DVDs

[xane]

Smegging hell, it has happened again !

My unleashing of the "what Red Dwarf character are you" happy fun link on this community reminded me that I must get round to purchasing a Red Dwarf series at some point.

Red Dwarf Series One DVD is out ... on 4 November !

Having got into the DVD scene late in life - we got a PS2 last October - I now constantly look up DVDs I'd like and consistantly find they are TBA, its getting epidemically depressing now.

I waited a while for H2G2 (got it eventually last month), I am still waiting for some Disney classics (Sword in the Stone), and the Beeb are dragging their heels over putting notable Dr Who stories on DVD - managed to get Remembrance of the Daleks the other day, but still nothing significant, the original film isn't out until August now !

I suspect what is keeping them is the ability to put "special features" on a DVD, whereas plebs like me just want to watch to smegging film. not ponce around with the "extras".

I know there are a few DVD nerds in this forum, so any advice would be appreciated.

And anyone who has used Region-X on the PS2, please comment, I already have the IR Remote for it so it'll be nice to know if that works with Region-X as well.

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Extras are swish, gotta be something to justify the costs

 

[Munkey-]

region x is meant to work. cant comment myself as I cant get it out here which is a shame as I wouldnt mind getting a few dvd's (enemy at the gates, gladiator, traffic etc.)

 

[xane]

Extras are nothing, its merely something to pad out the extra space, and usually pointless, I mean has anyone actually watched Galaxy Quest in Thermian ?

I'd bet that manufacture of a DVD is far less than a Video, yet on average sells for around £5 more, and for old stuff like Dr Who its a simple case of burning from the original video, no fancy enhancements needed, so why they don't rush to get them out I'll never understand.

For example, I've been seeing adverts for the Star Trek Enterprise first episode on video for ages, in fact I've seen one for the next in the series, but I've yet to see the DVD version appear, even for Region 1.

 

[djpringle]

DVD manufacture must cost pennies compared to video (where's Ono when you need him, to give us an accurate cost breakdown) since I've been getting a very healthy supply of Chinese region free discs from Saigon. Best case in point was series 4 of the X-Files, went into the local Woolies a couple of days a go and saw it on the shelf for £80, ok it's in a fancy box set blah blah but I picked it up for £7 in the Russsian market. Obviously the cost to manufacture the disc is going to be almost the same so what thye fuck is going on.....

 

[WPKenny]

Producing a DVD is far more expensive than making a VHS release.

VHS just needs to be recorded onto tape and bunged out into the shops.

For DVD, regardless of extras, they need to make up a menu system. Then they need to get the master pressed and test in on standard DVD players. This costs thousands of extra pounds.

I don't think actually manufacturing the DVD's is any cheaper either.

A good place for info is to head over to www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk .

Very friendly bunch over there most of the time. And they (used to) carry banner adverts for BW.

 

[xane]

The "thousands of extra pounds" you talk of gets recouped in about 0.01 seconds when it goes on sale, especially considering the DVD is more expensive than the VHS.

You'd have thought that recent releases would already have a DVD available, its likely the original recording is digital anyway so transfer to DVD would be instant, why no Star Trek Enterprise on DVD for example ?

 

[WPKenny]

I thought it was only Georgey boy who was doing all digital filming right now?

 

[stu]

DVDs are actually cheaper by-unit to produce than VHS. This includes things like the menu and extras work. The budget for DVD extras is tiny - in fact Arnie has just become the first star to charge for a DVD extra - he wanted $75k for the commentary in Total Recall, iirc. Which prompted most of the film houses to just say 'well we'll just stop doing them then'.

However the majority are not simple "burns" from the VHS - if they were they'd look total shit. Most of the time the production team goes back to the original reel and takes a new print, or cleans and sharpens the best print if the original isn't available.

Tbh tho, I have no problem with paying more for a DVD - at the end of the day they look far better and sound far better than any VHS out there (S-VHS included). And they don't wear at all.

As for your Star Trek box set djpringle - what is going on is called "legality". The people producing the box have to pay for the license and copyright, which is by far the most expensive part of any film run (and any item of IP, really). The people pirating it don't.