Ok, it's been about a year of living with DVD.. and I am now more than convinced DVDs suck. Why?

1) Protection schemes- Too many and changed too often cause many problems with too many players. Ruins alot of DVDs and slows them down too. Sometimes when you run into problems with a favorite movie, it makes you long for old VHS!

2) Crappy bonuses- What's the use of bonuses if the subtitles are all wrong (just check out Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon, I like the idea of two stories on one DVD, but what movie was the subtitler watching?), the commentary sucks (Who wants to hear about their bar adventures after the scene was done), or the making of is nothing more than a 10 minute movie trailer. Most bonuses are nothing more than clips from the movie with 10 seconds of original material. Why oh why can't they spend a day making the DVD? Plus does anybody look at the picture slideshow?

3) Menus suck! I mean, to get to the root and through the menus...most DVD's require you to watch some 30 second film clip or wacky graphics display. Wasn't DVD supposed to be quicker than VHS? I can Fast forward a VHS tape and begin watching the movie before my DVD player even gets past ROOT and the FBI warning! Why can't I just put it in and play the movie in a reasonable 10 seconds?

4) Fake advancement- What happened to Pan and Scan, Viewing Angles, etc.. I think I saw a movie once that had all these in one movie, too bad it was just a porno. I also overheard a worker at blockbuster today say, "Yeah, she asked about non-Letterbox, I thought that all DVDs were just Letterbox"

5) Emerging technology- A Dvd player bought a year ago will have a hard time with a DVD made to work with the newer DVD players with different technology. Instead of making your DVD player a scrap heap..they should just wait and come out with a new DVD format eventually and players for that, instead of calling them all DVD. It looks like DVD movies will be eventually like PC games, where you'll have to try a demo first to see if it works before purchasing.

6) Too many greedy companies- They should only be allowed to release a movie once. Instead, they re-release these movies over and over so they can be in the new release section. Fanatic DVD collectors are quick to grab any new release, even if the change is very minor or none at all! It's sad to see the same movie released and rereleased over and over just to grab a quick buck.

Well, I wanted to give 10 reasons, but ran out at 6. It's obvious that a new technology will replace DVD in a few years and anyone loading up on DVDs should be ready to replace them. I'm not sure of what is better, VHS or DVD when you put all the above into the equation.

Overall, I like the promise of DVD, but feel way shortchanged and even belittled by the products Hollywood is releasing. To say DVD is awesome, is something I just can't do. Not until they realize the promised made back in 1999. There sqaundering a good thing for a quick buck in my opinon. And you the consumer are being cheated.

Ok... don't watch movies @ home anymore! I for one, love them!

This guy sounds hacked off becuase his BetaMax is collecting dust in his closet.

Actually, No I never bought BetaMax. Because I am an intelligent consumer who likes to educate himself before wasting money on crappy hardware.

All I am trying to do is get your opinion on if you think DVDs are great or if you feel like I do, that Hollywood is giving you a cheap and inferior product just for a quick buck. Trey said he loved them, so I got 1 vote for them being good. I mean, argue my points or something instead of just flaming me!! But I guess you can't cuz I'm right. Just name a real MULTI-ANGLE dvd, a DVD with great bonus features or something....JEEZ! Is that so hard? I think it is!

Also I am actually saying that I feel DVD is the year 2000 Betamax. With Nuon DVD technology giving some older players problems, their seems to be no set DVD standard at all. That's a huge mistake!

That means DVD is nothing more than a term like MOVIE nowadays. When you say, I am gonna rent a DVD, your just not sure what your getting or even if it will play on your DVD player. When this starts happening (give it a year), I am sure I won't be the only one bitching. Sure, you can buy a new DVD player every year to make sure it keeps working with the newer DVDs, but that is just soooo wrong! I feel that turns DVD Movies into the same problem faced by PC games....new hardware required just to run them. Plus what will they do, offer free DEMO movies to see if they work on your player every year?

So how about some real arguments against what I say and less personal attacks on me.....

The Abyss

Great Bonus Features:

Gladiator
Magnolia
SuperMan

I enjoy commentary, so there's a boatload of great title to please me!

BTW... Beta was NOT inferior.. it really was superior in picture quality to VHS... Just marketed incorrectly!

I have to agree on some points with Mr. Schuler.

But, I choose to take a deep, slow breath when I can't skip the FBI warnings, or if the DVD has not great special features, or if the Pause between layers is a little longer than I'd like, etc.

Or maybe I'm just spoiled, having my Sony 360 never burping on anything I put into it.

1) Protection schemes - I agree with everyone having to buy their own original copy. The problem lies in so any companies are involved, so it is difficult to get a consensus on the copy protection. I feel a good copy protection, let's say, a 3 copy limit, would be good - if it worked on all players. But, again, too many companies involved.

2) I have to disagree with you, sir, on the crappy bonuses part. When I go to buy a car and it doesn't have the power door locks, the air conditioning and the automatic transmission, I can choose not to buy it. But, if they throw it in for the same price, I just might buy it. Having great extra features on a disc is a marketing tool right now. I love the great add-ons, but am mostly happy if it is a good movie, with a good picture, and good sound!!!

3) I agree that some menus are almost impossible to see, or are overly long to get to. But, really, is an extra couple of minutes saved overall worth the difference in picture and sound?

4) I'm not so sure it was fake. The DVD format designers included all of those things to be used if a company wanted to. Obviously, many don't use them, because they feel they can make just as much money without it. Or, some of those "features" just aren't that good of an idea. But, the porn industry is happy they through angles in there, so someone was happy about that!

5) Emerging technology - yes, I agree it is a pain. But it's not going to stop anytime soon. I'd like to upgrade to WindowsXP, but I've basically got to go out and buy a new computer to run it. Again, too many companies involved.

6) Yep! Lots of greedy companies. But you don't have to buy any first release DVDs, let alone the second or third ones. If you expect they may release one later, wait a while.

When I bought my car, I waited a whole year to get the next year's model so it wouldn't have those stupid automatic motorized seat belts, where you have to manually put the lap belt part on anyway. The dealership said that the cars were slated to do away with them for 1994. Well, they were wrong. Should I sue? I didn't have to buy the car.

7) I beat'cha!!! ;-) There are many things in this world that bug the heck out of us, but there's not a whole lot we can do about it, except not buy it. When I walk into my corner video store, their VHS section is still 10 times as large as their DVD section. So, I'm sure you can find all of the VHS tapes you need until the DVD thing gets sorted out.

8) I'm ticked off at these plastic milk bottles we have, where you have to peel off a plastic ring, and then you can open the lid. But, now you have to go throw the plastic ring in the gargabe.

9) I hate it when I stub my toe.

10) I hate doing laundry.

Well, I'm pretty pleased that I made it all the way to 10!!! ;-)

I agree/disagree with you, Mr. Schuler!!!

... Greg

P.S. Where is the new editing feature when I need it. I know there is going to be a mistake in this post!!!

Larry and Trey,
Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't seen those on DVD...so their on my list. I heard about the Abyss's multiangle before..sounds cool.. can't wait to see a multiangle while someone isn't moaning. For some strange reason, Blockbuster never has it (cuz of multiangle I am sure, I HOPE HOLLYWOOD SEES THAT)

Greg,
Thanks for the input. I didn't want to come off as bitchy...But if the DVD manufacturers design the rocket car..please no...we all will have to sit through a 4 minute infomericial before the damn thing even moves!! Progress is meant to go forward..not back in my opinion and DVD is great..but a missed opportunity. You'd think in this day and age, you could just hit a button and watch a damn movie. I know sound and visuals are a great improvement, but comeon!

As far as your comments.. I agree with most. Except the upgrading part. It would be like microsoft calling Windows 95,98,Me, and XP all just WINDOWS. So, you'd order a pc with WINDOWS. Wouldn't have a clue as to what your actually getting until you run it. Only then would you find out your favorite game won't work because it was XP and not ME that you were hopeing for.

If early DVD manufacturers made players incompatable with emerging Nuon technology or protection schemes, the companies should recall, instead of letting the consumer take the hit. Either that, or the DVD should say DVD Ver 2 or something instead of acting like it is compatable with everything out there wich it won't be. It's a sad day when your son pops in his newly anticipated DVD only to find out it won't play. It's going to happen. And within a year, expect tech support for DVD players to maintain a list of movies that won't work with their players. Brand name models will probably work (might need new firmware), but generic ones allready have listings of movies that won't work due to new protection schemes.

As far as all this... to be honest, other than my PC DVD drive, I have been smart and haven't purchased. I am just amazed nobody else is pissed about standalone DVD players not being able to play certain DVD's. I knew it's just a limited number so far, but they are out there. I just wish I could buy a Nuon DVD player without fear that it too will be obsolete and have the can't play a new DVD bug in the not so distant future because of new protection or added features....

Any more comments from people?

The big point is movie studios are listening.

1) Dolby Digital 5.1 -- the majority of releases are in at least 5.1 sound, often requiring a whole new track. DTS is becomming more common. Movies that don't bother providing a new soundtrack -- even a 4.0 with just the ProLogic done "right" -- won't get my money unless I LOVE the movie.

2) Plenty of feature packed discs -- I'm noticing a heck of a lot more bonus-ridden DVDs (useful bonuses too). Many companies still advertise "animated menus" and "scene selection" as bonuses, but just look at all the 2-disc sets out there now. Look at Disney.

3) Anamorphic video. About the last 25 DVDs I've bought have been anamorphic. Everyone's on the high-quality bandwagon.

4) Cheap prices. Especially at Costco in Canada. I just hope that whole "rental pricing" scheme doesn't do well.

But things I hate:

1) Weird packaging. If they can fit 2 discs into the space of one, why all these 2-disc boxes? What's with all the custom packaging? (T2, Close Encounters as a start, but I've seen movies in CANS!)

2) FBI warnings. Sure, put them on screen, but LET ME SKIP THEM. Columbia Tristar does this fine. Disney started with forced warnings and forced trailers, but at least they now let you skip them. Paramount still forces you to skip them.

3) Long animated menus (as the original poster). Sure, make them fancy, but make them SHORT too.

4) Bad layer changes. C'mon guys, test out where you put these things.


As for copy protection, I've never had a problem. Want to make a dub? Buy one of the Sima "removers" out there (they work great).

My Sony DVP-S500D, which is second generation, has never had a problem with any of the common "troublesome" discs. I tried watching Close Encounters last night and came upon about two minutes where the player had a heck of a time reading anything -- sound cut out, blocky video, eventually black screen as there was nothing to form a picture from. I thought the worst -- finally, a disc it can't handle -- but it turns out there was some big sticky gob on the disc from manufacturing. But the player actually got through this without locking up or stopping, and picked up on the other side of the gob without skipping any further than the bad part!

Hey, you know what REALLY sucks? Published books.

1) Sometimes people write stuff that doesn't interest me at all, ya know?

2) Sometimes they fail to put a useable index in, when that technology has been around for like, YEARS, man.

3) When you spend the money for the deluxe hard cover versions, and they put those paper dust covers on them, and they RIP before you know it - what's up with that?

4) I can't tell you how many books I've seen that had typographical errors in them. Okay, these were tough to catch in the past but computer spell checkers are hardly new any more.

5) Half the books I buy lately seem to have the first chapter of the author's NEXT book tacked on at the end. This is forced advertising using paper and ink that *I* am paying for!

6) Publishers can't get it straight on what direction to print the information on the book's spine. Some go up the left side, some go down the right side, and some just go across in short lines across the spine!

7) Some books ain't go no pitchers.

8) Tom Clancy doesn't know when to stop.

Dolby 5.1 makes DVDs far better than VHS. No question about that. Don't guess anyone will argue that point with me, and it's a big one.
Ever get a wrinkle on a "valuable" tape in your collection? That video dropout will be a part of your collection for ever. By the way, though I never had one, that betamax in your closet had a considerably better picture than the VHS format. The movie industry figured that a second generation copy of a VHS tape would be so bad, it couldn't be used to master illegal recordings, I think.
Though the 'software authoring' problems can be a real nuisance for my customers, I solve that problem by selling them a Marantz DVD player which gives them a 3 year warranty on video products and they cover software upgrades under warranty (a somewhat acceptable solution -- better than what other manufacturers will tell you -- "Buy a newer player").
Daniel is correct about how easy it is to defeat the copy protection, but HEY YOU DEADBEATS, BUY THE MOVIE IF YOU WANT IT, THEY'RE UNDER $20 and they're practically indestructable.
Really, my only big gripe about DVDs is that they should all default to Dolby Digital if they are encoded for it and they should all default to no subtitles. Living in an area where most of my customers are retired people who are not real audiophiles or tech savvy, but want a nice home theater, we strongly reccomend that they get an RC5000 or Pronto to control the system (for our benefit as much as theirs). We are very careful about equipment having discreet codes and so forth to make operation as simple and straight foreward as possible, but if I get one more call saying, "How come my back speakers don't play when I watch Air Force One?" or "How come these subtitles come on automatically and I have to turn them off" or (worse) "I keep hitting the play button, but it won't go off that Title/Menu screen" I'm gonna have to get the customer by the throat and ... Excuse me -- I digress. But, seriously, I have many customers who don't even get DSP modes on their Pronto because they always pick the wrong one (if they even know what they did) amd wonder why it sounds bad. Try watching Gladiator in 'stadium' mode on a Yamaha. I set the DSP modes as part of the home page macro for them. DVD gets dolby, SAT gets prologic and music sources get 5-channel ("How come my rear speakers aren't on when I listen to music? What did I buy 5 speakers if they aren't always on?" -- Sound familiar?)
All in all: Quit your griping. DVD smokes VHS. Except you can't record on them for less than $9000 and blanks cost $50 and you have to be an enginner with a hot rod computer to do it. But that is Hollywood's fault. In 2-4 years DVD recorders will be under $300 and blanks will be $.50 like CD-R. They just need to figure out how to make them make crappy VHS quality digital recordings that aren't worth using as a master.

bschuler,

I rented The Abyss from Blockbuster. It's a two-disc set, BTW, with most of the special featuers on it's own disc. Netflix rents both discs and both are currently showing "Available Now".

I see s a lot of complaints about the lack of titles that use the angle feature but I really wonder what people expect? The movies weren't made with multiple angles so the content isn't typically available. Do we expect directors to start shooting multiple angles just for the DVD release? Sports discs are the obvious target for this feature as well as the special feature peices such as the Fx peice in The Abyss in which they used angles.

Steve,
I'm checking out the Marantz players this weekend. I'm glad to see one manufacturer stand behind what they sell, and willing to take blame if newer DVD's won't play on them. Of course, If they don't have a Nuon capatable Marantz, then I'm still waiting. But sounds like the right brand for me....or atleast a step in the right direction (Are upgraded firmware free?, etc.)

As for the others about copy protection- I'm not talking about making VHS copies... I'm talking about your player locking up, skipping, or blanking the screen due to new protection schemes your player can't handle. They are comming and allready effect some players, it's only a matter of time before they hit yours most likely. Just like cable companies switch decoders every few years requiring you to get a new decoder for pay channels, DVD players are switching technologies ever few months(wich will, as it stands, require you to get a new DVD player every few years).
I just can't see how sitting through an hour of movie only for the screen to blank out, or movie to stop playing as being an advancement.
Better sound and picture are great! But a movie you rent and that you can't play is much worse than VHS, even if the picture would of been 1000 times better had it been able to play. I mean, it's the equivelent of renting a VHS movie, only to find the tape to be a newer and improved BETAMAX size..and you can't watch it.

I dunno... this topic is about up for me, I got some good suggestions for movies that hightlight the good things about DVD... and a good suggestion for an upgradeable DVD player that might be able to play a DVD movie 3 years from now...All I wanted really.

I'm just proud that no one has gotten to 10 yet, like me! ;-)

I see where you're coming from with the Windows thing, Mr. Schuler! I'll have to agree!

First off, Beta was indeed better.

As for piture slide shows, watch the slide show from Se7en. As for extras, take the 2 weeks it takes to injest it all and grab a copy of T2:Ultimate Edition, or Toy Story:The Ultimate Toy Box. Personally, I can't see myself ever going back to VHS. Mainly cause I HATE pan and scam. Did you know that with a pan and scam'd 2.35:1 you lose 47% of the picture.