Review: DVDs and Videos

[jack]

DVD:

No need to rewind
Easy skip ahead
Menus to view different options non-linearly
Subtitles
Small storage space

Video:

Built-in ability to skip stupid intros, piracy ads, menus, etc
Low hassle recording
Cheap
No stupid bonus features

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/vitriol_/]

These days, I suspect a new video player would cost a lot more than a DVD player - production volumes and cut-throat competition means you can pick up a new DVD player in Tesco for under £20. Second-hand, though, you must be able to get a video player for practically nothing.

Also, all the unskippable piracy warnings, copyright warnings, trailers and so on they throw on to make you wish you'd just downloaded a pirated version rather than actually paid for it can be avoided with the right software - some players (such as VLC on the PC) ignore the 'unskippable' flag so you can blow right through them.

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Small storage space
That depends on the bitrate... It can easily be more than a VHS tape can be (I have DVDs that are 4 or 5 hours long).

Built-in ability to skip stupid intros, piracy ads, menus, etc
DVDs do this too with an appropriate player (e.g. VLC)

Low hassle recording
But... there are DVD recorders that work in exactly the same way as VHS recorders AFAIK

Cheap
For blanks? DVD-R's are typically < 10p ea.

[simont]

Also...

DVD: does not gradually degrade in quality when left in the same room as a small magnet.

Video: tape position naturally stores information about where you'd got to, so it's easy to stop watching and resume some other day or even in someone else's player without losing your place.

[pizza.maircrosoft.com (from livejournal.com)]

VIDEO: does not stop working after you use it as a coffee mat
DVD: do not need to buy any extra junk to watch it