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Well, if your video clips are in divx/xvid/etc, you will have to convert them to h.264 (One of the playable codecs) in order for it to work.

Download this program, there is a 30 day free trial included. It allows you to batch encode your videos so you can run it all night. The resulting files, depending on your encoding level (I did the lowest, as its just for the little screen), will probably take less space than the originals. That's all you need.

you just don't want to use it.

This nice page visually compares the Koyaanisqatsi premium and MGM mass market DVDs. The artwork on the back of my MGM DVD showed 50+ scenes from the movie, all of which showed the unmatted 4:3 compositions I loved and remembered. The "widescreen" DVD butchered my favorite shots, and is actually thinner than fullscreen.

Koyaanisqatsi has some squished anamorphic stock footage of strip mine explosions. These scenes were left as is in the 4:3 original, then masked for DVD in complete disregard for the original source's intended aspect ratio.

I'm increasingly bothered by PBS "documentaries" cropping historic 4:3 newsreel footage to 16:9 and giving a blatantly false version of recorded history. If documentarians need to fill widescreen TVs, they should use smart stretch, not second guess professional photographers of the past.

There is a press release. Product only seems available to OEMs.

Yes, you can find tools that will handle dvr-ms files. For example, Cyberlink's Power Director will. If you search for "DVR" in this PDF file, you will find this statement: "Users who have used Windows XP Media Center Edition to record videos can now import files for editing in PowerDirector 3.". I know other tools can do it also.

From Microsoft: "This supplement is an update to Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 1. Users who want to play Media Center PC digital recording files (.dvr-ms) in any other Windows XP SP1 system should download this update. You must use a player that supports DirectShow® and have a Windows XP compatible DVD decoder installed. Windows Media Player® Series 9 is an example of a DirectShow player that can support .dvr-ms files with this download."

Here is a guide to ripping dvr-ms files to DVD compliant MPEG-2 files

I found these (except the XP update which I knew about) in a few minutes using Google.

Did you dig beyond the press release and look at the system requirements for this product?

Last time I checked, linux doesn't fall under any of these: Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows 98SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP.

The Linux player is for embedded systems - similar those alluded to in the interview. This press release specifically mentions Set-top boxes and other OEM solutions. Once again, these are not products that a consumer can buy and run on their home linux system.

And PowerDVD for linux goes back to 2001 at least

I wouldnt expect Valenti to know about it, as I wouldnt expect any 84 year old man to give a rats ass about "whats happenin' wit linux".

It is possible that the OSS zealot community would completely ignore a commercial product for linux. Especially one that so buttfucks the whole "there's no dvd player for linux so its ok for me to get divx off kazaa!" argument.

It's stuff like this that just brings out what I hate about the linux "community". It's all about greed and freebies and some ridiculous sense of entitlement.

Meanwhile, 6 or 7 articles before this one, was there not an article about Turbolinux shipping with a licensed DVD player, and WMP licenses?

Yeah, you are awesome!

Here's a press relase from JUNE 12, 2001

There has been a legal route to playing DVDs under linux for years. It involves paying money, so its non-Free, so the "community" (handful of loudmouth zealots hellbent on dooming linux) chooses to ignore it.

But the fact is, it exists, and has for a while now.

Having played a lot with video encoding in my spare time (which isn't hard to do when you've been unemployed for seven months), I will bestow on you some tips on the world of encoded video, so that you won't have to go through as much teeth gnashing, hair pulling, and head slapping that I have. :) (Note: I work primarily on a Win32 machine, so if you want to do this on another platform, just kindly ignore all the words below. :P)

The most likely problem you are facing is that you don't have the right codecs installed to play the files you want. As someone mentioned before, Nimo is your best friend in this case, as it's a file pack that contains a multitude of codecs and filters to play almost everything under the sun.

But say you install Nimo, and things still don't work. What then? Well, assuming you still don't have the right codec, then it's time to meet your other new best friend, AVIcodec. Don't let the name fool you. This little program will identify the codec you need for AVI's, MPEG's, WMV's, ASF's, and probably a few others I'm forgetting. I also hear good things about GSPot, but AVIcodec works too well for me to change. :)

Now, say you run into a file that uses MPEG2 for video or has an AC3 audio stream. Well, you won't find any codecs for those on the web, because the Motion Picture Experts Group likes to rake in those licensing fees. (Well, you MAY find a codec or two out there, but keep in mind if you download them and don't have to pay a fee, it's almost certainly illegal.) What you then need to do is to install a software DVD player like PowerDVD or WinDVD, and that'll straighten things out for you.

Now let's say you're SURE you have the right codecs installed, and the video STILL won't play. Well, that just blows, because your file is probably damaged, or in the case of an AVI, it's incomplete. If you've got an AVI, run over and grab AVIPreview, which is a nice program that'll let you preview incomplete AVI's (see? "AVIPreview"? :P). If it plays in there, and you don't feel like downloading a complete version of the file (which you sometimes can't find when you're using P2P services), AVIPreview will let you save the file with a complete container so most media players won't complain.

Now... (*takes a breath*), if it isn't an AVI, then the likelyhood you'll be able to fix the problem goes down considerably. Free ASF and WMV editing programs are few and far between (and we all know who owns those file formats), and almost all MPEG issues will continue to niggle you unless you do a full-blown re-encode of the file. You can definitely try downloading VCDGear and checking the "Fix MPEG Errors" checkbox, but this almost NEVER works (i.e., times it worked for me: none).

And keep in mind these are the EASY solutions. If you're actually interested in using video editing/encoding programs, then take a visit to Doom9 or DVDRhelp.com. The forums and guides on these sites are a boon to the video encoding enthusiast, and the forum regulars tend to be pretty friendly, too. :)

Best of luck and well wishes...

CyberLink has a product that transcodes DV to MPEG in realtime. I think it's done by removing the switch from YUV to RGB to YUV colorspace, which is the real bugger. Then again I could be wrong.

Dave

That ruling was applied to contributory copyright law though, not the DMCA. The DMCA has a different test.

Are you now saying that the DMCA has nothing to do with copyright law? :)

The test was what things can and cannot be held responsible for potential copyright violations. According to that test things like DeCSS are perfectly fine.

> Making DeCSS illegal is like making VCRs illegal.
Perhaps so, but that doesn't mean Congress can't do it.

They can pass a law making smiles illegal if they like, that doesn't mean the law is valid. When congress passes laws that violate supreme court rulings those laws tend to get struck down.

And even if a law against VCR's did hold up that wouldn't make it a good idea. I think most people agree oulawing VCR's is a bad idea - except the idiots who tried to do exactly that. And those very idiots now make more money on videos than they do on theaters. Yep, videotape killed hollywood alright. Just like the internet is going to kill hollywood.

I don't see the Supreme Court overturning a case like DeCSS. And neither did 2600, which is why they didn't appeal.

2600 didn't do anything Professor Felton hasn't done. Have you seen his DeCSS gallery? The RIAA beat a hasty retreat in the Felton case because they would have been smacked down hard, possibly striking down the DMCA in the process. 2600 didn't proceed because expert oppinion was that the negative perception of the defendant would hurt their chances of taking down the DMCA. They certainly DO want to proceed, just with a different defendant.

The DMCA does not outlaw legitimate use.

Please enlighten me, how do you make those legitimate uses without breaking the law?

My friends' DVD players doesn't play hard drive files.

It took me mere seconds to google a software DVD player that will play from the hard drive. "PowerDVD XP can also preview and playback DVD video file sets from Hard Disk Drives."

So I'd have to buy a multi layer DVD burner for tens of thousands of dollars.

It took me mere seconds to google a DVD burner for $225. That's hardly more than CD burners go for.

So instead I use DeCSS, and then I can watch the movie on my computer.

Like I said, you could have done it without DeCSS.

Encryption prevents viewing.

Nope, because...

Any player that can play the original does so after decrypting...

exactly the same way it will decrypt and play any COPY.
CSS encryption does not prevent copying.
CSS encryption does not prevent you from viewing copies.

It may or may not be deceptive to call it "copyprotection or copyright protection." That's semantics.

It is a flat out lie.

It's fine if you came into this believing what they presented as the truth, but I really hope this post has explained why it is completely false.

designed primarily for circumvention

As I think I've shown, that circumvention has nothing to do with copyright violation. You can violate copyright without DeCSS. About the only thing outlawing DeCSS does is outlaw the legitimate uses.

But now we've gotten into pure opinion really, so we might as well agree to disagree.

Yeah. It's tempting to discuss the meanings of fair use points 1,3, and 4, but these posts are already too long :)

-

...on why, perhaps, folks get slashdotted:

-rw-rw-r-- 1 jdf jdf 57197 Dec 17 10:12 original.html
-rw-rw-r-- 1 jdf jdf 10425 Dec 17 10:28 text.html

Yes, that's 47 kilobytes of javacript, headers, footers, CSS, and associated crap for about 10K of real info. Sure, there's also pictures and such, but this is basically 4x the original in overhead alone. Anyhow, here's the text from the site:

Pick a toy--any toy--for holiday gift-giving.

By Joan Lynch, Maura Butler, and Matt Miller -- EDN, 12/12/2002

Holy spokes, Bikeman!
Attach Hokey Spokes to your bike, and you'll have not only the coolest ride in the hood, but also the safest. Inventor and MIT graduate Dave Hoch wanted to take the terror out of night bike riding and designed the transparent "blades" to wirelessly communicate patterns or words with each other. You can put up to six blades on each wheel; a computer on each strip controls 16 LEDs in a variety of colors. Each blade costs $29.95 at www.hokeyspokes.com. Illumination Design Works, 1-617-924-4014.

Keyboard portability on a roll
Road warriors who prefer a full-sized keyboard with their laptops or PDAs will appreciate the Manhattan True-Touch Keyboard. When you're on the move, you can roll up the flexible, plastic unit and tuck it away. The keyboard features a QWERTY design and 104 raised keys that provide goodand quiettactile feedback, but using them will take some practice. Choose from PS/2 or USB connectivity. Units are dustproof and moistureproof and offer a lifetime of 15,000,000 keystrokes. Keyboards are available for around $27 from ThinkGeek, www.thinkgeek.com.

The "PC" PC
In an environmentally friendly move, NEC designed its PowerMate eco PC with 100% recyclable plastic and a 15-in. LCD flat-panel screen that contains no boron. The motherboard is made with lead-free solder, and the computer has no fan, which reduces the amount of dust dispersion for users with respiratory problems. The eco contains a 900-MHz Crusoe processor and a 20-Gbyte hard drive. And of course, it's Energy Star-compliant. The eco starts at $1599. NEC Corp, 1-800-338-9549, www.nec.com.

Free space
Combining a DVD player with a hard-disk-based PVR (personal video recorder), the Scenium Digital Media Recorder (DRS7000N) could be just the thing for overcrowded home-entertainment centers. The $599 unit features progressive-scan output for the clearest pictures and plays a variety of discs, including MP3 CDs and DVD+Rs/RWs. The PVR section handles the usual trick features, such as pausing live shows, and offers more than 30 hours of recording on its 40-Gbyte disk. Best of all, unlike PVRs such as TiVo, there's no fee for the EPG (electronic-program-guide) service. RCA/Thomson, 1-317-587-3000, www.rca.com.

The power of pictures
CyberLink's PowerProducer lets you produce your home movies and photos on DVD or CD for sharing with friends and family. If you're completely inexperienced, a step-by-step wizard-style program eases the way. It takes just three steps to import photo or video files from video-capture devices; you can then add special effects; adjust color; and trim, merge, and split video. The "QuickBurn" feature captures video from DV camcorders directly into DVDs in one click. Prices begin at $49.95. CyberLink USA, www.gocyberlink.com.

Mouse exterminator
Rid your desktop of mice with the iGesture Pad. The touchpad, which is just a bit smaller than a mouse pad, lets you use finger gestures to complete the same operations you would with a mouse. The $179 pad recognizes hundreds of hand gestures, including those that let you point, click, drag, and scroll. Twist your hand to open a file; spread your fingers to zoom. The USB-connected device is thin and small enough to travel and accepts commands from the right or left hand. Hmmm, wonder how it handles gestures you might make when your computer isn't behaving the way you'd like it to? FingerWorks, www.fingerworks.com.

Carry all
The multifunction Duex is an MP3/WMA player, voice recorder, and data-storage device in one portable package. Take off the bottom of the device to find a USB plug for attaching to the appropriate port on a computer. You can drag and drop music, image, video, and data files from the PC to the Duex and vice versa. The device features 128 Mbytes of memory for two hours of MP3 playback, four hours of WMA playback, and eight hours of voice playback; a backlit LCD shows song information in numerous languages. One AAA battery gives you more than 12 hours of music play. With a headphone/neckstrap, USB cable, software CD, manual, and one battery, the Duex mp302 costs $179. Innogear,
www.innogear.com.

Click it, stow it
The ultrasleek Pocket Digital is a handy, stylish way to capture favorite moments. The credit-card-sized digital camera captures and stores 52 high-resolution images at 1.3 megapixels. The lithium-polymer battery endures for hundreds of pictures and recharges through the USB connection. Image downloading is a snap. $129.95. Logitech, www.logitech.com.

The end of e-mail angst?
Neo (Nelson Email Organizer) might be just the ticket for reducing the stress associated with your daily barrage of e-mail. This add-on for Microsoft Outlook lets you work alongside or outside Outlook. Neo automatically sorts and prioritizes messages into intuitive folders. Searches are quick, and complicated filters are not necessary. The program deals with spam and bulk mailings and manages groups of messages by the type of attachments they contain (for example, all Excel files or Word documents together). Neo costs $39.95 for one copy; site licenses are also available. Caelo Software Inc, 1-250-354-5580, www.caelo.com.

Power protection
As more and more electronic equipment finds its way into more and more households, UPS devices could become commodity items for the average home owner. Six UPS models from Energizer will help protect home offices, home theaters, and PCs from power surges, spikes, brownouts, and outages. They automatically save open files, safely power down systems, and protect hardware when threatening power irregularities arise. Features include visual and audio warning indicators and USB connectivity. Prices range from $59.99 to $279.99. Eveready Battery Co, www.energizerups.com.

Surreptitious snapper
Fitting into the palm of your hand, the Mini Pen Cam 1.3 offers a still-image resolution of 1248960 pixels. Using its 16 Mbytes of flash memory, the device can store as many as 50 full-resolution pictures or 160 snapshots snapped at VGA resolution (640480). The $79.99 gadget also gives you the ability to shoot AVI-format movies, although their quality tops out at 624480 pixels and a choppy 10 frames/sec. In addition, the device, which runs on two AAA batteries, connects to a PC via USB to function as a Webcam. Aiptek, 1-949-585-9600, www.aiptek.com.

In touch, on the go
BlackBerry now lets you make and receive phone calls. The palm-sized BlackBerry 5810 wireless handheld device operates on GSM/GPRS networks to allow communication via wireless e-mail, SMS (short messaging service), or integrated GSM phone services, including call waiting, call answering, conference calling, and call forwarding. It comes with an earpiece and microphone for hands-free operation. You can even click on a telephone number inside an email message to place a call. The $499 device incorporates Java 2 Micro Edition. Research in Motion, www.blackberry.net.

Dude, you're gettin' a PDA
Like the PC before it, the PocketPC platform continues to attract more and more manufacturers. PC powerhouse Dell recently joined the fray with an aggressively priced model called the Axim X5. The device features a 3.5-in. transflective TFT with 240320-pixel resolution, as well as both CompactFlash and Secure Digital expansion slots. Two variants are available. The $299 model has a 400-MHz XScale processor, 64 Mbytes of SDRAM, and 48 Mbytes of flash ROM. A $199 configuration steps down to a 300-MHz processor and 32 Mbytes of each type of memory. Dell Computer, 1-800-999-3355, www.dell.com.

Risk averse
If you carry your office in a pocket-sized device, you're asking for trouble. What if you leave it on a plane or in a cab? The iPAQ h5450 tries to reduce the danger with integrated biometric security. A thermal fingerprint reader means only you can access your priceless data, and you can even add a layer of safety by combining the fingerprint sensor with a password. The $699 pocket-sized PC also includes a 400-MHz XScale processor, built-in IEEE 802.11b and Bluetooth capabilities, and an SDIO (Secure Digital Input Output) expansion slot. Hewlett-Packard, 1-650-857-1501, www.hp.com.

Bragging rights
The Zaurus SL-5600 gives the gadget geek ample reason to crow. It not only features a cool physical design with a hideaway keyboard, but also runs a version of Linux. The PDA boasts a 400-MHz Intel XScale processor, CompactFlash and Secure Digital expansion slots, 64 Mbytes of flash, 32 Mbytes of SDRAM, and a juicy 1700-mAhr battery. The device is slated to appear early next year, and pricing hasn't been announced yet, but its predecessor, the SL-5500, currently goes for $375. Sharp Electronics, 1-201-529-8200, www.sharpelectronics.com.

Stop graffiti
Thumb-pecked keyboards have become so popular on handheld devices that even Palm, the originator of the Graffiti handwriting-input system, now offers them. The $549 Tungsten W, slated for the first quarter of next year, features a tri-band GSM/GPRS radio and supports phone calls (via a headset), Web browsing, e-mail, and messaging. Powered by a 33-MHz Motorola Dragon-ball VZ processor, the PDA includes a Secure Digital expansion slot, Bluetooth, and a 320320-pixel color display. Palm, 1-408-503-7000, www.palm.com.

I use one of my machines like a VCR, as it has a TV Tuner board in it and Cyberlink's PowerVCR. From anywhere, anytime, I can VNC in, and hit the TitanTV website, click on a show name, and it'll set to record...

BUT, my clock has to be perfect if I don't want to pad my recordings (i.e. to record two shows in succession)

My video box is running Win2k and I turned on the NTP service, as described by this PDF. Now as long as the TV station is running at the right time.... :-)

I have with MPEG-2. A friend had a Hi-8 camcorder tape of him playing with his dogs (when they were still alive - the dogs, not my friend) that he wanted to transfer to a digital format.

I had just recently purchased and installed an AIW Radeon 8500DV on my machine running Win2K and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to check it out.

I captured at 720x480 at around 30fps (IIRC) in MPEG-2 format. I used Cyberlink's PowerDirector Pro software (free with my DVD burner) rather than the crappy Ulead software that ATI packages with the card and it turned out great.

I then used that data file to burn a SVCD (Super Video CD) in MPEG-1 (480x480) format and a standard video DVD in MPEG-2 (720x480) format, both of which turned out with much better quality than I would have ever expected.

If there were any dropped frames, they were not visible to my untrained eye. My friend and his wife were both very happy with the quality of the video.

I have also transferred video from my JVC DV Camcorder with the included Firewire ports, and it's just as easy to use.

Again, I recommend using the Cyberlink software over the Ulead software that comes with the card, but then when was the last time that the SE (special edition) softare that came packed with hardware was any good anyways?

Or, you see binary-only packages for user-land DVD support.

Once you have a Time-Warner-AOL sized consumer presence, the barrier for DVD licensees like CyberLink to port Linux/X versions.

Of course, these would be for RedHat/AOL versions - so Debian/Slack/etc users would have to compile equivalent kernel facilities and alien-ate the binary package.

I suppose AOL/TW might be able to add some kind of key-signed binary facility, to ensure that only their distro could support some packages. I do not doubt the ingenuity of next-years CS students in defeating any such measure!

The link is [gocyberlink.com] Haven't tried it yet though

PowerDVD exists for linux.

It works. It's faster than anything else I've tried, including PowerDVD under Windows (which, in turn, is as fast as I've seen for that platform). The interface is clean, and everything works as expected.

Hopefully, some day, Cyberlink will get around to actually releasing it so that I can pay them some money. Until then, I'm happily using the copy that I war^H^H^H found somewhere...

No official player on any platform will perform a screenshot.

I found a commercial DVD player for Linux called PowerDVD. Unfortunatly they say it's only for embedded systems. I wonder why that is? And wouldn't this mean that they are using DeCSS??

Cyberlink, the company that brought you powerdvd, is going for the linux market, too.

Cyberlink

Their efforts seem not to be as vaporous as those of Intervideo. There's not just an ugly press release, but they seem to be looking for real customers.

Here's the bad part: It seems to be for internet appliance developers only. :-(

I wonder, could one buy such a beast, rip it apart, plug the software into a regular linux pc, and still be on the legal side of those murky waters that are called The Law?

Marcus

Maybe it is not possible to satisfy the terms of the CSS licensing agreement on Linux. For example you have to use Macrovision copy-protection schemes on all TV-output, stuff like that. If you cannot prohibit this (and you certainly cant on an OpenSource system), you wont get a CSS license. I guess that is also the reason why another Linux DVD player, PowerDVD is currently only available as OEM version.

CyberLink have also announced a Linux version of their DVD player.

There is no details about when it will be released or even if it has been completed. Only a few lines where they ask for developers to contact them for more information.

- Tiersten

Maybe SOME day we will have a commercial product.

CyberLink, makers of PowerDVD have a product called PowerVCR -- however I don't think this has the TV guide and record-what-you-might-like features of TiVo.

CyberLink, makers of PowerDVD have a product called PowerVCR -- however I don't think this has the TV guide and record-what-you-might-like features of TiVo.

CyberLink, makers of PowerDVD have a product called PowerVCR -- however I don't think this has the TV guide and record-what-you-might-like features of TiVo.

• http://www.videolan.org/
• And PowerDVD, a famous DVD player for Windows, announced a DVD player for Linux so, being closed (as I imagine), I guess it'll be able to play encrypted DVDs.