I'm not sure what I'd use it for and I can't see anyone downloading their player just to play files I've created using this format. I can see the need for menus to navigate DVD's and other disks but not when distributing files electronically. If they can convince every media player developer to add their file format then maybe it might catch on. Isn't there already a thread about this?

to repeat from previous and another thread:

none starter on locked-down systems. if it's a portable player that could be put on say a usb along with media, it could be very interesting.... i've just emailed them for more details regarding the player. if it is an install then i don't think there's any hope for it.

[I]" if it is an install then i don't think there's any hope for it."[/I]

If it's a locked down system then it shouldn't have a DVD player, a CD player or a USB port on it so there's little hope of the system playing anything with a menu anyway.

Bob.

hi bob,

well perhaps not quite locked down ;-0

they have dvd player, usb port, but can't install software.

Maybe they should have worked out some deal with content providers so that the infrastructure to support their new format was in place at the time of its release?

As I wrote in the other thread, the last thing I'd want are layers of menus getting in the way of content I buy or rent. For me the main advantage of electronic media is that it plays instantly unlike DVD rentals that came with ads for forthcoming attractions and other stuff as well as copyright warnings that went on for ages and couldn't be skipped in many cases. Even where this wasn't the case wading through menus wasn't my favourite pastime.

Unless Roku, Western Digital and others incorporate PGMX playback into their media player boxes, I don't see it really achieving critical mass.

... "unlike DVD rentals that came with ads for forthcoming attractions and other stuff as well as copyright warnings that went on for ages and couldn't be skipped in many cases."

Not just DVD rentals, but many purchased retail DVDs and Blu-Rays are crammed with the same rubbish. Soooooo annoying.

A lot of people may not know that when a commercial DVD plays, you can almost always hit stop twice on the remote and then play and the movie will play. The industry standard is to have the feature as the first file on the disk and hitting play after stopping will play the first file. They also do not lock out the stop button even during the copyright notice.

I've installed the player and made a few quick "DVDs", it works well. I agree with others regarding the nuisance menus of many DVDs, but I still like the idea of menu-driven access to movies. My current projects usually are educational, and have 15-30 short movies grouped into an overarching category. On a traditional DVD, we further group them via submenus into subcategories, so a user can rapidly drill through them and view the desired movie. (Also, jumping from menu to menu is much quicker with this virtual DVD than a real one.)

I don't find this functionality in streaming (which IMHO is however nicely suited to watch a feature length movie, for instance, or a TV show). For instance, Netflix doesn't generally offer the special features that might be included on a disc. And can you get director's tracks, etc? I've not seen them, and they even seem to be excluded on the Netflix physical DVDs I've rented.

In streaming services like YouTube you can set up channels, playlists or queues but I still think DVD menus can work better, at least for what I'm doing. I'm unsure of the viability of this particular system, but at minimum I appreciate what they're doing.

There are occassions for streaming content and then again there is need for organized delivery as might be found in DVD and Blu-ray menu guidance. Generally I find the process of organizing content into menu driven content for customers is the best way to deliver info.
There are two major benefits 1) to the author, you produce a better organized product 2) for the consumer, they get the choice of guidance, time management, and drill down to the content specifics that interest them the most.

As far as commercial DVD and Blu-ray releases - most are moving forward with menu designs where you have a fastplay feature enabled meaning you are not hobbled by time constraints in plowing thru content you don't care for. This is the most accepted style of modern authoring.
AND what is really great for the one-off burned disc market is that authoring tools like SCS DVDAPro allow you to author even more streamlined fastplay options than you will see on many commercial discs.

Hence in summation I favor menu driven over streaming and the best of both worlds is readily available to the independent producer of content in small production runs.