As DVDs become an increasingly popular means of distributing work, people on both sides of the production equation—agencies and production companies—sometimes experience frustration with DVDs that "won’t play."
Understanding the issues and technology will help everyone unlock this revolutionary format and march boldly into the future. To start with, DVDs are an emerging technology. Conventions and standards are still developing. To give you a sense of the chaos behind the scenes, consider that DVDs come in the following flavors: DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-R/W, DVD+R/W, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-Authoring, single side, double side, 1x, 2x, 4x and a host of other specifications.
As someone who just wants to screen a DVD (an end-user), this shouldn’t be your problem. (If, on the other hand, you are distributing your work on a DVD, it is your problem—but more on that later.) If all you want to do is play DVDs, the simplest, cheapest and most reliable solution is to buy a set-top DVD player. This is the same type of thing you’d buy for your home. Prices range from $40 to $250. Truly, the cheap ones play just about as well as the expensive ones. The difference is usually in the features (like combo DVD/VCRs, different types of signal output, etc). The magic price point for a full-featured DVD player is about $99.
One feature many makers advertise is progressive scan. If you are hooking your DVD player to an HDTV monitor, you definitely want it. If you’re not, progressive scan doesn’t make a bit of difference.
My advice: Take two or three DVDs that "won’t play" (don’t work in your computer) and visit a nearby electronics store. Test them in a couple of DVD players. Buy the cheapest one that plays the offending discs. Many computers, even relatively new ones, won’t play many of the DVD formats. The problem occurs on Macs, Windows and Linux—every kind of machine. In fact, you can damage your computer’s DVD drive by inserting a disc for which it is not prepared.
In some cases, you can fix the problem by updating your software or firmware. But be warned: while updating your operating system or programs will not, in itself, harm your computer, updates can cause conflicts with other programs you might be using. The easy alternative is to buy an inexpensive DVD player. If you are still interested in updating your systems, however, bear in mind two things: 1) If you work at a company with a network administrator or IT person, let them do the updating—don’t take it upon yourself, and 2) If you are performing your own updates, make sure you back up your key files before beginning.
If you want to distribute your work on DVD, there is no avoiding the technical issues. Vastly simplified (in this case, because I have a four-cylinder mind), DVDs fall into two camps: burned media and embedded media.
Embedded media is usually called DVD-ROM. In order to produce a DVD-ROM, you need to first produce a "glass master." That can cost up to $2000 a pop. Then you use that master to create clones that have the information embedded in the media. This is the format that commercially distributed movies utilize. The advantage is obvious: it will play everywhere. The disadvantage is just as obvious: DVDs hold the promise of controlling your product from your computer. Paying $2000 per master blows that right out of the water.
"Burned media" is the kind of DVD you can make on your own computer. This includes DVD-R, DVD+R, etc. The "experts" say that this type of media will play on 70 to 80 percent of computers. Burned media will also play on 90 to 95 percent of set-tops. And compatibility is getting better everyday, so this issue is likely to go away within 12 to 18 months.
DVD-ROM doesn’t really address the main points of the "DVD revolution." The reason DVDs are cool is because you can customize your disc at whim and create a high-quality product with simple, inexpensive tools. If it is going to cost me $2000 to master a disc, well, forget the revolution. I might as well just send a 3/4" videocassette.
Lots of software exists for making DVD-Rs, and many computers now have burners built in. In combination with a DVCAM player and Final Cut Pro or Avid Express, you can have a full-featured system for $5000, which is equal to or better than stuff that used to cost over $50,000. Now that’s a revolution!
DVDs are here to stay. They offer many advantages in cost, functionality and quality over cassette formats. Here in the advertising world, we like to be on the cutting edge, so you can expect a few lacerations as we help define the new world order. But, hey, do you really want to go back to piles of tapes?
