Forum - View topicLegal digital copy vs. DVD.
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Labbes
 Posts: 890 |
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As an importer, I partly disagree, for several reasons. 1. No region limitation (although possible with DRM, I guess). This means it's not illegal to watch my digital files on my PC. It is illegal to do so with DVDs, because you have to break the encryption bla bla. Breaking the encryption also takes time (varies 10-30 seconds). 2. Less hardware/software problems. Admittedly, I am having quite a few problems with digital files as well (as a Linux user), but DVDs are really quiet and there are occasional crackles. I could probably solve these problems, which would take skill (which I haven't) or time using google, which I am to lazy to do. 3. No shipping costs. This would be great when importing, because I have to order huge packages so that the shipping cost isn't half my order price. This is under the assumption that I could buy, for instance, Baccano as a digital file, because it hasn't been licensed in Europe (yet). Which would be at least possible, yet unlikely. However, DVDs are collector's items, so I would buy Baccano (for instance) on DVD. But other shows I just want to watch, not keep on my shelf, like Ghost Hunt, would be perfect for DTO or DTW. It could also drive the price down, which is also partly a good thing. There will be no clearance sales, though, which is a bad thing. |
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Annf
Posts: 578 |
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You can also get multiple DVD drives set to different regions; no need to break the encryption or region settings that way. That's what I have. I'd imagine it's a hassle with a laptop, though. (I'm happy to see that virtually 100% of Japanese published anime Blu-ray discs are region free rather than region A.) Region limitations on download sale/rental tend to be at the point of sale (IP address or credit card country-of-issue) rather than the point of local playback.
Yeah, I'm a big fan of download sales for this reason; I live in the U.S. but all my entertainment comes from Japan. For misc reasons I don’t buy video via download sale very often, but I do buy download versions of ebooks, music, doujinshi, and games. |
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Labbes
Posts: 890 |
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I do have that on my PC, but it's the most fun to connect the laptop to my awesome sound system, so... well 
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Using PC software to overcome DVD encryption takes no time at all for me. If you configure the region-disabling software to run whenever your player does, it makes no difference when running an import. I'm not in a position to comment on how easy this is when using a television though. |
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krelyan
Posts: 173 Location: Utah |
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DVD resolution is either 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL). You should also keep an eye on bitrates as it also affects the video quality. Downloads and streams have much lower bitrates too keep file sizes down, but depending on the compression algorithms used and the size of your viewing screen, the difference can be minuscule. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Fair use has absolutely nothing to do with DVDs. Its purpose allows people to use copyright content by others so long as the intent is to distribute. So, you can copy a snippet from a DVD and use it in an article, but you can't rip the entire thing.
Standard DVDs have a resolution of 720x480, and HD can vary, depending if the resolution is 720 or 1080. Usually, it's 720. However, I should interject with a bit of misinformation, because this is only relevant based on the equipment in use. For example, my television upconverts automatically, regardless of input size. But my laptop upconverts for output as well. The "raw" signal of a stream, I'm sure, would be horrid on a large screen TV without these conversions. You may want to check your TV/PC for specs on what it can convert, if at all. Most HDTVs today come with upconverts for those who don't want to sell a kidney for a Blu-ray player. |
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Kyon27
 Posts: 95 Location: Lake Stevens, WA |
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The term "upconvert" is misleading. Your tv does not take a 480i image and magically turn it into a 720 or 1080 image. All it is doing is scaling the image to fit the screen size. On a smaller tv (32" and below), a 480 picture and a 720/1080 picture won't look too different. I have a 46" 1080p set, and the difference between 480i/p and 1080p is very noticeable. In this case especially, where you are comparing the digital copy (640X352 =225280 total pixels) to a dvd copy (720X480=345600 total pixels) the dvd copy has 53% more pixels in the frame. I would think that on any tv, this would be somewhat noticeable, and on a large tv, it would be very noticeable. Add to that the fact that the dvd has both dubs, special features, and is cheaper (i noticed the link to Right Stuf is currently sold out, but Buy.com has it for $31.99 here: http://www.buy.com/prod/ghost-in-the-shell-1st-season-box-set/q/loc/322/208814715.html), obviously the hard copy is the way to go. |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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If your equipment is decent it will not just be scaling the image but also interpolating which makes a marked difference.
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Kyon27
Posts: 95 Location: Lake Stevens, WA |
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Surely true, but the main point I was trying to make is that the higher quality your original source is, the better the final picture will be. |
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retty
 Posts: 118 Location: Cheshire, UK |
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DVDs for me. I want the option of being able to pick which audio and sub tracks to watch, and I want a physical copy that won't get lost when something bad happens to my computer. Even if you can burn digital copies to DVD, you don't get the same professional finish of an actual DVD. Plus you can't sell your digital files on ebay.
However I would really like it if, once you couldn't buy the DVD in the shops any more, you had the option to download it. Although I'm not sure if this only occurs when things lose their license, or when the company stops thinking that particular DVD is profitable. |
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