Chapter 1

6 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About DVD
What Are the Disadvantages of DVD?
The downsides to DVDs are as follows:
• The vagueness of the DVD specification and the inadequate testing of
players and discs has resulted in incompatibilities. Some movie discs
don’t function fully (or don’t play at all) on some players. (See “Why
Doesn’t Disc X Work in Player Y?” in this chapter.)
• DVD recorders are more expensive than VCRs. (See “Can DVDs
Record from a VCR, TV, and So On?” and Chapter 4’s “What About
Recordable DVDs: DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD�RW, and
DVD�R?”)
• DVD has built-in copy protection and regional lockouts. (See “What
Are Regional Codes, Country Codes, or Zone Locks?” and “What Are
Copy Protection Issues?” in this chapter)
• DVD uses digital compression. Poorly compressed audio or video may
be blocky, fuzzy, harsh, or vague. (See “What’s the Quality of
DVD-Video?”)
• The audio downmix process for stereo or Dolby Surround may reduce
the dynamic range. (See “What Are the Audio Details?” in Chapter 3,
“DVD Technical Details.”)
• DVD doesn’t fully support high-definition TV (HDTV). (See “Does DVD
Support HDTV (DTV)? Will HDTV Make DVD Obsolete?” in Chapter 2.)
• Some DVD players and drives can’t read CD-Rs. (See “IS CD-R Compatible
with DVD?” in Chapter 2.)
• Some DVD players and drives can’t read recordable DVDs. (See “Is It
True There Are Compatibility Problems with Recordable DVD Formats?”
in Chapter 4.)
• Most DVD players and drives can’t read DVD-RAM discs. (See “DVD-
RAM” in Chapter 4.)
• Very few players can play in reverse at normal speed.
• Variations and options such as DVD-Audio, DVD-VR, and DTS audio
tracks are not supported by all players.
Which DVD Players and Drives Are Available?
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available
as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic.
Delivery was initially held up for “political” reasons, which meant