Apex dvd player

[LASERandDVDfan]

Why would anyone copy a dvd to a tape?

One benefit would be to have videotape copies of movies for the kids to play
with, so they won't destroy your DVDs.

But, I don't have that problem, or at least not yet. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

yeah well... If I purchase a copy of a DVD and choose to make a use

copy in order to archive the original that's my right.

Well, if I were to make a backup of a DVD, I'd do it with DVD-R, not VHS.

If the film and recording industry didn't really want us to make
copies they'd make the medium more durable.

How do you propose making the medium more durable?

I've not had that problem because I handle all of my discs with care. And, the
interesting part about being careful with your DVDs and CDs is that it's
actually easy! It's just a matter of developing good handling habits and
remembering to always put the disc back into its case when not in use.

But, I suppose that's too simple for anyone to follow, eh?

Instead their plan is to make it more fragile in the hopes that it'll
get damaged forcing the consumer to "of course" buy it again.

Oh, a conspiracy theory, eh? You'd better be careful before Jack Valenti
decides to make you the next Jimmy Hoffa. (sarcasm off)

Just another case of greedy bastards wanting to have their cake and
eat it too.

And I can guess that you don't take good care of your discs and also allow them
to be handled by idiots.

They spend almost no money on R&D towards building a scratch proof
CD/DVD.

Because how can you make such a disc?

Use a better plastic? Plastics can always be scratched, and there isn't really
anything more suitable for DVDs and CDs than polycarbonate.

Apply some sort of scratch resistant coating on the irridescent side? You can
end up actually altering the optical properties of the disc, rendering it
unplayable. The polycarbonate layer also acts as a lens of sort which works
with the objective lens on the pickup to focus the beam on the track path.
This is why these discs don't have a lexan coating as you've suggested as
applying such a coating alters the optical characteristics of the disc, which
can cause problems.

Yet throw oddles of money at encryption schemes and copy
guard technology to prevent the consumer from making copies.

In one way, all of these provisions makes it hell for the consumer to practice
his fair use rights. Then again, I can't really blame the studios as they are
just simply doing what they can to protect the profitability of their products.
They are businesses, after all. However, I do agree that they should stand
back and get a fresh look at the problem and find real solutions that won't
cripple the consumer.

But, that will never happen because every movie studio fears the possibility of
making a "Heaven's Gate" and would like to brace themselves for a finnancial
bath, just in case.

"Heaven's Gate" was a motion picture released in 1980. It cost over $40
million to produce, but it flopped big-time. The finnancial loss of the film
was so staggering that it pretty much killed United Artists, the studio that
commissioned the motion picture's production. Or, at least, forced
Transamerica, UA's corporate parent, to sell UA to MGM to recover its losses
and answer to its investors. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

That's the whole shebang. The drive tray contains the capstan/motor

and laser assembley as well as a small circuit board that contians the
bios chips and controller.

In other words, it's the entire disc drive.

With absolutely no modification they'll fit in a computer drive bay.

I wouldn't say that they would fit in a drive bay unless you shear off the
fastening points on all four sides of the drive housing.

(I
guess they're in essence a DVDrom drive.)

Actually, they are E-IDE/UDMA DVD-ROM drives.

And for 20 bucks you can have a DVD player for your computer.

Bwahahahahaha! And get stuck with a no-name DVD-ROM drive that's known to be
problematic within two years?

For my computer, I'd rather have a Pioneer DVD-ROM drive. Superior readability
and reliability.

However, I've got a JVC/Lite-On in my rig. Four years and it's still working
like new.

To answer your question tho'. I don't know what the price is on a
pickup.

If they sell entire drives for such a low price, then I'm willing to bet that
replacement pickups are not available.

There are many DVD players to where the optical pickup is not available for
replacement, but a complete traverse assembly is for a high price. - Reinhart

 

[Stan]

}>
}> }...Next time instead of buying a $39.95 DVD player at WalMart, try
}> }going up in price a little and stay with name brands like Panasonic,
}> }Toshiba, Sony, etc.
}>
}> But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision.
}>
}> Stan.
}And doesn't Apex use standard DVDROM drives? I have no first hand
}knowledge, but I'm sure I've read that. In which case, one can keep
}it running by buying a new drive, and keep the features of that low
}end Apex.

Yes, it does (been there, done that)...but you must use a DVD drive
that does _NOT_ require authentication.

Stan.

 

[Stan]

[email protected] (LASERandDVDfan) wrote:

}>But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision.
}>
}
}That's pointless unless you want to copy DVDs to video tapes.

Really? Suppose the only way to hook up the DVD player is
through the VCR inputs? Wouldn't it be nice to turn off the
macrovision?

Stan.

 

[Bill Renfro]

That's pointless unless you want to copy DVDs to video tapes. - Reinhart

Or use the composite inputs on your vcr to feed the only set of inputs on
your tv.

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Really? Suppose the only way to hook up the DVD player is

through the VCR inputs? Wouldn't it be nice to turn off the
macrovision?

Or purchase an RF modulator at the local Radio Shack. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Yes, it does (been there, done that)...but you must use a DVD drive

that does _NOT_ require authentication.

Fortunately, there are some high quality computer drives available that meet
this criteria.

I just tested a AD-500W that I've got with a stock Lite-On/JVC E-IDE DVD-ROM
drive. It worked perfectly, and better than the original DVS drive that was in
it before. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Or use the composite inputs on your vcr to feed the only set of inputs on

your tv.

Uh, MacroVision? - Reinhart

 

[Ken G.]

Back to the coment `` buy a better brand``

Well ..... did you know that the good brands are now starting to put
cheap insides into their cases ??? Just go out & buy a new Panasonic
vcr-dvd combo deck and take the top off . Pana is also starting to use
Samsung cook tubes in their microwaves that are all dropping dead .
I`m sure other brands are going to follow to compete with the price war


Toshiba was having problems with cheap capacitors in their dvd players

I get to work on all this brand new stuff where i work where they buy
large lots of store return `everything` so i get a first hand look into
these brand new products .
Its getting ridiculous

 

[James Sweet]

Oh, a conspiracy theory, eh? You'd better be careful before Jack Valenti
decides to make you the next Jimmy Hoffa. (sarcasm off)

Not so much a conspiracy, as with most manufactured goods, it's all about
cutting costs. If they can shave off a fraction of a penny per disc they
will, all discs are not created equally, I have some that are quite durable,
and others I worry will snap in two when removing them from their cases.

 

[James Sweet]

For my computer, I'd rather have a Pioneer DVD-ROM drive. Superior readability
and reliability.

However, I've got a JVC/Lite-On in my rig. Four years and it's still working
like new.

Contrary to what one might thing from the sound of it, Lite-On drives are
actually quite good, I have one and we have quite a few of them at work,
don't think I've seen one fail yet.

 

[gothika]

Why would anyone copy a dvd to a tape?

Let me clarify. some choose to copy to tape and accept the drop in
quality for whatever reason.(Some only have one dvd player in their
home, yet a vhs machine on every tv.)
In my earlier post I meant dupe. DVD to DVD or SVCD etc...
Yet you forget some have S-VHS machines as well.(I have a complete AV
studio having worked in the film and music industry for nearly 40
years.)
I sometines do dubs of DVD to S-VHS and there is really no visible
difference in image/sound quality when played through standard NTSC
sets. most still haven't made that expensive leap to plasma
screens/HDTV contrary to what's touted about.

 

[gothika]

Why are you railing about this? You asked who did not want to copy
DVDs to VHS and I answered simply. I didn't question whether you
might want to do this or raise any of the ethical issues.

I have no desire or reason to copy any DVDs.

Kal

It was a rhetorical reply. Which means it doesn't really need a
responce, especially a snippy little quip.
The number of those ripping their own DVD's vs not are far greater.
Why else the proponderance of ripping software coming out?

 

[gothika]

Me, for instance.

I've no use for VHS copies of DVDs because you can't get 5.1 surround sound or
the benefits of component video with excellent anamorphic enhancement on a VHS
copy of a DVD.

You can make an anamorphic VHS tape, but why settle for inferior quality? -
Reinhart

You're forgetting S-VHS. And for the matter of 5.1 most still don't
have it on their main system never mind the secondary system they'll
be viewing the dub copy on.

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Well ..... did you know that the good brands are now starting to put

cheap insides into their cases ??? Just go out & buy a new Panasonic
vcr-dvd combo deck and take the top off .

It is true that manufacturers are outsourcing their production on those crappy
DVD/VCR combo units.

However, for standalone DVD players, Panasonic, Sony, JVC, and Pioneer still
make their own DVD players.

Toshiba was having problems with cheap capacitors in their dvd players

For sound and LED display problems, capacitors 927, 928, and 929 on the
mainboard are prone to failure not because they are cheap. They fail because
they don't have a high enough voltage tolerance. The same brand and rating of
caps are used throughout the entire mainboard, yet those three caps are the
only ones that seem to fail.

However, Toshiba looks like they are outsourcing their DVD player production
from LG Electronics, which is why I don't recommend them anymore.

Sony, Panasonic, JVC, and Pioneer still makes their own DVD players. And, to
be clear, "CD/DVD-only" players. Not DVD/VCR combo units. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Not so much a conspiracy, as with most manufactured goods, it's all about

cutting costs. If they can shave off a fraction of a penny per disc they
will, all discs are not created equally, I have some that are quite durable,
and others I worry will snap in two when removing them from their cases.

True, but discs are suprisingly inexpensive to manufacture in the first place.
They do require precision manufacturing methods in a strict clean-room
environment, but the whole process is extremely simple and the replication
process is autonomous for the most part. All that's done to press a disc,
after the pressing molds are made from the glass mother and nickel daughters,
are:

1. Injection of molten polycarbonate into a press under high pressure.

2. Rapid chill of the pressing.

3. Application of the aluminum substrate on the top of the clear pressed disc
by "sputtering" vaporized aluminum.

4. Sealing of the aluminum substrate with a spin-coated layer of acrylic.

5. Printing of the disc label.

6. Packaging of the disc.

Of course, this is for single layer DVDs and CDs. The process gets a little
more complicated with dual sided and RSDL DVDs, but it's still inexpensive,
relatively simple, and much lower in production costs to VHS tapes. It's more
expensive to actually make the glass mother than to make the actual plastic
replications.

A finished DVD package is cheaper to make than a finished VHS package.
However, DVDs are priced higher in the retail chain because:

1. Perceived premium status of DVDs in the marketplace over video cassettes,
which increases their retail value over VHS tapes.

2. Extra materials (featurettes, multiple soundtracks, etc.) that may be
included in a typical DVD set which would not be included in a typical VHS
release.

The only time optical discs have costed more to manufacture than video tapes
was in the days of LaserDisc. But, this was because the LaserVision format
required extremely high levels of quality control to make properly working
LaserDiscs as LaserVision is inherently linear FM analogue with no error
corrections. DVDs and CDs are inherently digital and benefit from a block
sector pattern strategy of the physical track with constant redundant
Reed-solomon error correction in the datastream to account for any minor
manufacturing defects, as well as damage at the hands of the consumer.
However, QC requirments for DVDs and CDs are still high in order to ensure long
term integrity of the product when handled by the consumer in the recommended
fashion: "always treat a CD or a DVD like a phonograph record when handling."

As for discs that look like they would snap in two when taking them out, that's
the first time I've heard of that. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

You're forgetting S-VHS. And for the matter of 5.1 most still don't

have it on their main system never mind the secondary system they'll
be viewing the dub copy on.

You get higher luma resolution with S-VHS over regular VHS, but you still use a
chroma-under-luma encoding scheme for the color and all the warts inherent with
that. In short, you still lose out on quality.

Besides that, if a DVD is always handled like a record, you will not have
problems with damage. It's easy to handle DVDs like this, too. It suprises
me, amuses me, and frightens me why there are people that make such a big deal
out of having to do something that simple to ensure that their investment will
last. This simply shows me just how lazy and ignorant people can be.

As for 5.1, you'd be surprised just how many people have the capability to
reproduce that kind of audio. Anyone who's able to get a home-theatre-in-a-box
can enjoy 5.1 in Dolby Digital and DTS, and there are many systems that are
fairly decent which are very affordable that can give you this capability. -
Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Let me clarify. some choose to copy to tape and accept the drop in

quality for whatever reason.

Mainly because they are unaware of any differences or to safeguard their
investments from their children.

Yet you forget some have S-VHS machines as well.

Far fewer people have S-VHS and S-VHS ET than the capability to have 5.1
surround sound.

most still haven't made that expensive leap to plasma
screens/HDTV contrary to what's touted about.

HDTV, which there have been plasma, CRT direct view, CRT projection, LCD
projection, LCD direct view, and DLP projection devices made for that standard
as well as other developing technologies like LEP direct view.

As for acceptance, the FCC is pushing for the halt of NTSC broadcasts and
integration of full HDTV broadcasting. This is something that will happen in
the near future, so a purchase of an HDTV is advised if you are in need of a
new primary-use television. A set top converter should also become available
for those not yet able to purchase an HDTV set.

NTSC is going to be phased out and replaced with HDTV to catch up with Europe
and Asia (particularly Japan, as they have had a functioning HDTV broadcast
system [Hi-Vision] and an HDTV play-only video format [MUSE/Hi-Vision LD] for
years now), which was the whole intention in the first place. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Why else the proponderance of ripping software coming out?

Ripping a DVD to DivX;-) is still going to be higher quality than copying to
VHS or S-VHS. - Reinhart