You are correct! I'm quite happy and confident that the DVDs I produce from DVDA2 are of enough spec for them to read on a DVD. I now have 4 separate DVD p[layer options to "check" out validity .. and yes, Bob, throw in the DVD anyway . . . ! . .I like this from the Customer Support standpoint. Oh yes, Bob, there once was a time when videographers who would "add-on" the cost of a DVD just to bump up the revenue! And kinda make it appear "special"? . .Ho, how times change, eh?

. .and no Bob - "So will your clients but who needs them?" . . not my attitude .. oh no! My customers are my Bosses! Everytime! Well miostly, anyway .. HAHA!

Grazie

I'm also having to work hard to wean people off VHS - a recent job where they had a choice, 26 chose VHS, and 3 ordered DVDs - and these were teachers and therapists - easily able to afford a DVD player, but haven't got round to it yet ....

... and I still charge extra to produce a DVD version Grazie! - not a huge amount, but having edited the video program, I often spend at least a day, sometimes more, designing the interface and menu structure for the DVD, so that's worth something.

Dixon's may just be testing the water.

Currys, the sister company of Dixons, will continue to sell the machines for the time being and John Lewis has no plans to phase them out.

Grazie

About nine months ago in Australia, if I remember correctly, Phillips announced they were ceasing production of VCR's.

Australia, has usually been an early adopter of emerging technologies, and in my locality, purchases of DVD players is running pretty high.

We have a chain store in Australia called Harvey Norman (Farss and Peter Wright will know of them), which are similar to Dixons in the UK. Our local Harvey Norman store recently approached me to run some Digital workshops featuring DVD recorders and digital camera's, which I will be doing shortly.

The spin off for me is that my company Silicon Forge, will provide a training service to their customers on using this equipment, as well as offering my Video Tape to DVD conversion service.

Long may it continue!

Brian

Dick Smith is selling a useable DVD player at $80 so there's no excuse for people not to buy one. I don't spend any time on the DVDs I 'throw in' if they're not paying more for it, it's just a playable version of the VHS.
The transition here has been very swift, one of my clients whose in the video game himself told me last year only about 10% of his sales were for DVD dubs, this year it's the other way around.
I still love my Super VHS machine though and I just bought another 2 reel to reel decks.
Bob.

I suppose this IS a relevant thread .. it is all about keping-up and what Vegas needs to be able to EASILY and QUICKLY do the jobs during this "transitionary" period. I guess this period will accelerate as time passses with the rate of change increasing too!

Grazie

Peter, that's interesting. I charge people more to produce VHS copies. When they ask why, I explain that VHS is an inferior medium and that it's going the way of 8-track; that takes me 2 hours to make a 2-hour tape, whereas I can make a 2-hour DVD in a fraction of the time. Also, one 2-hour tape cost about 10 times more than one DVD disc. When I explain that they can buy a fairly decent DVD player for under $50 (these are usually people who think DVD players still cost $450), they are, more often than not, eager to make the switch.

Jay

Interestingly heated thread here in Google groups:

TiVo to block ad-skipping. Buy a VHS _now_!

Seems the big fear is that coprorate media producers will use the new digital technologies to control and charge more for your viewing experiences, or at least force you to watch what they want you to see. Several of the posters there are claiming to be snapping up VHS machines while they can still get them so they can retain their viewing freedom.

Analog is dead. Long live analog? (Grazie will no doubt catch the reference.) ;)

Kelly, the real problem here, as I see it, is that the government has no business telling anyone what they can and can't watch.

Jay

"Analog is dead. Long live analog?" .. oh yes Jay . . I'l Sine up to that Curved Ball ;)

Grazie

On the other hand, this is a free market society. Television producers are not in the business of providing you entertainment. They're in the business of making money, which they do through selling advertising. The programming on television is merely what entices you to watch the advertisements. If the majority of viewers were known to time-shift and skip over ads, the advertisers woudln't have any incentive to advertise on TV. Without the advertising revenue the television producers wouldn't be able to fund their businesses and broadcast TV as we know it will disappear.

There's no such thing as free television. We pay for it by watching ads, we pay for it directly (pay-per-view), or we don't get it. The debate is whether this is something that needs federal regulation or not. I don't believe it does. We consumers should be responsible enough to assure we get what we want, and pay for it appropriately.

Er .. no Adverts on the BBC . . . I've been lead to believe the BBC gets its core funding from our annual TV licence .. . and the quality of the BBC output .. . er best in the World?!? . . Oh, yeah forgot about the radio networks and regional and World Wide coverage . . neat eh? And that's only from a small lil' ole island of 56 million people .. who are too quaint to be another other than a tourist platform .. Phhoarrghh . . .. I wonder what you could do with 500 million Americans people's financial input? . .. Sorry, was forgetting - you've got the Mother of ALL Free Enterprise . . silly me . . when does Free Enterprise become a monopolistic state economy. Anyway "free Enterprise" for whom .. or is that who?

. hmm... discuss . . .

Grazie

.. now where did I put my copies of Adam Smith and Keynes? . ..

Kelly, I don't disagree, but the real question is: "Do we want the government to police what we watch and don't watch in the privacy of our homes?" Is this what goverment is for? No one is under any obligation to watch commercials!

Which is more important, a free market society where people are forced to watch commercials or a free society where people have the freedom to choose what they watch?

Jay

Cesear Augustus had a similar problem . . G

Yes, Grazie, so did Hitler and Stalin! That's what frightens me!!!

Jay

The BBC has a difficult market when it is mandatory to pay towards it if you have an RF can that even emits the right intermediate frequency on your premises. However the selection available from the BBC (TV or radio) is rarely anything less than pleasing. Continuity counts in the enjoyment of TV, and breaking for an advert can only really be of use to those pedaling their wares and those with weak bladders. ;)

I do enjoy the BBC and would like to continue to time-shift record their D1 quality programs onto 4:2:2 SVHS, however band-limited this might be. I don't really need DVB-T but will put up with it as a non-broadcast quality target medium that broadcasters are moving to. If it helps reduce mytax/ rates so the government can sell the channel space best suited to uncompressed video, then so be it.

I also find the BBC quite impartial and if anything tending to work against the controlling interests of the government in power. Irrespective of the published leanings of news agencies. The comedy channels rip the politicians to shreds as is appropriate. I don't think people that want to be politicians should be allowed to be them. I think it should be forced upon people, like jury service. No pay, just forced !

I can't wait to get rid of DVD and whatever comes along shortly after (BlueRay, HD-DVD etc). I'm looking forward to buying uncompressed video with digital watermarking. However that manifests itself. I am convinced that OTA and bought/rented media will go to this again some day. Unless we end up back with film and gramaphones when we ruin our ability to economically generate electrical power.....

Jay, and what choices will you have to watch when commercially funded television is gone? Yes, there will be some, but certainly not the huge variety we have now. I'm not saying i like commercials, but i do understand that they are a price we pay to get the big choice of entertainment we do have.

I'm not necessarily typical. Yet when there were 3 or 4 OTA channels, I regularly found highly watchable programmes on more than one station co-inciding in their timing. I appreciate that my expectations with circa 100 channels in this new decade may be set higher than they were when I was limited to 3 or 4.

However, I'm not watching TV anywhere near as much as I did way back when. Perhaps being an active father and being stuck in front of a tube during my work hours gives me enough of a fix. "There is no TV like the TV you make for yourself" etc

If someone told me to up my list of 100 channels to 200, it would mean nothing more to me than even more pages of programme guide that I need to whittle my way through.

I'm quality before quantity. However I am impressed by the few TV channels and programmes that catch my eye and captivate me. However many of these are time-shifted onto SVHS and are on the BBC channels that I receive as part of my TV licence. I'm mostly annoyed that the rest of the world doesn't have to pay to see this stuff but many good programmes are joint-ventures between the BBC and either US/CA or AU based broadcasters of similar worth (but paid for by advertising in their North American instances).

I do hope that vcr's will die (at least the home variety). I do mend the darn things and the usual complaint it that it's started to knacker the tapes. Well if you have your wedding vid on it and it starts to chew up - tough!
Most folk don't have their vids checked on a regular basis, only when it don't work anymore. There too mechanical and mechanical things mess up.
I do all my video work on dvd - it's digital all the way to leaving the player - that must be good for something!

Mel.

Kelly, so are you saying that it is the governments place to mandate that I watch commercials?

Jay

. .just to butt in here - BUT, we do have many commmercial channels too! C4 is an excellent almost BBC type channel and runs newly commissioned work and tends to be quite avante garde in its approach - AND there is much "seaping" thru from the BBC to C4 and the other way too .. just wanted to pop that in too! ..

.. right .. off you go again . ..

Grazie

There are no commercials on HBO etc. commercially funded television channels.

Commercial subscription funding will live long after the government "TV licenses" have disappeared.

BBC does make some good stuff and other countries are paying lots of money for that content. Without that money, can you imagine how much your UK "licence" would cost?