DVD creation
evolves with each new version of authoring software. As programmers get
more comfortable with the authoring procedure, they take new chances with
the discs they create. And each of those discs challenges existing DVD
players to the point that some machines will not play the discs. Caught
in the middle are people such as David Williams, producer for AD Vision.
Williams wants to create entertaining DVDs which are packed with extras,
but he also wants to make sure that most fans will be able to view the
content on those discs. When Williams held a panel on DVD creation at Anime
Weekend Atlanta, he got a lesson on the spread of anime and the popularity
of DVD's. One fan at the panel said he watched his DVD's on a railroad
locomotive, and didn't like some discs because he couldn't play the extras.
Williams answered that he's heard complaints that the DVD-ROM extras on
some discs, computer files usually intended to be used on Intel/Windows
PC's, can't be seen on Macs or standalone players.
One complaint
heard at AWA was that the second disc in the Evangelion movie set from
Manga Video would not play past the midpoint of the final chapter (This
author checked the spot in question on the DVD player in his notebook PC
and encountered no problems). Other video companies have found trouble
with their discs on some players. Williams doubts that compatibility problems
ever will disappear. "They will never eliminate them because there are
too many ways to go wrong," said Williams. "It's just such an involved
specification. I read part of the specs and it made no coherent sense whatsoever.
After reading that I understood why the players have so many problems.
The sheer scope of the DVD specs means they will never get ride of the
errors. Are they much more compatible? Yes." Williams recommends using
Sony players to have the smallest chance of compatibility trouble.
DVD's are
giving rise to a new wave of piracy. Williams knows of cases where ADV
Films discs have been duplicated by bootleggers in Hong Kong and released
with Chinese subtitles. There's talk of a new form of encoding that could
make it harder to "rip" video tracks from DVD's and duplicate them, but
Williams doesn't think his company will use that technique because it leads
to more compatibility problems with some players. Another question about
DVD players for the future is image resolution. The current 720x480 4x3
aspect ratio discs have enough resolution for today's TV sets, Williams
says, but there could be a high-definition DVD in the years to come.
DVD creation
evolves with each new version of authoring software. As programmers get
more comfortable with the authoring procedure, they take new chances with
the discs they create. And each of those discs challenges existing DVD
players to the point that some machines will not play the discs. Caught
in the middle are people such as David Williams, producer for AD Vision.
Williams wants to create entertaining DVDs which are packed with extras,
but he also wants to make sure that most fans will be able to view the
content on those discs. When Williams held a panel on DVD creation at Anime
Weekend Atlanta, he got a lesson on the spread of anime and the popularity
of DVD's. One fan at the panel said he watched his DVD's on a railroad
locomotive, and didn't like some discs because he couldn't play the extras.
Williams answered that he's heard complaints that the DVD-ROM extras on
some discs, computer files usually intended to be used on Intel/Windows
PC's, can't be seen on Macs or standalone players.
One complaint
heard at AWA was that the second disc in the Evangelion movie set from
Manga Video would not play past the midpoint of the final chapter (This
author checked the spot in question on the DVD player in his notebook PC
and encountered no problems). Other video companies have found trouble
with their discs on some players. Williams doubts that compatibility problems
ever will disappear. "They will never eliminate them because there are
too many ways to go wrong," said Williams. "It's just such an involved
specification. I read part of the specs and it made no coherent sense whatsoever.
After reading that I understood why the players have so many problems.
The sheer scope of the DVD specs means they will never get ride of the
errors. Are they much more compatible? Yes." Williams recommends using
Sony players to have the smallest chance of compatibility trouble.
DVD's are
giving rise to a new wave of piracy. Williams knows of cases where ADV
Films discs have been duplicated by bootleggers in Hong Kong and released
with Chinese subtitles. There's talk of a new form of encoding that could
make it harder to "rip" video tracks from DVD's and duplicate them, but
Williams doesn't think his company will use that technique because it leads
to more compatibility problems with some players. Another question about
DVD players for the future is image resolution. The current 720x480 4x3
aspect ratio discs have enough resolution for today's TV sets, Williams
says, but there could be a high-definition DVD in the years to come.
