In this age of high-tech gadgets and consumers with money to buy them, is it any surprise to find out that DVD player sales are nearing the three million-unit mark? Would it be any more of a surprise to find that this rate is growing so fast, that another two million units will likely be sold before the end of the year? Would you be mystified to learn that over 30 million DVD discs have been purchased in just two years? These numbers certainly won't surprise anyone who has had the pleasure of watching a DVD movie in all of its glory, but DVD's rapid acceptance is still a bit mind-boggling.
CDs certainly did not have this warm of a reception, and even VHS did not take off in such a manner. Maybe it is the fact that we are so comfortable now with digital media that DVD is just another step on the same road we've been travelling. Yet with the low side of the price tag in the $200-$300 range, a good deal of thought must be put into this technology before a purchase is made. PC or set top? Dolby Digital or stereo sound? Component, composite or s-video?
Movies on a PC DVD player you say? That's crazy! Who would want to watch movies on a 17" monitor? It is easy to forget that not all PC DVD players are run off of a video card, and it's even easier to forget that TV-Out connector on your video card that you've never used. Really it all comes down to what it is you want out of your DVD purchase, and Sharky Extreme is here to help sort out the mess.
The major decision that has to be made is whether or not to have an external or a PC solution, but there are many factors that will influence this decision. The first of these is, of course, your intended usage.
The most obvious use of a DVD player/drive is watching DVD movies - but why invest in a DVD player when you already have a VCR and a good collection of movies? The answer is simple: quality. DVD video image quality is stored at 500 lines of vertical resolution, and most players are capable of outputting this, while a VHS tape is, at best, 400 lines and the image quality degrades the more you watch it. Even more enticing is the audio quality. With the capability (with some extra cost) of throwing out six discrete audio channels, you can hear planes fly by and footsteps creep up behind you. Of course all this comes at a cost, but we'll get to that later.
Possibly more surprising than the number of DVD players out on the market is the number of DVD movies. With over 3,500 different titles and a release schedule that has about 15 movies coming out every week, there is certainly no shortage of your favorites. Even old movies are getting makeovers. With re-mastered sound tracks and all kinds of bonus material on the DVD, it's no doubt that VHS will soon be a thing of the past. Most DVDs have director commentary as well as deleted cut scenes, actor commentary, actor bios, and many more bonus items that make a good case for buying some kind of DVD solution.