Chapter 1

140 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About DVD
For projects requiring fewer than 50 copies, it can be cheaper to use
recordable discs (see “What About Recordable DVD: DVD-R, DVD-RAM,
DVD-RW, DVD�RW, and DVD�R?” in Chapter 4). Automated machines
can feed recordable blanks into a recorder, and even print labels on each
disc. This is called duplication, as distinguished from replication.
How Much Does It Cost to Produce a DVD? Isn’t It More
Expensive than Videotape, Laserdisc, and CD-ROM?
Videotape, laserdisc, and CD-ROM can’t be compared to DVD in a straightforward
manner. There are basically three stages of costs: production, premastering
(authoring, encoding, and formatting), and mastering/replication.
DVD video production costs are not much higher than for VHS and similar
video formats unless the extra features of DVD such as multiple sound
tracks, camera angles, seamless branching, and so on are employed.
Authoring and pre-mastering costs are proportionately the most expensive
part of DVD. Video and audio must be encoded, menus and control
information have to be authored and encoded, it all has to be multiplexed
into a single data stream, and finally encoded in low level format. Typical
charges for compression are $50/min for video, $20/min for audio, $6/min
for subtitles, plus formatting and testing at about $30/min. A ballpark cost
for producing a Hollywood-quality two-hour DVD movie with motion
menus, multiple audio tracks, subtitles, trailers, and a few info screens is
about $20,000. Alternatively, many facilities charge for time, at rates of
around $300/hour. A simple two-hour DVD-Video title with menus and various
video clips can cost as low as $2,000. If you want to do it yourself,
authoring and encoding systems can be purchased at prices from $50 to
over $2 million. See “How Do I Copy my Home Videos/Movies/Slides to
DVD?” for more on low-cost DVD creation.
Videotapes don’t really have a mastering cost, and they run about $2.40
for replication. CDs cost about $1,000 to master and $0.50 to replicate.
Laserdiscs cost about $3,000 to master and about $8 to replicate. As of
2003, DVDs cost about $1000 to master and about $0.70 to replicate.
Double-sided or dual-layer discs cost about $0.30 more to replicate, since
all that’s required is stamping data on the second substrate (and using
transparent glue for dual layers). Double-sided, dual-layer discs (DVD-18s)
are more difficult and more expensive (see “When Did Double-sided, Duallayer
Discs (DVD-18) Become Available?” in Chapter 3, “DVD Technical
Details”).