DVD
I bought a DVD player last weekend and enjoyed Matrix Reloaded with it.
DVD is really good. You can watch movies both in English and Japanese, and you can also choose subtitles in English, Japanese, or none at all. It is good for me to practice listening.
Of course, Matrix was too difficult to understand in English, though.
Comments
Yeah, I agree. However, there will be a little bit time when it becomes the main AV. Because when I was wondering whether I should buy a DVD player or a player with a recording function, one of my friends told me that the recording system or something is not standardized yet. When it is standardized, DVD will be the main AV in the world.
The Chinese have just introduced a new format named EDV. It’s unlikely that it will replace DVD, but it might.
pketh :: November 28, 2003
hopefully that EDV thing will die quick. Not to be hating on the Chinese or anything but the last thing we need right now in such a crowded market is yet Another movie disc format.
Personally, I just use my playstation2 as a DVD player ;)
I’m not so sure I want EDV to go away and die.
As you may know, China, Korea and Japan are committed to building an open-source operating system, which, most likely, will be Linux-based. If North Asia is serious about going open source, EDV just might become part of that movement, which would be great news for end-users. This is purely speculative, however, and I have no idea how likely it is to happen.
Open-sourcing Netscape resulted in Mozilla / Firebird, a browser that is far superior to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. I’m aware of at least one happy Firebird user in Canada.
pketh :: November 30, 2003
haha, touche!
I’d be very surprised if EDV truly goes open-source though, and if it is wouldn’t there be huge piracy concerns? (in the rest of the world at least ;) )
I’ve also heard the hype about ‘red-flag linux’ which is Beijing’s version of linux and the promises that go along with it. And while it all looks very nice on paper, I’ve still yet to meet (or hear about) someone in China whose used linux as a desktop OS - hell, I’ve tried redhat linux once before and settled on the conclusion that linux simply isn’t good enough to be used on a normal system (it was horrid). Maybe someday though..
graham :: November 30, 2003
I think DVD has been the standard video disc format for about 3 years, certainly in Europe and the US. Japan (unfortunately as usual) is crippled by expensive software - most DVDs coming in at 1000-1500yen more than in UK/US, and that’s an average including Japanese titles and foreign titles. Not sure what you mean by standards though - recordeable DVD has settled on DVD+-R format - and it works. My big question is whether DVD audio will replace CD, or whether MP3style audio has beaten them to it. Personally I prefer AAC which is part of MPEG4 (MP3 is actually MPEG1 layer 3).
“Standards”, I mean, is about the recording medium, DVD-RAM or DVD-RW. They are not interchangeable with each other.
Well, as for the movies, they are expensive. So, I usually rent them. However, I ordered one of my favorites, “Grinch.” I love Christmas very much and I used to rent a copy of that movie from a shop every winter. It is cheaper to own one.
oli :: December 14, 2003
I love DVD too, but there’s one thing I hate - the region system.
The DVD Forum (companies that control the DVD standard) introduced a system that divides the world into 7-8 geographic areas. For example, USA is Region 1, Japan is Region 2, Asia (except Japan) is Region 4… When a new movie is released, it will often start playing in the movie theatres at different times in different countries. For example, Hollywood movies _always_ come out at least 3 months later in Japan (I wanna watch Lord of the Rings 3 NOW! ;-) Because of this, the movie companies think that people will buy the DVD from America before it comes out in their country, and not go to see it at the movie theatre. So they made a rule that every DVD player can only play DVDs from one region.
This means that since you’ve bought a DVD player in Japan, it can only play Region 2 (Japan) DVDs. If you travel overseas (eg USA) and want to buy a DVD there, when you get home it _won’t work_, because the USA is Region 1. Also, even though this should only be for new releases, almost all DVDs have a region code. Even movies that were released 50 years ago have a region code!? It’s possible to make multi-region DVDs but they are very uncommon. This is a very bad thing. For example I’m living in Japan (Region 2), my DVD player is from USA (Region 1), and I am a New Zealander (region ?). What Region DVDs should I buy? I must by Region 1, but that means I can’t buy any without shopping online or travelling (!)
However the worst thing is that while DVDs can support many languages for voices and subtitles, only the region’s languages are ever added. For example, USA (Region 1) DVDs are always English, and maybe Spanish. Japanese (Region 2) DVDs are always Japanese, and maybe English. If I was was from France and wanted to study Japanese using DVDs, I’d have to buy two DVDs - one for French and one for Japanese. Even though the movie companies could make one multi-region DVD with many languages after the movie has been released internationally, they don’t. This is silly.
RE: recording standards; presently there is DVD-R, DVD+R (both record once only), DVD-RW, DVD+RW (both record/erase many times), and DVD-RAM (record/erase a whole heap of times). The “minus” standards (the official DVD Forum ones) are supported by Japanese companies and Apple, the “plus” standards are supported by PC companies and Microsoft. Most DVD recorders support 2-3 of these, but none support all of them (yet). The present “DVD-Multi” drives are usually either ‘minus’ (DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM) or ‘rewritable’ (DVD-RW and DVD+RW). If you buy a hard disk/DVD recorder for home, if it works with your computer you are fine. However, if you make a DVD (eg wedding home movie), maybe your parents can’t watch it if they have a DVD player with different standards. Hopefully soon drives will record/play any standard, and Hollywood movie companies will stop being so evil. I won’t hold my breath though!
Sorry, I got carried away there didn’t I ;-)
Sounds like you could use a multi-region DVD player.
Commenting on this entry is closed.
I want a DVD player! DVDs is entering the mainstream of AV equipment little by little. They don’t bother me for rewinding like Videos. How convenient!