Your DVD-ROM drive should read DVD-R and DVD+R just fine. And if for some crazy reason it can't, your burner/combo drive can. DVD's aren't just for video, ya know.
You don't have to flip flop formats. I'd reckon you'd find what works best for your equipment (DVD players) and go with that for future burns.
Commit to whatever technology works for you. I care not. A combo drive will offer both sides of the technology for you to try out and see what works.
Ok, so using your logic, why get any DVD burner at all? Just wait for the next "standard" that is in a single format, and go with that.
And DVD+/-R(W)'s aren't just for video, ya know. I use my DVD burner to backup my MP3's and my divxs, as well as my documents and graphics work (Photoshop loves making 500 megabyte+ PSD's when things get crazy.) -- This is when the "cheapest media" arguement works. I buy the cheaper format at the time, and use it to make backups like I just described. Sure it might not be saving that much money, but it's nice to have that flexibility.
Some DVD standalone players will play DVD+R just fine, while others will only play DVD-R. And further still, some won't play recorded DVD's at all. What's the problem with having a combo drive that can support both formats? You still haven't answered that question.
I'd be curious to know where you got the conclusion that 16X+ discs somehow last shorter periods of time than non-16X+ discs. Got an article or tech source to back that up?
Ok, you ask a question on Slashdot, and get an answer ("Just get a combo drive and you're set.") yet you don't like it. What exactly is the problem? Combo drives are pretty much the norm nowadays, and cost cheaper than their "single format" counter-parts. What is wrong with buying a combo drive so you can use either format?
Why should I care which format will prevail?
Then _why_ are you asking this question to the Slashdot crowd? If you have a combo drive, it won't matter what format prevails because you'll already have the tools necessary to deal in that format.
If you answer to why? by why not? you're younger and more immature that I thought. Sometimes, there is just no point being able to burn both.
Let's stoop to name calling then, asshat! "Sometimes there is just no point being able to burn both." ? Uhm, yeah. You're complaining about additional functionality for the same price?
1) We don't know which format will "prevail". 2) Sometimes one format doesn't work in a DVD/etc. player, but the other will. 3) Sometimes one of the formats has cheaper media. 4) Why NOT be able to burn both?
I like how 99% of the replies to this article are negative or uninformed. We're really delving into the land of the SlashDot, aren't we?
"It will be horribly slow!" "It might be insecure!" "NTFS is all we need." "LiNuX R000lZ!" "MS SQL is stupid, mySQL is better!" "XML is dumb, no one uses it." "In Microsoft WinFS, the files database you!" "Imagine a beowulf cluster of these.."
A combo DVD+/-R(W) drive will only set you back like $120 nowadays, and the price is getting lower all the time. Might as well just go with the combo drive, and you'll bet set to deal with either format.
DiVX can do this too (as well as n-passes,) but this is not the same as someone going through and manually tweaking bitrates/keyframes. Although multiple passes can do a pretty good job, a professional actually tweaking those results is almost always going to be better. That is what they do for production DVD's, and what would have to happen for DiVX to step up to the same quality.
We also have to remember that going DVD->DiVX is re-encoding from one lossy format to another. If you had a perfect digital master.. things would be slightly different I'd wager.
Well, the thing is, MPEG2/DVD is usually mastered professionally, taking into consideration individual scenes, and raising/lowering bitrates to compensate. A "still" shot, or just someone talking probably isn't going to need a lot of bandwidth, while a big fight scene is.
DiVX though has been mainly used by "consumers" who don't really know/care about any of that stuff, and just want to be able to throw in a DVD and get one a DiVX. They don't sit and tweak each scene's or frame's bandwidth requirements. Only recently did DiVX release their EKG application which allows a person to modify (inbetween VBR passes) the data allocated to individual frames. If someone (ie, a professional) really knew what they were doing, then I have no doubts they could produce an almost DVD-quality film which takes up only 700megabytes. But why stop at 700 megabytes? Using DVD media, we could get 8+ gigabytes of video/audio on a single disc. That's (theorhetically) almost 8+ hours (at "film" quality) of video. Featurettes and the like could obviously be encoded in a much lower bitrate, as they are with MPEG2/DVD's now, allowing even more room on the disc.
What we really need to be concerned with/pushing is higher resolutions. 720x480 just ain't cutting it anymore. High Def is where it's at, baby, and DiVX and Windows Media are delivering that right now. We just need a medium to transport it properly.
C&C: Zero Hour
on
NYT on RFID
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I just bought the C&C expansion pack, Zero Hour, and inside the CD case itself (behind the front label) was affixed the standard little rectangle (to trip sensors in case you try to steal the game) but underneath it was a 1.5x1.5 RFID patch. This is the first time I've seen an RFID tag used for videogames..
This sounds like the winner in the PopSci/Core77 design contest: movie polaroids. The "flapping" of the polaroid could theorhetically charge the "battery" and pushing a button would play back what you just recorded. Check out the idea here.
Agreed. I was archiving ALL of my favorite shows, and I realized that most of them (X-Files/Futurama/Simpsons/Enterprise/Stargate/etc.) are probably coming out on DVD sooner or later, and I will just snag them then.
Other shows, though, like MST3K and the like I archive because they'll most likely never release all of the episodes to DVD.
That's the process I'm currently using. I've installed a network card (via 9thtee.com) in my TiVo and installed TiVoWeb on it. I also changed the "best quality" resolution to be 720x480 (instead of the default 480x480) -- I use TyTool to extract the shows onto my PC as TyStreams or MPEG2 files, and then use AVISynth scripts to crop/deinterlace them. After that I load them up into VirtualDub-Mod and cut out commercials, add the audio track, and set up a queue job to encode two passes out to DiVX AVI. I use 1250kbps for "TV Shows" and 2150kbps for "Music Videos" and higher motion stuff. For audio I use LAME --alt-preset 96 which outputs ABR 96kbps files. A 15 minute show ends up around 100megabytes. Not that bad.
Deinterlacing television is a pain, and I think that's why a lot of people go down the MPEG2/SVCD route (it handles interlacing natively.) I've found three solutions for AVISynth that are pretty decent:
1) Using SmoothDeinterlacer (visit www.100fps.com for more info on that)
2) Using DeComb - http://www.neuron2.net/decomb/decombnew.html
3) Using DGBob - http://www.neuron2.net/dgbob/dgbob.html
Anyhow, let me know if anyone needs help. I'm going to write a guide on this soon and put up a website detailing my steps.
The Fat Man did a great job on the music for that, and for the most part the voice acting was pretty decent. I thought in The 11th Hour Stauf had some pretty good insults.
My point is that linux/freebsd/unix/whatever are all meant to be true "workstation" or "server" operating systems. They're not meant for Joe consumer or Joe gamer. The fact that they take so much time to properly configure for gaming (if it even can be configured) and the absence of a "unified" device interface (Windows has DirectX, what does the linux side have that's universal/standard?) is a big reason why games aren't targetted for the platform.
If your target market is 98% Windows and 2% Linux, I'd say you'd shoot for Windows too.
The fact that most linux users are anti MS seems to help fuel these "we want games like windows has" sentiments. For the record, I'm not an MS fanboy.
Slashdot Mirror
Your DVD-ROM drive should read DVD-R and DVD+R just fine. And if for some crazy reason it can't, your burner/combo drive can. DVD's aren't just for video, ya know.
You don't have to flip flop formats. I'd reckon you'd find what works best for your equipment (DVD players) and go with that for future burns.
Commit to whatever technology works for you. I care not. A combo drive will offer both sides of the technology for you to try out and see what works.
Ok, so using your logic, why get any DVD burner at all? Just wait for the next "standard" that is in a single format, and go with that.
And DVD+/-R(W)'s aren't just for video, ya know. I use my DVD burner to backup my MP3's and my divxs, as well as my documents and graphics work (Photoshop loves making 500 megabyte+ PSD's when things get crazy.) -- This is when the "cheapest media" arguement works. I buy the cheaper format at the time, and use it to make backups like I just described. Sure it might not be saving that much money, but it's nice to have that flexibility.
Some DVD standalone players will play DVD+R just fine, while others will only play DVD-R. And further still, some won't play recorded DVD's at all. What's the problem with having a combo drive that can support both formats? You still haven't answered that question.
Are you trying to make a point, or are you really doing an "Ask Slashdot"?
Of course if someone only needs one format, then that's fine. But some people need both, for reasons I've posted numerous times elsewhere.
"trying to compromise with a hybrid solution"
What exactly are you comprimising?
I'd be curious to know where you got the conclusion that 16X+ discs somehow last shorter periods of time than non-16X+ discs. Got an article or tech source to back that up?
Ok, you ask a question on Slashdot, and get an answer ("Just get a combo drive and you're set.") yet you don't like it. What exactly is the problem? Combo drives are pretty much the norm nowadays, and cost cheaper than their "single format" counter-parts. What is wrong with buying a combo drive so you can use either format?
Why should I care which format will prevail?
Then _why_ are you asking this question to the Slashdot crowd? If you have a combo drive, it won't matter what format prevails because you'll already have the tools necessary to deal in that format.
If you answer to why? by why not? you're younger and more immature that I thought. Sometimes, there is just no point being able to burn both.
Let's stoop to name calling then, asshat! "Sometimes there is just no point being able to burn both." ? Uhm, yeah. You're complaining about additional functionality for the same price?
Clearly you are not a real beta tester, otherwise you'd understand what "beta" means.
And I'm glad you're an expert on filesystems, too. Perhaps you can help them write WinFS!
1) We don't know which format will "prevail".
2) Sometimes one format doesn't work in a DVD/etc. player, but the other will.
3) Sometimes one of the formats has cheaper media.
4) Why NOT be able to burn both?
Etc., etc... did you really need to ask this?
I like how 99% of the replies to this article are negative or uninformed. We're really delving into the land of the SlashDot, aren't we?
"It will be horribly slow!"
"It might be insecure!"
"NTFS is all we need."
"LiNuX R000lZ!"
"MS SQL is stupid, mySQL is better!"
"XML is dumb, no one uses it."
"In Microsoft WinFS, the files database you!"
"Imagine a beowulf cluster of these.."
Exactly. You know what my incentive is to buy an HDTV capable set? NOTHING. There is NOTHING on TV worth watching in HDTV. NOTHING.
I beg to differ, you've obviously never watched Alias with delicious Jennifer Garner in HD.
A combo DVD+/-R(W) drive will only set you back like $120 nowadays, and the price is getting lower all the time. Might as well just go with the combo drive, and you'll bet set to deal with either format.
Run the installer with this:
setup -lgntforce
It will skip the NT check and let you install under Windows 2000/XP.
It installed here just fine, on both 2k and XP...
What problem are you having exactly?
Yes, because compressing video and compiling code are the same exact thing and use the same principles.
Grow a brain, genius.
DiVX can do this too (as well as n-passes,) but this is not the same as someone going through and manually tweaking bitrates/keyframes. Although multiple passes can do a pretty good job, a professional actually tweaking those results is almost always going to be better. That is what they do for production DVD's, and what would have to happen for DiVX to step up to the same quality.
We also have to remember that going DVD->DiVX is re-encoding from one lossy format to another. If you had a perfect digital master.. things would be slightly different I'd wager.
Well, the thing is, MPEG2/DVD is usually mastered professionally, taking into consideration individual scenes, and raising/lowering bitrates to compensate. A "still" shot, or just someone talking probably isn't going to need a lot of bandwidth, while a big fight scene is.
DiVX though has been mainly used by "consumers" who don't really know/care about any of that stuff, and just want to be able to throw in a DVD and get one a DiVX. They don't sit and tweak each scene's or frame's bandwidth requirements. Only recently did DiVX release their EKG application which allows a person to modify (inbetween VBR passes) the data allocated to individual frames. If someone (ie, a professional) really knew what they were doing, then I have no doubts they could produce an almost DVD-quality film which takes up only 700megabytes. But why stop at 700 megabytes? Using DVD media, we could get 8+ gigabytes of video/audio on a single disc. That's (theorhetically) almost 8+ hours (at "film" quality) of video. Featurettes and the like could obviously be encoded in a much lower bitrate, as they are with MPEG2/DVD's now, allowing even more room on the disc.
What we really need to be concerned with/pushing is higher resolutions. 720x480 just ain't cutting it anymore. High Def is where it's at, baby, and DiVX and Windows Media are delivering that right now. We just need a medium to transport it properly.
I just bought the C&C expansion pack, Zero Hour, and inside the CD case itself (behind the front label) was affixed the standard little rectangle (to trip sensors in case you try to steal the game) but underneath it was a 1.5x1.5 RFID patch. This is the first time I've seen an RFID tag used for videogames..
This sounds like the winner in the PopSci/Core77 design contest: movie polaroids. The "flapping" of the polaroid could theorhetically charge the "battery" and pushing a button would play back what you just recorded. Check out the idea here.
Agreed. I was archiving ALL of my favorite shows, and I realized that most of them (X-Files/Futurama/Simpsons/Enterprise/Stargate/etc .) are probably coming out on DVD sooner or later, and I will just snag them then.
Other shows, though, like MST3K and the like I archive because they'll most likely never release all of the episodes to DVD.
That's the process I'm currently using. I've installed a network card (via 9thtee.com) in my TiVo and installed TiVoWeb on it. I also changed the "best quality" resolution to be 720x480 (instead of the default 480x480) -- I use TyTool to extract the shows onto my PC as TyStreams or MPEG2 files, and then use AVISynth scripts to crop/deinterlace them. After that I load them up into VirtualDub-Mod and cut out commercials, add the audio track, and set up a queue job to encode two passes out to DiVX AVI. I use 1250kbps for "TV Shows" and 2150kbps for "Music Videos" and higher motion stuff. For audio I use LAME --alt-preset 96 which outputs ABR 96kbps files. A 15 minute show ends up around 100megabytes. Not that bad.
Deinterlacing television is a pain, and I think that's why a lot of people go down the MPEG2/SVCD route (it handles interlacing natively.) I've found three solutions for AVISynth that are pretty decent:
1) Using SmoothDeinterlacer (visit www.100fps.com for more info on that)
2) Using DeComb - http://www.neuron2.net/decomb/decombnew.html
3) Using DGBob - http://www.neuron2.net/dgbob/dgbob.html
Anyhow, let me know if anyone needs help. I'm going to write a guide on this soon and put up a website detailing my steps.
The Fat Man did a great job on the music for that, and for the most part the voice acting was pretty decent. I thought in The 11th Hour Stauf had some pretty good insults.
I hate you for posting that link. I want an Alienware system now, and am tempted to get an Alienware finance account in order to do that.
Shame on you, sir! A plague on all your houses!
My parent post moderations:
40% Insightful
20% Flamebait
20% Troll
Whatever. Be bitter about me stating the truth.
Just interesting to note there's more information about those loops here.
Thanks for posting anonymously!
My point is that linux/freebsd/unix/whatever are all meant to be true "workstation" or "server" operating systems. They're not meant for Joe consumer or Joe gamer. The fact that they take so much time to properly configure for gaming (if it even can be configured) and the absence of a "unified" device interface (Windows has DirectX, what does the linux side have that's universal/standard?) is a big reason why games aren't targetted for the platform.
If your target market is 98% Windows and 2% Linux, I'd say you'd shoot for Windows too.
The fact that most linux users are anti MS seems to help fuel these "we want games like windows has" sentiments. For the record, I'm not an MS fanboy.
How is this insightful? Way to waste mod points!