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Bye VCD, hi DVD!

With the price of DVDsand DVD players crashing, it's time move on from theVCD

MEGA `BITE' The DVD can store much more than a VCD

I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello! sang the Beatles many years ago. . That's so `yesterday'. Right now, it's time to say a simultaneous goodbye and hello to the Video Compact Disk and the Digital Video/Versatile Disk.

The DVD looks exactly like the VCD - a plain, uninteresting platter of aluminium, shiny on one side, labelled on the other. But looks can be deceptive. The most common DVD packs in 4.7 gigabytes of information - that's 4700 megabytes as compared to the VCD's 700 MB. Already available are the double-sided DVDs that can hold almost 8.5 gigabytes, twice as much as normal one.Just imagine what that means when used to store movies. Today, the average Hollywood 2-hour movie fits comfortably on 2 VCDs. Ditto for Malayalam movies. English epics and almost all Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Kannada films stretch to about three hours and need three CDs, since one VCD can store a maximum of 72 minutes of video. When it comes to DVDs, which have approximately six times the capacity of a VCD, one movie to a DVD is gross under kill. That's why DVD versions tend to pack in a lot more supporting material — trailers, production notes, stills, multiple language and subtitle options. But more importantly, the higher capacity of the DVD means the film can be stored at a higher resolution,which means the picture is much sharper and can be seen on larger screens without appearing pixelated or broken up into small squares. There's also enough space to carry a superior sound track: Stereo, Dolby... the works!

Anyone who is hooked on to DVD versions of his or her favourite films, will never return to watching VCDs. Except of course, those of us who couldn't afford the extortionate prices of recorded DVDs and DVD players.

But that is now history. Within one year, 2005, the price of DVD players — has dropped from around Rs 6000 to around Rs 2000. Foreign films on DVD are still pricey at Rs 400 - Rs 600, as compared to the average Rs 199 of a VCD. But Indian movie on DVD have suddenly become affordable and many of the new Hindi films are on offer within 2 months of release for around Rs 250-Rs 300.

Another quiet revolution has taken place is the portable DVD player. The most popular types, come with an integrated screen — usually an LCD flat display that is 7 inches wide. While the big brands are still scarce on shop shelves, you can find any number of models in China Bazaar- an important feature of every medium or big town. Here, dozens of Korean, Chinese or Taiwanese models are on offer at low rates.

Most of them don't come with a valid warranty but at those prices, many customers seem prepared to live dangerously. Another complication is that those who make DVD movies, particularly the big Hollywood companies, like to localise the product — that is DVDs made for region 1 wont play on players sold in region 2. The `Made in US' English films tend to follow another standard called NTSC and most cheap players made in China won't play these DVD's unless specifically stated.

In India, which is one of the world's biggest markets, wetend to get products from all over the world, so we have to be specially careful. A bargain DVD player, may not play all the DVDs you are likely to buy That is why the big brands like Sony, LG and Philips can afford to charge a premium for their universal players. The latest portable DVD players to come to India, also have a tablet PC-like feature. You can twist the display around so the player can be handled like a paperback novel, and held on your lap as you lounge in bed. It can also be suspended from the front seat of a car with a convenient plug-in to the car's battery.

DVD players and affordable DVDs seem set to transform the way we watch movies. The big 40 and 50-inch plasma and LCD TV screens will continue to have their well-heeled clientele. But for the rest of us, a DVD could well make us feel like we are at the theatre.Perhaps, DVD players should carry a health warning: "Watching DVDs on this player may be addictive and lead to severe depletion of your bank balance."

A. VISHNU

vishnu@hotmail.com

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