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Goodbye VCD, hello DVD
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With the prices of DVD media and players crashing, it's time to move on from the hassle of two or three VCDs to a movie
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PUSHING THE ENVELOPE Affordable DVDs that can store close to 10 times the information that VCDs can are set to transform the way we watch movies
"I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello!" sang The Beatles in another age. That's so yesterday. Right now, it's time to say "goodbye" to the brief and chequered history of the video compact disk (VCD), even as we embrace its conqueror, the DVD — that's digital video disk or digital versatile disk, depending on which online glossary you are looking at.
Packing it in
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 commonest DVD packs in 4.7 gigabytes of information (or entertainment) — that's 4700 megabytes, compared to the VCD's 700 MB. Already in the market are the double-sided versions that can hold almost twice this — 8.5 GB, give or take a megabyte or two.
Just think what that means when used to store movies: The average Hollywood two-hour movie fits comfortably on two VCDs today. Ditto for short 'n' sweet Indian products — like Malayalam movies. English language epics and almost all Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Kannada films stretch to around three hours and need three CDs — because the VCD can store at most 72 minutes of video.
When it comes to DVDs, which have approximately six times the capacity of a VCD — that's some thing like seven hours of running time — one movie to a DVD is gross underkill. That is why DVD versions tend to pack in a lot of supporting material — trailers, production notes, stills, multiple language dialogue and subtitle options.... But most important, the much higher capacity of the DVD means the film can be stored at a higher resolution, jargon which means the picture is much sharper and can be seen on larger screens without appearing pixellated or broken up into small squares. There's also enough space to carry a superior sound track: stereo, Dolby... the works.
Any one who is hooked on 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 — those flat and large boxes that seem to dominate the shelves of electronic shops these days — has dropped from around Rs. 6,000 to something around Rs. 2,000. And while foreign films on DVD — at least the legally sold variety are still pricey, at Rs. 400 to Rs. 600, compared to the average Rs. 199 VCD, Indian films on DVD have suddenly become affordable and many of the new Hindi films are on offer within two months of theatre release for around Rs. 250 to Rs. 300.
Another quiet revolution has taken place in the portable DVD player space: Here the most popular types, come with an integrated screen — usually an LCD flat display that is seven inches wide. While the big brands are still scarce on shop shelves, you can find any number of models in the China Bazaar that now seems to be a feature of every medium or big town. Here dozens of Korean, Chinese or Taiwanese models of the portable DVD player are on offer for around Rs. 10,000. Most of them don't come with a valid warranty but at those prices, many customers seem prepared to live dangerously. This is not a joke: the DVD world is a masala mix of standards: there are DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW... all the cheap DVD players, will not play all the types.
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 will not play on players sold in region 2. The "Made in US" English films tend to follow another standard called NTSC — and most cheap players, the "Made in China" will not play on them unless specifically stated.
In India, which is one of the biggest mandis on earth, we tend to get products from all over the world — or our energetic overseas Indians bring them in — so we have to be specially careful: a good bargain DVD player, may not play all the DVDs you are likely to acquire. That is why the big brands like Sony, LG and Philips can charge a premium to offer more universal systems.
Malleable
The latest portable DVD players to come to India, also have a Tablet PC-like feature: You can twist the display round 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 back of the driver's seat in a car for the entertainment of back seat passengers on long drives, with a convenient plug for the car's battery outlet.
DVD players and more 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.... hold a DVD screen at arms length, put on the headphones, switch of the lights — and we could almost be in a theatre.
They should carry a health warning: "Watching DVDs on this player may be addictive and lead to severe depletion of your bank balance."
A.VISHNU
vishnua@hotmail.com
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