Computer Beginner Guide

This question has no absolute answer, because you’ll get a different response from everyone you ask. The terms second generation, third generation, and so on refer both to DVD-Video players and 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, and so on. According to some people, second-generation DVD players came out in the fall of 1997, and third-generation players were released at the beginning of 1998. According to others, the second generation of DVDs will be HD players that won’t come out until 2003 or so. Many conflicting variations occur between these extremes, including the viewpoint that DTS-compatible players, Divx players, progressive-scan players, 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 (DV

Laserdiscs are subject to what is commonly called laser rot, the deterioration of the aluminum layer due to oxidation or other chemical changes. This often results from the use of insufficiently pure metal for the reflective coating created during replication, but it 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, which is called delamination. Deterioration of the data layer can be caused by chemical contaminants or gasses in the glue, or by moisture that penetrates the plastic substrate. 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 10 times less moisture than the slightly hygroscopic acrylic (PMMA) used for laserdiscs. DVDs can have delamination problems, partly because some cases or players hol

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 usually occur. Why Do Some Discs Require Side Flipping? Can’t D

The MPEG video on a 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, two kinds of DVDs exist: NTSC DVDs and PAL DVDs. Some players only play NTSC discs; others play PAL and NTSC discs, depending on which region the owner lives in (refer to “What Are Regional Codes, Country Codes, or Zone Locks?”). Almost all DVD players sold in PAL countries play both kinds of discs. These multistandard 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 multistandard PAL players output true 3.58 NTSC from NTSC discs, which requires an NTSC TV or a multistandard TV. Some players have a switch to choose 60 Hz PAL or true NTSC output when playing NTSC discs. A few standards-converting PAL players convert o

A dual-layer disc has two layers of data, one of them semitransparent so that the laser can focus through it and read the second layer. Because both layers are read from the same side, a dual-layer disc can hold almost twice as much as a single-layer disc, typically four hours of video. Many discs use dual layers. Initially, only a few replication plants could make duallayer discs, but most plants now have the capability. The second layer can use either a parallel track path (PTP) layout where both tracks run in parallel (for independent data or special switching effects) or an opposite track path (OTP) layout where the second track runs in an opposite spiral. That is, the pickup head reads out from the center on the first track and then in from the outside on the second track. The OTP layout is designed to provide continuous video across both layers. OTP is also called reverse-spiral dual layer (RSDL). The layer change can occur anywhere in the video; it doesn’t have to b

The answer is 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: from $2,500 to $4,000. DVD recorders are still quite expensive (typically $500 to $2000 as of mid-2003), but they 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 basically works 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 onscreen menu. Note that DVD video recorders can’t copy most DVD movie discs, which are protected. Unfortunately, more than one recordable DVD format is available, and they don’t all play together nicely. It’s nothing like the old VHS versus Beta

When DVDs were released in 1996, no DVD-Audio format was available, although the audio capabilities of DVD-Video far surpassed CDs. 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 of 1998, and version 0.9 was released in July. The final DVD-Audio 1.0 specification (minus copy protection) was approved in February of 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 “What Is DeCSS?” in Chapter 4), but also because the hardware wasn’t quite ready, production tools weren’t up to snuff, and the support from music labels was lackluster. Pioneer

Content protection system architecture (CPSA) 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), CPSA covers encryption, watermarking, and the protection of analog and digital outputs. Many forms of content protection apply to DVD, as detailed in the following seven sections. Analog CPS (Macrovision) Copying to videotape (analog) can be prevented with a Macrovision 7.0 circuit in every DVD player. The general term is Analog Protection System (APS), 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-le

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 United States when it’s just hitting screens in Europe). Also, studios sell distribution rights to different foreign distributors in order to guarantee an exclusive market. Therefore, they required that the DVD standard include codes to prevent the playback of certain discs in certain geographical regions. Each player is given a code for the region in which it’s sold and will refuse to play discs that are not coded for its region. This means that a disc bought in one country may not play on a player bought in another country. Some people believe that region codes are an illegal restraint of trade, but no legal cases have established this. Regional codes are entirely optional for the disc maker to include. Discs without region locks will play on any player in any country. It’s not an encryption system; i

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. C-Cube (1996) 1 million players and drives in 1997. InfoTech (1996) 820,000 DVD-Video players in the first year, with 80 million by 2005. Philips (1996) 25 million DVD-ROM drives worldwide by 2000 (10 percent of the projected 250 million optical drives). Pioneer (1996) 500,000 DVD-ROM drives sold in 1997, with 54 million sold in 2000. Pioneer (1996) 400,000 DVD-Video players in 1996, with 11 million by 2000, and 100,000 DVD-Audio players in 1996, with 4 million by 2000. Time Warner (1996) 10 million DVD pla

In the video distribution industry, a title refers to a movie or other production release, such as Snow White, Star Wars, or a boxed edition of a TV series like Babylon 5 First Season. Titles are collectively referred to as software, not to be confused with computer software. DVDs started off slowly. In 1996, rosy predictions of hundreds of movie titles being sold for Christmas failed to materialize. Only a handful of DVD titles, mostly music videos, were available in Japan for the November 1996 launch of DVDs. The first feature films on DVD appeared in Japan in December, including The Assassin, Blade Runner, Eraser, and The Fugitive from Warner Home Video. By April, over 150 titles were available in Japan. The first titles released in the United States 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 a

The video and audio performance of all modern DVD players is excellent. Your personal preferences, budget, and home theater setup all play a large role in determining which player is best for you. Unless you have a high-end home theater, a player that costs under $250 should be completely adequate. Make a list of things that are important to you (such as the ability to play CD-Rs, the ability to play Video CDs, 96 kHz/24-bit audio decoding, DTS Digital Out, and an 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, and front-panel controls). Because few variations exist in picture 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

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, which meant movie studios were demanding copy protection, and it was delayed again by a lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November of 1996, followed by U.S. players in March of 1997, with distribution limited to only seven major cities for the first six months. Players slowly trickled in to other regions around the world. Prices for the first players in 1997 were $1,000 and up. By the end of 2000, players were available for under $100 at discount retailers. In 2003, players became available for under $50. Six years after the initial launch, close to 1,000 models were available from over 100 consumer electronics manufacturers. Fujitsu supposedly released the first DVD-ROM-equipped computer in November 1996 in Japan. In early 1997, Toshiba released

The most important features of DVD are as follows: Over 2 hours of high-quality digital video (A double-sided, dual-layer disc can hold about 8 hours of high-quality video, or 30 hours of VHSquality video.) Support for widescreen movies on standard or widescreen TVs (4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios) Up to eight tracks of digital audio (for multiple languages, commentaries, and so on) that each have as many as eight channels Up to 32 subtitle/karaoke tracks Automatic, seamless video branching (for multiple story lines or ratings on one disc) Up to nine camera angles (different viewpoints can be selected during playback) Onscreen menus and simple interactive features (for games, quizzes, and so on) Multilingual identifying text for title name, album name, song name, cast, crew, and so on Instant rewind and fast forward (no “be kind, rewind” stickers on rental discs) Instant search to title, chapter, music track, and timecode Durable (no wear from playi

DVD is the latest generation of optical disc storage technology. A DVD is essentially a bigger, faster compact disc (CD) that can hold cinema-like video, better-than-CD audio, still photos, and computer data. DVD aims to encompass home entertainment, computers, and business information with a single digital format. DVDs have replaced laserdiscs, are well on the way to replacing videotape and video game cartridges, and could eventually replace audio CDs and CD-ROMs. DVD has widespread support from all major electronics companies, computer hardware companies, and movie and music studios. With this unprecedented support, DVDs has become the most successful consumer electronics product of all time in less than three years after arriving on the market. In 2003, six years after their first appearance, over 250 million DVD playback devices were in operation worldwide, counting DVD players, DVD PCs, and DVD game consoles. This was more than half the number of VCRs, setting DVD up