DVD Movies

The Features of DVD Movies

DVD movies have bought the fun back in watching movies over and over again. They offer a wealth of features that VHS has no chance of competing against. Menus, games, easy scrolling, extras, sound options, languages, the options are endless. So what can DVD's give you?

Video

We are not just talking about actually seeing a film. If shot from multiple angles you can switch between the angles and view the action from anywhere with the push of a button. You can zoom in and out of the picture, stop any frame and see a clear picture, not a blurred still with fuzzy edges. You can choose between chapters gliding easily between them or fast forward and back in an instant.

Audio

When set up correctly a DVD system can produce 5.1 Dolby surround sound, giving you total audio immersion. Don't have a surround speaker system? No worries, just switch audio channels to 2.1 or stereo configuration. Oh and by the way you can choose between audio languages too so learn languages or listen in your native tongue.

Menus

Navigation is a snap because you now not only have the nondescript few buttons to control the video. You have well labeled intuitive menus where any option is just a few steps away, but most probably you also have the DVD player's menu which will happily enable you to choose any option at will.

Extras

Did you enjoy the film? Why not watch it again as the director comments on it? Or listen to the actors having a laugh for the full length and taking you in in the process. You can also look into some extra features, behind the scenes, music videos, productions stills and whatever the DVD authors could think of.

Games

Did you know that there are even some basic games on some DVD's? Test your knowledge of the film, have your children play a cute game for little ones or just laugh at the questions or tasks at hand. Many cartoons like Shrek, Nemo have games located on the DVD discs.

The Technology

The technology enabling all this content is pretty amazing. Essentially what matters is the data that can be crammed on to a disc. Up to 17 Gb can be written on to a double sided DVD and this facilitates all the audio and video needs you could have. Upcoming HD-DVD's will have 45 Gb of data which will be suitable for HDTV as well. A small laser is used to read data off the discs and the smaller the wavelegth of the laser the smaller data packs it can read. The smaller the data packs the more of them fit on a disc. DVD's use 650 nm red laser to scan the data while HD-DVD uses a 405 nm blue one, that's how the leap in capacity is made.