DVDs push today's home film viewing standards

"DVD is cool! You can get pornos that let you see naked chicks from all different angles at high resolution!"

Wait, that's not right.

Quick polling on the streets of Ann Arbor revealed that DVD awareness is up these days, although not necessarily in the most user-friendly of ways. There's a lot more to the best video format on the market these days than naked flesh, despite the thousands of skin flicks available. With the arrival of the much maligned-yet-loved "Titanic" and immensely popular techno-orgasm "The Matrix" both shipping one million copies to retail outlets and irresistibly priced hardware that costs less than $300 at local electronics stores and comes standard in nearly all new personal computers, DVD stands to finally leave VHS and laserdisc in the dust and become the video choice of a new millennium.

WARNER BROTHERS Ultra cool Keanu battles that slimy agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) in the Wachowski brothers' "The Matrix," which will be released on DVD Sept. 21.

All major and minor studios are now regularly putting out product on DVD as well as current standard VHS, priced to buy at costs generally ranging from $15-$30 per disc. This includes films that are released solely for rental purposes on VHS, so DVD viewers can often snag flicks for repeated home viewing at significantly lower prices - and more importantly, sooner - on DVD. For example, "The Matrix," scheduled for release on DVD on Sept. 21, will not be available for purchase (or at least, won't be available at prices less than $99.99) on VHS until Dec. 7.

Besides the obvious advantages of being able to own movie favorites before those tied down to strictly a VCR, DVD also offers what many consider to be its main selling point: technical aspects that put the relatively poor quality of VHS to shame. DVD boasts a clean, crisp video picture with as many as twice the number of scan lines (meaning a more complete, film-like pictures - film does not have any lines at all when projected in a theatre). Likewise, DVD audio provides up to six discrete channels of sound. What's that mean? In a nutshell, if your home theatre setup includes a Dolby Digital decoder and you're watching a DVD that has a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, all five speakers work independently. With VHS tapes, the rear speakers both operate on the same channel. Watch a movie like "Starship Troopers" on DVD and you'll never go back to boring VHS.

Because DVDs store information digitally (analogous to compact discs, but with a lot more storage space) rather than on physical tape media, they can hold more goodies for the consumer. Discs often come with deleted scenes, audio commentaries by directors or actors that run over the full-length regular soundtrack, music videos, even computer games. "Pleasantville" contains the film's screenplay and storyboards for viewing on a computer; "Dark City" has an interactive "Shell Beach" game derived from one of the movie's plot points. And most importantly for cinephiles, fully 95% of DVDs contain a widescreen presentation of the movie, as opposed to the full frame or pan-and-scanned versions that land on VHS. Full-screen lovers don't need to fret, though, as most DVDs also include a "regular" TV-sized visual presentation.

Perhaps the best thing about DVD is that the rewind button has become a thing of the past; like a CD, you can skip around as you please on a DVD, forwards and back, watch it as many times as you want and never worry about it wearing out. Buying a DVD isn't required if you want a particular movie, either - Hollywood Video, a national video store chain, has a great selection of DVDs for rental at every location, while online rental store NetFlix will mail out any DVD requested, including a handy mailer to send the rental back postage-free.

Just this week, Dreamworks announced that the first "major" Steven Spielberg film to be released on DVD would be "Saving Private Ryan." Its release will be day and date with its VHS unveiling, but with any luck it will spark a mass VHS exodus towards the promised land of gorgeous video and pristine audio otherwise known as DVD.

09-15-99