Sunday, November 28, 2004
DVD Flaws
As a movie fan, I must say that I love the DVD format. Great picture, great sound, lots of cool extras. However, there is one big thing about the format I hate. That is the hijacking of my remote controller during the 15 logos and/or previews that they show prior to the main menu.
Take, for instance, my daughter's Madeline boxed set, 8 videos of Madeline cartoons, each with the same intros. First, you get the FBI warning, that wonderful greeting all of us law abiding renters and purchasers have seen since the late 70s telling us not to copy the video. This lasts about 15 to 20 seconds. Then I get the "Classic Media" logo, a 10 or 15 second logo telling me who owns the rights, as though I cared. Then I get the Sony Media logo, the people who put it out. Again, do I care?
This is a minor irritant to be sure, but when you have a kid who loves to watch videos but is too young to work the remote, having to sit through this drives me up a wall. It's also annoying when you have a certain scene or music piece you want to see in a video and you can't get to it immediately.
My suggestion. Give me access to the menu right away. If I can see the FBI warning, chances are I own or have rented a legitimate copy. Or, DVD player makers could start providing operating systems/hardware that allow me to skip over it.
Take, for instance, my daughter's Madeline boxed set, 8 videos of Madeline cartoons, each with the same intros. First, you get the FBI warning, that wonderful greeting all of us law abiding renters and purchasers have seen since the late 70s telling us not to copy the video. This lasts about 15 to 20 seconds. Then I get the "Classic Media" logo, a 10 or 15 second logo telling me who owns the rights, as though I cared. Then I get the Sony Media logo, the people who put it out. Again, do I care?
This is a minor irritant to be sure, but when you have a kid who loves to watch videos but is too young to work the remote, having to sit through this drives me up a wall. It's also annoying when you have a certain scene or music piece you want to see in a video and you can't get to it immediately.
My suggestion. Give me access to the menu right away. If I can see the FBI warning, chances are I own or have rented a legitimate copy. Or, DVD player makers could start providing operating systems/hardware that allow me to skip over it.
# posted by Rob @ 10:14 PM 
