Category Archives: DVD

Aspect ratio limitations on DVD+R/RW

Posted on September 3, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Gregory writes: I wonder if you could answer a question that arose from your column “All-write recorder”, a review of the Philips DVDR77 DVD recorder, from The Canberra Times 16/8/2004.You wrote that “… DVD+R and +RW discs, at least when … Continue reading →

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DVD recordable prices continue to fall

Posted on August 18, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

The other day someone in the hi fi industry was telling me about concerns regarding the longevity of recordable DVDs. Some cheap brands, he said, are not properly UV finished so they can go off in a relatively short time … Continue reading →

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DVD Giveaway upgraded to the Great DVD Giveaway (hah!)

Posted on August 14, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Okay, I’ve done some sorting out. Here is a full list of DVDs I’m giving away. Again, none of these have the printed slicks, although all have properly printed labels on the discs themselves. All are stamped ‘Not For Sale’. … Continue reading →

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DVD Giveaway

Posted on August 11, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Some companies send me DVDs, and occasionally they send me duplicate copies. Or, from time to time I decide to get rid of some discs that I think I’m unlikely to ever watch. So, to reward some loyal readers, I … Continue reading →

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The problem with DVD+R

Posted on August 11, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Whenever I’m writing a short piece on consumer DVD recorders, I have to pick and choose what I will actually talk about. That means leaving out some of the things I consider are probably of less importance to the target … Continue reading →

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AnyDVD is a a very useful tool

Posted on May 19, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Elsewhere I have been pondering on how government rules produce interesting workarounds. I was using the software product AnyDVD from SlySoft Inc as my angle into this, and it occurs to me I ought to mention the product here as … Continue reading →

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Independence Day gets re-released, remastered in Australia

Posted on May 3, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

In the middle of last year I pointed out a major deficiency in the mastering of the Australian PAL version of Independence Day. Namely, for the bulk of the movie, most of the video frames are constituted by fields from … Continue reading →

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What a difference some restoration makes

Posted on April 20, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

If you’re going to buy the classic 1931 Frankenstein, or any other ancient movies for that matter, on DVD, choose carefully. The graphic at the right shows a detail of the same frame taken from the two versions available in … Continue reading →

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Weird Panasonic DVD recorder resolution

Posted on April 16, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve been doing a bunch of DVD recorder reviews lately and, just now, have noticed something decidedly odd about Panasonic DVD recorders. First you should understand that the native resolution for DVD Video is 720 pixels wide by 576 pixels … Continue reading →

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Dual Layer DVD recording about to arrive

Posted on April 1, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

I had a long lunch yesterday with Gordon Kerr, Sony Australia‘s Group Sales and Marketing Manager for Recording Media, Energy and Optical. The main focus was on the new dual layer DVD recording format, but our discussions turned out to … Continue reading →

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