.

• Availability: DVD players and discs are available for purchase and rental in thousands of outlets and on the Internet. LD players and discs are becoming hard to find.

• Price: Low-cost DVD players are cheaper than the cheapest LD player. Most movies on DVD cost less than on LD.

• Restrictions: For those outside the US, regional coding (see 1.10) is a definite drawback of DVD. For some people Macrovision copy protection (see 1.11) is an annoyance. Laserdisc has no copy protection and does not have regional differences other than PAL vs. NTSC.

For more laserdisc info, see Leopold's FAQ at <www.cs.tut.fi/~leopold/Ld/FAQ/index.html>, and Bob Niland's FAQs and overview at <www.frii.com/~rjn/laser/> (overview reprinted from Widescreen Review magazine).

[2.8] Can I modify or upgrade my laserdisc player to play DVD?

It's not likely. DVD circuitry is completely different, the pickup laser is a different wavelength, the tracking control is more precise, etc. No hardware upgrades have been announced, and in any case they would probably be more expensive than buying a DVD player to put next to the laserdisc player.

[2.9] Does DVD support HDTV (DTV)? Will HDTV make DVD obsolete?

Short answers: Partially. No.

First, some quick definitions: HDTV (high-definition TV) encompasses both analog and digital televisions that have a 16:9 aspect ratio and approximately 5 times the resolution of standard TV (double vertical, double horizontal, wider aspect). DTV (digital TV) applies to digital broadcasts in general and to the U.S. ATSC standard in specific. The ATSC standard includes both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) digital formats. The notation H/DTV is often used to specifically refer to high-definition digital TV.

In December of 1996 the FCC approved the U.S. DTV standard. HDTVs became available in late 1998, but they are very expensive and won't become widespread for many years. DVDs are not HD, but they look great on HDTVs. Over half of the 2 million DTV sets sold in the U.S. in 2002 did not have tuners, indicating that their owners got them for watching DVDs.

DVD-Video does not directly support HDTV. No digital HDTV standards were finalized when DVD was developed. In order to be compatible with existing televisions, DVD's MPEG-2 video resolutions and frame rates are closely tied to NTSC and PAL/SECAM video formats (see 1.19). DVD does use the same 16:9 aspect ratio of HDTV and the Dolby Digital audio format of U.S. DTV.

HDTV in the US is part of the ATSC DTV format. The resolution and frame rates of DTV in the US generally correspond to the ATSC recommendations for SD (640x480 and 704x480 at 24p, 30p, 60p, 60i) and HD (1280x720 at 24p, 20p, and 60p; 1920x1080 at 24p, 30p and 60i). (24p means 24 progressive frames/sec, 60i means 60 interlaced fields/sec [30 frames/sec].) The current DVD-Video spec covers all of SD except 60p. It's expected that future DVD players will output digital video signals from existing discs in SDTV formats. The HD formats are 2.7 and 6 times the resolution of DVD, and the 60p version is twice the frame rate. The ITU-R is working on BT.709 HDTV standards of 1125/60 (1920x1035/30) (same as SMPTE 240M, similar to Japan's analog MUSE HDTV) and 1250/50 (1920x1152/25) which may be used in Europe. The latter is 5.3 times the resolution of DVD's 720x576/25 format. HD maximum data rate is usually 19.4 Mbps, almost twice the maximum DVD-Video data rate. In other words, DVD-Video does not currently support HDTV video content.

HDTV will not make DVD obsolete. Those who postpone purchasing a DVD player because of HDTV are in for a long wait. HDTV became available in late 1998 at very high prices (about $5000 and up). It will take many years before even a small percentage of homes have HDTV sets. The CEA expects 10 percent of U.S. households to have HDTV in 2003, 20 percent by 2005, and 30 percent by 2006.

HDTV sets include analog video connectors (composite, s-video, and component) that work with all DVD players and other existing video equipment such as VCRs. Existing DVD players and discs will work perfectly with HDTV sets and provide a much better picture than any other prerecorded consumer video format, especially when using a progressive-scan player. Since the cheapest route to HDTV reception will be HDTV converters for existing TV sets, broadcast HDTV for many viewers will look no better than DVD.

HDTV displays support digital connections such as HDMI (DVI) and IEEE 1394/FireWire, although standardization is not finished. Digital connections for audio and video provide the best possible reproduction of DVDs, especially in widescreen mode. DVD players will soon have digital outputs, since the DVD Forum finalized specifications for supporting 1394 and HDMI in 2002. When the DVD stream recording (SR) format is finalized, DVD-SR players may be usable as "transports" that output any kind of A/V data (even formats developed after the player was built) to different sorts of external displays or converters.

The interesting thing many people don't realize is that DTV is happening soonest, fastest, and cheapest on PCs. A year before any consumer DTV sets came out you could buy a DVD PC with a 34" VGA monitor and get gorgeous progressive-scan movies for under $3000. The quality of a good DVD PC connected to a data-grade video projector can beat a $30,000 line-doubler system. (See NetTV, BroadbandMagic, and Digital Connection for product examples. Video projectors are available from Barco, Dwin, Electrohome, Faroudja, InFocus, Projectavision, Runco, Sharp, Sony, Vidikron, and others.)

Eventually the DVD-Video format will be upgraded to an "HD-DVD" format. See 2.12 and 6.5.

[2.10] What is Divx?

There are two Divxes. The first was a pay-per-view version of DVD. The second (spelled DivX), is a video encoding format.

The new DivX

In March 2000, a DVD redistribution technology called DivX;-) appeared. (Yes, the smiley face was originally part of the name, which was a take-off on the original Divx format. The perpetrators should be drawn and quartered for the stupid joke, which has caused untold confusion.) DivX was originally a simple hack of Microsoft's MPEG-4 video codec, combined with MP3 audio, allowing decrypted video from a DVD to be re-encoded for downloading and playing in Windows Media Player. Work on DivX evolved through Project Mayo and a version originally called DivX Deux into an open-source initiative known as OpenDivX, based on the MPEG-4 standard. Out of all this came DivXNetworks, a company that has turned DivX into an extensive video encoding and delivery system. There's also an open-source variation called 3ivx.

The original Divx

Depending on whom you ask, Divx (Digital Video Express, first known as ZoomTV) was either an insidious evil scheme for greedy studios to control what you see in your own living room or an innovative approach to video rental that would have offered cheap discs you could get almost anywhere and keep for later viewings.

Developed by Circuit City and a Hollywood law firm, Divx was supported by Disney (Buena Vista), Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, Universal, MGM, and DreamWorks SKG, all of which also released discs in "open DVD" format, since the Divx agreement was non-exclusive. Harman/Kardon, JVC, Kenwood, Matsushita (Panasonic), Pioneer, Thomson (RCA/Proscan/GE), and Zenith announced Divx players, though some never came to market. (Divx models are Panasonic X410, Proscan PS8680Z, RCA RC5230Z and RC5231Z, and Zenith DVX2100.) The studios and hardware makers supporting Divx were given incentives in the form of guaranteed licensing payments totaling over $110 million. Divx discs were manufactured by Nimbus, Panasonic, and Pioneer. Circuit City lost over $114 million (after tax writeoffs) on Divx.

Divx was a pay-per-viewing-period variation of DVD. Divx discs sold for $4.50. Once inserted into a Divx player the disc would play normally (allowing the viewer to pause, rewind, even put in another disc before finishing the first disc) for the next 48 hours, after which the "owner" had to pay $3.25 to unlock it for another 48 hours. A Divx DVD player, which cost about $100 more than a regular player, had to be hooked up to a phone line so it could call an 800 number for about 20 seconds during the night once each month (or after playing 10 or so discs) to upload billing information. Most Divx discs could be converted to DivxSilver status by paying an additional fee (usually $20) to allow unlimited plays on a single account (as of Dec 1998, 85% of Divx discs were convertible). Unlimited-playback DivxGold discs were announced but never produced. Divx players can also play regular DVD discs, but Divx discs do not play in standard DVD players. Divx discs are serialized (with a barcode in the standard Burst Cutting Area) and in addition to normal DVD copy protection (see 1.11) they employ watermarking of the video, modified channel modulation, and triple DES encryption (three 56-bit keys) of serial communications. Divx technology never worked on PCs, which undoubtedly contributed to its demise. Because of the DES encryption, Divx technology may not have been allowed outside the U.S.

Divx was originally announced for summer 1998 release. Limited trials began June 8, 1998 in San Francisco, CA and Richmond, VA. The only available player was from Zenith (which at the time was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy), and the promised 150 movies had dwindled to 14. The limited nationwide rollout (with one Zenith player model and 150 movies in 190 stores) began on September 25, 1998. By the end of 1998 about 87,000 Divx players (from four models available) and 535,000 Divx discs were sold (from about 300 titles available). The company apparently counted the five discs bundled with each player, which means 100,000 additional discs were sold. By March 1999, 420 Divx titles were available (compared to over 3,500 open DVD titles). All things considered, Divx players were selling well and titles were being produced with impressive speed.

On June 16, 1999, less than a year after initial product trials, Circuit City withdrew its support and Divx announced that it was closing down. Divx did not confuse or delay development of the DVD market nearly as much as many people predicted (including yours truly). In fact, it probably helped by stimulating Internet rental companies to provide better services and prices, by encouraging manufacturers to offer more free discs with player purchases, and by motivating studios to develop rental programs.

When it closed down, the company offered $100 rebate coupons to all owners of Divx players. This made the players a good deal, since they can play open DVDs just as well as other low-end players that cost more. On July 7th, 2001, Divx players dialed into the central billing computer, which decommissioned them. (Divx players not connected to phone lines have expired their playback allowance.) Divx discs are no longer playable in any players.

For more information see the Divx Owner's Association.

Advantages of Divx:

• Viewing could be delayed, unlike rentals.

• Discs need not be returned. No late fees.

• You could watch the movie again for a small fee. Initial cost of "owning" a disc was reduced.

• Discs could be unlocked for unlimited viewing (Divx Silver), an inexpensive way to preview before deciding to purchase.

• The disc is new; no damage from previous renters.

• The "rental" market was opened up to other retailers, including mail order.

• Studios got more control over the use of their content.

• You received special offers from studios in your Divx mailbox.

• Divx players (with better quality and features than comparable players) were a steal after Divx went out of business.

Disadvantages of Divx :

• Higher player cost (about $100 more at first, about $50 later).

• Although discs did not have to be returned, the viewer still had to go to the effort of purchasing the disc. Cable/satellite pay per view is more convenient.

• Higher cost than for regular DVD rental ($3 to $7 vs. $2 to $4). There were few obstacles to the company raising prices later, since it had a monopoly.

• Casual quick viewing (looking for a name in the credits, playing a favorite scene, watching supplements) required paying a fee.

• Most Divx titles were pan & scan (see 3.5) without extras such as foreign language tracks, subtitles, biographies, trailers, and commentaries.

• The player had to be hooked to your phone line, possibly requiring a new jack in your living room or a phone extension cable strung across it. (Players required a connection once a month or so, so you could periodically connect it to a phone line.)

• Divx couldn't be used in mobile environments, such as a van or RV, unless you took it out and connected it to a phone line about once a month.

• The Divx central computer collected information about your viewing habits, as do cable/satellite pay-per-view services and large rental chains. (According to Divx, the law did not allow them to use the information for resale and marketing.)

• Divx players included a "mailbox" for companies to send you unsolicited offers (i.e., spam).

• Those who didn't lock out their Divx player could receive unexpected bills when their kids or visitors played Divx discs.

• Divx discs wouldn't play in regular DVD players or on PCs with DVD-ROM drives. Some uninformed consumers bought Divx discs only to find they wouldn't play in their non-Divx player.

• Unlocked Silver discs would only work in players on the same account. Playback in a friend's Divx player would incur a charge. (Gold discs, which were never released, would have played without charge in all Divx players.)

• There was no market for used Divx discs.

• Divx discs are unplayable after June 2001.

• Divx players were never available outside the U.S. and Canada.

[2.11] How can I record from DVD to videotape?

Why in the world would you want to degrade DVD's beautiful digital picture by copying it to analog tape? Especially since you lose the interactive menus and other nice features.

If you really want to copy to VHS, hook the audio/video outputs of the DVD player to the audio/video inputs of your VCR, then record the disc to tape. You'll discover that most of the time the resulting tape is garbled and unwatchable. This is because of the Macrovision feature designed to prevent you from doing this. See 1.11.

[2.12] Will high-definition DVD or 720p DVD make current players and discs obsolete?

Not for a long time. HD-DVD "technology demonstrations" being made by various companies do not mean that HD-DVD is around the corner (the demonstrations mean only that companies are busy jockeying for technology and patent positions in developing the future DVD format). Consider that U.S. HDTV was anticipated to be available in 1989, yet was not finalized until 1996, and did not appear until 1998. And has it made your current TV obsolete yet?

HD-DVD (HD stands for both high-density and high-definition) may be available in 2003 at the very earliest, though 2006 is more likely. It will use blue or violet lasers to read smaller pits, increasing data capacity to around 20 GB per layer. MPEG-2 Progressive Profile--or perhaps another format such as H.263--will probably be used to encode the video. All ATSC and DVB formats will be supported, possibly with the addition of 1080p24. HD-DVD players will play current DVD discs and will make them look even better (with progressive-scan video and picture processing), but new HD-DVD discs won't be playable in older DVD players (unless one side is HD and the other standard DVD).

See 6.5 for more on the future of DVD.

Ironically, computers will support HDTV before settop players do, since 2x DVD-ROM drives coupled with appropriate playback and display hardware meet the 19 Mbps data rate needed for HDTV. This has led to various "720p DVD" projects, which use the existing DVD format to store video in 1280x720 resolution at 24 progressive frames per second. It's possible that 720p DVDs can be made compatible with existing players (which would only play the 480-line line data).

Note: The term HDVD has already been taken for "high-density volumetric display."

Some have speculated that a "double-headed" player reading both sides of the disc at the same time could double the data rate or provide an enhancement stream for applications such as HDTV. This is currently impossible since the track spirals go in opposite directions (unless all four layers are used). The DVD spec would have to be changed to allow reverse spirals on layer 0. Even then, keeping both sides in sync, especially with MPEG-2's variable bit rate, would require independently tracking heads, precise track and pit spacing, and a larger, more sophisticated track buffer. Another option would be to use two heads to read both layers of one side simultaneously. This is technically feasible but has no advantage over reading one layer twice as fast, which is simpler and cheaper.

See 2.9 for more information about HDTV and DVD.

[2.13] What effect will FMD have on DVD?

Very little, as predicted in this FAQ. Constellation 3D ran out of money in mid 2002. The various reports of fluorescent multilayer disc (FMD) causing the early death of DVD were wildly exaggerated and not founded in reality.

Fluorescent multilayer technology, which can be used in cards or discs, aims a laser at fluorescent dye, causing it to emit light. Since it doesn't depend on reflected laser light, it's possible to create many data layers (C3D prototyped 50 layers in its lab). It can use the same 650 nm laser as DVD, so FMD drives could be made to read DVDs. In June 2000, C3D announced a program to make FMDs with 25 GB per side that would be readable by DVD drives with a "minor and inexpensive modification." C3D later said players would be available by mid 2001. FMD was very cool technology, but it was new, with no track record, developed by one small company. DVD is based on decades of optical storage technology development by dozens of companies. The monumental task of changing entire production infrastructures over to a new format was too much for C3D, even with tens of millions of dollars and some large partners.

[2.14] How does MPEG-4 affect DVD?

MPEG-4 is a video encoding standard designed primarily for low-data rate streaming video, although it's actually more efficient than MPEG-2 at DVD and HDTV data rates. MPEG-4 also provides for advanced multimedia with media objects, but most implementations only support simple video (Simple Visual Profile). 

DVD uses MPEG-2 video encoding (see 3.4 for details). Standard DVD players don't recognize the MPEG-4 video format. MPEG-4 files can be stored on DVD-ROM for use on computers. For example, Divx;-) uses MPEG-4 (see 4.8).

It's possible that MPEG-4 will be used in a future, high-definition version of DVD. It's also possible that a similar format such as H.263 will be used for the next generation of DVD. In any case, it will probably not appear before 2004 at the earliest.

For more about MPEG, see Tristan's MPEG.org site and the MPEG home page.

[2.15] What's WebDVD?

WebDVD is the simple concept of combining DVD content with Internet technology. It combines the best of DVD (fast access to high-quality video, audio, and data) with the best of the Internet (interactivity, dynamic updates, and communication). In general, WebDVD refers to enhancing a DVD with HTML pages and links, or enhancing a Web site with content from a local DVD drive. WebDVD is not a trademarked term of AOL-Warner, Microsoft, or any other company. Variations on the WebDVD concept are known as iDVD, eDVD, Connected DVD, and so on. It's not a new idea --it's been done with CD-ROM for years-- but the differences with DVD are that the quality of the audio and video are finally better than TV, and the discs can be played in low-cost settop players. Almost all WebDVD implementations are currently for PCs, but new players such as Nuon-based models are adding WebDVD features.

Most major authoring systems (see 5.4) include rudimentary tools for adding HTML enhancements to DVD. For fancier WebDVD development there are a variety of tools; see 4.9.

For more on WebDVD, see Phil DeLancie's EMedia article. Good examples of WebDVD sites are Mars: The Red Planet, Stargaze, and DVD Demystified. The authors of these sites (Ralph LaBarge and Jim Taylor) encourage you to copy their code as a starting place for your own WebDVD creations.

[2.16] What's a Nuon player?

Nuon was a specialized "media processor" chip, designed by VM Labs, that was powerful enough to play DVDs and video games. The chip was originally intended for video game consoles, but was hitched to DVD's wagon when the game market prospects dried up and the DVD market exploded. Some DVD players from Samsung, Thomson (RCA), and Toshiba were built on Nuon technology. The extra processing power in a Nuon player enabled special features such as graphical overlays, digital zoom, and live thumbnails. Some DVD movies were produced with added content designed specifically for the Nuon platform. As of the beginning of 2002 there were four Nuon-enhanced DVD movies: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (Special Edition), Bedazzled, Dr. Doolittle 2, and Planet of the Apes.

In December 2001 VM Labs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and in March 2002 the company's assets were purchased by Genesis Microchip. A new division, Nuon Semiconductor, was formed to market Nuon chips under the Aries name. On July 24, 2002, Genesis laid off the entire Nuon division.

[3] DVD technical details

[3.1] What are the outputs of a DVD player?

Video outputs

Most DVD players have the following video output connections, which can carry an NTSC, PAL, or SECAM signal.

• Composite video (CVBS). Standard yellow RCA video plug. Combines all three video signals into one.

• S-video (Y/C). 4-pin round plug. Separates brightness signal (Y) from two color signals (C).

• European players combine both of these signals, and others, into a 21-pin rectangular SCART connector.

Some players may have additional video connections:

• Component interlaced analog video (EIA 770.1). Keeps all three video signals separate.
  - Y'PbPr format: 3 RCA or BNC connectors.
  - RGB (or RGBS or RGBHV) format: SCART connector or 3, 4, or 5 RCA or BNC connectors.

• Component progressive analog video. Keeps all three video signals separate.
  - Y'PbPr format: 3 RCA connectors.
  - RGB (or RGBS or RGBHV) format: SCART connector or 3, 4, or 5 RCA or BNC connectors.

• RF video. For connecting the TV antenna input on channel 3 or 4.
  - Screw-on, 75-ohm, F-type connector. May require an adapter for TVs that have 300-ohm, two-screw, antenna wire connectors.

Most of the DVD players with component video outputs use YUV (Y'PbPr), which is incompatible with RGB equipment. European players with SCART connectors have RGBS outputs. YUV to RGB transcoders are rumored to be available for $200-$300, but seem hard to track down. A $700 converter is available from avscience, and $900 converter, the CVC 100, is available from Extron. Converters are also available from Altinex, Kramer, Monster Cable, and others. For progressive scan you need a converter that can handle 31.5 kHz signals. Converters from s-video are also an option (Markertek Video Supply, 800-522-2025).

Note: The correct term for analog color-difference output is Y'Pb'Pr', not Y'Cb'Cr' (which is digital, not analog). To simplify things, this FAQ sometimes uses the term YUV in the generic sense to refer to analog color difference signals.

No consumer DVD players have yet been announced with digital video outputs, but digital output will soon be available using HDMI or IEEE 1394 (FireWire) connectors. There are specialty players from Function Communications, Theta Digital, and Vigatec with SDI (serial digital interface) output, but they connect only to high-end or production equipment.

Audio outputs

Most DVD players have the following audio output connections.

• Analog stereo audio. May have Dolby Surround encoding, depending on the disc.  
  - Two RCA connectors, red and white.

• Digital audio. 1 to 5.1 channels. Raw digital audio in PCM, MLP, Dolby Digital (AC-3), DTS, or MPEG-2 format. Requires an amplifier/receiver with a built-in decoder (or a separate external decoder).
  - S/P DIF coax format: RCA connector. (IEC-958 Type II)
  - Toslink format: square optical connector. (EIAJ CP-340 and EIAJ CP-1201)

Some players may have additional audio connections:

• Multichannel analog audio. Requires a multichannel-ready or "Dolby Digital ready" amplifier/receiver with 6 inputs.
  - Six RCA connectors or one DB-25 connectors.

• AC-3 RF audio. Only on combination LD/DVD players. Only carries audio from AC-3 laserdiscs.
  - One RCA connector.

• High-resolution digital audio.
  - 1394 (FireWire): rectangular connector. Requires a receiver with 1394 audio input.

Some players and receivers support only S/P DIF or only Toslink. If your player and receiver don't match, you'll need a converter such as the Audio Authority 977 Midiman C02, COP 1, or POF.

Some players can output 96/24 PCM audio using a non-standard variation of IEC-958 running at 6.2 MHz (6.144 Mbps) instead of the normal limit of 3.1 MHz. Note: The CSS license does not allow digital PCM output of CSS-protected material at 96 kHz. The player must downsample to 48 kHz. The Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai is the only DVD player (as of Sep 2002) with DTCP-protected 1394 output for full, multichannel 96/24 and 192/24 PCM.

[3.2] How do I hook up a DVD player?

It depends on your audio/video system and your DVD player. Most DVD players have 2 or 3 video hookup options and 3 audio hookup options. Choose the output format with the best quality (indicated below) that is supported by your video and audio systems. See 3.1 for output connector details.

On many TVs you will need to switch the TV to auxiliary input (line input). You might need to tune it to channel 0 to make this work.

If you want to hook multiple devices (DVD player, VCR, cable/satellite box, WebTV, etc.) to a single TV, you need one of the following:

• a TV with multiple inputs

• a manual audio/video switchbox (~$30 at electronics suppliers such as Comtrad)

• an A/V receiver (to switch between video sources via remote control). If you plan on getting an A/V receiver, make sure it can handle the video format you want to use (component or s-video).

Video hookup (pick one from the list)

• S-video (very good quality): Almost all players have s-video output. S-video looks much better than composite video and is only slightly inferior to component video. Hook an s-video cable from the player to the display (or to an A/V receiver that can switch s-video). The round, 4-pin connector may be labeled Y/C, s-video, or S-VHS.

• Composite video (ok quality): All DVD players have standard RCA (Cinch) baseband video connectors. Hook a standard video cable from the player to the display (or to an A/V receiver ). The connectors are usually yellow and may be labeled video, CVBS, composite, or baseband.

• Component video (best quality): Some U.S. and Japanese players have interlaced component YUV (Y'Pb'Pr') video output. Connectors may be labeled YUV, color difference, YPbPr, or Y/B-Y/R-Y, and may be colored green/blue/red. (Some players incorrectly label the output as YCbCr.) Some players have RGB component video output via a 21-pin SCART connector or 3 RCA or BNC connectors labeled R/G/B. Hook cables from the three video outputs of the player to the three video inputs of the display, or hook a SCART cable from the player to the display.
  Note: There is no standardization on the output interface format (voltage and setup). Players apparently use SMPTE 253M (286 mV sync, 0% luma setup with 700 mV peak, +/-300 mV color excursion), Betacam (286 mV sync, 7.5% luma setup with 714 mV peak, +/-350 mV color excursion), M-II (300 mV sync, 7.5% luma setup with 700 mV peak, +/-324.5 mV color excursion), or non-standard variations. Note that outputs with zero IRE setup can provide a wider range of luma values for a slightly better picture. For equipment with RGB input, a YUV converter is usually needed. See section 3.1.

• Progressive video (very best quality): A few players have progressive-scan YUV (Y'Pb'Pr') or RGB (European players only) component video output. Hook decent-quality cables from the three video outputs of the player to the three video inputs of a progressive-scan line multiplier or a progressive-scan TV. Toshiba's version is called ColorStream PRO. Progressive video  preserves the progressive nature of most movies, providing a film-like, flicker-free image with improved vertical resolution and smoother motion. DVD computers can also produce progressive video from DVD. In this case, use a 15-pin computer video cable to connect the VGA output of the PC to the VGA input of a monitor or projector. If the projector only has RGB or YPbPr inputs, you'll need a converter such as the Audio Authority 9A60.
  See 1.40, 2.12, and 4.1 for more information on progressive video.

• RF video (worst quality): You should use this connection only if you have an old TV that has only a screw-on antenna input. Most DVD players don't have RF output, so you will probably need to buy an RF modulator (~$30 at Radio Shack or Comtrad). (See warning below about using a VCR as an RF modulator.) If the player has built-in RF output it will include audio, although it may only be mono. Connect a coax cable from the yellow video output of the player to the input of the modulator. If you are not hooking the player up to a separate stereo system, then connect a coax cable from the left audio output of the player to the audio input of the modulator. (If you have a stereo modulator, connect another cable for the right channel.) Connect a coax antenna cable from the modulator to the TV. You may need a 300 ohm to 75 ohm adapter (to switch between a two-wire antenna connection and a threaded coax connection). Tune the TV to channel 3 or 4 and set the switch on the modulator or the back of the player to match. If you also want to hook up a VCR, connect an antenna cable from the output of the VCR to the antenna input of the modulator.

Warning: If you connect your DVD player to a VCR and then to your TV (or to a combination TV/VCR), you will probably have problems with discs that enable the player's Macrovision circuit. See 3.2.1.

Warning: Some video projectors don't recognize the 4.43 NTSC signal from NTSC discs in PAL players (see 1.19). They see the 60Hz scanning frequency and switch to NSTC even though the color subcarrier is in PAL format.

Note: Most DVD players support widescreen signaling, which tells a widescreen display what the aspect ratio is so that it can automatically adjust. One standard (ITU-R BT.1119, used mostly in Europe) includes information in a video scanline. Another standard, for Y/C connectors, adds a 5V DC signal to the chroma line to designate a widescreen signal. Unfortunately, some switchers and amps throw away the DC component instead of passing it on to the TV.

For more information on conversions between formats, see the amazing Notes on Video Conversion from the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ.

Audio hookup (pick one from the list)

Note: All DVD players have a built-in 2-channel Dolby Digital (AC-3) decoder. Some can also decode MPEG audio or DTS audio. The decoder translates multichannel audio into 2-channel PCM audio. This goes to the digital output and also converted to analog for standard audio output. Some players have a built-in multichannel Dolby Digital decoder, but it's only useful if you have an audio system with multichannel analog inputs. See 3.6.3 for more explanation.

• Analog audio (2-channel stereo/surround) (ok quality): All DVD players include two RCA connectors for stereo output. Any disc with multichannel audio is automatically decoded and downmixed to Dolby Surround output for connection to a regular stereo system or a Dolby Surround/Pro Logic system. Connect two audio cables between the player and a receiver, amplifier, or TV. Connectors may be labeled audio or left/right; left is usually white, right is usually red. If your TV has only one audio input, connect the left channel from the DVD player.

• Digital audio (best quality): Almost all DVD players have digital audio outputs. The same output can carry Dolby Digital (AC-3), PCM audio (including PCM from CDs), MLP audio (from DVD-Audio discs), DTS, and MPEG-2 audio (PAL/SECAM players only). For PCM, a digital receiver or an outboard DAC is required. For all other formats, the appropriate decoder is required in the receiver/amplifier or as a separate audio processor. For example, to play a disc with a Dolby Digital soundtrack using a digital audio connection, the receiver has to have the Dolby Digital feature. DTS discs require a player with the "DTS Digital Out" mark (older players don't recognize DTS tracks), however, all DVD players can play DTS CDs if a DTS decoder is connected to the digital output (PCM signal). Some DVD players have coax connectors (SP/DIF), some have fiber-optic connectors (Toslink), and many have both. There are endless arguments over which of these is better. Coax seems to have more advocates, since it's inherently simpler. Optical cable is not affected by electromagnetic interference, but it's more fragile and can't curve tightly. Suffice it to say that since the signal is digital, a quality cable of either type will provide similar results. Hook a 75-ohm coax cable or a fiber-optic cable between the player and the receiver/processor. (You might need a converter, see 3.1.) 
  Some players provide separate connectors for Dolby Digital/DTS/MPEG and PCM. On others, you may need to select the desired output format using the player setup menu or a switch on the back of the player. If you try to feed Dolby Digital or DTS to digital receiver that doesn't recognize it, you'll get no audio.
  Note: Make sure you use a quality cable; a cheap RCA patch cable may cause the audio to sound poor or not work at all.
  Note: Connecting to the AC-3/RF (laserdisc) input will not work unless your receiver/decoder can autoswitch, since DVD digital audio is not in RF format (see below).

• Component analog audio (excellent quality): Some players provide 6-channel analog output from the internal Dolby Digital or DTS decoder. A few provide 7-channel output from 6.1 tracks. The digital-to-analog conversion quality in the player may be better or worse than in an external decoder. A receiver/amplifier with 6 or 7 inputs (or more than one amplifier) is required; this type of unit is often called "Dolby Digital ready" or "AC-3 ready." Unfortunately, in many cases you won't be able to adjust the volume of individual channels or perform bass management. Hook 6 (or 7) audio cables to the RCA connectors on the player and to the matching connectors on the receiver/amplifier. Some receivers require an adapter cable with a DB-25 connector on one end and RCA connectors on the other.
  Note: Until there is a digital connection standard, the only way to get multichannel PCM output from DVD-Audio players will be with analog connections or proprietary connections. If you plan to get a DVD-Audio player, you'll need a receiver with analog multichannel inputs.

• RF digital audio (laserdisc only): Combination LD/DVD players include AC-3 RF output for digital audio from laserdiscs. Hook a coax cable to the AC-3 RF input of the receiver/processor. Note: digital audio from DVDs does not come out of the RF output, it comes out of the optical/coax outputs. Analog audio from LDs will come out the stereo connectors, so three separate audio hookups are required to cover all variations.

[3.2.1] Will I have problems connecting my VCR between my TV and my DVD player?

It's not a good idea to route the video from your DVD player through your VCR. Most movies use Macrovision protection (see 1.11), which affects VCRs and causes problems such as a repeated darkening and lightening of the picture. If your TV doesn't have a direct video input, you may need a separate RF converter (see 3.2). Or better yet, get a new TV with s-video inputs.

You may also have problems with a TV/VCR combo, since many of them route the video input through the VCR circuitry. The only solution is to get a box to strip Macrovision (see 1.11). 

[3.2.2] Why is the audio or video bad?

The number one cause of bad video is a poorly adjusted TV. The high fidelity of DVD video demands much more from the display. Turn the sharpness and brightness down. See 1.3 for more information. For technical details of TV calibration, see Anthony Haukap's FAQ: How To Adjust a TV.

If you get audio hum or noisy video, it's probably caused by interference or a ground loop. Try a shorter cable. Make sure the cable is adequately shielded. Try turning off all equipment except the pieces you are testing. Try moving things farther apart. Try plugging into a different circuit. Wrap your entire house in tinfoil. Make sure all equipment is plugged into the same outlet. For more on ground loops, see <www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/docs/groundloop/>. More information for repair technicians is available at Shophelper.

[3.3] What are the sizes and capacities of DVD?

There are many variations on the DVD theme. There are two physical sizes: 12 cm (4.7 inches) and 8 cm (3.1 inches), both 1.2 mm thick, made of two 0.6mm substrates glued together. These are the same form factors as CD. A DVD disc can be single-sided or double-sided. Each side can have one or two layers of data. The amount of video a disc can hold depends on how much audio accompanies it and how heavily the video and audio are compressed. The oft-quoted figure of 133 minutes is apocryphal: a DVD with only one audio track easily holds over 160 minutes, and a single layer can actually hold up to 9 hours of video and audio if it's compressed to VHS quality.

At a rough average rate of 4.7 Mbps (3.5 Mbps for video, 1.2 Mbps for three 5.1-channel soundtracks), a single-layer DVD can hold a little over two hours. A two-hour movie with two soundtracks can average 5.2 Mbps (with 4 Mbps for video). A dual-layer disc can hold a two-hour movie at an average of 9.5 Mbps (close to the 10.08 Mbps limit).

A DVD-Video disc containing mostly audio can play for 13 hours (24 hours with dual layers) using 48/16 PCM (slightly better than CD quality). It can play 160 hours of audio (or a whopping 295 hours with dual layers) using Dolby Digital 64 kbps compression of monophonic audio, which is perfect for audio books.

Capacities of DVD:

For reference, a CD-ROM holds about 650 megabytes, which is 0.64 gigabytes or 0.68 billion bytes. In the list below, SS/DS means single-/double-sided, SL/DL/ML means single-/dual-/mixed-layer (mixed means single layer on one side, double layer on the other side), gig means gigabytes (2^30), BB means billions of bytes (10^9). See note about giga vs. billion in section 7.2.

Tip: It takes about two gigabytes to store one hour of average video.

The increase in capacity from CD-ROM is due to: 1) smaller pit length (~2.08x), 2) tighter tracks (~2.16x), 3) slightly larger data area (~1.02x), 4) more efficient channel bit modulation (~1.06x), 5) more efficient error correction (~1.32x), 6) less sector overhead (~1.06x). Total increase for a single layer is about 7 times a standard CD-ROM. There's a slightly different explanation at <www.mpeg.org/MPEG/DVD/General/Gain.html>.

The capacity of a dual-layer disc is slightly less than double that of a single-layer disc. The laser has to read "through" the outer layer to the inner layer (a distance of 20 to 70 microns). To reduce inter-layer crosstalk, the minimum pit length of both layers is increased from 0.4 um to 0.44 um. To compensate, the reference scanning velocity is slightly faster -- 3.84 m/s, as opposed to 3.49 m/s for single layer discs. Longer pits, spaced farther apart, are easier to read correctly and are less susceptible to jitter. The increased length means fewer pits per revolution, which results in reduced capacity per layer.

Note: Older versions of Windows that use FAT16 instead of UDF, FAT32, or NTFS to read a DVD may run into problems with the 4 gigabyte volume size limit. FAT16 also has a 2 gigabyte file size limit, while FAT32 has a 4 gigabyte file size limit. (NTFS has a 2 terabyte limit, so we're ok there for a while.)

See 4.3 for details of writable DVD. More info on disc specifications and manufacturing can be found at Disctronics, Cinram. Panasonic, Technicolor, and other disc replicator sites. 

[3.3.1] When will double-sided, dual-layer discs (DVD-18) be available?

The first commercial DVD-18 title, The Stand, was released in October 1999. It will still take a while for these super-size discs to become common. A DVD-18 requires a completely different way of creating two layers. A single-sided, dual-layer disc (DVD-9) is produced by putting one data layer on each substrate and gluing the halves together with transparent adhesive so that the pickup laser can read both layers from one side. But in order to get four layers, each substrate needs to hold two. This requires stamping a second data layer on top of the first, a much more complicated prospect. Even after new equipment is developed and installed in production lines, the yield (number of usable discs compared to bad discs) will be quite low until the process is fine tuned.

WAMO and others continue to announce progress with DVD-18 processes, but given how long it took for production of dual-layer, single-sided discs to become practical, it will take even longer before the yields of DS/DL discs can meet the replication demands of mainstream movie distribution, especially since low yields mean higher replication costs. In the interim we'll see DVD-14s (two layers on one side, one layer on the other side), since they're a little easier to produce.

(My prediction in this FAQ, as of December 1998, was that we wouldn't see commercial DVD-18 discs until fall 1999, in spite of many rumors that they would appear sooner.)

[3.4] What are the video details?

DVD-Video is an application of DVD-ROM. DVD-Video is also an application of MPEG-2. This means the DVD format defines subsets of these standards to be applied in practice as DVD-Video. DVD-ROM can contain any desired digital information, but DVD-Video is limited to certain data types designed for television reproduction.

A disc has one track (stream) of MPEG-2 constant bit rate (CBR) or variable bit rate (VBR) compressed digital video. A restricted version of MPEG-2 Main Profile at Main Level (MP@ML) is used. SP@ML is also supported. MPEG-1 CBR and VBR video is also allowed. 525/60 (NTSC, 29.97 interlaced frames/sec) and 625/50 (PAL, 25 interlaced frames/sec) video display systems are expressly supported. Coded frame rates of 24 fps progressive from film, 25 fps interlaced from PAL video, and 29.97 fps interlaced from NTSC video are typical. MPEG-2 progressive_sequence is not allowed, but interlaced sequences can contain progressive pictures and progressive macroblocks. In the case of 24 fps source, the encoder embeds MPEG-2 repeat_first_field flags into the video stream to make the decoder either perform 2-3 pulldown for 60Hz (59.94) displays or 2-2 pulldown (with resulting 4% speedup) for 50Hz displays. In other words, the player doesn't really "know" what the encoded rate is, it simply follows the MPEG-2 encoder's instructions to produce the predetermined display rate of 25 fps or 29.97 fps. (Very few players convert from PAL to NTSC or NTSC to PAL. See 1.19.)

Because film transfers for NTSC and PAL usually use the same coded picture rate (24 fps) but PAL resolution is higher, the PAL version takes more space on the disc. Raw increase before encoding is 20% (576/480), but the final result is closer to 15%, depending on encoder efficiency. This translates to a loss of 600 to 700 megabytes on PAL discs compared to NTSC discs. 

It's interesting to note that even interlaced source video is often encoded as progressive-structured MPEG pictures, with interlaced field-encoded macroblocks used only when needed for motion. A computer can mostly ignore the repeat_first_field flags and re-interleave (weave) the video fields back into full-resolution progressive frames, which works especially well at 72 Hz refresh rate (3x24). Computers can improve the quality of interlaced source by doubling the lines in fields (bobbing) and displaying them as progressive frames at twice the normal rate. Most film source is encoded progressive (the inverse telecine process in the encoder removes duplicate 2-3 pulldown fields from videotape source); most video sources are encoded interlaced. These may be mixed on the same disc, such as an interlaced logo followed by a progressive movie. 

See 3.8 for an explanation of progressive and interlaced scanning. See 1.40 for progressive-scan players. See the MPEG page <www.mpeg.org> for more information on MPEG-2 video.

Picture dimensions are max 720x480 (for 525/60 NTSC display) or 720x576 (for 625/50 PAL/SECAM display). Pictures are subsampled from 4:2:2 ITU-R BT.601 down to 4:2:0, allocating an average of 12 bits/pixel in Y'CbCr format. (Color depth is 24 bits, since color samples are shared across 4 pixels.) DVD pixels are not square. The uncompressed source is 124.416 Mbps for video source (720x480x12x30 or 720x576x12x25), or either 99.533 or 119.439 Mbps for film source (720x480x12x24 or 720x576x12x24). In analog output terms, lines of horizontal resolution is usually around 500, but can go up to 540 (see 3.4.1). Typical luma frequency response maintains full amplitude to between 5.0 and 5.5 MHz. This is below the 6.75 MHz native frequency of the MPEG-2 digital signal (in other words, most players fall short of reproducing the full quality of DVD). Chroma frequency response is half that of luma.

Allowable picture resolutions are:
MPEG-2, 525/60 (NTSC): 720x480, 704x480, 352x480
MPEG-2, 625/50 (PAL): 720x576, 704x576, 352x576
MPEG-1, 525/60 (NTSC): 352x240
MPEG-1, 625/50 (PAL): 352x288

Different players use different numbers of bits for the video digital-to-analog converter. Current best-quality players use 10 bits. This has nothing to do with the MPEG decoding process, since each original component signal is limited to 8 bits per sample. More bits in the player provide more "headroom" and more signal levels during digital-to-analog conversion, which can help produce a better picture.

Maximum video bit rate is 9.8 Mbps. The "average" video bit rate is 3.5 but depends entirely on the length, quality, amount of audio, etc. This is a 36:1 reduction from uncompressed 124 Mbps video source (or a 28:1 reduction from 100 Mbps film source). Raw channel data is read off the disc at a constant 26.16 Mbps. After 8/16 demodulation it's down to 13.08 Mbps. After error correction the user data stream goes into the track buffer at a constant 11.08 Mbps. The track buffer feeds system stream data out at a variable rate of up to 10.08 Mbps. After system overhead, the maximum rate of combined elementary streams (audio + video + subpicture) is 10.08. MPEG-1 video rate is limited to 1.856 Mbps with a typical rate of 1.15 Mbps.

Still frames (encoded as MPEG-2 I-frames) are supported and can be displayed for a specific amount of time or indefinitely. These are generally used for menus. Still frames can be accompanied by audio.

A disc also can have up to 32 subpicture streams that overlay the video for subtitles, captions for the hard of hearing, captions for children, karaoke, menus, simple animation, etc. These are full-screen, run-length-encoded bitmaps with two bits per pixel, giving four color values and four transparency values. For each group of subpictures, four colors are selected from a palette of 16 (from the YCbCr gamut), and four contrast values are selected out of 16 levels from transparent to opaque. Subpicture display command sequences can be used to create effects such as scroll, move, color/highlight, and fade. The maximum subpicture data rate is 3.36 Mbps, with a maximum size per frame of 53220 bytes.

In addition to subtitles in subpicture streams, DVD also supports NTSC Closed Captions. Closed Caption text is stored in the video stream as MPEG-2 user data (in packet headers) and is regenerated by the player as a line-21 analog waveform in the video signal, which then must be decoded by a Closed Caption decoder in the television. Although the DVD-Video spec mentions NTSC only, there is no technical reason PAL/SECAM DVD players could not be made to output the Closed Caption text in World System Teletext (WST) format; the only trick is to deal with frame rate differences. Unfortunate note: DVD Closed Caption MPEG-2 storage format is slightly different than the ATSC format. See 1.45 for more about Closed Captions.

[3.4.1] What does "lines of resolution" mean?

Everyone gets confused by the term "lines of horizontal resolution," also known as LoHR or TVL. It's a carryover from analog video, it's poorly understood, it's inconsistently measured and reported by manufacturers, but we're stuck with it until all video is digital and we can just report resolution in pixels.

Technically, lines of horizontal resolution refers to visually resolvable vertical lines per picture height. In other words, it's measured by counting the number of vertical black and white lines that can be distinguished an area that is as wide as the picture is high. The idea is to make the measurement independent of the aspect ratio. Lines of horizontal resolution applies both to television displays and to signal formats such as that produced by a DVD player. Most TVs have ludicrously high numbers listed for their horizontal resolution.

Since DVD has 720 horizontal pixels (on both NTSC and PAL discs), the horizontal resolution can be calculated by dividing 720 by 1.33 (for a 4:3 aspect ratio) to get 540 lines. On a 1.78 (16:9) display, you get 405 lines. In practice, most DVD players provide about 500 lines instead of 540 because of filtering and low-quality digital-to-analog converters. VHS has about 230 (172 widescreen) lines, broadcast TV has about 330 (248 widescreen), and laserdisc has about 425 (318 widescreen).

Don't confuse lines of horizontal resolution (resolution along the x axis) with scan lines (resolution along the y axis). DVD produces 480 scan lines of active picture for NTSC and 576 for PAL. The NTSC standard has 525 total scan lines, but only 480 to 483 or so are visible. (The extra lines are black. They contain sync pulses and other information, such as the Closed Captions that are encoded into line # 21). PAL has 625 total scan lines, but only about 576 to 580 are visible. Since all video formats (VHS, LD, broadcast, etc.) have the same number of scan lines, it's the horizontal resolution that makes the big difference in picture quality.

For more information, see Allan Jayne's TV and Video Resolution Explained.

[3.5] What's widescreen? How do the aspect ratios work?

Video can be stored on a DVD in 4:3 format (standard TV shape) or 16:9 (widescreen). The width-to-height ratio of standard televisions is 4 to 3; in other words, 1.33 times wider than high. New widescreen televisions, specifically those designed for HDTV, have a ratio of 16 to 9; that is, 1.78 times wider than high.

DVD is specially designed to support widescreen displays. Widescreen 16:9 video, such as from a 16:9 video camera, can be stored on the disc in anamorphic form, meaning the picture is squeezed horizontally to fit the standard 4:3 rectangle, then unsqueezed during playback.

Things get more complicated when film is transferred to video, since most movies today have an aspect ratio of 1.66, 1.85 ("flat"), or 2.40 ("scope"). Since these don't match 1.33 or 1.78 TV shapes, two processes are employed to make various movie pegs fit TV holes:

Letterbox (often abbreviated to LBX) means the video is presented in its theatrical aspect ratio, which is wider than standard or widescreen TV. Black bars, called mattes, are used to cover the gaps at the top and bottom. A 1.85 movie that has been letterboxed for 1.33 display has thinner mattes than a 2.4 movie letterboxed to 1.33 (28% of display height vs. 44%), although the former are about the same thickness as those of a 2.4 movie letterboxed to 1.78 (26% of display height). The mattes used to letterbox a 1.85 movie for 1.78 display are so thin (2%) that they're hidden by the overscan of most widescreen TVs. Some movies, especially animated features and European films, have an aspect ratio of 1.66, which can be letterboxed for 1.33 display or sideboxed (or windowboxed) for 1.78 display.

Pan & scan means the thinner TV "window" is panned and zoomed across the wider movie picture, chopping off the sides. However, most movies today are shot soft matte, which means a full 1.33 aspect film frame is used. (The cinematographer has two sets of frame marks in her viewfinder, one for 1.33 and one for 1.85, so she can allow for both formats.) The top and bottom are masked off in the theater, but when the film is transferred to video the full 1.33 frame can be used in the pan & scan process. Pan & scan is primarily used for 1.33 formatting, not for 1.78 formatting, since widescreen fans prefer that letterboxing be used to preserve the theatrical effect.

For more details and nice visual aids see Leopold's How Film Is Transferred to Video page. A list of movie aspect ratios is at The Widescreen Movie Center.

Once the video is formatted to full-frame or widescreen form, it's encoded and stored on DVD discs. DVD players have four playback modes, one for 4:3 video and three for 16:9 video:

• full frame (4:3 video for 4:3 display)

• auto letterbox (16:9 anamorphic video for 4:3 display)

• auto pan & scan (16:9 anamorphic video for 4:3 display)

• widescreen (16:9 anamorphic video for 16:9 display)

Video stored in 4:3 format is not changed by the player. It will appear normally on a standard 4:3 display. Widescreen systems will either enlarge it or add black bars to the sides. 4:3 video may have been formatted with letterboxing or pan & scan before being transferred to DVD. All formatting done to the video prior to it being stored on the disc is transparent to the player. It merely reproduces it as a standard 4:3 TV picture. Video that is letterboxed before being encoded can be flagged so that the player will tell a widescreen TV to automatically expand the picture. Unfortunately, some discs (such as Fargo) do not flag the video properly. And worse, some players ignore the flags.

The beauty of anamorphosis is that less of the picture is wasted on letterbox mattes. DVD has a frame size designed for 1.33 display, so the video still has to be made to fit, but because it's only squeezed horizontally, 33% more pixels (25% of the total pixels in a video frame) are used to store active picture instead of black. Anamorphic video is best displayed on widescreen equipment, which stretches the video back out to its original width. Alternatively, many new 4:3 TV's can reduce the vertical scan area to restore the proper aspect ratio without losing resolution (an automatic trigger signal is sent to European TVs on SCART pin 8). Even though almost all computers have 4:3 monitors, they have higher resolution than TVs so they can display the full widescreen picture in a window (854x480 pixels or bigger for NTSC; 1024x576 or bigger for PAL).

Anamorphic video can be converted by the player for display on standard 4:3 TVs in letterbox or pan & scan form. If anamorphic video is shown unchanged on a standard 4:3 display, people will look tall and skinny as if they have been on a crash diet. The setup options of DVD players allow the viewer to indicate whether they have a 16:9 or 4:3 TV. In the case of a 4:3 TV, a second option lets the viewer indicate a preference for how the player will reformat anamorphic video. The two options are detailed below.

For automatic letterbox mode, the player generates black bars at the top and the bottom of the picture (60 lines each for NTSC, 72 for PAL). This leaves 3/4 of the height remaining, creating a shorter but wider rectangle (1.78:1). In order to fit this shorter rectangle, the anamorphic picture is squeezed vertically using a letterbox filter that combines every 4 lines into 3, reducing the vertical resolution from 480 scan lines to 360. (If the video was already letterboxed to fit the 1.78 aspect, then the mattes generated by the player will extend the mattes in the video.) The vertical squeezing exactly compensates for the original horizontal squeezing so that the movie is shown in its full width. Some players have better letterbox filters than others, using weighted averaging to combine lines (scaling 4 lines into 3 or merging the boundary lines) rather than simply dropping one out of every four lines. Widescreen video can be letterboxed to 4:3 on expensive studio equipment before it's stored on the disc, or it can be stored in anamorphic form and letterboxed to 4:3 in the player. If you compare the two, the letterbox mattes will be identical but the picture quality of the studio version may be slightly better. (See 1.38 for more about letterboxing.)

For automatic pan & scan mode, the anamorphic video is unsqueezed to 16:9 and the sides are cropped off so that a portion of the image is shown at full height on a 4:3 screen by following a center of interest offset that's encoded in the video stream according to the preferences of the people who transferred the film to video. The pan & scan "window" is 75% of the full width, which reduces the horizontal pixels from 720 to 540. The pan & scan window can only travel laterally. This does not duplicate a true pan & scan process in which the window can also travel up and down and zoom in and out. Auto pan & scan has three strikes against it: 1) it doesn't provide the same artistic control as studio pan & scan, 2) there is a loss of detail when the picture is scaled up, and 3) equipment for recording picture shift information is not widely available. Therefore, no anamorphic movies have been released with auto pan & scan enabled, although a few discs use the pan & scan feature in menus so that the same menu video can be used in both widescreen and 4:3 mode. In order to present a quality full-screen picture to the vast majority of TV viewers, yet still provide the best experience for widescreen owners, some DVD producers choose to put two versions on a single disc: 4:3 studio pan & scan and 16:9 anamorphic.

Playback of widescreen material can be restricted by the producer of the disc. Programs can be marked for the following display modes:
- 4:3 full frame
- 4:3 LB (for sending letterbox expand signal to widescreen TV)
- 16:9 LB only (player not allowed to pan & scan on 4:3 TV)
- 16:9 PS only (player not allowed to letterbox on 4:3 TV)
- 16:9 LB or PS (viewer can select pan & scan or letterbox on 4:3 TV)

You can usually tell if a disc contains anamorphic video if the packaging says "enhanced for 16:9 widescreen" or something similar. If all it says is "widescreen," it may be letterboxed to 4:3, not 16:9. Widescreen Review has a list of anamorphic DVD titles.

Additional explanations of how anamorphic video works can be found at Greg Lovern's What's an Anamorphic DVD? page, Bill Hunt's Ultimate Guide to Anamorphic Widescreen DVD, David Lockwood's What Shape Image?, and Dan Ramer's What the Heck Is Anamorphic?. More information can be found at the Anamorphic Widescreen Support Page and the Letterbox/Widescreen Advocacy Page. You might also be interested in Guy Wright's The Widescreen Scam. See 1.38 for further discussion of letterboxing.

Anamorphosis causes no problems with line doublers and other video scalers, which simply duplicate the scan lines before they are stretched out by the widescreen display.

For anamorphic video, the pixels are fatter. Different pixel aspect ratios (none of them square) are used for each aspect ratio and resolution. 720-pixel and 704-pixel sizes have the same aspect ratio because the first includes overscan. Note that "conventional" values of 1.0950 and 0.9157 are for height/width (and are tweaked to match scanning rates). The table below uses less-confusing width/height values (y/x * h/w).

      720x480   720x576
      704x480   704x576   352x480   352x576
4:3     0.909     1.091     1.818     2.182
16:9    1.212     1.455     2.424     2.909

For gory details of video resolution and pixel aspect ratios see Jukka Aho's Quick Guide to Digital Video Resolution and Aspect Ratio Conversions.

[3.6] What are the audio details?

There are two home-entertainment flavors of DVD: DVD-Video and DVD-Audio. Each supports high-definition multichannel audio. DVD-Audio includes higher-quality PCM audio.

[3.6.1] Details of DVD-Audio and SACD

LPCM is mandatory in DVD-Audio discs, with up to 6 channels at sample rates of 48/96/192 kHz (also 44.1/88.2/176.4 kHz) and sample sizes of 16/20/24 bits. This allows theoretical frequency response of up to 96 kHz and dynamic range of up to 144 dB. Multichannel PCM is downmixable by the player, although at 192 and 176.4 kHz only two channels are available. Sampling rates and sizes can vary for different channels by using a predefined set of groups. The maximum data rate is 9.6 Mbps.

The WG4 decided to include lossless compression (it's about time!), and on August 5, 1998 approved Meridian's MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) scheme, already licensed by Dolby. MLP removes redundancy from the signal to achieve a compression ratio of about 2:1 while allowing the PCM signal to be completely recreated by the MLP decoder (required in all DVD-Audio players). MLP allows playing times of about 74 to 135 minutes of 6-channel 96kHz/24-bit audio on a single layer (compared to 45 minutes without packing). Two-channel 192kHz/24-bit playing times are about 120 to 140 minutes (compared to 67 minutes without packing).

Other audio formats of DVD-Video (Dolby Digital, MPEG audio, and DTS, described below) are optional on DVD-Audio discs, although Dolby Digital is required for audio content that has associated video. A subset of DVD-Video features (no angles, no seamless branching, etc.) is allowed. It's expected that shortly after DVD-Audio players appear, new universal DVD players will also support all DVD-Audio features.

DVD-Audio includes specialized downmixing features for PCM channels. Unlike DVD-Video, where the decoder controls mixing from 6 channels down to 2, DVD-Audio includes coefficent tables to control mixdown and avoid volume buildup from channel aggregation. Up to 16 tables can be defined by each Audio Title Set (album), and each track can be identified with a table. Coefficients range from 0dB to 60dB. This feature goes by the horribly contrived name of SMART (system-managed audio resource technique). (Dolby Digital, supported in both DVD-Audio and DVD-Video, also includes downmixing information that can be set at encode time.)

DVD-Audio allows up to 99 still images per track (at typical compression levels, about 20 images fit into the 2 MB buffer in the player), with a set of limited transitions (cut in/out, fade in/out, dissolve, and wipe). Unlike with DVD-Video, the user can move at will through the slides without interrupting the audio as it plays. On-screen displays can be used for synchronized lyrics and navigation menus. A special simplified navigation mode can be used on players without a video display.

Sony and Philips are promoting SACD, a competing DVD-based format using Direct Stream Digital (DSD) encoding with sampling rates of up to 100 kHz. DSD is based on the pulse-density modulation (PDM) technique that uses single bits to represent the incremental rise or fall of the audio waveform. This supposedly improves quality by removing the brick wall filters required for PCM encoding. It also makes downsampling more accurate and efficient. DSD provides frequency response from DC to over 100 kHz with a dynamic range of over 120 dB. DSD includes a lossless encoding technique that produces approximately 2:1 data reduction by predicting each sample and then run-length encoding the error signal. Maximum data rate is 2.8 Mbps.

SACD includes a physical watermarking feature. Pit signal processing (PSP) modulates the width of pits on the disc to store a digital watermark (data is stored in the pit length). The optical pickup must contain additional circuitry to read the PSP watermark, which is then compared to information on the disc to make sure it's legitimate. Because of the requirement for new watermarking circuitry, SACD discs are not playable in existing DVD-ROM drives.

SACD includes text and still graphics, but no video. Sony says the format is aimed at audiophiles and is not intended to replace the audio CD format. 

See 1.12 for more general info on DVD-Audio and SACD.

[3.6.2] Audio details of DVD-Video

The following details are for audio tracks on DVD-Video. Some DVD manufacturers such as Pioneer are developing audio-only players using the DVD-Video format. Some DVD-Video discs contain mostly audio with only video still frames.

A DVD-Video disc can have up to 8 audio tracks (streams) associated with a video track (an angle). Each audio track can be in one of three formats:

• Dolby Digital (formerly AC-3): 1 to 5.1 channels

• MPEG-2 audio: 1 to 5.1 or 7.1 channels

• PCM: 1 to 8 channels.

Two additional optional formats are provided: DTS and SDDS. Both require external decoders and are not supported by all players.

The ".1" refers to a low-frequency effects (LFE) channel that connects to a subwoofer. This channel carries an emphasized bass audio signal.

Linear PCM is uncompressed (lossless) digital audio, the same format used on CDs and most studio masters. It can be sampled at 48 or 96 kHz with 16, 20, or 24 bits/sample. (Audio CD is limited to 44.1 kHz at 16 bits.) There can be from 1 to 8 channels. The maximum bit rate is 6.144 Mbps, which limits sample rates and bit sizes when there are 5 or more channels. It's generally felt that the 120 dB dynamic range of 20 bits combined with a frequency response of around 22,000 Hz from 48 kHz sampling is adequate for high-fidelity sound reproduction. However, additional bits and higher sampling rates are useful in audiophile applications, studio work, noise shaping, advanced digital processing, and three-dimensional sound field reproduction. DVD players are required to support all the variations of LPCM, but some of them may subsample 96 kHz down to 48 kHz, and some may not use all 20 or 24 bits. The signal provided on the digital output for external digital-to-analog converters may be limited to less than 96 kHz and less than 24 bits.

Dolby Digital is multi-channel digital audio, using lossy AC-3 coding technology from original PCM with a sample rate of 48 kHz at up to 24 bits. The bitrate is 64 kbps to 448 kbps, with 384 or 448 being the normal rate for 5.1 channels and 192 being the typical rate for stereo (with or without surround encoding). (Most Dolby Digital decoders support up to 640 kbps.) The channel combinations are (front/surround): 1/0, 1+1/0 (dual mono), 2/0, 3/0, 2/1, 3/1, 2/2, and 3/2. The LFE channel is optional with all 8 combinations. For details see ATSC document A/52 <www.atsc.org/document.html>. Dolby Digital is the format used for audio tracks on almost all DVDs.

MPEG audio is multi-channel digital audio, using lossy compression from original PCM format with sample rate of 48 kHz at 16 or 20 bits. Both MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats are supported. The variable bit rate is 32 kbps to 912 kbps, with 384 being the normal average rate. MPEG-1 is limited to 384 kbps. Channel combinations are (front/surround): 1/0, 2/0, 2/1, 2/2, 3/0, 3/1, 3/2, and 5/2. The LFE channel is optional with all combinations. The 7.1 channel format adds left-center and right-center channels, but will probably be rare for home use. MPEG-2 surround channels are in an extension stream matrixed onto the MPEG-1 stereo channels, which makes MPEG-2 audio backwards compatible with MPEG-1 hardware (an MPEG-1 system will only see the two stereo channels.) MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) and MPEG-2 AAC (aka NBC or unmatrix) are not supported by the DVD-Video standard.

DTS (Digital Theater Systems) Digital Surround is an optional multi-channel (5.1) digital audio format, using lossy compression from PCM at 48 kHz at up to 24 bits. The data rate is from 64 kbps to 1536 kbps, with typical rates of 754.5 and 1509.25 for 5.1 channels and 377 or 754 for 2 channels. (The DTS Coherent Acoustics format supports up to 4096 kbps variable data rate for lossless compression, but this isn't supported by DVD. DVD also does not allow sampling rates other than 48 kHz.). Channel combinations are (front/surround): 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 2/1, 2/2, 3/2. The LFE channel is optional with all combinations. DTS ES support 6.1 channels in two ways: 1) a Dolby Surround EX compatible matrixed rear center channel, 2) a discrete 7th channel. DTS also has a 7.1-channel mode (8 discrete channels), but no DVDs have used it yet. The 7-channel and 8-channel modes require a new decoder. The DVD standard includes an audio stream format reserved for DTS, but many older players ignore it. The DTS format used on DVDs is different from the one used in theaters (Audio Processing Technology's apt-X, an ADPCM coder, not a psychoacoustic coder). All DVD players can play DTS audio CDs, since the standard PCM stream holds the DTS code. See 1.32 for general DTS information. For more info visit <www.dtstech.com> and read Adam Barratt's article.

SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) is an optional multi-channel (5.1 or 7.1) digital audio format, compressed from PCM at 48 kHz. The data rate can go up to 1280 kbps. SDDS is a theatrical film soundtrack format based on the ATRAC compression format that is also used by Minidisc. Sony has not announced any plans to support SDDS on DVD.

THX (Tomlinson Holman Experiment) is not an audio format. It's a certification and quality control program that applies to sound systems and acoustics in theaters, home equipment, and digital mastering processes. The LucasFilm THX Digital Mastering program uses a patented process to track video quality through the multiple video generations needed to make a final format disc or tape, setup of video monitors to ensure that the filmmaker is seeing a precise rendition of what is on tape before approval of the master, and other steps along the way. THX-certified "4.0" amplifiers enhance Dolby Pro Logic: crossover sends bass from front channels to subwoofer; re-equalization on front channels (compensates for high-frequency boost in theater mix designed for speakers behind the screen); timbre matching on rear channels; decorrelation of rear channels; bass curve that emphasizes low frequencies. THX-certified "5.1" amplifiers enhance Dolby Digital and improve on 4.0: rear speakers are now full range, so crossover sends bass from both front and rear to subwoofer; decorrelation is turned on automatically when rear channels have the same audio, but not during split-surround effects, which don't need to be decorrelated. More info at Home THX Program Overview.

Discs containing 525/60 video (NTSC) must use PCM or Dolby Digital on at least one track. Discs containing 625/50 video (PAL/SECAM) must use PCM or MPEG audio or Dolby Digital on at least one track. Additional tracks may be in any format. A few first-generation players, such as those made by Matsushita, can't output MPEG-2 audio to external decoders.

The original spec required either MPEG audio or PCM on 625/50 discs. There was a brief scuffle led by Philips when early discs came out with only two-channel MPEG and multichannel Dolby Digital, but the DVD Forum clarified in May 1997 that only stereo MPEG audio was mandatory for 625/50 discs. In December 1997 the lack of MPEG-2 encoders (and decoders) was a big enough problem that the spec was revised to allow Dolby Digital audio tracks to be used on 625/50 discs without MPEG audio tracks.

Because of the 4% speedup from 24 fps film to 25 fps PAL display, the audio must be adjusted to match. Unless the audio is digitally processed to shift the pitch back to normal it will be slightly high (about one half of a semitone).

For stereo output (analog or digital), all players have a built-in 2-channel Dolby Digital decoder that downmixes from 5.1 channels (if present on the disc) to Dolby Surround stereo (i.e., 5 channels are phase matrixed into 2 channels to be decoded to 4 by an external Dolby Pro Logic processor). PAL players also have an MPEG or MPEG-2 decoder. Both Dolby Digital and MPEG-2 support 2-channel Dolby Surround as the source in cases where the disc producer can't or doesn't want to remix the original onto discrete channels. This means that a DVD labeled as having Dolby Digital sound may only use the L/R channels for surround or "plain" stereo. Even movies with old monophonic soundtracks may use Dolby Digital -- but only 1 or 2 channels. Sony players can optionally downmix to non-surround stereo. If surround audio is important to you, you will hear significantly better results from multichannel discs if you have a Dolby Digital system.

The new Dolby Digital Surround EX (DD-SEX?) format, which adds a rear center channel, is compatible with DVD discs and players, and with existing Dolby Digital decoders. The new DTS Digital Surround ES (DTS-ES) format, which likewise adds a rear center channel, works fine with existing DTS decoders and with DTS-compatible DVD players. However, for full use of both new formats you need a new decoder to extract the rear center channel, which is phase matrixed into the two standard rear channels in the same way Dolby Surround is matrixed into standard stereo channels. Without a new decoder, you'll get the same 5.1-channel audio you get now. Because the additional rear channel isn't a full-bandwidth discrete channel, it's appropriate to call the new formats "5.2-channel" digital surround.

The Dolby Digital downmix process does not usually include the LFE channel and may compress the dynamic range in order to improve dialog audibility and keep the sound from becoming "muddy" on average home audio systems. This can result in reduced sound quality on high-end audio systems. The dynamic range compression (DRC) feature, often called midnight mode, reduces the difference between loud and soft sounds so that you can turn the volume down to avoid disturbing others yet still hear the detail of quiet passages. Some players have the option to turn off DRC. The downmix is auditioned when the disc is prepared, and if the result is not acceptable the audio may be tweaked or a separate L/R Dolby Surround track may be added. Experience has shown that minor tweaking is sometimes required to make the dialog more audible within the limited dynamic range of a home stereo system, but that a separate track is not usually necessary.

Dolby Digital also includes a feature called dialog normalization, which could more accurately be called volume standardization. DN is designed to keep the sound level the same when switching between different sources. This will become more important as additional Dolby Digital sources (digital satellite, DTV, etc) become common. Each Dolby Digital track contains loudness information so that the receiver can automatically adjust the volume, turning it down, for example, on a loud commercial. (Of course the commercial makers can cheat and set an artificially low DN level, causing your receiver to turn up the volume during the commercial!) Turning DN on or off on your receiver has no effect on dynamic range or sound quality, its effect is no different than turning the volume control up or down.

All five DVD-Video audio formats support karaoke mode, which has two channels for stereo (L and R) plus an optional guide melody channel (M) and two optional vocal channels (V1 and V2).

A DVD-5 with only one surround stereo audio stream (at 192 kbps) can hold over 55 hours of audio. A DVD-18 can hold over 200 hours.

Many people complain that the audio level from DVD players is too low. In truth the audio level is too high on everything else. Movie soundtracks are extremely dynamic, ranging from near silence to intense explosions. In order to support an increased dynamic range and hit peaks (near the 2V RMS limit) without distortion, the average sound volume must be lower. This is why the line level from DVD players is lower than from almost all other sources. So far, unlike on CDs and LDs, the level is much more consistent between discs. If the change in volume when switching between DVD and other audio sources is annoying, you can adjust the output signal level on some players, or the input signal level on some receivers, but other than that, there's not much you can do.

For more information about multichannel surround sound, see Bobby Owsinski's FAQ at <www.surroundassociates.com/fqmain.html>.

[3.6.3] Can you explain this Dolby Digital, Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic, DTS stuff in plain English?

Almost every DVD contains audio in Dolby Digital format. DTS is an optional audio format that can be added to a disc in addition to Dolby Digital audio. Dolby Digital and DTS can store mono, stereo, and multichannel audio (usually 5.1 channels).  

Every DVD player in the world has an internal Dolby Digital decoder. The built-in 2-channel decoder turns Dolby Digital into standard analog stereo audio, which can be fed to almost any type of audio equipment (receiver, TV, boombox, etc.) using a pair of stereo audio cables. See 3.2 for more information.

There's a standard audio mixing technique, called Dolby Surround, that "piggybacks" a rear channel and a center channel onto a 2-channel signal. A Dolby Surround signal can be played on any stereo system (or even a mono system), in which case the rear- and center-channel sounds remain mixed in with the left and right channels. When a Dolby Surround signal is played on a multichannel audio system that knows how to handle it, the extra channels are extracted to feed center speakers and rear speakers. The original technique of decoding Dolby Surround, called simply Dolby Surround, extracts only the rear channel. The improved decoding technique, Dolby Pro Logic, also extracts the center channel. Then there's a brand new decoding technology, Dolby Pro Logic II, that extracts both the center channel and the rear channel and also processes the signals to create more of a 3D audio environment. Dolby Surround is independent of the storage or transmission format. In other words, a 2-channel Dolby Surround signal can be analog audio, broadcast TV audio, digital PCM audio, Dolby Digital, DTS, MP3, audio on a VHS tape, etc.

Unlike Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital encodes each channel independently. Dolby Digital can carry up to 5 channels (left, center, right, left surround, right surround) plus an omnidirectional low-frequency channel. The built-in, 2-channel Dolby Digital decoder in every DVD player handles multichannel audio by downmixing it to two channels using Dolby Surround (see 3.6.2). This allows the analog stereo outputs to be connected to just about anything, including TVs and receivers with Dolby Pro Logic capability. Most DVD players also output the downmixed 2-channel Dolby Surround signal in digital PCM format, which can be connected to a digital audio receiver, most of which do Dolby Pro Logic decoding.

Most DVD players also output the "raw" Dolby Digital signal for connection to a receiver with a built-in Dolby Digital decoder. Some DVD players have built-in multichannel decoders to provide 6 (or 7) analog audio outputs to feed a receiver or amplifier with multichannel analog inputs. See 3.1 for more info.

DTS is handled differently. Many DVD players have a DTS Digital Out feature (also called DTS pass-through), which sends the raw DTS signal to an external receiver with a DTS decoder. A few players have a built-in 2-channel DTS decoder that downmixes to Dolby Surround, just like a 2-channel Dolby Digital decoder. Some players have a built-in multichannel DTS decoder with 6 (or 7) analog outputs. Some DVD players don't recognize DTS tracks at all (see 1.32).

If you have a POS (plain old stereo), a Dolby Surround receiver, or a Dolby Pro Logic receiver, you don't need anything special in the DVD player. Any model will connect to your system. If you have a Dolby Digital receiver, then you need a player with Dolby Digital out (all but the cheapest players have this). If your receiver can also do DTS, you should get a player with DTS Digital Out. The only reason to get a player with 6-channel Dolby Digital or DTS decoder output is if you want use multichannel analog connections to the receiver (see the component analog section of 3.2).

[3.7] How do the interactive features work?

DVD-Video players (and software DVD-Video navigators) support a command set that provides rudimentary interactivity. The main feature is menus, which are present on almost all discs to allow content selection and feature control. Each menu has a still-frame graphic and up to 36 highlightable, rectangular "buttons" (only 12 if widescreen, letterbox, and pan & scan modes are used). Remote control units have four arrow keys for selecting onscreen buttons, plus numeric keys, select key, menu key, and return key. Additional remote functions may include freeze, step, slow, fast, scan, next, previous, audio select, subtitle select, camera angle select, play mode select, search to program, search to part of title (chapter), search to time, and search to camera angle. Any of these features can be disabled by the producer of the disc. This is called "user operation control" (UOP). It's commonly used to lock you into the copyright warning or movie previews at the beginning of the disc, or to keep you from changing audio or subtitle tracks during the movie.

Additional features of the command set include simple math (add, subtract, multiply, divide, modulo, random), bitwise and, bitwise or, bitwise xor, plus comparisons (equal, greater than, etc.), and register loading, moving, and swapping. There are 24 system registers for information such as language code, audio and subpicture settings, and parental level. There are 16 general registers for command use. A countdown timer is also provided. Commands can branch or jump to other commands. Commands can also control player settings, jump to different parts of the disc, and control presentation of audio, video, subpicture, camera angles, etc.

DVD-V content is broken into "titles" (movies or albums), and "parts of titles" (chapters or songs). Titles are made up of "cells" linked together by one or more "program chains" (PGC). A PGC can be one of three types: sequential play, random play (may repeat), or shuffle play (random order but no repeats). Individual cells may be used by more than one PGC, which is how parental management and seamless branching are accomplished: different PGCs define different sequences through mostly the same material.

Additional material for camera angles and seamless branching is interleaved together in small chunks. The player jumps from chunk to chunk, skipping over unused angles or branches, to stitch together the seamless video. Since angles are stored separately, they have no direct effect on the bitrate but they do affect the playing time. Adding 1 camera angle for a program roughly doubles the amount of space needed (and cuts the playing time in half). Examples of branching (seamless and non-seamless) include Kalifornia, Dark Star, and Stargate SE.

[3.8] What is the difference between interlaced and progressive video?

There are basically two ways to display video: interlaced scan or progressive scan. Progressive scan, used in computer monitors and digital television, displays all the horizontal lines of a picture at one time, as a single frame. Interlaced scan, used in standard television formats NTSC, PAL, and SECAM, displays only half of the horizontal lines at a time (the first field, containing the odd-numbered lines, is displayed, followed by the second field, containing the even-numbered lines). Interlacing relies on phosphor persistence of the TV tube to blend the fields together over time into a seemingly single picture. The advantage of interlaced video is that a high refresh rate (50 or 60 Hz) can be achieved with only half the bandwidth. The disadvantage is that the horizontal resolution is essentially cut in half, and the video is often filtered to avoid flicker (interfield twitter) and other artifacts.

It may help to understand the difference by considering how the source images are captured. A film camera shoots 24 frames per second, while a video camera alternately scans fields of odd and even lines in 1/60 of a second intervals. (Unlike projected film, which shows the entire frame in an instant, many progressive-scan displays trace a series of lines from top to bottom, but the end result is about the same.)

DVD is specifically designed to be displayed on interlaced-scan displays, which covers 99.9% of the more than one billion TVs worldwide. However, most DVD content comes from film, which is inherently progressive. To make film content work in interlaced form, the video from each film frame is split into two video fields —240 lines in one field, and 240 lines in the other— and encoded as separate fields in the MPEG-2 stream. A complication is that film runs at 24 frames per second, while TV runs at 30 frames (60 fields) per second for NTSC, or 25 frames (50 fields) per second for PAL and SECAM. For PAL/SECAM display, the simple solution is to show the film frames at 25 per second, which is a 4% speedup, and to speed up the audio to match. For NTSC display, the solution is to spread 24 frames across 60 fields by alternating the display of the first film frame for 2 video fields and the next film frame for 3 video fields. This is called 2-3 pulldown. The sequence works as shown below, where A-D represent film frames; A1, A2, B1, etc. represent the separation of each film frame into two video fields; and 1-5 represent the final video frames.

Film frames:   |  A  |   B    |  C  |   D    |
Video fields:  |A1 A2|B1 B2|B1 C2|C1 D2|D1 D2|
Video frames:  |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |

For MPEG-2 encoding, repeated fields (B1 and D2) are not actually stored twice. Instead, a flag is set to tell the decoder to repeat the field. (The apparently inverted order of  C2-C1 and D2-D1 are because of the requirement that top and bottom fields alternate. Since the fields are from the same film frame, the order doesn't matter.) MPEG-2 also has a flag to indicate when a frame is progressive (that the two fields come from the same instant in time). For film content, the progressive_frame flag should be true for every frame. See 3.4 for more MPEG-2 details.

As you can see, there are a couple of problems inherent in 2-3 pulldown: 1) some film frames are shown for a longer period of time than others, causing judder, or jerkiness, that shows up especially in smooth pans; and 2) if you freeze the video on the third or fourth video frame when there is motion in the picture you will see two separate images combined in a flickering mess. Most DVD players avoid the second problem by only pausing on coherent frames or by only showing one field, although some allow you to freeze on flicker-frames. (This is what the frame/field still option in the player's setup menu refers to.)

Most DVD players are hooked up to interlaced TVs, so there's not much that can be done about artifacts from film conversion. However, see 1.40 for information about progressive DVD players.

For more on progressive video and DVD, see part 5 and player ratings in the excellent DVD Benchmark series at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity.

[3.9] What is edge enhancement?

When films are transferred to video in preparation for DVD encoding, they are commonly run through digital processes that attempt to clean up the picture. These processes include digital video noise reduction (DVNR) and image enhancement. Enhancement increases contrast (similar to the effect of the "sharpen" or "unsharp mask" filters in PhotoShop), but can tend to overdo areas of transition between light and dark or different colors, causing a "chiseled" look or a ringing effect like the haloes you see around streetlights when driving in the rain.

Video noise reduction is a good thing, when done well, since it can remove scratches, spots, and other defects from the original film. Enhancement, which is rarely done well, is a bad thing. The video may look sharper and clearer to the casual observer, but fine tonal details of the original picture are altered and lost.

Note that ringing can also be caused by the player and by the TV. Scan velocity modulation (SVM), for example, causes ringing.

[3.10] Does DVD work with barcodes?

If your humble FAQ author and other long-time developers of laserdisc had prevailed, all DVD players would support barcodes. This would have made for really cool printed supplements and educational discs. But the rejection of our recommendations after an all-star meeting in August 1995 is another story for another day.

So the answer is "mostly no." A few industrial players, the Pioneer LD-V7200, Pioneer LD-V7400, and Philips ProDVD-170 support barcodes, including compatibility with the LaserBarCode standard. The DVD must be authored with one_sequential_PGC titles in order for timecode search to work. More info can be found in the Pioneer technical manuals.

[3.11] What is BCA?

BCA stands for burst cutting area, a zone near the hub of a DVD reserved for a barcode that can be etched into the disc by a YAG laser. Since barcode cutting is independent of the stamping process, each disc can have unique data recorded on it, such as a serialized ID. DVD readers can use the laser pickup head to read the BCA.

The BCA is used by CPRM (see 1.11) and Divx (see 2.10) to uniquely identify each disc.

[3.12] How long do DVDs last?

Pressed discs (the kind that movies come on) last longer than you will, anywhere from 50 to 300 years.

Expected longevity of DVD-R and DVD+R discs is anywhere from 40 to 250 years, about as long as CD-R discs.

The erasable formats (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW) have an expected lifetime of 25 to 100 years.

There's a good discussion of CD-R longevity and test info at Kodak. Also see <www.ee.washington.edu/conselec/CE/kuhn/otherformats/95x9.htm> and <www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/Media/Kodak.html> for more info.

For comparison, magnetic media (tapes and disks) last 10 to 30 years; high-quality, acid-neutral paper can last 100 years or longer; and archival-quality microfilm is projected to last 300 years or more. Note that computer storage media often becomes technically obsolete within 20 to 30 years, long before it physically deteriorates. In other words, before the media becomes unviable it may become difficult or impossible to find equipment that can read it.

[4] DVD and computers

[4.1] Can I play DVD movies on my computer?

Yes, if your computer has the right stuff. The computer operating system or playback software must support regional codes and be licensed to descramble copy-protected movies. If the computer has TV video out, it must support Macrovision in order to play copy-protected movies. You may also need software that can read the UDF file system format used by DVDs. You don't need special drivers for Windows or Mac OS, since the existing CD-ROM drivers work fine with DVD-ROM drives. In addition to a DVD-ROM drive you must have extra hardware to decode MPEG-2 video and Dolby Digital or MPEG-2 audio, or your computer must be fast enough to handle software decoding. Good-quality software-only playback requires a 350-MHz Pentium II or a Mac G4. Almost all new computers with DVD-ROM drives use software decoding instead of hardware decoding, since it's now possible on even the cheapest new models. Hardware upgrade kits can be purchased for existing computers (usually minimum 133 MHz Pentium or G3), starting at $150. See <www.brouhaha.com/~eric/video/dvd> for a list of drives and upgrade kits.

Mac OS X 10.0 (Cheetah) had no support for DVD playback when released in March 2001, and also did not support Apple's DVD authoring applications (iDVD and DVD Studio Pro). (More info at CNET.) Support for DVD playback was added to version 10.1 (Puma).

If you're having problems playing movies on your computer, see section 4.6.

Certain MPEG decoding tasks such as motion compensation, IDCT (inverse discrete cosine transform), IVLC (inverse variable length coding), and even subpicture decoding can be performed by additional circuitry on a video graphics chip, improving the performance of software decoders. This is called hardware decode acceleration, hardware motion comp, or hardware assist. Some card makers also call it hardware decode, even though they don't do all the decoding in hardware. All modern graphics cards also provide hardware colorspace conversion (YCbCr to RGB) and videoport overlay (some graphics card makers make a big deal about this even though all their competitors' cards have the same feature).

Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, Me, and XP include DirectShow, which provides standardized support for DVD-Video and MPEG-2 playback. DirectShow can also be installed in Windows 95 (it's available for download). DirectShow creates a framework for DVD applications, but a third-party hardware or software decoder is required (see below). Windows NT 4.0 supports DVD-ROM drives for data, but has very little support for playing DVD-Video discs. Margi DVD-To-Go, Sigma Designs Hollywood Plus, and the related Creative Labs Dxr3 are among the few hardware decoders that work in NT 4.0. InterVideo WinDVD software works in NT 4.0 (National Semiconductor DVD Express and MGI SoftDVD Max also work in NT 4.0, but they aren't available retail.) Windows 98 and newer can read UDF discs. Version 6.1 of Windows Media Player enables scriptable DVD playback in an HTML page. Version 7 of Windows Media Player dropped all DVD support. Version 8 of Windows Media Player added a user interface for DVD playback, but no scripting. Adaptec provides a free filesystem driver, UDF Reader, for Windows 95/98/NT. Software Architects sells Read DVD for Windows 95.

Apple QuickTime 5 is partially ready for DVD-Video and MPEG-2 but does not yet have full decoding or DVD-Video playback support in place. Mac OS 8.1 or newer can read UDF discs. Adaptec provides a free utility, UDF Volume Access, that enables Mac OS 7.6 and newer to read UDF discs. Software Architects sells UDF reading software for Mac OS called DVD-RAM TuneUp. Intech's CD/DVD SpeedTools software allows most any DVD drive to be used with a Mac.

Note: The QuickTime MPEG Extension for Mac OS is for MPEG-1 only and does not play MPEG-2 DVD-Video.

Some DVD-ROM discs and a few DVD-Video discs use video encoded using MPEG-1 instead of MPEG-2. Most recent computers have MPEG-1 hardware built in or are able to decode MPEG-1 with software.

DVD player applications (using either software or hardware decoding) are virtual DVD players. They support most DVD-Video features (menus, subpictures, etc.) and emulate the functionality of a DVD-Video player remote control. Many player applications include additional features such as bookmarks, chapter lists, and subtitle language lists.

Microsoft Windows includes a DVD software player, but does not include the necessary decoder. You must have a third-party software or hardware decoder in order to play a DVD. Most PCs that come with a DVD drive include a decoder, or you can purchase one. Decoders for Windows XP are called DVD Power Packs.

Software decoders and DVD player applications for Microsoft Windows PCs:

• ATI: special version of CineMaster software for certain ATI graphics cards

• ASUS: ASUSDVD (custom version of InterVideo WinDVD software or CyberLink PowerDVD software)

• KiSS: CoolDVD (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP])

• Creative Technology: SoftPC-DVD

• CyberLink: PowerDVD (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP]; NT 4.0; available for purchase)

• ELSA: ELSAMovie, German only

• InterVideo: WinDVD (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP]; NT 4.0; available for purchase)

• Matrox: special version of CineMaster software for certain Matrox graphics cards

• National Semiconductor: DVD Express (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP]; OEM only)

• MGI: SoftDVD MAX (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000]; available for purchase) (formerly from Zoran)

• NEC (NEC PCs only)

• Odyssey: Odyssey DVD Player (available for purchase)

• Orion Studios: DirectDVD (DirectShow, downloadable shareware)

• Ravisent (formerly Quadrant International): Software CineMaster (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP]; available for purchase)

• Varo Vision: VaroDVD

• Xing DVDPlayer is no longer available since the company was purchased by Real Networks

Software decoders need at least a 350 MHz Pentium II and a DVD-ROM drive with bus mastering DMA to play without dropped frames. Anything slower than a 400 MHz Pentium III will benefit quite a bit from hardware decode acceleration in the graphics card. An AGP graphics card (rather than PCI) also improves the performance of software decoders.

Hardware decoder cards and DVD-ROM upgrade kits for Microsoft Windows PCs:

• Creative Technology:
  PC-DVD Encore Dxr3, Sigma EM8300 chip (no DirectShow yet)
  PC-DVD Encore Dxr2, C-Cube chip (DirectShow, Win2000)

• Digital Connection: 3DFusion, Mpact2 chip (DirectShow)

• Digital Voodoo: D1 Desktop 64, Digital Voodoo chip (professional, QuickTime)

• E4 (Elecede): Cool DVD, C-Cube chip (E4 has gone out of business)

• IBM: ThinkPad laptops, IBM chip (DirectShow)

• LeadTek: WinFast 3D S800, Mpact2 chip (DirectShow)

• Luxsonor: decoders in Dell PCs, C-Cube chip (DirectShow)

• Margi: DVD-to-Go, ZV PC card for laptops (DirectShow, Win2000)

• Ravisent: Hardware Cinemaster, C-Cube chip (DirectShow)

• Philips Electronics: PCDV632, PCVD104 (K series come with Sigma Hollywood card, R series come with software decoder) (DirectShow)

• Samsung: Revolution, Samsung SD 606 6x, Sigma Hollywood Plus card (DirectShow)

• Sigma Designs: Hollywood series, Sigma EM8300 chip (no DirectShow yet)

• STB: DVD Theater, Mpact2 chip ((DirectShow)

• Stradis: Stradis Professional MPEG-2 Decoder, IBM chip (professional, no DirectShow)

• Toshiba: Tecra laptops, C-Cube chip (DirectShow)

• Vela Research: CineView Pro (professional, no DirectShow)

All but the Sigma Designs decoder (including Creative Dxr3) have WDM drivers for DirectShow. The Sigma Designs decoder card is used in hardware upgrade kits from Hitachi, HiVal, Panasonic, Phillips, Sony, Toshiba, and VideoLogic. The advantage of hardware decoders is that they don't eat up CPU processing power, and they often produce better quality video than software decoders. The Chromatic Mpact2 chip does 3-field analysis to produce exceptional progressive-scan video from DVDs (unfortunately, Chromatic was bought by ATI and the chip is no longer supported, although some of the technology is now in ATI's Radeon). Hardware decoders use video overlay to insert the video into the computer display. Some use analog overlay, which takes the analog VGA signal output from the graphics card and keys in the video, while others use video port extension (VPE), a direct digital connection to the graphics adapter via a cable inside the computer. Analog overlay may degrade the quality of the VGA signal. See 4.4 for more overlay info.

Many Macintosh models come standard with DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, or DVD-RW drives. The included Apple software DVD player uses hardware acceleration in the ATI graphics card. The still-unreleased QuickTime MPEG-2 decoder may use the Velocity Engine (AltiVec) portion of the PowerPC (G4) chip for video and audio decoding. DVD-ROM upgrade kits and decoder cards for Macintoshes are made by E4 (Elecede) (Cool DVD, C-Cube chip) [E4 has gone out of business], EZQuest (BOA Mac DVD), Fantom Drives (DVD Home Theater kit: DVD-ROM or DVD-RAM drive with Wired MPEG-2 card), and Wired (Wired 4DVD, Sigma EM8300 chip [same card as Hollywood plus]; MasonX [can't play encrypted movies]; DVD-To-Go [out of production]; Wired has been acquired by Media100). There's a beta version of a shareware DVD software player that can play unencrypted movies.

The Sigma Designs NetStream 2000 DVD decoder card supports Linux DVD playback. InterVideo and CyberLink have also announced DVD player applications for Linux, although the CyberLink player is only available to OEMs. In addition, there are free software players for Linux, Unix, BeOS, and other operating systems: MPlayer, OMS (LiViD), VideoLan, and Xine.

Computers have the potential to produce better video than settop DVD-Video players by using progressive display and higher scan rates, but many current systems don't look as good as a home player hooked up to a quality TV

If you want to hook a DVD computer to a TV, the decoder card or the VGA card must have a TV output (composite video or s-video). Video quality is much better with s-video. Alternatively, you can connect a scan converter to the VGA output. Scan converters are available from ADS Technologies, AITech, Antec, AverLogic, AVerMedia, Communications Specialties, Digital Vision, Focus Enhancements, Key Digital Systems, RGB Products, and others. Make sure the scan converter can handle the display resolution you have chosen: 640x480, 800x600, etc., although keep in mind that even 800x600 is beyond the ability of a standard TV, so higher resolutions won't make the TV picture better. 

The quality of video from a PC depends on the decoder, the graphics card, the TV encoder chip, and other factors, but will usually be a little inferior to a good consumer DVD player. The RGB output of the VGA card in computers is at a different frequency than standard component RGB video, so it can't be directly connected to most RGB video monitors. If the decoder card or the sound card has Dolby Digital or DTS output, you can connect to your A/V receiver to get multichannel audio.

A DVD PC connected to a progressive-scan monitor or video projector, instead of a standard TV, usually looks much better than a consumer player. See 2.9. Also see the Home Theater Computers forum at AVS.

For remote control of DVD playback on your PC, check out Animax Anir Multimedia Magic, Evation IRMan, InterAct WebRemote, Multimedia Studio Miro MediaRemote, Packard Bell RemoteMedia, RealMagic Remote Control, and X10 MouseRemote. Many remotes are supported by Visual Domain's Remote Selector software.

[4.1.1] Can I play DVD-Audio discs on my computer?

Usually not. DVD-ROM drives can read DVD-Audio discs, but as of mid 2002 only the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card includes the software needed to play DVD-Audio on a computer. Part of the reason for general lack of support is that very few computers provide the high quality audio environment needed to take advantage of DVD-Audio fidelity.

[4.2] What are the features and speeds of DVD-ROM drives?

Unlike CD-ROM drives, which took years to move up to 2x, 3x, and faster spin rates, faster DVD-ROM drives began appearing in the first year. 1x DVD-ROM drives provide a data transfer rate of 1.321 MB/s (11.08*10^6/8/2^20) with burst transfer rates of up to 12 MB/s or higher. The data transfer rate from a DVD-ROM disc at 1x speed is roughly equivalent to a 9x CD-ROM drive (1x CD-ROM data transfer rate is 150 KB/s, or 0.146 MB/s). DVD physical spin rate is about 3 times faster than CD (that is, 1x DVD spin ~ 3x CD spin), but most DVD-ROM drives increase motor speed when reading CD-ROMs, achieving 12x or faster performance.  A drive listed as "16x/40x" spins a DVD at 16 times normal, or a CD at 40 times normal. DVD-ROM drives are available in 2x, 4x, 4.8x, 5x, 6x, 8x, 10x, and 16x speeds, although they usually don't achieve sustained transfer at their full rating. The "max" in DVD and CD speed ratings means that the listed speed only applies when reading data at the outer edge of the disc, which moves faster. The average data rate is lower than the max rate. Most 1x DVD-ROM drives have a seek time of 85-200 ms and access time of 90-250 ms. Newer drives have seek times as low as 45 ms.

The bigger the cache (memory buffer) in a DVD-ROM drive, the faster it can supply data to the computer. This is useful primarily for data, not video. It may reduce or eliminate the pause during layer changes, but has no effect on video quality.

Rewritable DVD drives (see 4.3) write at about half their advertised speed when the data verification feature is turned on, which reads each block of data after it is written. Verification is usually on by default in DVD-RAM drives. Turning it off will speed up writing. Whether this endangers your data is a subject of debate. Verification is off in DVD-RW and DVD+RW drives.

In order to maintain constant linear density, typical CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives spin the disc more slowly when reading near the outside where there is more physical surface in each track. (This is CLV, constant linear velocity.) Some faster drives keep the rotational speed constant and use a buffer to deal with the differences in data readout speed. (This is CAV, constant angular velocity.) In CAV drives, the data is read fastest at the outside of the disc, which is why specifications often list "max speed."

Note: When playing movies, a fast DVD-ROM drive gains you nothing more than possibly smoother scanning and faster searching. Speeds above 1x do not improve video quality from DVD-Video discs. Higher speeds only make a difference when reading computer data, such as when playing a multimedia game or when using a database.

Connectivity is similar to that of CD-ROM drives: EIDE (ATAPI), SCSI-2, etc. All DVD-ROM drives have audio connections for playing audio CDs. No DVD-ROM drives have been announced with DVD audio or video outputs (which would require internal audio/video decoding hardware). In order to hook a DVD-ROM PC to a television and a stereo receiver, the decoder card or the video card must have a TV video output and an audio output. Some cards have SP/DIF outputs to connect to digital audio receivers. If there's no video output, a TV scan converter can be connected to the VGA output.

Almost all DVD-Video and DVD-ROM discs use the UDF bridge format, which is a combination of the DVD MicroUDF (subset of UDF 1.02) and ISO 9660 file systems. The OSTA UDF file system will eventually replace the ISO 9660 system originally designed for CD-ROMs, but the bridge format provides backwards compatibility until more operating systems support UDF.

[4.3] What about recordable DVD: DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+R?

There are six recordable versions of DVD-ROM: DVD-R for General, DVD-R for Authoring, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+R. All DVD recorders can read DVD-ROM discs, but each uses a different type of disc for recording. DVD-R and DVD+R can record data once, like CD-R, while DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW can be rewritten thousands of times, like CD-RW. DVD-R was first available in fall 1997. DVD-RAM followed in summer 1998. DVD-RW came out in Japan in December 1999, but was not available in the U.S. until spring 2001. DVD+RW became available in fall 2001. DVD+R was released in mid 2002.

Recordable DVD was first available for use on computers only. Home DVD video recorders (see 1.14) appeared worldwide in 2000. This FAQ uses the terms "drive" and "video recorder" to distinguish between recordable computer drives and home set-top recorders.

DVD-RAM is more of a removable storage device for computers than a video recording format, although it has become widely used in DVD video recorders because of the flexibility it provides in editing a recording. The other two recordable format families (DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW) are essentially in competition with each other. The market will determine which of them succeeds or if they end up coexisting or merging.

Each writable DVD format is covered briefly below. See section 6.2.3 for hardware manufacturers. For more on writable DVD see Dana Parker's article at <www.emediapro.net/EM1999/parker1.html>. More information on writable DVD formats is available at industry associations: RW Products Promotion Initiative (RWPPI), Recordable DVD Council (RDVDC), and DVD+RW Alliance. Also DVD Writers. If you're interested in writable DVD for data storage, visit Steve Rothman's DVD-DATA page for FAQ and mailing list info.

[4.3.1] Is it true there are compatibility problems with recordable DVD formats?

Yes. A big problem is that none of the writable formats are fully compatible with each other or even with existing drives and players. In other words, a DVD+R/RW drive can't write a DVD-R or DVD-RW disc, and vice versa (unless it's a combo drive that knows both formats). As time goes by the different formats are becoming more compatible and more intermixed. A player with the DVD Forum's DVD Multi is guaranteed to read DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM discs, and a DVD Multi recorder can record using all three formats. Some new "Super Multi" drives can write to DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW, but not DVD-RAM.

In addition, not all players and drives can read recorded discs. The basic problem is that recordable discs have different reflectivity than pressed discs (the pre-recorded kind you buy in a store -- see 5), and not all players have been correctly designed to read them. There are compatibility lists at CustomFlix, DVDMadeEasy, VCDHelp, YesVideo.com, HomeMovie.com, and Apple that indicate player compatibility with DVD-R and DVD-RW discs. DVDplusRW.org maintains a list of  DVD+RW compatible players and drives. (Note: test results vary depending on media quality, handling, writing conditions, player tolerances, and so on. The indications of compatibility in these lists are often anecdotal in nature and are only general guidelines.) Very roughly, DVD-R and DVD+R discs work in about 85% of existing drives and players, while DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs work in around 65%. The situation is steadily improving. In another few years compatibility problems will mostly be behind us, just as with CD-R (did you even know that early CD-Rs had all kinds of compatibility problems?).

Here is a summary of recordable DVD compatibility (for simplicity, "doesn't write" is implied if not otherwise specified):

[4.3.2] DVD-R

DVD-R uses organic dye technology, like CD-R, and is compatible with most DVD drives and players. First-generation capacity was 3.95 billion bytes, later extended to 4.7 billion bytes. Matching the 4.7G capacity of DVD-ROM was crucial for desktop DVD production. In early 2000 the format was split into an "authoring" version and a "general" version. The general version, intended for home use, writes with a cheaper 650-nm laser, the same as DVD-RAM. DVD-R(A) is intended for professional development and uses a 635-nm laser. DVD-R(A) discs are not writable in DVD-R(G) recorders, and vice-versa, but both kinds of discs are readable in most DVD players and drives. The main differences, in addition to recording wavelength, are that DVD-R(G) uses decrementing pre-pit addresses, a pre-stamped (version 1.0) or pre-recorded (version 1.1) control area, CPRM (see 1.11), and allows double-sided discs. A third version for "special authoring," allowing protected movie content to be recorded on DVD-R media, was considered but will probably not happen.

Pioneer released 3.95G DVD-R(A) 1.0 drives in October 1997 (about 6 months late) for $17,000. New 4.7G DVD-R(A) 1.9 drives appeared in limited quantities in May 1999 (about 6 months late) for $5,400. Version 2.0 drives became available in fall 2000. Version 1.9 drives can be upgraded to 2.0 via downloaded software. (This removes the 2,500 hour recording limit.) New 2.0 [4.7G] media (with newer copy protection features), can only be written in 2.0 drives. 1.9 media (and old 1.0 [3.95G] media) can still be written in 2.0 drives. Version 1.0 (3.95G) discs are still available, and can be recorded in Pioneer DVD-R(A) drives. Although 3.95G discs hold less data, they are more compatible with existing players and drives.

Pioneer's DVR-A03 DVD-R(G) drive was released in May 2001 for under $1000. By August it was available for under $700, and by February 2002 it was under $400. The same drive (model DVR-103) was built into certain Apple Macs and Compaq PCs. Many companies now produce DVD-RW drives, all of which write CD-R/RW. As of fall 2002 DVD-RW drives are selling for under $200. Most DVD-RAM drives also write DVD-R discs, some also write DVD-RW discs. A few new drives write both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW.

Pioneer released a professional DVD video recorder in 2002. It sells for about $3000 and provides component video (YPbPr) and 1394 (DV) inputs (along with s-video and composite). It has 1-hour (10 Mbps) and 2-hour (5 Mbps) recording modes, and includes a 2-channel Dolby Digital audio encoder.

Price for blank DVD-R(A) discs is $10 to $25 (down from the original $50), although cheaper discs seem to have more compatibility problems. Price for blank DVD-R(G) discs is $5 to $15. Blank media is made by CMC Magnetics, Fuji, Hitachi Maxell, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Pioneer, Ricoh, Ritek, Taiyo Yuden, Sony, TDK, Verbatim, Victor, and others. 

The DVD-R 1.0 format is standardized in ECMA-279. Andy Parsons at Pioneer has written a white paper that explains the differences between DVD-R(G) and DVD-R(A).

It's possible to submit DVD-R(A) and DVD-R(G) discs for replication, with limitations. First, not all replicators will accept submissions on DVD-R. Second, there can be problems with compatibility and data loss when using DVD-R, so it's best to generate a checksum that the replicator can verify. Third, DVD-R does not directly support CSS, regions, and Macrovision. Support for this is being added to DVD-R(A) with the cutting master format (CMF), which stores DDP information in the control area, but it will take a while before most authoring software and replicators support CMF.

[4.3.3] DVD-RW

DVD-RW (formerly DVD-R/W and also briefly known as DVD-ER) is a phase-change erasable format. Developed by Pioneer based on DVD-R, using similar track pitch, mark length, and rotation control, DVD-RW is playable in many DVD drives and players. (Some drives and players are confused by DVD-RW media's lower reflectivity into thinking it's a dual-layer disc. In other cases the drive or player doesn't recognize the disc format code and doesn't even try to read the disc. Simple firmware upgrades can solve both problems.) DVD-RW uses groove recording with address info on land areas for synchronization at write time (land data is ignored during reading). Capacity is 4.7 billion bytes. DVD-RW discs can be rewritten about 1,000 times.

In December 1999, Pioneer released DVD-RW home video recorders in Japan. The units cost 250,000 yen (about $2,500) and blank discs cost 3,000 yen (about $30). Since the recorder used the new DVD-VR (video recording) format, the discs wouldn't play in existing players (the discs were physically compatible, but not logically compatible). Recording time varies from 1 hour to 6 hours, depending on quality. A new version of the recorder was later released that also records on DVD-R(G) discs and can use DVD-Video format for better compatibility with existing players. Pioneer released a third generation of its DVD-RW recorder in Japan in June 2001 for about 198,000 yen (about $1,500). The new model may be released in the U.S. and elsewhere around the end of 2001 or sometime in 2002. Sharp announced a $2,200 DVD-RW recorder, and Zenith (LG) announced a $2,000 DVD-RW recorder, but neither appeared at the end of 2000 as expected. Sharp expects to have a DVD-RW video recorder that costs less than $1,000 by March 2002. TV One announced a DVD-RW video recorder for July 2001 at $3,500 that can also create Video CD discs. Sony will ship a DVD-RW video recorder in Japan in September 2001 for 220,000 yen (about $2,000).

DVD-R(G) drives released in early 2001 by Pioneer (DVR-103 and DVR-A03, priced below $1000) are combination DVD-R/RW drives. The drives also write CD-R and CD-RW discs. DVD-RW disc prices are around $15-$20 (down from the original $30). Blank media is being made by CMC Magnetics, Hitachi Maxell, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Pioneer, Ricoh, Ritek, Sony, Taiyo Yuden, TDK, Verbatim, Victor, and others.

There are three kinds of DVD-RW discs. All are 4.7G capacity. Version 1.0 discs, rarely found outside of Japan, have an embossed lead-in (to prevent copying of CSS information), which causes compatibility problems. Version 1.1 discs have a pre-recorded lead-in that improves compatibility. Version 1.1 discs also come in a "B" version that carries a unique ID in the BCA for use with CPRM. B-type discs are required when copying certain kinds of protected video. (See 1.11 for more on CPRM; 3.11 for more on BCA.)

Note: The Apple SuperDrive (even with older 1.22 firmware) can write to DVD-RW discs, but not from the iDVD application. You must use a different software utility, such as Toast, to write to DVD-RW discs.

[4.3.4] DVD-RAM

DVD-RAM, with an initial storage capacity of 2.58 billion bytes, later increased to 4.7, uses phase-change dual (PD) technology with some magneto-optic (MO) features mixed in. DVD-RAM is the best suited of the writable DVD formats for use in computers, because of its defect management and zoned CLV format for rapid access. However, it's not compatible with most drives and players (because of defect management, reflectivity differences, and minor format differences). A wobbled groove is used to provide clocking data, with marks written in both the groove and the land between grooves. The grooves and pre-embossed sector headers are molded into the disc during manufacturing. Single-sided DVD-RAM discs come with or without cartridges. There are two types of cartridges: type 1 is sealed, type 2 allows the disc to be removed. Discs can only be written while in the cartridge. Double-sided DVD-RAM discs were initially available in sealed cartridges only, but now come in removable versions as well. Cartridge dimensions are 124.6 mm x 135.5 mm x 8.0 mm. DVD-RAM can be rewritten more than 100,000 times, and the discs are expected to last at least 30 years.

DVD-RAM 1.0 drives appeared in June 1998 (about 6 months late) for $500 to $800, with blank discs at about $30 for single-sided and $45 for double-sided. Disc prices were under $20 by August 1998, and retail drive prices were under $250 by November 1999. The first DVD-ROM drive to read DVD-RAM discs was released by Panasonic in 1999 (SR-8583, 5x DVD-ROM, 32x CD). Hitachi's GD-5000 drive, released in late 1999, also reads DVD-RAM discs. Blank DVD-RAM media is manufactured by CMC Magnetics, Hitachi Maxell, Eastman Kodak, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Ritek, TDK, and others.

The spec for DVD-RAM version 2.0, with a capacity of 4.7 billion bytes per side, was published in October 1999. The first drives appeared in June 2000 at about the same price as DVD-RAM 1.0 drives. Single-sided discs were priced around $25, and double-sided discs were around $30. DVD-RAM 2.0 also specifies 8-cm discs and cartridges for portable uses such as digital camcorders. Future DVD-RAM discs may use a contrast enhancement layer and a thermal buffer layer to achieve higher density.

Samsung and C-Cube made a technology demonstration (not a product announcement) in October 1999 of a DVD-RAM video recorder using the new DVD-VR format (see DVD-RW section above for more about DVD-VR). Panasonic demonstrated a $3,000 DVD-RAM video recorder at CES in January 2000. It appeared in the U.S. in September for $4,000 (model DMR-E10). At the beginning of 2001, Hitachi and Panasonic released DVD camcorders that use small DVD-RAM discs. The instant access and on-the-fly editing and deleting capabilities of the DVD camcorders are impressive. Panasonic's 2nd-generation DVD-RAM video recorder appearing in October 2001 for $1,500 also writes to DVD-R discs.

The DVD-RAM 1.0 format is standardized in ECMA-272 and ECMA-273.

[4.3.4.1] How do I remove a DVD-RAM type 2 disc from the cartridge?

Type 2 DVD-RAM cartridges allow the disc to be removed so that it can be played in standard players or drives. (However, most players and drives still won't be able to read the disc -- see 4.3.1.)

First break (yes, break) the locking pin by pushing on it with a pointed object such as a ballpoint pen. Remove the locking pin. Unlatch the cover by using a pointed object to press the indentation on the back left corner of the cartridge. Data is recorded on the unprinted side of the disc -- do not touch it. When you put the bare disc back the cartridge, make sure the printed side of the shutter and the printed side of the disc face the same direction.

Most DVD-RAM drives will not allow you to write to a bare disc. Some will not allow you to write to a cartridge if the disc has been removed.

[4.3.5] DVD+RW and DVD+R

DVD+RW is an erasable format based on CD-RW technology. It became available in late 2001. DVD+RW is supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha, and others. It is not supported by the DVD Forum (even though most of the DVD+RW companies are members), but the Forum has no power to set standards. DVD+RW drives read DVD-ROMs and CDs, and usually read DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs, but do not read or write DVD-RAM discs. DVD+RW drives also write CD-Rs and CD-RWs. DVD+RW discs, which hold 4.7 billion bytes per side, are readable in many existing DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives. (They run into the same reflectivity and disc format recognition problems as DVD-RW.)

DVD+RW backers claimed in 1997 that the format would be used only for computer data, not home video, but this was apparently a smokescreen intended to placate the DVD Forum and competitors. The original 1.0 format, which held 3 billion bytes (2.8 gigabytes) per side and was not compatible with any existing players and drives, was abandoned in late 1999.

The DVD+RW format uses phase-change media with a high-frequency wobbled groove that allows it to eliminate linking sectors. This, plus the option of no defect management, allows DVD+RW discs to be written in a way that is compatible with many existing DVD readers. The DVD+RW specification allows for either CLV format for sequential video access (read at CAV speeds by the drive) or CAV format for random access, but CAV mode is not supported by any current hardware. DVD+R discs can only be recorded in CLV mode. Only CLV-formatted discs can be read in standard DVD drives and players. DVD+RW media can be rewritten about 1,000 times (down from 100,000 times in the original 1.0 version).

DVD+R is a write-once variation of DVD+RW, which appeared in mid 2002. It's a dye-based medium, like DVD-R, so it has similar compatibility as DVD-R. Original DVD+RW drives did not fulfill the promise of a simple upgrade to add DVD+R writing support, so they have to be replaced with newer models. The original Philips DVD+RW players, on the other hand, can be customer-upgraded to write +R discs.

Philips announced a DVD+RW home video recorder for late 2001. The Philips recorder uses the DVD-Video format, so discs will play in many existing players. HP announced a $600 DVD+RW drive and $16 DVD+RW discs to be available in September 2001. HP's drive reads DVDs at 8x and CDs at 32x, and writes to DVD+RW at 2.4x, CD-R at 12x, and CD-RW at 10x. Sony announced a $600 DVD+RW/CD-RW drive in October 2001.

DVD+RW media is being produced by CMC Magnetics, Hewlett-Packard, MCC/Verbatim, Memorex, Mitsubishi, Optodisc, Philips, Ricoh, Ritek, and Sony.

More DVD+RW information is at www.dvdrw.org and www.dvdplusrw.org. The obsolete DVD+RW 1.0 format is standardized in ECMA-274.

[4.3.6] Other recordable optical formats

Other potential competitors to recordable DVD include AS-MO (formerly MO7), which holds 5 to 6 billion bytes, and NEC's Multimedia Video Disc (MVDisc, formerly MMVF, Multimedia Video File), which holds 5.2 billion bytes and is targeted at home recording. ASMO drives are expected to read DVD-ROM and compatible writable formats, but not DVD-RAM. MVDisc is similar to DVD-RW and DVD+RW, using two bonded 0.6mm phase-change substrates, land and groove recording, and a 640nm laser, but contrary to initial reports, the drives won't be able to read DVD-ROM or compatible discs.

There's also FMD. See 2.13. And Blu-ray. See 6.5.

[4.3.7] How long does DVD recording take?

The time it takes to burn a DVD depends on the speed of the recorder and the amount of data. Playing time of the video may have little to do with recording time, since a half hour at high data rates can take less space than an hour at low data rates. A 2x recorder, running at 22 Mbps, can write a full 4.7G DVD in about 30 minutes. A 4x recorder can write the same in about 15 minutes.

Note that the -R/RW format writes a full lead-out to the diameter required by the DVD spec, so small amounts of data (like a very short video clip) may take the same amount of time as large amounts.

[4.4] Why can't I take a screenshot of DVD video? Why do I get a pink or black square?

Most DVD PCs, even those with software decoders, use video overlay hardware to insert the video directly into the VGA signal. This an efficient way to handle the very high bandwidth of full-motion video. Some decoder cards, such as the Creative Labs Encore Dxr series and the Sigma Designs Hollywood series, use a pass-through cable that overlays the video into the analog VGA signal after it comes out of the video display card. Video overlay uses a technique called colorkey to selectively replace a specified pixel color (often magenta or near-black) with video content. Anywhere a colorkey pixel appears in the computer graphics video, it's replaced by video from the DVD decoder. This process occurs "downstream" from the computer's video memory, so if you try to take a screenshot (which grabs pixels from video RAM), all you get is a solid square of the colorkey color.

Hardware acceleration must be turned off before screen capture will work. This makes some decoders write to standard video memory. Utilities such as Creative Softworx, HyperSnap, and SD Capture can then grab still pictures. Some player applications such as PowerDVD and the Windows Me player can take screenshots if hardware acceleration is turned off.

[4.5] Why can't I play movies copied to my hard drive?

Almost all movies are encrypted with CSS copy protection (see 1.11). Decryption keys are stored in the normally inaccessible lead-in area of the disc. You'll usually get an error if you try to copy the contents of an encrypted DVD to a hard drive. Although if you have used a software player to play the movie it will have authenticated the disc in the drive, allowing you to copy without error, but the encryption keys will not be copied. If you try to play the copied VOB files, the decoder will request the keys from the DVD-ROM drive and will fail. You may get the message "Cannot play copy-protected files".

[4.6] Why do I have problems playing DVDs on my computer?

There are thousands of answers to this question, but here are some basic troubleshooting steps to help you track down problems such as jerky playback, pauses, error messages, and so on.

• Get updated drivers. Driver bugs are the biggest cause of playback problems, ranging from freezes to bogus error messages about regions. Go to the support section on the Web sites of your equipment manufacturers and make sure you have the latest decoder drivers as well as the latest drivers for your graphics adapter and DVD decoder.
  Apple has released numerous updates for audio drivers and the DVD player application. Make sure you have the latest versions. Go to the downloads page and search for DVD.

• If you have problems loading a DVD on a Mac, hold down the Command, Option, and I keys when inserting the disk. (This mounts the disc using ISO 9660 instead of UDF.)

• Make sure DMA or SDT is turned on. In Windows, go into the System Properties Device Manager, choose CD-ROM, open the CD/DVD driver properties, choose the Settings tab, and make sure the DMA box (for IDE drives) or the Sync Data Transfer box (for SCSI drives) is checked. Download DVD Speed to check the performance of your drive (if it's below 1x, you have problems). 
  Caution: You may run into problems turning DMA on, especially with an AMD K6 CPU or VIA chipset. Check for a BIOS upgrade, a drive controller upgrade, a bus mastering driver upgrade, and a CD/DVD-ROM driver upgrade from your system manufacturer before turning DMA on. If the drive disappears, reboot in safe mode, uncheck DMA, and reboot again. You may have to tell Windows to restore the registry settings from its last registry backup.

• If you get an error about unavailable overlay surface, reduce the display resolution or number of colors (right-click desktop, choose Settings tab).

• Try turning off programs that are running in the background. (In Windows, close or exit applets in the system tray -- the icons in the lower right corner. In Mac OS, turn off AppleTalk, file sharing, and virtual memory.)

• Allocate more memory to the Apple DVD Player.

• If you are using a SCSI DVD-ROM drive, make sure that the it's the first or last device in the SCSI chain. If it's the last device, make sure it's terminated.

• Reinstall the Windows bus mastering drivers. (Delete them from the device manager and let Windows ask for original disc.)

• Bad video when connecting to a TV could be from too long a cable or from interference or a ground loop. See 3.2.2.

More information on specific graphics cards and driver updates:

• Nvidia DVD Zone

• Nvidia geForce 256 FAQ

• More to come...

[4.7] Can I stream DVD over a network or the Internet?

Short answer: Not if the disc is copy protected.

With a fast enough network (100 Mbps or better, with good performance and low traffic) and a high-performance server, it's possible to stream DVD-Video from a server to client stations. If the source on the server is a DVD-ROM drive (or jukebox), then more than one user simultaneously accessing the same disc will cause breaks in the video unless the server has a fast DVD-ROM drive and a very good caching system designed for streaming video.

A big problem is that CSS-encrypted movies (see 1.11) can't be remotely sourced because of security issues. The CSS license does not allow decrypted video to be sent over an accessible bus or network, so the decoder has to be on the remote PC. If the decoder has a secure channel to perform authentication with the drive on the server, then it's possible to stream encrypted video over a network to be decrypted and decoded remotely. (But so far almost no decoders can do this.)

One solution is the VideoLAN project which runs on GNU/Linux/Unix, BeOS, Mac OS X, and other operating systems. It includes a player with built-in CSS decryption. Although the code is different from DeCSS, it's an unlicensed implementation and is probably illegal in most countries (see 4.8).

An alternative approach is to decode the video at the server and send it to individual stations via separate cables (usually RF). The advantage is that performance is very good, but the disadvantage is that DVD interactivity is usually limited, and every viewer connected to a single drive/decoder must watch the same thing at the same time.

Many companies provide support for streaming video (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, etc.) over LANs, but only from files or realtime encoders, not from DVD-Video discs.

The Internet is a different matter. It takes over a week to download the contents of a single-layer DVD using a 56k modem. It takes about 7 hours on a T1 line. Cable modems theoretically cut the time down to a few hours, but if other users in the same neighborhood have cable modems, bandwidth could drop significantly. [Jim's prediction: the average DVD viewing household won't have sufficiently fast Internet connections before 2007 at the earliest. Around that time there will be a new high-definition version of DVD with double the data rate, which will once again exceed the capacity of the typical Internet connection.]

[4.8] What is DeCSS?

CSS (Content Scrambling System) is an encryption and authentication scheme intended to prevent DVD movies from being digitally copied. See 1.11 for details. DeCSS refers to the general process of defeating CSS, as well as to DeCSS source code and programs.

Computer software to decrypt CSS was released to the Internet in October 1999 (see Dana Parker's article at www.emediapro.net/news99/news111.html), although other "ripping" methods were available before that (see 6.4.2). The difference between circumventing CSS encryption with DeCSS and intercepting decrypted, decompressed video with a DVD ripper is that DeCSS can be considered illegal under the DMCA and the WIPO treaties. The DeCSS information can be used to "guess" at master keys, such that a standard PC can generate the entire list of 409 keys, rendering the key secrecy process useless. 

In any case, there's not much appeal to being able to copy a set of movie files (often without menus and other DVD special features) that would take over a week to download on a 56K modem and would fill up a 6G hard disk or a dozen CD-Rs. An alternative is to recompress the video with a different encoding format such as DivX (see 2.10) so that it will take less space, but this often results in significantly reduced picture quality. In spite of lower data rates of DivX et al, the time and effort it takes to find and download the files is not worth the bother for most movie viewers. The reality is that most people ripping and downloading DVDs are doing it for the challenge, not to avoid buying discs.

The supporters of DeCSS point out that it was only developed to allow DVD movies to be played on the Linux operating system, which had been excluded from CSS licensing because of its open-source nature. This is specifically allowed by DMCA and WIPO laws. However, the DeCSS.exe program posted on the Internet is a Windows application that decrypts movie files. The lack of differentiation between the DeCSS process in Linux and the DeCSS.exe Windows application is hurting the cause of DeCSS backers, since DeCSS.exe can be used in the process of copying and illegally distributing movies from DVD. See OpenDVD.org and Tom Vogt's DeCSS central for more information on DeCSS.

Worthy of note is that DVD piracy was around long before DeCSS. Serious DVD pirates can copy the disc bit for bit, including the normally unreadable lead in (this can be done with a specially modified drive), or copy the video output from a standard DVD player, or get a copy of the video from another source such as laserdisc, VHS, or a camcorder smuggled into a theater. It's certainly true that DVD piracy is a problem, but DeCSS has little to do with it.

Shortly after the appearance of DeCSS, the DVD CCA filed a lawsuit and requested a temporary injunction in an attempt to prevent Web sites from posting (or even linking to!) DeCSS information. The request was denied by a California court on December 29, 1999. On January 14, 2000, the seven top U.S. movie studios (Disney, MGM, Paramount, Sony [Columbia/TriStar], Time Warner, Twentieth Century Fox, and Universal), backed by the MPAA, filed lawsuits in Connecticut and New York in a further attempt to stop the distribution of DeCSS on Web sites in those states. On January 21, the judge for the New York suit granted a preliminary injunction, and on January 24, the judge for the CCA suit in California reversed his earlier decision and likewise granted a preliminary injunction. In both cases, the judges ruled that the injunction applied only to sites with DeCSS information, not to linking sites. (Good thing, since this FAQ links to DeCSS sites!) The CCA suit is based on misappropriation of trade secrets (somewhat shaky ground), while the MPAA suits are based on copyright circumvention. On January 24, 16-year old Jon Johansen, the Norwegian programmer who first distributed DeCSS, was questioned by local police who raided his house and confiscated his computer equipment and cell phone. Johansen says the actual cracking work was done by two anonymous programmers, one German and one Dutch, who call themselves Masters of Reverse Engineering (MoRE).

This all seems to be a losing battle, since the DeCSS source code is available on a T-shirt and was made publicly available by the DVD CCA itself in court records--oops! See Fire, Work With Me for a facetious look at the broad issue.

[4.9] How do I play DVD video in HTML, PowerPoint, Director, VB, etc.?

A variety of multimedia development/authoring programs can be extended to play video from a DVD, either as titles and chapters from a DVD-Video volume, or as MPEG-2 files. In Windows, this is usually done with ActiveX controls. On the Mac, until DVD-Video support is added to QuickTime, the options are limited. Newer versions of the Apple DVD Player can be controlled with AppleScript.

DVD-Video and MPEG-2 video can be played back in an HTML page in Microsoft Internet Explorer using many different ActiveX controls (see table). Some ActiveX controls also work in PowerPoint, Visual Basic, and other ActiveX hosts. Netscape Navigator is out of the game until it supports ActiveX objects. Simple MPEG-2 playback can be done in PowerPoint using the Insert Movie feature (requires that a DirectShow-compatible MPEG-2 decoder be installed). DVD and MPEG-2 playback can be integrated into Macromedia Director using specialized Xtras. 

Of course, if you simply treat DVD-ROM as a bigger, faster CD-ROM, you can create projects using traditional tools (Director, Flash, Toolbook, HyperCard, VB, HTML, etc.) and traditional media types (CinePak, Sorenson, Indeo, Windows Media, etc. in QuickTime or AVI format) and they'll work just fine from DVD. You can even raise the data rate for bigger or better quality video. But it usually won't look as good as MPEG-2.

[4.10] What are .IFO, .VOB, and .AOB files? How can I play them?

The DVD-Video and DVD-Audio specifications (see 6.1) define how audio and video data are stored in specialized files. The .IFO (and backup .BUP) files contain menus and other information about the video and audio. The .VOB files (for DVD-Video) and .AOB files (for DVD-Audio) are MPEG-2 program streams with additional packets containing navigation and search information. 

Since a .VOB file is just a specialized MPEG-2 file, most MPEG-2 decoders and players can play them. You may need to change the extension from .VOB to .MPG. However, any special features such as angles or branching will cause strange effects. The best way to play a .VOB file is to use a DVD player application to play the entire volume (or to open the VIDEO_TS.IFO file), since this will make sure all the DVD-Video features are used properly.

Many DVDs are encrypted, which means the .VOB files won't play when copied to your hard drive. See 4.5.

You may also run into .VRO files created by DVD video recorders using the -VR format. In some cases you can treat the files just like .VOB files, but in other cases they are fragmented and unplayable. You'll need a utility such as Heuris Extractor to copy them to a hard disk in usable format.

[4.11] How do I get the Microsoft Windows DVD player application to run?

Windows 98 and Windows 2000 include a simple player application. It requires that a DirectShow-compatible DVD decoder be installed (see 4.1). During setup, Windows installs the player application if it finds a compatible hardware decoder. You must install the player by hand if you want to use it with a software decoder or an unrecognized hardware decoder. Using WinZip or other utility that can extract from cab files, extract dvdplay.exe from driver17.cab (on the original Windows disc). This is the only file you need, but you can also extract the help file from driver11.cab, and you can extract dvdrgn.exe from driver17.cab if you intend to change the drive region.)

Windows Me includes a much improved player, although it still requires a third-party DirectShow-compatible decoder. Windws ME DVD Player is always installed, but it usually does not appear in the Start menu. To use the player, choose Run... from the Start menu, then enter dvdplay.

Windows XP moved DVD playback into Windows Media Player. It requires a DVD Decoder Pack (which contains a DirectShow-compatible DVD decoder). See Microsoft's DVD playback support in Windows XP page for more info and links to Decoder Packs. Microsoft also has a list of supported software decoders for Windows XP.

[4.12] I upgraded to Windows XP, why did my DVD software stop working?

DVD player software written for Windows 98 and ME does not work in Windows XP. Most Windows 2000 software also requires an upgrade. Check with your DVD software manufacturer or your PC manufacturer for an upgrade, which in many cases is free. Or you may want to buy a low-cost Windows XP DVD Decoder Pack (see 4.11).

[4.13] How can I rip audio from a DVD to play as MP3 or burn to a CD?

Keep in mind that unless you are copying audio for your own personal use from a DVD that you own, it's illegal.

Use a DVD ripping tool (see 4.8 and 6.4.2) to extract Dolby Digital or PCM (WAV) files from a DVD. Then use a utility to convert to MP3, WMA, or other formats, or to burn to an audio CD.

[5] DVD production

DVD production has two basic phases: development and publishing. Development is different for DVD-ROM and DVD-Video, publishing is essentially the same for both. Cheap, low-volume productions can be published on recordable discs, whereas high-volume, mass-market products such as movies must be replicated in specialized factories.

DVD-ROM content can be developed with traditional software development tools such as Macromedia Director, Asymetrix Toolbook, HyperCard, Quark mTropolis, and C++. Discs, including DVD-R check discs, can be created with UDF formatting software (see 5.3). DVD-ROMs that take advantage of DVD-Video's MPEG-2 video and multichannel Dolby Digital or MPEG-2 audio require video and audio encoding (see 5.3).

DVD-Video content development has three basic parts: encoding, authoring (design, layout, and testing), and premastering (formatting a disc image). The entire development process is sometimes referred to as authoring. Development facilities are provided by many service bureaus (see 5.5). If you intend to produce numerous DVD-Video titles (or you want to set up a service bureau), you may want to invest in encoding and authoring systems (see 5.3 and 5.4).

Replication (including mastering) is the process of "pressing" discs in production lines that spit out a new disc every few seconds. Replication is done by large plants (see 5.5 for a list) that also replicate CDs. DVD replication equipment typically costs millions of dollars. A variety of machines are used to create a glass master, create metal stamping masters, stamp substrates in hydraulic molds, apply reflective layers, bond substrates together, print labels, and insert discs in packages. Most replication plants provide "one-off" or "check disc" services, where one to a hundred discs are made for testing before mass duplication. Unlike DVD-ROM mastering, DVD-Video mastering may include an additional step for CSS encryption, Macrovision, and regionalization. There is more information on mastering and replication at Panasonic Disc Services and Technicolor.

For projects requiring less than 50 copies, it can be cheaper use recordable discs (see 4.3). Automated machines can feed recordable blanks into a recorder, and even print labels on each disc. This is called duplication, as distinguished from replication.

[5.1] How much does it cost to produce a DVD? Isn't it more expensive than videotape, laserdisc, and CD-ROM?

Videotape, laserdisc, and CD-ROM can't be compared to DVD in a straightforward manner. There are basically three stages of costs: production, pre-mastering (authoring, encoding, and formatting), and mastering/replication.

DVD video production costs are not much higher than for VHS and similar video formats unless the extra features of such as multiple sound tracks, camera angles, seamless branching, etc. are employed.

Authoring and pre-mastering costs are proportionately the most expensive part of DVD. Video and audio must be encoded, menus and control information have to be authored and encoded, it all has to be multiplexed into a single data stream, and finally encoded in low level format. Typical charges for compression are $50/min for video, $20/min for audio, $6/min for subtitles, plus formatting and testing at about $30/min. A ballpark cost for producing a Hollywood-quality two-hour DVD movie with motion menus, multiple audio tracks, subtitles, trailers, and a few info screens is about $20,000. Alternatively, many facilities charge for time, at rates of around $300/hour. A simple two-hour DVD-Video title with menus and various video clips can cost as low as $2,000. If you want to do it yourself, authoring and encoding systems can be purchased at prices from $50 to over $2 million. See 5.8 for more on low-cost DVD creation.

Videotapes don't really have a mastering cost, and they run about $2.40 for replication. CDs cost about $1,000 to master and $0.50 to replicate. Laserdiscs cost about $3,000 to master and about $8 to replicate. As of 2003, DVDs cost about $1000 to master and about $0.75 to replicate. Double-sided or dual-layer discs cost about $0.40 more to replicate, since all that's required is stamping data on the second substrate (and using transparent glue for dual layers). Double-sided, dual-layer discs (DVD-18s) are more difficult and more expensive. (See 3.3.1.)

[5.2] What DVD-ROM formatting tools are available?

• Ahead

  • Nero. DVD formatting software for Windows. Can make disc image files and bootable discs. $70.

• GEAR

  • GEAR Pro DVD. DVD formatting software for Windows 95/98/NT4. Writes to DVD-R, DVD-RAM, jukeboxes, and tape, along with general UDF formatting and CD-R/RW burning features. $700.

• JVC Professional Computer Products

  • DVD RomMaker. DVD formatting systems with RAID hardware. $60,000 to $100,000.

• Philips

  • DVD-ROM Disc Builder. DVD formatting software for Windows NT. Writes to tape.

• Roxio

  • Toast DVD. DVD formatting software for Mac OS. Writes to DVD-R and tape. Can create DVD-Video discs from VOB and IFO files. $200

• SmartDisk (acquired MTC)

  • ForDVD. DVD formatting software for Windows. Writes to DVD-R and tape. Can create DVD-Video discs from VOB and IFO files. $1200.

• Smart Storage

  • SmartDVD Maker. DVD formatting software for Windows NT. Writes to DVD-R and tape. Can create DVD-Video discs from VOB and IFO files. $2500. (Discontinued as of  March 2001.)

• Software Architects

  • WriteDVD Pro and WriteUDF. DVD formatting software for Mac OS and Windows. Writes to DVD-R and DVD-RAM.

• Sonic (acquired Daikin and Veritas DMD)

  • DVD-ROM Formatter. DVD formatting software for Windows NT/2000/XP. Writes to DVD-R and tape. Can create DVD-Video discs from VOB and IFO files.

• Stomp (retail distributor for certain Sonic products)

  • RecordNow and MaxRecordNow MAX Platinum. CD and DVD burning software for music, photos, and video. Windows. $50 and $80.

  • Backup MyPC and Simple Backup. Windows file backup software for recordable DVD and CD.

• Veritas (acquired Prassi)
  Note: Veritas Desktop and Mobile Division was acquired by Sonic in November 2002.  Veritas products such as RecordNow and Drive Letter Access are now from Sonic, distributed by Stomp.

• VOB

  • InstantCD/DVD. Software tools for recording files to CD-R/W, DVD-RAM and DVD-R/W discs from Windows. Can make a bootable DVD. $70.

  • InstantBackup. Data backup to CD-R/W, DVD-RAM and DVD-R/W in Windows. $40.

• Young Minds

  • DVD Studio and MakeDisc for DVD. DVD formatting software for Windows NT and Unix. Writes to DVD-R.

Features to look for in DVD formatters:

• Support for UDF file system, including MicroUDF (UDF 1.02 Appendix 6.9) for DVD-Video and DVD-Audio zones.

• Support for UDF bridge format, which stores both UDF and ISO-9660 file systems on the disc.

• Ability to recognize VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS directories (containing IFO, VOB, and AOB files) and place them contiguously at the physical beginning of the disc for compatibility with DVD-Video players. Placement of directory entries in first UDF file descriptor is also needed for compatibility with certain deficient consumer players.

• Support for long filenames in Windows (Joliet format recommended).

• Full equivalence between UDF and Joliet (ISO-9660) filenames. (Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98 read Joliet filenames; Mac OS 8.1+, Windows 98, and Windows 2000 read UDF filenames. MS-DOS and Windows 95 and earlier read ISO-9660 filenames. Mac OS 8.0 and earlier read HFS or ISO-9660 filenames.)

• Proper truncation and translation of ISO-9660 filenames to 8.3 format for discs intended for use with MS-DOS and certain other OSes.

• Support for Mac OS file information within the UDF file system (for use with Mac OS 8.1 and later).

• Support for Mac OS HFS file system if icons and other file information is needed for Mac OS versions earlier than 8.1.

• Ability to create a bootable disc using the El Torito specification in the ISO-9660 sectors.

[5.3] What DVD production tools are available?

[5.3.1] Video encoding tools

• Brent Beyeler

  • bbMPEG. Basic MPEG-2 encoder for Windows. Free.

• Canopus

  • Amber MPEG-2 Archiving and Mastering Kit. MPEG-2 hardware designed for encoding and archiving video onto DVD-RAM discs. VBR and CBR.  In spite of its name, it doesn't actually do any mastering. (Panasonic MN85560 encoder chip). Windows NT. $2,500.

• Custom Technology

  • Cinemacraft. MPEG-2 real-time NTSC video encoding software for Windows NT.

• Darim

  • MPEGator 2. MPEG-2 real-time encoding hardware for Windows and Windows NT. $1,800.

• Dazzle

  • Digital Video Creator II. MPEG-2 video capture/edit/encode system with PCI card. Includes Sonic DVDit LE. Windows 98/2000. $300.

• Digital Ventures

  • DVDComposer. MPEG-2 video encoding system for SGI. VBR and CBR. (C-Cube chip). $50,000.

• Digital Vision

  • BitPack. MPEG-2 video encoding workstation. Extendable to HDTV.

  • DVNR system for video pre-processing.

• Digigami

  • MegaPeg. MPEG-2 video encoding software for Windows. VBR and CBR. $500. Also available as Adobe Premiere plug-in for Windows or PowerMac. $400.

• DreamCom (formerly Gunzameory)

  • MPEGRich. Professional MPEG-2 real-time encoding hardware. CBR and VBR. Windows NT.

• DV Studio

  • Apollo Expert. MPEG-2 video encoding (and decoding) hardware for Windows NT. $2,000.

• FAST Multimedia

  • 601 [six-o-one]. MPEG-2 non-linear editing system with "print to DVD" option to output MPEG-2 ES or PS.

• FlaskMPEG

  • Freeware encoding software for Windows.

• Heuris

  • MPEG Power Professional 1, MPEG Power Professional 2, MPEG Power Professional DVD, MPEG Power Professional DTV-SD, and Power Professional DTV-HD. MPEG-2 video encoding software for Mac OS and Windows. DVD and DTV versions include VBR encoding. $350, $1,000, $1,500 and $2,500.

  • Cyclone. MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 encoding software designed for OEMs. Mac OS and Windows NT.

• InnovaCom

  • DV5100. MPEG-2 real-time hardware encoding station for Windows NT.

  Ligos

  • LSX-MPEG Encoder. MPEG-2 video encoding software. CBR and VBR. Windows. $150.

  • LSX-MPEG Suite. Adobe Premiere plug-in for producing MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 output. Includes standalone LSX-MPEG player. Windows 9x/NT. $400.

• Media100

  • iFinish RealTime MPEG Option. Editing software with MPEG-2 video encoding add-on. Windows NT. $6,000 to $18,000.

• Microcosmos/Nanocosmos

  • MPEG SoftEngine. MPEG-2 video encoding software for Windows, Solaris, and Linux. $250 to $3500.

• Minerva

  • Compressionist 110, 200, and 250. Professional MPEG-2 real-time encoding hardware. CBR and VBR. Mac OS host computer. $70,000. [No longer available.]

  • Publisher 300. Professional MPEG-2 video and MPEG Layer 2 audio real-time encoding hardware. CBR and VBR. Mac OS. [No longer available.]

• Optibase

  • MPEG MovieMaker 200. Professional MPEG-2 video and Dolby Digital audio real-time encoding hardware for Windows and Windows NT. CBR and VBR. $7,000 to $22,000.

• Philips

  • DVS3110. Professional MPEG-2 video encoder for PAL and NTSC. CBR and VBR.

• PixelTools

  • Expert-DVD. MPEG-2 video encoding software. CBR and VBR. Windows. $2,000.

  • Simple-DVD. AVI-to-DVD conversion utility for Windows. $1,5000.

• Snell & Wilcox

  • Prefix CPP100, Prefix CPP200, NRS500, Kudos NRS50, and Kudos NRS30.. Video preprocessors (noise reduction and image enhancement).

• Sonic Solutions

  • SD-1000. Professional MPEG-2 video encoding hardware. CBR and VBR. Segment-based reencoding. Mac OS and Windows OS. $13,000.

  • DVD Fusion. Encoding/authoring plug-in for Media 100 and QuickTime video editing systems. Hardware-accelerated version (velocity engine) encodes VBR and CBR in real time. Mac OS. $8,000 and $12,000.

• Sony

  • DVA-V1100. High-end MPEG-2 video encoding hardware. CBR and VBR. Windows NT.

• Spruce Technologies
  Note: Spruce was acquired in July 2001 by Apple. The MPX-3000 encoder will continue to be sold.

  • MPX-3000. Professional MPEG-2 real-time encoding hardware. CBR and VBR. Windows NT.

  • MPEGXpress 2000 (formerly from CagEnt). Professional MPEG-2 real-time encoding hardware. CBR and VBR. Windows NT.

• TMPGEnc

  • TMPGEnc and TMPGEnc Pro. MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 software video encoders, plus multiplexing/demultiplexing, file joining, and trimming tools. Free.

• VisionTech

  • MVCast. Low-end real-time MPEG-2 video/audio encoding hardware for Windows NT and Solaris. AVI-to-MPEG-2 conversion. $2000.

• Vitech

  • MPEG Toolbox-2. AVI to MPEG-2 VBR/CBR. MPEG-2 video editing. Windows 95/98/NT. $250.

• Wired

  • MediaPress. MPEG-2 encoding hardware (PCI). CBR and VBR. Mac OS and Windows 95/98/NT. $2,500.

• Zapex

  • ZP-200. Real-time PCI encoder for MPEG-2 video and PCM Audio. Non-real-time encoding and VOB multiplexing from Adobe Premiere. Windows NT.

  • ZP-300. Real-time PCI Encoder for CBR/VBR MPEG-2 video, 2-channel Dolby Digital, and PCM Audio. Non-real-time encoding and VOB multiplexing from Adobe Premiere. Windows NT.

[5.3.2] Audio encoding tools

• Astarte

  • A.Pack. Multichannel Dolby Digital audio encoding software for Mac OS. $800.

• Digital Vision

  • BitPack. Multichannel audio encoding workstation for Dolby Digital, MPEG-2, and PCM.

• Dolby

  • DP569. Multichannel Dolby Digital audio encoding hardware.

• Kind of Loud Technologies

  • SmartCode Pro/Dolby Digital. 5.1-channel encoding software plugin for Digidesign Pro Tools. $1000.

  • SmartCode Pro/DTS. 5.1-channel encoding software plugin for Digidesign Pro Tools. $2000.

• Microcosmos

  • MPEG SoftEngine/Audio. MPEG audio encoding software for Windows/Solaris. $95/$350.

• Minerva

  • Audio Compressionist. Professional Dolby Digital real-time, 5.1-channel encoder. Windows NT.

• Minnetonka Audio Software

  • SurCode for DOlby Digital. Multichannel Dolby Digital audio encoding software. $1000.

  • SurCode DVD Professional for DTS. Multichannel DTS audio encoding software. $2000.

• Philips

  • DVD3310. Professional MPEG-2 multichannel audio encoder.

• PixelTools

  • Expert-Audio. MPEG Layer 2 audio encoding software. Windows.

• Sonic Solutions

  • Sonic DVD Studio. Professional real-time Dolby Digital 5.1, MPEG-2, and PCM audio encoding hardware. Mac OS.

  • MLP Encoder. $9,000.

• Sonic Foundry

  • Soft Encode. Dolby Digital 2-channel or 5.1-channel audio encoding software. Windows 95/98/NT. $500 (2 channels) or $900 (5.1 channels).

• Sony

  • DVA-A1100. High-end, real-time Dolby Digital 5.1, MPEG-2, and PCM audio encoding hardware. Windows NT.

• Spruce Technologies
  Note: Spruce was acquired in July 2001 by Apple. The ACX-5100 encoder will continue to be sold.

  • ACX- 5100 (formerly from CagEnt). Professional Dolby Digital real-time, 5.1-channel encoder. Windows NT.

  • ACX-2000 (formerly from CagEnt). Professional Dolby Digital real-time, 2-channel encoder. Windows NT.

• Zapex

  • ZP-100. Real-time PCI encoder for 2- or 5.1-channel Dolby Digital and MPEG Layer 2. Windows NT.

[5.3.3] Other production tools

• Alcohol Software

  • Alcohol 52%. Emulate CDs and DVDs without physical disc. Windows. $28.

  • Alcohol 68%. Copy CDs and DVDs. Windows. $30.

  • Alcohol 120%. Combination of Alcohol 52% and Alcohol 68%. Windows. $50.

• ASINT

  • Industrial DVD players, touchscreens, and DVD kiosk products.

• BCD Associates

  • DVD controllers for custom installations.

• Cambridge Multimedia

  • Touchscreens and other custom interfaces for industrial DVD players.

• Computer Prompting & Captioning Co.

  • CPC-DVD. Closed Caption production system. DOS. $6,000.

• DCA (Doug Carson & Associates)

  • MIS (Mastering Interface System). Mastering interface system for DVD and CD. Windows NT.

  • ITS (Image Transfer System). Transfer and convert DVD and CD images.

  • DVS+ (Data Verification System). Checks DVD and CD images. Includes Interra Surveyor to check for DVD-Video spec compliance. Can transfer between discs and tape. Windows NT.

  • INMS (Integrated Network Mastering System). Combination of MIS, ITS, DVS+ in a system with a RAID.

• Eclipse Data Technologies

  • EclipseSuite. DVD and CD premastering tools to copy and verify images, copy tapes, etc. Windows NT.

  • ImageEncoder. LBR mastering interface for CD and DVD mastering. Windows NT.

• FAB

  • FAB Subtitler DVD Edition. Subtitle generator program (text and bitmap formats) that works with most DVD authoring systems. Windows.

• Heuris

  • Xtractor. Software to extract video and audio streams from unencrypted DVD-Video discs and DVD-VR discs. $150.

  Isomedia

  • DVD DLT utilities: copy DLTs, extract images, inspect ISO/UDF/DDP info, checksums, etc.

• Museum Technology Source

  • DVD controllers for Pioneer industrial players in custom installations.

• Novastor

  • TapeCopy. Copy DLTs, inspect tape blocks.

• PixelTools

  • MPEGRepair. Software to analyze, repair, insert Closed Captions, add panscan vectors, and do other handy things to MPEG files. Windows.

• Smart Projects

  • ISOBuster. Inspect CD and DVD volumes and image files. Free.

• SoftNI

  • The DVD Subtitler. Subtitle graphics preparation software. Windows 95/98/NT/2000.

  • The Caption Encoder. Closed Caption production system. DOS, Windows 95/98.

  • The Caption Retriever. Closed Caption recovery and decoding system. Windows 95/98/NT/2000.

• Tapedisk

  • TD Raw. Reads raw data from a SCSI tape drive as if it were a hard disk. DOS/Windows. $500.

  • TD RAW NT. Version of TD Raw for Windows NT 4.0. $750.

• Technovision

  • Touchscreens and other custom interfaces for industrial DVD players.

• Teco

  • ParseMPEG ($500) and Bitrate Viewer (free). Software to analyze MPEG streams. Windows.

Also see 5.6 for DVD emulation, verification, and analysis tools.

[5.3.4] Other production services

• Captions, Inc. (Burbank, CA), 818-729-9501. Captioning and subtitle services.

• European Captioning Institute (ECI) (London, UK). +44-171-323-4657. Captioning and subtitle services.

• Captioneering (Burbank, CA), 888-418-4782. Captioning and subtitle services.

• National Captioning Institute (NCI) (LA 818-238-4201; NY 212-557-7011; VA 703-917-7619). Captioning and subtitle services.

• SDI Media Group (worldwide), +44 (0)20 7349. Subtitle services.

• Softitler (Los Angeles, CA). Subtitle services.

• Tele-Cine (London, UK), +44 (0) 171 208 2200. Film-to-video conversion.

• TelecineMojo (Los Angeles, CA), 323-697-0695. Film-to-video conversion.

• Vitac (Canonsburg, PA) 888-528-4822. Captioning services.

[5.4] What DVD authoring systems are available?

For more detail on the systems listed below, follow the links or see the comparison table of selected DVD authoring systems at DVDirect.

• Apple

  • DVD Studio Pro. Mid-level DVD-Video authoring tool for Mac OS. $1,000.

  • iDVD. Simple, drag-and-drop DVD-Video authoring, bundled with Macs that have DVD-R drives.

  • DVDMaestro. Windows. See Spruce, below.

• Astarte
  Note: Astarte was acquired April 2000 by Apple, so their products are generally no longer available. They resurfaced in March 2001 as iDVD and DVD Studio Pro from Apple.

  • DVDirector and DVDirector Pro. Low-end and mid-level DVD-Video authoring tools for Mac OS. Pro version includes MediaPress hardware MPEG-2 encoder from Wired. Millennium Bundle turnkey workstation includes DVDirector Pro, Mac G4, and more. $5,400, $10,00, $15,000.

  • DVDelight. Simple, drag-and-drop DVD-Video authoring for Mac OS. $1,000.

  • DVDExport. Software to convert Macromedia Director presentations to DVD-Video format. Mac OS. $900.

• Authoringware

  • DVD WISE. Mide-level authoring system for Windows 95/98/NT. $950.

  • DVD Quickbuilder. Multiplexing software.

• Avid

  • Xpress DV. Video editing software with DVD-Video output (using Sonic AuthorScript). $1,700.

  • Xpress DV Powerpack. Xpress DV with other software, including Sonic DVDit SE. $3,000.

• Blossom Technologies

  • DaViD 2000, 4000, 6000, and 10000. Turnkey Windows NT 4.0 systems using Daikin Scenarist authoring software and Optibase encoding hardware or Sonic Foundry audio encoding software. $20,000 to $100,000.

• Canopus

  • Amber for DVD. Amber MPEG-2 encoding hardware with Spruce DVDVirtuoso authoring software. $3,300.

• Compact Data

  • SimpleDVD. AVI-to-DVD converter for Windows. $1,500.

• Daikin (Daikin US Comtec Laboratories)
  Note: Daikin's DVD business was acquired by Sonic in February 2001. Scenarist, ReelDVD, and ROM Formatter are now carried by Sonic.

• DreamCom (formerly Gunzameory)

  • DVDRich. Mid-level DVD-Video authoring/encoding on Windows NT. Uses MPEGRich encoder and Daikin Scenarist or Intec DVDAuthorQuick. $30,000.

• DV Studio

  • Apollo Expert Author and Apollo Expert DVDer. Mid-level DVD-Video authoring system for Windows NT, using DV Studio Apollo Expert MPEG-2 encoding hardware and Intec DVDAuthorQuick authoring software (Author package, $4,000) or Sonic DVDit (DVDer package, $2,500).

  • Apollo Expert Archiver. MPEG-2 encoding system for archiving video to DVD-RAM. $2,500 (DVD-RAM drive included).

• Futuretel

  • Crescendo.

• Houpert Digital Audio (HDA)

  • CubeDVD-A. DVD-Audio authoring plug-in module for Cube-Tec AudioCube digital audio workstation. Uses audio assets mastered by NuendoCube. Windows 2000.

• InnovaCom

  • DVDimpact. DVD-Video authoring aimed at multimedia studios and corporations. Uses InnovaCom DV5100 hardware encoding station and Daikin Scenarist NT or Intec DVDAuthorQuick software. $47,500 and $29,000.

• Intec America

  • DVDAuthorQuick. Mid-level and low-level DVD-Video authoring software line for Windows NT. Comes in three versions: Pro, Desktop, and LE. $8,000, $2,500, and $400.

• Margi Systems

  • DVPublish-to-Go. Simple DVD authoring to DVD-R or CD-R/W. Includes Margi's 1394-to-Go PC, MGI's VideoWave III, and Sonic Solution's DVDit LETx. Windows 98 SE or 2000. $300.

• Matrox

  • Matrox RT2000 and DigiSuite DTV. Video capture and editing in DV and MPEG-2 formats. Includes Sonic Solution's DVDit LE for simple DVD authoring. Windows 98. $1,300.

• Microboards

  • DVD AuthorSuite. DVD-Video authoring/encoding for Windows NT. Uses Intec DVDAuthorQuick software, Zapex encoders, and Sigma Designs decoder. $25,000.

• Minerva
  Note: Minerva DVD authoring software was acquired by Pinnacle in 2000, so it is no longer generally available. Impression was re-released by Pinnacle in July 2001.

  • DVD-Professional SL and DVD-Professional XL. DVD-Video authoring/encoding systems for Windows NT. Includes Publisher 300 and Minerva Studio. $100,000.

  • Impression. DVD-Video authoring/encoding system for Windows. $10,000.

• Minnetonka Audio Software

  • DiscWelder Steel. Basic DVD-Audio authoring software. Windows. $500.

  • A-Plus. Basic DVD-Audio authoring software. Windows. $2,000.

  • DiscWelder Chrome. Professional DVD-Audio authoring software. Windows. $3500.

• MTC (Multimedia Technology Center)
  Note: MTC was acquired by SmartDisk in 2000.

  • StreamWeaver Express and StreamWeaver Pro. Simple and mid-level DVD-Video authoring, and $900 premastering on Windows. $900 and $3,000.

  • DVDMotion. Authoring systems for Windows, oriented toward multimedia DVD-ROM production. Comes in three versions: Pro, SE (Standard), CE (Consumer). $1,000, $400, $95.

  • DVDMotion CE. Entry-level authoring system for Windows 98/NT4. $75.

• NEC

  • DV Editor. IEEE-1394 card and and software, plus Sonic's DVDit LE. Windows 98. Available in Japan only.

• Optibase

  • DVD-Fab XPress and DVD-Fab. Turnkey DVD-Video authoring/encoding systems for Windows NT. Includes Optibase MPEG Fusion MPEG-2 encoder and Daikin Scenarist authoring software. $35,000.

• Panasonic

  • LQ-VD2000S. Turnkey professional DVD-Video authoring system, including Windows NT 4.0 workstation. Uses Panasonic MPEG-2 encoder and LQ-VD3000 emulator. $120,000.

  • LQ-VDS120. Additional workstation software for networking with LQ-VD2000S. $22,550

  • LQ-VD3000. DVD Emulator. $15,000

• Pinnacle

  • DVD1000. MPEG-2 video editing and DVD-Video authoring system for Windows. Pinnacle DVD1000 hardware with Adobe Premiere and Minerva Impression. $8,000.

  • Impression DVD. Mid-level DVD-Video authoring/encoding system for Windows. $1,000.

  • Pinnacle Pro-ONE. DVD editing/authoring package. Uses Adobe Premiere and Impression DVD-SE. $1,300.

  • Pinnacle Edition. Video editing with linear-play DVD/SVCD output. $700.

• Philips

  • DVD-Video Disc Designer and DVD-Video Authoring Toolset. Windows NT.

• Pioneer

  • DVDDesigner. An off-line design tool for DVD-Video planning and layout. Can feed an "authoring decision list" into other authoring systems. Available free to qualified developers. Windows and Mac OS.

• PixelTools

  • DVDPlug-in. Simple encoding/authoring plug-in for Adobe Premiere. Generates single-program, autoplay images that can be copied to recordable discs.

• Q-Comm

  • EasyDVD.

• Roxio

  • Video Pack. Basic DVD-Video authoring. $500.

  • DVD Builder. Simple personal DVD-Video authoring and DVD+VR recording for Windows.

• SADiE

  • DVD-A Direct. DVD-Audio authoring package for SADiE editing and mastering system. Windows. 

• Sonic Solutions

  • Scenarist SGI. DVD-Video authoring for SGI. The original professional system. $25,000.

  • Scenarist NT. Professional DVD-Video authoring on Windows NT. Comes in two versions: Advanced, $15,000; Professional, $22,000.

  • DVD Creator. Professional DVD-Video authoring/encoding systems for corporate and industrial applications. Mac OS. Various configurations: DVD Creator All-in-One Workstation, $80,000; DVD Creator Encoding, $24,500, DVD Creator Authoring, $15,000.

  • DVD-Audio Creator. DVD-Audio authoring system (co-developed with Panasonic). Windows. DVD-Audio Complete Workgroup, $53,000; DVD-Audio Creator, $13,000; DVD-Audio Creator LE, $6,000.

  • OneClick DVD. Simple DVD-Audio authoring. Mac OS. $15,000.

  • DVD Fusion. Mid-level DVD-Video authoring system. Mac OS.

  • DVD Producer (formerly DVD Fusion for Windows). Mid-level DVD-Video authoring system. Windows. $3,000.

  • ReelDVD. Low-end authoring for NT and Windows 2000. $1,500.

  • DVDit LE (limited), SE (standard), and PE (professional). Simple, drag-and-drop DVD-Video authoring for Windows. $500 (SE), $3,000 (PE). LE version is designed to be bundled with other hardware and software products.

  • MyDVD. Simple personal DVD-Video authoring for Windows. $79. Generally bundled with DVD recorders.

• Sony

  • DVA-1100. High-end authoring/encoding system with one to eight stations. Price range starts at $175,000.

• Spruce Technologies  
  Note: Spruce was acquired in July 2001 by Apple. DVDMaestro and Spruce encoding hardware will continue to be sold.  Apple intends to migrate the software and current users to Mac OS X. Other Spruce products apparently will no longer be available.

  • DVDMaestro. High-end authoring/encoding systems for Windows NT. $25,000.

  • DVDConductor, DVDVirtuoso, DVDPerformer. Mid-level authoring/encoding systems for Windows NT. Also allow DVD content to be recorded and played from CD-R. $10,000, $1500, $?.

  • SpruceUp. Simple personal DVD-Video authoring for Windows (NT4/98/ME/NT/2000). $129.

  • DVDStationCX. Turnkey system using DVDConductor. $25,000.

  • DVDStationNLE. Turnkey system using DVDConductor and Heuris MPEG Power Professional encoding software. $10,000.

  • DVDTransfer. Turnkey automated tape-to-DVD system. $30,000.

• Ulead

  • MediaStudio Director's Cut. Video editing software with built-in DVD authoring. $190.

  • DVD Workshop. Basic video editing and DVD authoring. $300.

• Visible Light

  • Macarena and Macarena Pro. DVD-Video authoring for Power Mac G4. Software encoding or hardware encoding (Pro version). Uses Astarte DVDirector software. $10,000 and $15,000.

• Vitech

  • DVD Toolbox. AVI to DVD-Video. Write to CD-R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, etc. Windows 95/98/NT. $400.

  • DVD Cut Machine. Hardware audio/video encoder bundled with DVD Toolbox software. $800.

[5.5] Who can produce a DVD for me?

There are various steps to producing a DVD, but they can be split into two major parts: 1) authoring (creating the content and formatting a disc image), and 2) replication (cutting a master disc and stamping out hundreds or millions of copies). See 5 for more details.

[A] = authoring (including encoding, DVD-R duplication, and premastering).
[R] = replication (mastering, check discs, and mass production). Note that almost all replicators also have in-house authoring facilities or partnerships with authoring houses.

Other lists are available at DVDInsider, DVDMadeEasy, and Post Magazine. Also see 5.8 for companies specializing in video-to-DVD-R transfers.

• [A] 12CM Multimedia (Mountain View, CA, 650-564-9000; Santa Clara, CA 408-350-9000).

• [A] 24-7DVD (Mogger Hanger, UK), +44 (0) 7764 187388.

• [A] 4MC (London, UK), +44 171 878 7884. [Acquired Post Box, Stream, and TVP; became Liberty Livewire]

• [A] Abbey Road Interactive (London, UK), +44 171 266 7000.

• [A] Accelerated Post (Chicago, IL, 312-595-9100; Minneapolis, IN, 612-377-3100).

• [A] Acutrack (Pleasanton, CA), 888-234-3472.

• [A] Advanced Media Post (Burbank, CA), 818-973-1668.

• [A] Advanced Visual Communications (AVCOM Video) (Tampa, FL), 813-875-0888.

• [A] Alchemey Digital Video (Portland, OR), 503.735.1222.

• [A] All Post (CA), 818-556-5756.

• [A] Aludra (Ontario, Canada), 888-552-5837.

• [R] Americ Disc [also see MPO], Salida, CA, 888-545-7350; Miami, FL, 800-364-0759; Drummonville, Quebec, Canada, 800 263-0419.

• [A] Artistic Communication Center (Chicago, IL), 312-829-8100.

• [A] asv multimedia (Mengen, Germany), +49 (0) 7572-78361.

• [A] Atelier Digital (Birmingham, AL), 205-263-7678.

• [A] Audio Plus Video International Northvale, NJ, 201-767-3800; Burbank, CA, 818-841-7100.

• [A] AVCA (Austin, TX), 512 472-4995.

• [A] AVM Dialog AB (Goteborg, Sweden).

• [A] B1 Media (Sherman Oaks, CA), 818-905-9902.

• [A] BCD Associates (Oklahoma City, OK), 405-843-4574.

• [A] Blackcat Interactive (Cheltenham, UK), +44 1926-614675.

• [A] Blink Digital (New York, NY), 212-661-6900.

• [A] Blue City Digital (North Kansas City, MO), 816-300-0441.

• [A] C&C interactive AB (Boras, Sweden), +46 33 290700.

• [A] California DVD (San Francisco, CA), 1-800-864-1957.

• [A] Cambridge Multimedia (Cambridge, UK), +44 (0) 1954 262030.

• [A] CAT Technologies (London, UK), +44 (0)20 8332 6548.

• [A] CBO Interactive (Los Angeles, CA), 323-468-9580.

• [A] CDA (Albrechts, Germany), +49 (0) 36 81 / 3 87 - 1 53.

• [R] CD Digital Card (Rancho Cucamonga, CA), 800-268-1256 [specialize in shaped discs].

• [R] CD Press (Bergdietikon, Switzerland), +41 (0)1 745 90 60.

• [R] CD-ROM-Works (Portland, OR), 503-219-9331.

• [A] Chicago Recording Company (Chicago, IL), 312-822-9333.

• [R] Cine Magnetics (Armonk, NY, 914-273-7500; Studio City, CA, 818-623-2560), 800-431-1102.

• [A] Cinram/POP DVD Center (Santa Monica, CA).

• [R] Cinram (Huntsville, AL, 256-859-9042; Anaheim, CA, 714-630-6700; Richmond, IN, 800-865-2200; Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, 416-298-8190), 800-433-DISC.

• [A] CKS|Pictures (CA & NY), 408-342-5009.

• [A] ComChoice (Gardena, CA), 877-633-4241.

• [A] Complete Post (Hollywood, CA), 323-860-7622.

• [R] Concord Disc Manufacturing (Anaheim, CA), 714-666-2266.

• [A] COTOC (Stockholm, Sweden), +46 8 54568780.

• [A] Crafted Timbre (Cortland, NY) 607-756-4780.

• [A] CREATIVVIDEO & DIALOGOS (Moedling, Austria), +43(0)2236-48311.

• [R] Crest National (Hollywood, CA), 323-860-1300.

• [A] CRUSH Digital Video (NY), 212-989-6500.

• [A] CruSh Interactive, (Houston, TX), 713-972-1133.

• [A] Cubist Post & Effects (Philadelphia, PA), 215-627-1292.

• [A] CustomFlix (San Luis Obispo, CA), (978) 626-1110.

• [A] Cut & Copy (Vienna, Austria), +43 1 523 98 24.

• [A] CVC (Los Angeles, CA), 818-972-0200. (Time Warner California Video Center)

• [A] D2 Productions (CA), 818-576-8113.

• [A] Dallas Digital Transfer (Dallas, TX), 214336-6292.

• [R] Davenport (Van Nuys, CA).

• [A] DAVID (Aprilia, Italy), 39-6-92704597.

• [R] Deluxe Video Services (Carson City, CA), 310-518-0710. (Formerly Pioneer Video Manufacturing)

• [R] Denon Digital (now MD Digital)

• [A] Designlab Systems, (London, UK), +44 (0) 207 437 5621.

• [A] Digidisc (Atlanta, GA), 770-925-1839.

• [A] Digisonics DVD (Northridge, CA), 818-882-3444.

• [A] Digital Farm (Seattle, WA), 206-634-2677.

• [A] Digital Group (London, UK)

• [A] digital images (Halle, Germany), +49 (0)345/2175-101.

• [A] Digital Media Group (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), +31-20-422-6317.

• [A] Digital Metropolis (Denver, CO), 303-292-4692.

• [A] Digital Outpost (CA), 800-464-6434.

• [A] Digital Safari (UK), +44 (0)7092 144 480.

• [A] Digital Video Compression Corporation (CA), 818-777-5185.

• [A] Digital Video Dynamix (Seaford, NY), 516-826-6414.

• [A] Digital Video Mastering (Sydney, Australia).

• [R] Digital Video Technology 3000 (DVT) (El Segundo, CA).

• [A] Digitonium (Los Angeles, CA), 818-889-2215.

• [A] Digiverse (London, UK), +44 (0) 20 7287 3141.

• [R] DISC (Orem, UT).

• [R] Disc Makers (Pennsauken, NJ; Fremont, CA), 800-468-9353.

• [R] Disc Manufacturing Inc. (now part of Cinram).

• [R] DiscBurn.Com (St. Paul, MN), 612-782-8200.

• [R] Disctronics (Southwater, UK; Plano, TX; Saint Mande, France; Italy).

• [R] Disk Press International (Erembodegem, Belgium), +32 53 78 48 14.

• [A] Directorsite (Manhattan Beach, CA), 310-727-2770.

• [A] DGP (London, UK), +44 0 207 734 4501.

• [R] DOCdata (Tilburg, The Netherlands, +31 13 544 6444; Berlin, Germany, +49 30 467 0840; Sanford, ME, USA, 207-324-1124; Canoga Park, CA, USA 818-341-1124).

• [A] DownStream Digital (Portland, OR), 503-226-1944.

• [A] DVD Austin (Round Rock, TX), 800-831-3774.

• [A] DVD Labs (Princeton, NJ), 888-DVD-LABS.

• [A] DVD Master (Fountain Valley, CA), 714-962-4098.

• [A] DVD Power (Auckland, New Zealand), +64 (9) 415 5639.

• [A] DVD Power (Singapore), +65 7796155.

• [A] DVD Recording Center (Acton, MA), 800-321-8141.

• [A] DVD Technologies (Sydney, Australia), 1-300-FOR-DVD.

• [A] DVD Transfer.com (Minneapolis, MN), 612-676-1165.

• [A] DVD Scandinavia (Copenhagen, Denmark), +45 3581-7585.

• [A] DVDworx (Philadelphia, PA), 215-238-9679.

• [A] DVData (Carson, CA) 310-513-0757.

• [A] Dynamic Media (Ellicott City, MD), 410-203-2553.

• [R] DV Line (Seoul, Korea), 82-2-3462-0331.

• [A] DVM - Digital Video Mastering (Sydney, Australia), +61 2 9571 6767.

• [A] EagleVision (Stamford, CT), 800-EAGLE73.

• [R] Ecofina (Milan, Italy), +39 024816121.

• [A] EDS Digital Studios (CA), 213-850-1165.

• [A] Electric Switch (London), +44-0-131-555-6055.

• [R] EMI Operations Italy (Caronno Pertusella (VA), Italy), +39 02 965111.

• [A] E-M-S (Dortmund, Germany), 0231 442411-0.

• [A] Ent/Gates Productions (Buffalo, NY), 716-692-0064.

• [A] escape lab (Brussels, Belgium) +32 2 644 99 62.

• [R] Euro Digital Disc (Görlitz, Germany), +49 (0) 35 81 - 85 32 0.

• [A] FATdisc (Seattle, WA), 425-837-1791.

• [A] Film- und Videotechnik B. Gurtler (Munchen, Germany).

• [A] Firefly (Ireland).

• [A] Fitz.com (Santa Monica, CA) 310-315-9160.

• [A] Forest Post Productions (Farmington Hills, MI), 248-855-4333.

• [A] Full Circle Studios (Buffalo, NY), 716-875-7740.

• [A] FULLSTREAM DVD (Dallas, TX), 214-969-1820.

• [R] Future Media Productions (Valencia, CA), 661-294-5575.

• [A] Future Disc Systems (West Hollywood, CA), 323-876-8733.

• [A] G9 Interactive (Monrovia, CA), 626-358-0859.

• [A] Gateway Mastering Studios (Portland, ME), 207-828-9400.

• [R] Gema OD (Madrid, Spain), +34 91 643 42 55,

• [A] Gnome Digital Media (Burbank, CA), 818-563-6539.

• [R] GoldenROM (Canonsburg, PA), 888-757-3472.

• [A] GTN (Oak Park, MI), 248-548-2500.

• [A] GVI (Washington, DC), 202-293-4488.

• [A] HAVE (Hudson, NY), 518-828-2000.

• [A] hdmg (Minneapolis, MN), 952-943-1711.

• [A] HD Studios [DVD-Audio only] (CEDEX, Suresnes, France).

• [A] Hecker & Schneider GmbH (Dortmund, Germany).

• [A] Henninger Interactive Media (Arlington, VA), 703-243-3444.

• [A] HNC Video/DVD Production (Chicago, IL), 847-338-6560.

• [A] Hoek & Sonépouse (Diemen, The Netherlands), +31 020 - 69 09 141.

• [R] Home Run Software Services (Huntington Beach, CA), 714-375-5454.

• [A] Ibis Multimedia (Suffolk, UK), +44 01473 288865.

• [A] IBM InteractiveMedia (GA), 770-835-7193.

• [A] IBT Media (Merriam, KS), 913-677-6655.

• [R] Imation (formerly 3M) (WI), 612-704-4898.

• [A] Immediate Impact (UK), +44 01322 553 505.

• [R] Infodisc (Taipei, Taiwan, 886-2-22266616; El Paso, TX).

• [A] Instinct Video & Film Productions (Orlando, FL), 407-647-9555.

• [A] International Digital Centre (IDC) (New York, NY), 212-581-3940.

• [A] IPA Intermedia (IL), 773-871-6033.

• [R] IPC Communication Services (Foothill Ranch, CA), 949-588-7765.

• [A] JamSync (Nashville, TN), 615-320-5050.

• [A] Javanni Digital Video (Atlanta, GA), 704-795-7712.

• [R] JVC Disc America (Sacramento, CA), 310-274-2221.

• [R] KAO Infosystems (Fremont, CA), 800-525-6575.

• [R] Kao (Ontario, Canada), 800-871-MPEG.

• [A] kdg mediatech (Elbigenalp, Austria, +43 (0) 5634-500; Parc d'Activités, France, +33 (0) 3 29 58 40 70).

• [A] k-kontor[Hamburg] kommunikations (Hamburg, Germany), +49-40-850-9021.

• [A] The Lawrence Company (Santa Monica, CA), 310-452-9657.

• [R] LaserPacific (CA), 213-462-6266.

• [R] Lena Optical Disc (Hong Kong), 852-2556-8198

• [A] Liberty Livewire (Santa Monica, CA, 818-840-7235; Northvale, NJ, 201-784-2129).  (Merger of companies including 4MC, ToddAO, and POP)

• [A] Look and Feel New Media (Kansas City, MO), 816-472-7878.

• [A] The Machine Room (London, UK), +44 171 734 3433.

• [A] Mares Multimedia (Nashville, TN), 615-356-3905.

• [A] Marin Digital (San Rafael, CA), 415-507-0470.

• [A] Main Point Interactive (Oley, PA), 610-987-9320.

• [R] Marcorp (Pittsburgh, PA), 800-284-6277.

• [A] Mastering Studio München (Munich, Germany), +49-89-286692-0.

• [R] MD Digital Manufacturing (Madison, GA), 706-342-3425.

• [R] Maxell Multimedia (now MD Digital).

• [R] Maxwell Productions (Scottsdale, AZ).

• [R] Media Group (Fremont, CA), 815-356-9484.

• [A] Media Tech (Denver, CO), 303-741-6878.

• [R] Memory-Tech Corporation (Tokyo, Japan).

• [A] MEP Medienhaus (Frankfurt, Germany), +49 (0)69 78960202.

• [R] Mercury Entertainment (Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia).

• [R] Metatec (Dublin, OH, 614-761-2000; Milpitas, CA, 408-519-5000; Breda, Netherlands, +31 76 5333 100)

• [A] Metcom Video (London, UK), +44 (0)207 836 2772.

• [A] Metropolis Group (London, UK), +44-20-8742-1111.

• [A] Microsoft Studios Digital Video Services (Redmond, WA).

• [A] Microvision Services (Huddersfield, UK), +44 1484 644852.

• [R] Midwest Replication (Milwaukee, WI), 414-963-4469.

• [A] Mills/James Productions (Columbus, OH), 614-777-9933.

• [A] Mirage Video Productions (Boulder, CO), 303-786-7800.

• [A] MPEG Production (Stockholm, Sweden), +46-8-324030.

• [R] MPO (Europe, North America, and Asia), +33 01 41 10 51 51.

• [R] MRT Technology [Ritek partner] (City of Industry, CA), 626-839-5555.

• [R] Multimedia Info-Tech [Ritek partner] (Belfast, Ireland), +44 (0) 2890 300883.

• [R] Multi Media Replication (Andover, UK) +44 (0)1264 336 330. 

• [R] Nimbus CD International (see Technicolor).

• [A] NOB Interactive (Netherlands), +31 (0)35-677-5413.

• [A] NordArt Video & Multimedia (Sundbyberg, Sweden), +46 8764 66 90.

• [R] Nordisc (Rjukan, Norway), +47 35 08 01 00.

• [A] Oasis Post (Kent Town, South Australia), +61 8 8362 2888.

• [A] Oasis Television (London, UK), +44 (0) 20 7534 1808.

• [R] OEM (Charlotte, NC), 704-504-1877.

• [R] Optical Disc Corporation, 310-946-3050. (LaserWave DirectCut DVD recorder for creating single copies.)

• [R] Optical Disc Media (CA).

• [R] Optimes (L’aquila, Italy), +39-0862-3311.

• [A] Option Facilities (Mechelen, Belgium), +32/15/28 73 00.

• [A] The Other Side [nee TwoPlusOne] (London, UK), +44 (0) 207 494 8290.

• [A] OUTPOST (Charlotte, NC), 704-344-3577.

• [A] Pacific Coast Sound Works (CA), 213-655-4771.

• [R] Pacific Mirror Image (Melbourne, Australia).

• [A] Pacific Ocean Post (CA), 310-458-9192. (Now part of Liberty Livewire)

• [A] Pacific Video Resources (CA), 415-864-5679.

• [R] Panasonic Disc Services Corp (Torrance, CA; Pinckneyville, IL; Guadalajara, Mexico; Youghal, Ireland), 310-783-4800.

• [A] Paris Media System (Paris, France).

• [A] Paul Stubblebine Mastering and DVD (San Francisco, CA), 415-469-0123

• [A] The Pavement (London, UK), +44 (0) 207 426 5190.

• [A] Performance Digital Labs (San Diego, CA), 800-253-3085.

• [A] Phaebus (Manchester, UK), +44 (0) 161 950 8105.

• [A] PIMC (Professional Interactive Media Centre) (Diepenbeek, Belgium), +32 11 303690.

• [A] Pioneer France (Nanterre, France), 33 1 47 60 79 30.

• [R] Pioneer Optical Disc (Barcelona, Spain), +34-93-739-99-00.

• [R] Pioneer Video (Kofu, Japan).

• [A] Positive Charge Ltd. (Warszawa, Poland), +48 22 632 97 32.

• [R] Pozzoli (Milan Italy) +39 02 954341.

• [A] PRC Digital Media (Jacksonville, FL), 904-354-5353.

• [A] Prime Disc [Ritek partner] (Wiesbaden, Germany), +49-611-9628644.

• [A] Provac Disc Media (Toronto, Ontario), 800-876-9013.

• [R] Racman Avdio Video Studio (Ljubljana, Slovenia), +386 1 5819 201.

• [A] Rage DVD & Multimedia (Dallas , TX), 214-358-2588.

• [A] Rainmaker New Media (Burbank, CA), 818-526-1500.

• [A] Riccelli Creative (Fort Worth, TX), 817-332-7777.

• [A] The Richard Diercks Company (Minneapolis, MN), 612-334-5900.

• [A] RISE Int'l. Inc. (Fort Worth, TX), 800-990-2348.

• [R] Ritek (HsinChu, Taiwan, ROC, +886-3-598 5696; Taipei, Taiwan, ROC, +886-2-8521-5555). [Also see MRT U.S.), Multimedia Info-Tech (Ireland), Prime Disc (Germany), and Ritek Australia.]

• [R] Ritek Australia (Alexandria, Australia), +61-2-9669-3311).

• [A] Rivetal (Provo, UT), 801.818.2222.

• [R] Saturn Solutions (Markham, Ontario, 905-470-0844; St. Laurent, Quebec, 514-856-5656; Provo, Utah, 801-370-9090; Dublin, Ireland, +353-1-403-8599).

• [A] ScreamDVD (New York, NY), 212-951-7171.

• [R] SDC Group (Brabrand, Denmark), + 45 87 45 45 45.

• [A] Sharpline Arts (Glendale, CA), 818-500-3958.

• [R] SKC (Chonan, South Korea).

• [R] SNA (Tourouvre, France), +33 (0) 2 33 85 15 15.

• [R] Sonopress (Gütersloh, Germany, +49-5241-80 5200; Weaverville, NC, USA, 828-658-2000; Dublin, Ireland, +353 1 840 9000; Madrid, Spain, +34-91-6 71 22 00; Forbach, France, +33-1-53 43 82 32).

• [R] Sony DADC (Niederalm, Austria), +43 624 688 0555.

• [R] Sony Disc Manufacturing (Terre Haute, Indiana), 800-358-7316.

• [A] Sound Chamber Mastering (North Hollywood, CA), 818-752-7581.

• [A] SOUNDnVISION (Milano, Italy), +39 02 55 18 02 45.

• [R] Spool Multi Media (Deeside, UK), +44 (0) 1244 280602.

• [A] Squash DVD (London, UK) +44 (0) 20 7292 0222.

• [A] Star Video Duplicating (Phoenix, AZ), 602-437-0646.

• [A] Stay Tuned (Brussels, Belgium), +32 2 7611100.

• [A] Stimulus (Calgary, Alberta).

• [A] Sté EXILOG (Vendoeuvres FRANCE), 33 02 54 38 30 95.

• [A] Stonehenge Filmworks (Toronto and Ontario, Canada), 416-867-1189.

• [A] Stream AV (Melbourne, Australia), +61 3 9376 6444.

• [A] Studio Reload (Boise, ID), 208-344-4321.

• [A] Sunset Post (CA), 818-956-7912.

• [A] Super Digital Media (Santa Clara, CA), 408-727-5091.

• [A] Supersonic Media Productions (Vancouver, BC), 604-683-0250.

• [A] Sync Sound (NY), 212-246-5580 (5.1 audio).

• [A] Syrinx music & media GmbH (Hamburg, Germany), +49-40-63709230.

• [A] Systeam (Rome, Italy), +39-06-508141.

• [A] Tape House Broadband (New York, NY), 212-557-4949.

• [R] Takt (Warsaw, Poland), +48 22 874 35 75.

• [A] TC Video (Middlesex, UK), +44 (0)208 904 6271.

• [R] Technicolor (Camarillo, CA, 805-445-1122; Charlottesville, VA, 804-985-1100; Cwmbran, Wales, UK, 44-1163-465-000), 800-732-4555).

• [R] TIB (Merthyr Tydfil, UK), + 44 (0)1685 354700.

• [R] Tocano (Smoerum, Denmark), +45 44666200.

• [R] Universal Manufacturing & Logistics (Blackburn, UK, +44 (0) 1254 505300; Langenhagen, Germany, +49 (0) 511-972-1755).

• [A] US DVD (San Jose, CA), 408-259-1495.

• [A] Valkieser Solutions (Hilversum, Netherlands), +31-35-6714-300.

• [A] VDI Multimedia (Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco), 323-957-7990.

• [R] VDC Group (Wembley, UK), +44 (0)208 903 3345.

• [A] Versatile Media One (VM1) (Montreal, PQ), (514) 876-0102.

• [R] Japan Victor (Kanagawa, Japan), 45-453-0305.

• [A] Video Movie Magic (Laguna Hills, CA), 949-582-8596.

• [A] Video Replay (Chicago, IL),

• [A] Video Transfer (Boston, MA), 617-247-0100.

• [A] Visible Light Digital (Orlando, FL), 407-327-7804.

• [A] Visom Digital (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), +55 21 539-7313.

• [A] The Vision Factory (St. Louis, MO), 314-963-7887.

• [A] Vision Wise (Irving, TX), 888-979-9473.

• [R] Warner Advanced Media Operations (WAMO), 717-383-3291.

• [A] The Zak Studio (Paris, France), +33 1 49823773.

• [R] Zomax, (Plymouth, MN, 612-577-3515; Fremont, CA, 510-492-5191; Indianapolis, IN, 510-492-5191; Dublin, Ireland, 353-1-405-6222; Langen, Germany, 49-6103-9702-23).

• [A] Zuma Digital. Now part of Tape House Broadband.

[5.6] What testing/verification services and tools are available?

• AudioDev (Sweden, USA, Hong Kong), +46 40 690 49 00.

• CD Associates (CA). Testing equipment and software. (714) 733-8580.

• ContentWise (Rehovot, Israel), +972-8-940-8773. Second Sight software for checking compatibility of DVD titles on multiple players.

• Hitachi (Japan). Testing services and test discs. Official DVD Forum verification lab.

• Intellikey Labs (Burbank , CA), (818) 953-9116, fax (818) 953-9144.

• Interra Digital Video Technologies: Surveyor software, $6,000. DProbe, $10,000.

• ITRI (HsinChu, Taiwan). Testing services and test discs. Official DVD Verification Lab. 886-3-591-5066, fax 886-3-591-7531.

• Matsushita (Japan). Testing services, test discs, and test equipment. Official DVD Verification Lab. +81-6-6905-4195 fax +81-6-6909-5027.

• Matsushita/Panasonic (Japan). Panasonic LQ-VD300P emulator. Hardware player with Windows NT software. $15,000.

• Philips (Europe), DVD-Video Verifier software, $500. Official DVD Verification Center.

• Pioneer (Japan). Testing services and test discs. Official DVD Verification Lab. +81-3-3495-5474, fax +81-3-3495-4301.

• PMTC (Professional Multimedia Test Centre) (Diepenbeek, Belgium), +32 11 303636.

• Sonic Solutions (USA). DVD PrePlay software. Emulation and diagnosis tools for Windows. $5000.

• Sony (Japan). Testing services and test discs. Official DVD Format Lab. +81-3-5448-2200, fax +81-3-5448-3061.

• Testronic Labs (Burbank, CA), (818) 845-3223, fax (818) 845-3236.

• Toshiba (Japan). Testing services and test discs. Official DVD Verification Lab. +81-3-3457-2105, fax +81-3-5444-9202.

• Victor (Japan). Testing services and test discs. Official DVD Verification Lab. +81-3-3289-2813, fax +81-45-450-1639.

• WAMO (USA). Testing services and test discs. Official DVD Forum verification lab. 1-570-383-3568, fax 1-570-383-7487.

Also see 5.3.3 for tools to analyze and verify coded bitstreams, disc images, and DLTs.

[5.7] Can I put DVD-Video content on a CD-R or CD-RW?

[Note: This section refers to creating original DVD-Video content, not copying from DVD to CD. The latter is impractical, since it takes 7 to 14 CDs to hold one side of a DVD. Also, most DVD movies are encrypted so that the files can't be copied without special software.]

There are many advantages to creating a DVD-Video volume using inexpensive recordable CD rather than expensive recordable DVD. The resulting "cDVD" (also called a "miniDVD") is perfect for testing and for short video programs. Unfortunately, you can put DVD-Video files on CD-R or CD-RW media, or even on pressed CD-ROM media, but as yet almost no settop player can play the disc. There are a number of reasons DVD-Video players can't play DVD-Video content from CD media:
1) checking for CD media is a fallback case after DVD focus fails, at which point the players are no longer looking for DVD-Video content
2) it's simpler and cheaper for players to spin CDs at 1x speed rather than the 9x speed required for DVD-Video content
3) many players can't read CD-R discs (see 2.4.3).

The only known players that can play a cDVD are the Afreey/Sampo LD2060 and ADV2360 models, and the Aiwa XD-DW5 and XD-DW1. Some of these players use 1x or 2x readers so they can't handle data rates over 4 Mbps. It's possible to replace the IDE drive mechanism in the player with a faster drive, which can then handle higher data rates. See robshot.com for details on cDVD-capable players. (Note: there have been many reports of players able to play DVD content from CD-R. Upon investigation it turns out that they play Video CDs but not cDVDs. The players mentioned above have been verified to play DVD-Video files (.VOB and.IFO) from CD media.)

Computers are more forgiving. DVD-Video files from any source with fast enough data rates, including CD-R or CD-RW, with or without UDF formatting, will play back on most DVD-ROM PCs as long as the drive can read the media (all but early model DVD-ROM drives can read CD-Rs). On a Mac, you need version 2.3 or newer of the Apple DVD Player.

To create a cDVD, author the DVD-Video content as usual (see 5.4) then burn it to a CD-R or CD-RW. If your authoring software doesn't write directly to CD-R/RW discs, use a separate utility to copy VIDEO_TS directory to the root directory of the disc. To be compatible with future settop players that might read cDVDs, turn on the UDF filesystem option of the CD burning software. To achieve longer playing times, encode the video in MPEG-2 half-D1 format (352x480 or 352x576) or in MPEG-1 format.

An alternative is to put Video CD or Super Video CD content on CD-R or CD-RW media for playback in a DVD player. Settop players that are VCD or SVCD capable and can read recordable media will be able to play such discs (see 2.4.5). The limitations of VCD apply (MPEG-1 video and audio, 1.152 Mbps, 74 minutes of playing time). All DVD-ROM PCs able to read recordable CD media can play recorded VCD discs. An MPEG-2 decoder (see 4.1) is needed to play SVCDs. See 5.8 for more on creating Video CDs.

[5.8] How do I copy my home video/film/photos to DVD?

This used to be almost impossible, but luckily for you it's getting cheaper and easier all the time.

For a simple video-to-DVD transfer you can buy a DVD recorder ($800 to $3,000) and connect it to your VCR or camcorder. It works just like a VCR but it records onto a disc instead of tape.

For transferring photos, or for making a customized DVD with menus and chapters and other fun stuff you'll need the following:

• A computer

• A DVD recordable drive ($300-$5,000) 

• DVD authoring software ($50-$20,000, see 5.4, or it might come bundled with the recorder)

You might want to buy one of the new all-in-one computer packages from Apple, Compaq, Dell, and many others that include a DVD burner and software.

Then take the following steps

• Transfer the video and pictures to your computer. For analog video, such as VHS and Hi8, you'll need a video capture device or a computer with built-in analog video input; for digital video such as DV or D8 you'll need a 1394/FireWire input on the computer. For film, first have it transferred to tape or digital video at a camera shop or video company. For slides or photos, use a scanner (or rent scanning time at a place such as Kinkos).

• Import the video and audio clips into the DVD-Video authoring program. Many DVD authoring programs will convert and encode the video and audio for you. If not, you'll have to

  • Encode the video into MPEG-2 (make sure the display frame rate is set to 29.97 for NTSC or 25 for PAL).

  • Encode the audio into Dolby Digital (or, if your video is short enough that you have room on the disc, format the audio as 48kHz PCM). You can also use MPEG Level II audio, but it won't work on all players.

• If you're ambitious, create some chapter points in your video tracks.

• To put photos on the disc, use the slideshow feature in the authoring software or make each picture a menu. Most DVD authoring software will directly read pictures as TIFF, JPEG, or PhotoShop files.

• Create menus that link to your video clips and slideshows.

• Write your finished gem out to a recordable DVD ($3-$10). (But see 4.3.1 for compatibility worries.)

John Beale has written a page about his experiences making DVDs.

Another option is to use a service that does all the work for you at a reasonable fee. Here are a few choices.

• 3-Lib (Reading, UK). Up to 2 hours for £25. PAL format.

• American Digital Media (Hoover, AL). Up to 2 hours for $99.

• Digital Video Dynamics (Orlando, FL). Up to 2 hours for $40 (chapters at 5-minute intervals).

• DV4U Online.com (Sacramento, CA). Up to 2 hours for $150.

• DVD ELF (Miami, FL). Up to 1 hour for $60. 2 hours for $95.

• DVD Wedding Productions (South Pasadena, CA). One tape for $150 (+ VHS dubbing charge).

• HomeMovie.com (Everett, WA). Up to 2 hours for $50 (chapters included).

• ImageStation (Sony/Vingage; Reston, VA). Up to 90 minutes for $40.

• Latale Productions (Flushing, NY). 1 tape for $99 (chapters extra).

• LifeClips (Acton, MA). Up to 2 hours for $30. [LifeClips is no longer in business.]

• save2dvd (Pleasant Hill, CA). Up to 2 hours for $140. Also film and slide transfer.

• ScreamDVD (New York, NY). Up to 1 hour for $40, up to 2 hours for $70 (chapters at 3-minute intervals).

• VHS-to-DVD (Pembroke Pines, FL). Up to 1 hour for $18-$25, up to 2 hours for $28-$35.

• Visualisation Systems (Preston, UK). Up to 1 hour for £35. Up to 2 hours for £40. VCD for £20.

• (Wedding DVD no longer offers the service.)

• YesVideo.com (San Jose, CA; kiosks at Target, Walgreens, and elsewhere). $37 for 1 hour, $60 for 2 hours (chapters included).

Or, if near-VHS quality is sufficient, make a Video CD. Get MPEG-1 video encoding software and a CD-R/RW formatting application that supports Video CD such as Easy CD Creator or Toast from Roxio (formerly Adaptec), InstantCD from VOB, InternetDiscWriter from Query, MPEG Maker-2 from VITEC, MyDVD or RecordNow Max from Sonic, Nero Burning ROM from Ahead, NTI CD-Maker from NTI, or WinOnCD from Cequadrat. Quality won't be as good, and playing time won't be as long, but hardware, and blank CDs will be cheaper. Just make sure that any players you intend to play the disc on can read CD-Rs (see 2.4.3) and can play Video CDs (see 2.4.5). See VCDhelp.com for more on making Video CDs. A variation on this strategy is to make Super Video CDs (see 2.4.6), which have better quality but shorter playing time. SVCD support is being added to a few of the authoring/formatting tools listed above. However, few DVD players can play SVCDs.

Another option is a home Video CD recorder, such as the Terapin CD Audio/Video Recorder or the TV One MPEG-2@disk, which record video from analog inputs to CD-R or CD-RW.

[5.9] How can I copy a DVD?

This section is about copying disc-to-disc. See 2.11 for information about copying to tape.

First, please understand that copying a commercial DVD may be illegal, depending on what you do with the copy. Copying video for your own personal use is legal, but making copies of copyrighted discs for friends is not.

Second, be aware that almost all DVD movies are protected from casual copying. See 1.11 for details. However, any protection measure is usually broken, see 4.8.

Third, realize that many movies come on dual-layer discs (DVD-9s), which can't be directly copied to recordable DVD since there are no dual-layer recordable discs. Although you may be able to break up the content from on DVD-9 onto two recordable discs.

If you have a legitimate need to copy a DVD, such as a disc you made yourself, there are a number of options. You can hook a DVD player to a set-top DVD video recorder. Some DVD authoring software (see 5.4) can import video from an unprotected disc. There are computer software utilities you can use to extract video and audio from a disc, which you can then use to make a new disc. There are also software tools for copying entire discs. See 6.4.2 and 5.3.3 for tools, see 5.8 for how to make your own DVDs.

Beware of e-mail and ads touting DVD copying software for sale. See 5.9.1 below.

[5.9.1] What's with those "Copy any DVD" e-mails?

It’s true you can copy any DVD movie. However the people selling DVD copying software conveniently don’t mention the many free alternatives, nor do they mention that their applications only copy to CD-R/RW in Video CD format, which means the video quality is crummy and the copies don’t play in about half the DVD players out there (see 2.4.3 and 2.4.5). They also neglect to mention that copying movies from rental stores or from friends is illegal.

[5.10] How do I get a job making DVDs?

Read this FAQ through a few times. For extra credit read my book, DVD Demystified, and visit some of the DVD information sources listed in section 6.4. Then attend a conference (see 5.10) to learn more and to make contacts in the DVD industry. Take a few training courses (see 5.10). Consider joining the DVDA. If you can, volunteer to be an intern at a DVD production house (see 5.5).

Once you have a little experience, you'll be in great demand!

[5.11] Where can I get DVD training?

A variety of workshops and seminars on various DVD topics are presented at conferences such as DVD Pro, DVD Summit (Europe) or DVD Production.

Training companies offer DVD courses and "boot camps":

• adicomm (Costa Mesa, CA)

• dvd.learn (Denver, CO)

• Ex'pression Center for New Media (Emeryville, CA)

• Gnome Digital Media (Burbank, CA), maker of the DVD 101 training/template discs

• I.N.C. Technologies (Glendale, CA), oriented towards amateur DVD users

• TFDVD.com (), DVD Studio Pro training

• Seneschal (San Francisco, CA)

• Texas State Technical College (Waco, TX)

• Video Symphony (Burbank, CA)

There are a few schools with full-term courses:

• Ngee Ann Polytechnic Digital Media Authoring Studio (Singapore)

• Seneca College (Toronto, CA)

• South Seas Film and Television School (Auckland, New Zealand)

The major DVD authoring software companies offer training classes around the world, sometimes for free:

• Sonic Solutions

• Spruce Technologies

[5.12] How can I sell DVDs that I made?

• Amazon zShops. Sales referrals. Your disc is listed on Amazon site, Amazon processes orders, you are responsible for producing, packaging, and shipping discs.

• CustomFlix. Duplication and e-commerce consignment. You give them a disc (or tape that they turn into a disc), they handle order processing, copying onto DVD-Rs, labeling, packaging, and shipment. No minimum.

• Auction sites such as eBay, Amazon Auctions, Yahoo Auctions, uBid, and many others.  Site runs auction, you are responsible for taking payment, producing, packaging, and shipping discs.

If you are looking for someone to deliver your titles to retailers, see 6.2.2 for distributors.

[6] Miscellaneous

[6.1] Who invented DVD and who owns it? Whom to contact for specifications and licensing?

DVD is the work of many companies and many people. There were originally two competing proposals. The MMCD format was backed by Sony, Philips, and others. The SD format was backed by Toshiba, Matsushita, Time Warner, and others. A group of computer companies led by IBM insisted that the factions agree on a single standard. The combined DVD format was announced in September of 1995, avoiding a confusing and costly repeat of the VHS vs. Betamax videotape battle or the quadraphonic sound battle of the 1970s.

No single company "owns" DVD. The official specification was developed by a consortium of ten companies: Hitachi, JVC, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Thomson, Time Warner, and Toshiba. Representatives from many other companies also contributed in various working groups. In May 1997, the DVD Consortium was replaced by the DVD Forum, which is open to all companies, and as of February 2000 had over 220 members. Time Warner originally trademarked the DVD logo, and has since assigned it to the DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation. The term "DVD" is too common to be trademarked or owned. See section 6.2 and visit Robert's DVD Info page for links to Web sites of companies working with DVD.

The official DVD specification books are available after signing a nondisclosure agreement and paying a $5,000 fee. One book is included in the initial fee; additional books are $500 each. Manufacture of DVD products and use of the DVD logo for non-promotional purposes requires additional format and logo licenses, for a one-time fee of $10,000 per format, minus $5,000 if they already paid for the specification. (E.g., a DVD-Video player manufacturer must license DVD-ROM and DVD-Video for $20,000, or $15,000 if they have the spec.) Contact DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation (DVD FLLC), Shiba Shimizu Building 5F, Shiba-daimon 2-3-11, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0012, tel: +81-3-5777-2881, fax: +81-3-5777-2882. Before April 14, 2000, logo/format licensing was administered by Toshiba.

ECMA has developed international standards for DVD-ROM (part 1, the smallest part of the DVD spec), available for free download as ECMA-267 and ECMA-268 from www.ecma.ch. ECMA has also standardized DVD-R in ECMA-279, DVD-RAM in ECMA-272 and ECMA-273, and DVD+RW as ECMA-274 (see 4.3). Unfortunately, ECMA has the annoying habit of spelling "disc" wrong. Also confusing, if you're not from Europe, is ECMA's use of a comma instead of a period for the decimal point.

The specification for the UDF file system used by DVD is available from www.osta.org.

Many technical details of the DVD-Video format are available at the DVD-Video Information page.

Any company making DVD products must license essential technology patents from a Philips/Pioneer/Sony pool (3.5% per player, minimum $5; additional $2.50 for Video CD compatibility; 5 cents per disc), a Hitachi/Matsushita/Mitsubishi/Time Warner/Toshiba/Victor pool (4% per player or drive, minimum $4; 4% per DVD decoder, minimum $1; 7.5 cents per disc) and from Thomson. Patent royalties may also be owed to Discovision Associates, which owns about 1300 optical disc patents (usually paid by the replicator).

The licensor of CSS encryption technology is DVD CCA (Copy Control Association), a non-profit trade association with offices at 225 B Cochrane Circle, Morgan Hill, CA. There is a $10,000 initial licensing fee, but no per-product royalties. Send license requests to [email protected], technical info requests to [email protected]. Before December 15, 1999, CSS licensing was administered on an interim basis by Matsushita.

Macrovision licenses its analog anti-recording technology to hardware makers. There is a $30,000 initial charge, with a $15,000 yearly renewal fee. The fees support certification of players to ensure widest compatibility with televisions. There are no royalty charges for player manufacturers. Macrovision charges a royalty to content publishers (approximately 4 to 10 cents per disc, compared to 2 to 5 cents for a VHS tape).

Dolby licenses Dolby Digital decoders for $0.26 per channel. Philips, on behalf of CCETT and IRT, also charges $0.20 per channel (maximum of $0.60 per player) for Dolby Digital patents, along with $0.003 per disc.

An MPEG-2 patent license may also be required, from MPEG LA (MPEG Licensing Adminstrator). Cost is about $4 for a DVD player or decoder card and 4 cents for each DVD disc, although there seems to be disagreement on whether content producers owe royalties for discs.

Nissim claims 25 cents per player and 78/100ths of a cent for parental management and other DVD-related patents.

Various licensing fees add up to over $30 in royalties for a $300 DVD player, and about $0.20 per disc. Disc royalties are paid by the replicator.

[6.2] Who is making or supporting DVD products?

[6.2.1] Consumer electronics

• Afreey: DVD-Video players

• Aiwa: DVD-Audio and DVD-Video players

• Akai: DVD-Video players

• Alba: DVD-Video players

• Alpine: DVD car navigation/entertainment

• Altec Lansing: DVD audio technology

• Amitech: DVD-Video players

• Amoisonic: DVD-Video players

• Apex Digital: DVD-Video players (made by VDDV; info at <www.nerd-out.com/apex> and <aenow.com/apex/>)

• Arcam: DVD-Video players (UK)

• Ariston: DVD-Video players

• Atlantis Land: DVD-Video players

• A-trend: DVD-Video players

• Atta: DVD-Video players

• Audiologic: DVD-Video players

• Audiosonic: DVD-Video players

• Audiovox: Car DVD players

• Axion: DVD-Video players

• AV Phile (Raite): DVD-Video Players

• Bluesky: DVD-Video players

• BUSH: DVD-Video players

• California Audio Labs: DVD-Video players

• CAT: DVD-Video players

• Camelot: DVD-Video players

• Casio: DVD-Video players

• CCE: DVD-Video players

• CD Playright: protective film for discs

• Centrum: DVD-Video players

• Chunlan: DVD-Video players

• Clairtone: DVD-Video players

• Clarion: DVD car navigation/entertainment

• Comjet: DVD-Video players with Web connection

• Compro: DVD-Video players

• Conia: DVD-Video players (Australia, made by VDDV)

• Cougar: DVD-Video players

• Cyberhome (Yamakawa/Raite): DVD-Video players

• Daewoo Electronics: DVD-Video players

• Dantax: DVD-Video players

• Denon: DVD-Audio and DVD-Video players

• Denver: DVD-Video players

• Digitor: DVD-Video players

• Digitron: DVD-Video players

• DiViDo: DVD-Video players (Netherlands)

• Dual: DVD-Video players

• DVDO: video deinterlacing processors

• Dynamic: DVD-Video players

• Eagle Wireless International: DVD Internet appliances

• Eclipse: DVD-Video players

• Electrohome: DVD-Video players

• Elta: DVD-Video players

• Eltax: DVD-Video players

• Emerson (Funai): DVD-Video players

• Encore: DVD-Video players

• Enzer: DVD-Video players

• Esonic: DVD-Video players

• ESS Technology: DVD-Video players and WebDVD players

• Euro Asia Technologies: DVD-Video players (UK)

• Faroudja: DVD-Video players

• Finlux: DVD-Video players

• Fisher (Sanyo): DVD-Video players

• Funai (Emerson/Orion/Sylvania/Symphonic): DVD-Video players

• GE (Thomson): DVD-Video players

• Genica: DVD-Video players

• Goodmans: DVD-Video players

• GPX/Yorx: DVD-Video players

• Gradiente: DVD-Video players

• Grandin: DVD-Video players

• Great Wall: DVD-Video players (Hong Kong)

• Grundig: DVD-Video players

• Guangdong Jinzheng Digital: DVD-Video players

• Gynco: DVD-Video players

• Haier: DVD-Video players

• Harman Kardon: DVD-Video players

• Himage: DVD-Video players

• Hitachi: DVD-Video players and recorders

• Hiteker: DVD-Video players (made by VDDV)

• Homemighty: DVD-Video players

• Hoyo (Raite): DVD-Video Players

• Hyundai: DVD-Video players

• iDVDBox: Enhanced DVD-Video Players

• I-Jam: DVD-Video players

• Innovacom: PC/TV with DVD support

• Irradio: DVD-Video players

• Jasmine: DVD-Video players

• Jeutech: DVD-Video players

• JNL: DVD-Video players

• Jocel: DVD-Video players

• JVC (Victor): DVD-Video players and recorders

• Kendo: DVD-Video players

• Kennex: DVD-Video players

• Kenwood: DVD-Video players

• Keymat: DVD-Video players

• KiSS (Raite): DVD-Video players

• Kioto: DVD-Video players

• KLH: DVD-Video players

• Kones: DVD-Video players

• Konka: DVD-Video players

• Labway: DVD-Video players

• Lafayette: DVD-Video and DV-Audio players

• Lasonic (Yung Fu): DVD-Video players

• Lawson: DVD-Video players

• Lecson: DVD-Video players

• Lector: DVD-Video players

• Legend: DVD-Video players

• Lenco: DVD-Video players

• Lenoxx: DVD-Video players

• LG Electronics (GoldStar): DVD-Video players

• Lifetec: DVD-Video players

• Limit: DVD-Video players

• Loewe: DVD-Video players

• Logix: DVD-Video players

• Lumatron: DVD-Video players

• Luxman: DVD-Video players

• Madrigal (Mark Levinson): DVD-Audio and DVD-Video players

• Magnavox (Philips): DVD-Video players

• Magnex: DVD-Video players

• Majestic: DVD-Video players

• Malata: DVD-Video players

• Manhattan: DVD-Video players

• Marantz (Philips): DVD-Audio, SACD, and DVD-Video players

• Mark: DVD-Video players

• Matsushita (Panasonic/National/Technics/Quasar): DVD-Video players and recorders, DVD-Audio players, DVD car navigation/entertainment

• Matsui: DVD-Video players

• Medion: DVD-Video players

• Memorex: DVD-Video players

• Meridian: DVD-Video players

• Metz: DVD-Video players

• MiCO: DVD-Video players

• Microboss: DVD-Video players

• Micromega: DVD-Video players

• Minato: DVD-Video players

• Mintek: DVD-Video players

• Mishine: DVD-Video players

• Mitsubishi: DVD-Video players

• Mitsui: DVD-Video players

• Monica/Monyka (Raite): DVD-Video players

• Mossimo: DVD-Video players (China)

• Mustek: DVD-Video players

• NAD: DVD-Video players

• Nakamichi: DVD-Audio and DVD-Video players

• Napa: DVD-Video players

• NEC: DVD-RAM video camera

• Neufunk: DVD-Video players

• Nintaus (Guangdong Jinzheng): DVD-Video players

• Noriko: DVD-Video players

• Odyssey: DVD-Video players

• Olidata: DVD-Video players (Italy)

• Omni: DVD-Video players

• Onkyo: DVD-Video and DVD-Audio players

• Optics-Storage: DVD-RW video recorders (supplier)

• Optim: DVD-Video players

• Orava: DVD-Video players

• Orion: DVD-Video players

• Oritron: DVD-Video players

• Palsonic (Australia): DVD-Video players

• Panasonic (Matsushita): DVD-Video players and recorders, DVD-Audio players

• Philco: DVD-Video players

• Philips (Magnavox/Marantz/Norelco): DVD-Video players and recorders

• Phoenix: DVD-Video players

• Phonotrend: DVD-Video players

• Pioneer: DVD-Video players  and recorders, DVD-Audio players, DVD car navigation/entertainment

• Primare: DVD-Video players

• Proceed: DVD-Video players

• Proline: DVD-Video players

• Proscan (Thomson): DVD-Video players

• Proson: DVD-Video players

• Proton: DVD-Video players

• Quadro: DVD-Video players

• Raite: DVD-video players (Taiwan)

• Rankarena: DVD-Video players

• RCA (Thomson): DVD-video players

• RCR: DVD-Video players (China)

• REC: DVD-Video players (UK, made by VDDV, same as APEX)

• Redstar: DVD-Video players

• Revoy (Netherlands): DVD-video players

• Roadstar: DVD-Video players

• Rotel: DVD-video players

• Rowa: DVD-Video players

• Runco: DVD-video players and changers

• Saivod: DVD-Video players

• Sampo (Afreey): DVD-Video players

• Samsung: DVD-Video players

• Samwin: DVD-Video players

• Sanyo: DVD-Video players

• SAST: DVD-Video players

• Schaub Lorenz: DVD-Video players

• Schneider: DVD-Video players

• Scott: DVD-Video players

• SEG (Yamakawa/Raite): DVD-Video players

• Sharp: DVD-Video players

• Shinco: DVD-Video players (Hong Kong)

• Shinsonic: DVD-Video players

• Singer: DVD-Video players

• Skyworth: DVD-Video players

• SMC: DVD-Video players

• Sonic Blue: DVD-Video players and combo DVD-VHS players (formerly Sensory Science and Go-Video)

• Sony: DVD-Video players and changers

• Soyea: DVD-Video players

• Spatializer Audio Laboratories: 3D audio processing

• Sublime: DVD-Video players

• Sylvania (Funai): DVD-Video players

• Symphonic (Funai): DVD-Video players

• Tatung: DVD-Video players

• Teac: DVD-Video players

• Technics (Matsushita): DVD-Video and DVD-Audio players

• Teknema (Ravisent): Web-connected DVD-Video players

• Telestar: DVD-Video players

• Tevion: DVD-Video players

• Thakral: DVD-Video players (China, Hong Kong)

• Theta: DVD-Video players

• Thomson (RCA/G.E./Proscan/Ferguson/Nordmende/Telefunken/Saba/Brandt): DVD-Video players

• Tokai (Raite): DVD-Video Players

• Toshiba: DVD-Video players  and recorders, DVD-Audio players

• Tredex: DVD-Video players

• Umax: DVD-Video players

• United: DVD-Video players

• Unity Motion: DVD-Video players

• Universum: DVD-Video players

• Venturer: DVD-Video players

• Vialta (ESS): WebDVD players

• Victor (JVC): DVD-Video players

• Vieta: DVD-Video players

• Visual Disc and Digital Video: DVD-Video players (China)

• Waitec: DVD-Video players

• Walkvision: DVD-Video players

• Wharfedale: DVD-Video players

• Wintel: DVD-Video players

• XMS: DVD-Video players

• Xwave: DVD-Video players

• Yamaha: DVD-Audio and DVD-Video players

• Yamakawa (Raite): DVD-Video players

• Yami (Raite): DVD-Video players

• Yelo: DVD-Video players

• Yukai: DVD-Video players

• Zenith (becoming a subsidiary of LG): DVD-Video players

[6.2.2] Studios, video publishers, and distributors

DVD File maintains a list of studio addresses, as well as DVD producer and distributor information.

• A2O Entertainment (wholesale distributor)

• A.D. Vision (anime)

• Acorn Media

• Aftermath Media (Tender Loving Care, interactive movie)

• All Day Entertainment

• Alphaville Pictures (distributed by Universal)

• Amazing Fantasy

• Amblin Entertainment (distributed by Universal)

• American Gramaphone

• American Software

• Anchor Bay Entertainment

• Animeigo

• A-Pix Entertainment

• Artisan Home Entertainment (formerly LIVE Entertainment)

• Arts & Entertainment DVD

• Atomic Video (adult)

• Avalanche

• Baby Einstein (infant development)

• Baker & Taylor (distributor)

• Beyond Music (distributor)

• Black Chair Productions (independent films)

• Black Entertainment Television (BET)

• BMG (Sonopress)

• Brentwood

• Brilliant Digital Entertainment (multipath movies)

• BroadcastDVD

• Buena Vista Home Video (Disney)

• CAV Distributing (distributor)

• Castle Music Pictures (music performance)

• Castle Home Video

• Cecchi Gori

• Celebrity

• Central Park Media

• Cerebellum (educational)

• Chesky

• Classic Records

• Columbia TriStar (Sony)

• Compact Media (distributor)

• Concert @ Home (Platinum Entertainment)

• Concorde Video (12 Monkeys, German)

• Corinth Films (Wade Williams Collection)

• Creative Design Art

• Criterion Collection

• DaViD Entertainment

• Delos International (mostly audio)

• Delta Entertainment

• Deluxe (distributor and replicator)

• DG Distributors (distributor)

• Diamond Entertainment (distributor)

• Digital Disc Entertainment

• Digital Leisure (formerly ReadySoft) (Dragon's Lair, Space Ace)

• Digital Multimedia

• Digital Versatile Disc

• Dimension Films (Miramax)

• Direct Source

• Direct Video Distribution (distributor, UK)

• Disney (Buena Vista Home Video, Dimension Films, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax, Touchstone)

• Dream Theater

• DreamWorks SKG

• DVD International (distributor)

• D-Vision

• Eaton Entertainment

• Elite Entertainment

• EMI Records

• E Real Biz

• Essex Entertainment

• Fantoma

• Filmways (distributor, Argentina/Spain)

• FOCUSFilm Entertainment

• Fox Lorber

• Front Row

• Full Moon Pictures

• Gainax (anime)

• General Media Communications (Penthouse) (adult)

• Goldhil Home Media

• Goodtimes Entertainment

• Gramercy Pictures (distributed by Universal)

• Hallmark Home Entertainment (Artisan)

• HBO Home Video (Warner)

• HODIE (multimedia recording label)

• Hollywood Pictures (Disney, folded into Touchstone)

• Hot Body International (adult)

• Ice Storm Entertainment (distributor, Germany)

• Ideal Entertainment

• Image Entertainment (distributor)

• Impressive (adult)

• IndieDVD (publisher; alliance of independent filmmakers)

• Ingram (distributor)

• Key East

• King's Road (distributed by Trimark)

• Kino International

• Laserdisc Entertainment (adult)

• Laserlight

• Lee & Lee Films

• Leo Films

• Living Arts (health)

• LucasFilm (distributed by Twentieth Century Fox or Paramount)

• Lucerne Media (educational)

• Lumivision (distributed by SlingShot)

• Lyric

• MacDaddy

• Madacy

• Magic Lantern

• Marin Digital (Your Yoga Practice)

• Master Tone

• MCA (Universal)

• MCA Music

• Media Galleries

• Media Group (distributor)

• Metro Global Media (adult)

• Metromedia

• MGM/UA (Warner)

• Mill Reef (Earthlight)

• Miramax Films (Disney)

• Monarch Home Video

• Monterey

• MPI Home Video

• MTI

• Multimedia 2000 (aka M-2K)

• Music Video Distributors (distributor)

• N2K Music

• Navarre (distributor)

• NET TEN (distributor)

• Nettwerk Productions

• New Horizons Home Video

• New Line (Warner)

• New Video Group

• New Vision

• New York Entertainment

• NuTech Digital (adult)

• October Films (Universal)

• Opera World

• Orion Pictures (MGM, some older DVD titles distributed by Image and Criterion)

• Overseas Filmgroup (distributor, partner with Image)

• Pacific Digital

• Palm Pictures

• Panasonic Interactive Media (defunct)

• Panorama

• Paramount Home Video (owned by Viacom)

• Parasol

• Passport Video

• Phantom Video

• Picture This Home Video

• Pioneer Entertainment (distributor)

• Platinum

• Playboy Home Video

• PM Entertainment

• Polygram (Philips partner)

• Pony Canyon (Japan)

• PPI Entertainment

• Private Media Group (adult)

• Pro7 Home Entertainment (Germany)

• Program Power

• Real Entertainment

• Red Distribution (distributor)

• Renegade

• Republic Pictures (defunct, distributed by Artisan)

• Rhino Home Video

• Roadshow Entertainment (Australia)

• Roan Group

• Rykodisc

• Samsung Entertainment Group

• Shanachie

• Showtime

• Simitar Entertainment

• Sierra Vista Entertainment (Innovacom)

• Silver Screen

• SlingShot (acquired Lumivision titles)

• Sony Music Entertainment

• Sony Pictures (Columbia, Epic, Sony Music, Sony Wonder, TriStar)

• Sony Wonder (kids)

• Steeplechase

• Sterling Home Entertainment

• Super Digital Media

• SyCoNet.com (distributor, anime)

• Synapse Films

• Tai Seng

• Technicolor (distributor and replicator)

• Tempe Entertainment

• Thakral (distributor; Hong Kong, China)

• Toho (Japan)

• Tone Home Video

• Toshiba EMI

• Touchstone (Disney)

• Trimark Pictures

• Troma Entertainment

• Turner Home Entertainment

• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

• Unapix Entertainment

• United American

• United Artists (MGM)

• Universal Studios Home Video (owned by Seagram)

• USA

• U.S. Laser

• Valley Media (distributor)

• VCA Interactive (VCA Pictures, VCA Labs; adult)

• VCI Home Video

• Ventura

• Victor Entertainment (JVC)

• Victory

• Video Watchdog

• Video One Canada (distributor)

• Vidmark

• Vista Street

• Vivid Video (adult)

• Walt Disney Pictures

• Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music (Toshiba partner)

• Warner Home Video (Toshiba partner)

• Waterbearer Films

• WIT Entertainment (distributor)

• WGBH

• WWF Home Video

• Wolfe

• World Video

• Xenon

• Xoom

• York