DVDs update old video format

Fans call it the next revolution in home movie viewing. Detractors call it the '90s version of the failed Betamax video format. So what's the truth about DVD?

The truth is actually pretty simple. Remember back in the day when you had your oh-so-cool cassette boombox and bought those clunky, hard-to-navigate, easy-to-tangle tapes? Remember when you bought your first compact disc, a new media format that offered clear sound, no deterioration of quality over time and the ability to play your favorite song over and over without waiting for rewind?

Imagine that kind of power when you're watching the latest video release. No more tape rewinding, no more tracking static and garbled audio.

Laserdiscs once tried to be to videotape what CDs are to cassettes. But they failed in the mass market because of high prices and the need to handle record-sized discs several times per movie. Now DVD (digital versatile disc) video has arrived in force at electronics and computer stores across the nation, and the features and quality it offers are making it the next big thing in home theatre at affordable prices.

Merely the size of a CD, DVDs can store more than four gigabytes of data. Because they're digital, and not analog like videotapes, DVDs can be used for both software and movies - which is why many computers now come equipped with DVD drives, enabling you to watch movies on your monitor or patch the signal out to a television.

The huge amount of space available on a DVD also means that much more content can be put on the disc than on a videotape. Quite a few DVD releases contain extra audio tracks that viewers can access during the movie, allowing one to listen to a director or star talk about making the film.

Some discs also include deleted scenes, music videos, behind-the-scenes featurettes, TV spots and trailers for the film, among other wonderful features. Most of the movies released on DVD are presented in a "letterboxed" format or offer both widescreen and "pan-and-scan" (standard) versions, giving viewers a choice about how to view a movie - choices that videotape never could offer.

But the crisp, clear picture provided by a DVD would never justify the price of a player ($300-600 average for the player; $20 average for movies) without the final piece of the movie puzzle: sound.

Nearly every DVD being produced offers sound in the Dolby Digital format, which means theatre-quality sound with five discrete channels (front left, center, front right, rear right, rear left speakers) and a dedicated output to a subwoofer.

Titles such as "Air Force One," "Contact" and "The Fifth Element" will give most sound systems a workout comparable to any first-run movie theater.

Watch out for DVD's ugly step-sister DIVX, currently being thrust upon consumers at Circuit City stores nationwide. This so-called "enhanced" format costs $4.50 per disc (never mind that a DIVX player costs a good $100 more than a DVD player), but does not include the extensive extra content available on many DVDs. Most notably absent is the letterboxed format.

DIVX allows you to watch the movie as many times as you want in a 48-hour period. After that, the DIVX player uses a modem line to charge your credit card every subsequent time you want to watch the movie. DIVX purports to replace rental in that you can just throw out the DIVX disc when you are done watching it instead of returning it to a store, but with major video store chains like Hollywood Video now stocking DVDs (at prices much lower than $4.50 and for five-day rentals) DIVX looks like an idea that was over before it even began.

All of the major studios are now putting out movies on DVD, and 1999 is shaping up to be the year that the format comes into its own in the mainstream with titles like "The Princess Bride," "The X-Files," "Ghostbusters" and a rumored Christmas release of the "Star Wars" holy trilogy scheduled (and yes, that barge that swept the Oscars last year should be out by summer).

If you've got a few bucks to spend or still need to send your belated Christmas wish list to the guy in the red suit, think about picking up DVD player. It will blow your VCR back into the stone age and take your home video experience into the 21st century.

01-22-99