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Linux DVD Players Reviewed

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-want-my-dvd dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "Linux Journal have posted a review of DVD players on their site. Interesting review, that covers most of the main players, although there are a few minor errors." I've settled on Xine since it does most of the divx, wmv, and mpegs I want to see. If it just did Sorenson QT, it'd be perfect.

8 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. Whats the point? by glrotate · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why not just get an el cheapo dvd standalone unit for your TV. You get a remote and probably a bigger picture. Why would anyone watch DVDs on their computer, Gnu/Linux or Windows?

    1. Re:Whats the point? by itsnotme · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe because some of us are college students and we do not have a TV in our room because our room is tiny , but we do have a computer and a decent computer monitor so we would like to use the computer to watch DVDs when we have a break in our sucky schedule!

    2. Re:Whats the point? by October_30th · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I travel extensively and spend long periods of time abroad often in rather "rustic" apartments with no TVs or DVD standalone units.

      All work and no play, however, makes Jack a dull boy so I often take my favourite DVDs (sometimes I rent more recent films) with me and watch them on my laptop.

      It isn't an IMAX experience but it sure is better than nothing.

      --
      The owls are not what they seem
    3. Re:Whats the point? by sillyputty · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Incorrect. Except for the size, DVD-based movies look better on a monitor in every way. Assuming I am watching alone, I would prefer a 21" monitor to a 29" TV every time, and so would you if you had seen it. If you have company, then size is maybe more important. Your statement is ridiculous either way. Movies are made for the big screen, not TV.

      sillyputty
  2. A crack in the wall by destinyland · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I agree that the MPAA, DeCSS, the DMCA, and technology journalism all suck. But the real problem remains that the old media dinosaurs are entrenched. Like today's big Lawrence Lessig article in Business Week, argues, Congress is in the pocket of the big Hollywood studios.

    How does this tie back to Linux DVD players? Well, it's a minor miracle when there's any publicity for anything that even remotely challenges the status quo. It's one more crack in the wall....

    ---
    Destiny-land.
    The happiest blog on earth.

  3. Re:Hmmm...this is Linux World by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I don't care if you have a loaded Starfire running Solaris 8. You hook it to an ISDN line and it wouldn't be a reflection of the performance of the hardware.

  4. Re:Television Looks Like Shit, Hi-Res Monitors Don by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Since DVDs are made using the TV resolution, when you watch them on a monitor, the DVD player software has to resize the image to make it look right. This makes it fuzzy. There's no way around it.

    You're absolutely 100% dead wrong.

  5. regarding mplayer by blonde+rser · · Score: 3, Insightful

    have u tried turning using_dma on with hdparm on /dev/cdrom? Common mistake and fixed everything up with me... also are u using cvs or some version... cvs mplayer is very stable and tends to fix these bugs