DVD  Basic Information

This page is designed to give 'nutshell' DVD information, answering your basic questions about and EndZone Productions DVD without the 'techno-babble'.  For in-depth information about DVD's in general, visit our DVD Details page.

An EndZone Productions DVD
What Are The Benefits Of DVD
DVD Care
Why does EndZone Productions use DVD-R media?
Compatibility Issues
Format Differences
Return Policy

 

What We Can Do For You...
EndZone Productions is proud to announce that DVD has arrived...and we're offering it!  That's right, we will make a DVD from your photos, videotape or reel-to-reel film!   And to personalize your DVD, we also provide an option to create custom disk and DVD case labels. 

Our DVD's can be autoplay, menu driven or continuous play.  We offer cestom DVD title menus and chapter marks.  We can even subtitle your DVD!  We are currently offering the following types of DVD Production:

  Make A Custom DVD With Your Photos & PowerPoint Presentations!
Transfer your photos, slides, newspaper clippings and other images to DVD!  For detailed information on our photo transfer service, visit our Photos Alive page.  To have your production produced on DVD, just create a standard Photos Alive production like you would normally do for any VHS videocassette, and tell us to Do It On DVD!

  Transfer Your Reel-To-Reel Film To DVD!
Take your priceless 8, Super-8 or 16 mm reel-to-reel film and preserve it for the next 100 years on DVD!  Not only will the deteriorating  film be digitally preserved, it will be convenient and easy to watch and share with family and friends. For complete details on having your reel-to-reel film transferred to DVD, Visit our reel-to-reel to DVD transfer page. 

  Transfer You Home Videotape To DVD!
VHS, VHS-C, Betamax and camcorder (Video-8, Hi-8, Digital 8 and DV) can be transferred to DVD for preservation and easy viewing!  For more information on having your home video transferred to DVD, visit our video to DVD transfer page.

DVD Features

  Autoplay Mode - Just insert the disk into your player...and it goes

  Continuous Play Mode - Also called loop, will play the video continuously until 'STOP' is pressed

  Menu Screen

  Chapter Marks

  Subtitles

  Custom Disk & Case Labels using your photo

Technical Information

• EndZone Productions, Inc. uses 4.7 DVD-R (General) media.

• 1 DVD contains up to 2 hours of video
  

What Are The Benefits Of DVD

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Pure Digital Format
The video and audio information stored on a DVD-Video are pure digital for a crystal clear picture and CD-quality sound.  It is the ideal format for movie viewing and collecting.

Improved Picture Quality and Color
The DVD format provides up to 480 horizontal lines of resolution.  This is a significant improvement over 260 horizontal lines of resolution of standard VHS.  The color is brilliant, rich, and saturated, accurately rendering skin tones.  With the right equipment and set-up, you can enjoy a picture that approaches the quality of film.

Durable Disc Format
The DVD disc format offers durability and longevity similar to that of audio CDs.  With proper handling and care, the DVD disc should last a very long time.  There is no wear and tear to worry about, since there is no contact between the laser pickup and the DVD disc.  There is virtually no deterioration with repeated use, unlike VHS videotapes.  With its durability and small size, DVD is a great format to collect movies and other video titles.

DVD-Video Players Are Now Mainstream
The adoption rate for DVD-Video players surpasses that of any consumer electronics device to date and has long since passed the "early adopter" stage.  With prices as low as $140 for a solid performing, brand name, entry-level stand-alone DVD-Video player, DVD-Video is now a mainstream format.

High quality
VHS and PAL videotapes use imprecise analog storage. DVD, by contrast, uses digital technology so the information delivered is exactly the information recorded, with no loss. In addition, DVD supports higher image resolutions. The result is a crisp, clear image without any of the fuzziness of videotape. Your material simply looks better when delivered on DVD.

Permanent storage
It's a fact that videotape deteriorates over time. DVD is an inherently more stable and permanent medium. DVD is now in common use for archival storage, and studies have shown that there is no theoretical limit to the life of information on DVDs.

Are You Ready For DVD?
Are you ready to enjoy movies in the DVD-Video format?  It's really only a question of time... Now is as good a time as any to take the plunge into DVD

 

DVD Care

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Do:

1. Handle discs by the outer edge or the center hole. Your fingerprints may be acidic enough to damage the disc.

2. Use a felt-tip permanent marker to mark the label side of a CD. The marker should be water-based or alcohol-based. In general, these will be labeled "nontoxic." Stronger solvents may eat through the thin protective layer to the data.

3. Keep discs clean. Wipe with cotton fabric in a straight line from the center of the disc toward the outer edge. If you wipe in a circle, any scratches may follow the tracks of the CD, rendering them unreadable. Use CD/DVD-cleaning detergent, isopropyl alcohol or methanol to remove stubborn dirt.

4. Return discs to their plastic cases immediately after use.

5. Store discs upright (book style) in their cases.

6. Store discs in a cool, dry, dark place with clean air.

7. Open a recordable disc package only when you are ready to record.

8. Check the disc surface before recording.

Do not:

1. Touch the surface of the disc.

2. Bend the disc. This may cause the layers to separate.

3. Use adhesive labels, since they can warp the disc or unbalance it.

4. Expose discs to extreme heat or high humidity. Don't leave them in sun-warmed cars, for instance.

5. Expose discs to extremely rapid temperature or humidity changes.

6. Expose recordable discs to prolonged sunlight or other sources of ultraviolet light.

We have spent a considerable amount of time researching the two types of media available for recording to DVD.  In a nutshell, there are two camps, the minus (-) and the plus (+).  Each camp boasts their media, the DVD-R, and the DVD+R (notice the '-' and the '+' between the DVD and R. As a business, it was important to determine which media would work best for you, our customer.  We offer full and unwavering support to DVD-R (the '-' camp) media, and we have chosen this format for the following reasons:

1. The DVD-Forum (a consortium that sets the standards of DVD media)  approved the minus (-) , not the plus (+) format.  Please understand, this is the same group that sets the global standards for the DVD Video format that your favorite Hollywood movies use.
2. Total minus (-)  drives shipped to market more than doubles the plus (+) drives (2002, 3,284,000 to 1,490,00)
3. Minus (-) disks are compatible with over 92% of set top DVD players, plus (+) disks are in the 60s
4. Minus (-) has been the standard (and is already in use by most DVD production companies) for over two years
5. Ask yourself, if Sony is part of the plus (+) camp (which they are), why do all their VAIO PC's ship with a minus (-) drive
   
   Source: Techno Systems Research & Digital Video magazine, July 2002
   
   Note: Because the DVD-Forum has not approved the plus (+) format, the plus (+) media technically should not carry the DVD logo.

DVD Compatibility Issues

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DVD comes in 2 flavors:

• Pressed - Like old vinyl records were produced (called DVD-Video)
• Burned - Color system similar to how CD's are burned (DVD-R/+R/-RW/+RW)

In the late 1990's when the DVD consortium defined the standards of DVD, it was still in the conceptual process.  As DVD became a reality, two pieces needed to come together...the DVD itself, and the player.  Manufactures of DVD players focused their attention on the Pressed process because this was how DVD manufactures would produce the disks for consumer purchase.

While the standards for the Burned process was defined, consumer-grade DVD Burners would not be on the marketplace for another three years, and in little demand.  With this in mind, manufacturers made a decision, some to include the decoding information for burned media, others not.  This is why there are compatibility issues with DVD players and burned disks.

Format Differences

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Prior to reading the following information obtained from numerous sources, please note that EndZone Productions, Inc., after careful consideration, chose to author DVD's on DVD-R for the following reasons:

  DVD-R is supported on 93% of all set top DVD players (all other formats range in the high fifties to low seventies)

  DVD-R was the first format introduced to the market in 1998 and thus has the greatest long-term support and market penetration

  DVD-R is less expensive than all other formats, which keeps the price down for our customers

  DVD-R appears to have the strongest contention for continued set top support while the other formats will battle for second

We find ourselves in the middle of a format war, one that will make Beta vs VHS seem like a game of tag. The stakes are high and the worlds leading consumer electronics & computer companies are lining up against each other. The dominant format will generate billions of dollars in licensing & royalties to the companies behind it. We will explain the various formats so that you can better understand this great big bowl of DVD alphabet soup.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I Present To You...The DVD Formats:

DVD-ROM
Its basic technology is the same as DVD Video, but it also includes computer-friendly file formats. It is used to store data. This product should supplant conventional CD-ROMs in the near future.

DVD-R
Its capacity is 4.7GB. As with CD-R, users can write only once to this disk. Originally designed for professional authoring, a version for general consumer use is now available. The major difference between professional and general authoring is that professional supports Glass Mastering and Copy Protection. DVD-R general uses a different wavelength laser and as a result the media is significantly less expensive. DVD-R disks can be played back in most set top & computer based DVD players.

DVD-RAM
This makes DVD a virtual hard disk, with a random read-write access. Originally a 2.6GB drive, its capacity has increased to 4.7GB-per-side. Double sided DVD-RAM media is now available with a 9.4GB capacity. It can be re-written more than 100,000 times. You do not have to reformat the disk to re-write on it. You can drag and drop files to a DVD-RAM drive as if it were a standard hard drive. DVD-RAM disks can NOT be played back in set top or computer DVD players. You must have a DVD-RAM drive to playback DVD-RAMs.

DVD-R
Its read-write capacity is 4.7GB per side. It can be re-written up to about 1,000 times. DVD-RW is an extension of the DVD-R format and forum. Like DVD-R, DVD-RW disks can be played back in most set top DVD and computer based DVD players.

DVD+RW
Its read-write capacity is 4.7GB per side. It can be re-written up to about 1,000 times. DVD+RW is not part of the DVD Forum. The technology is based on CD-R/RW formats. DVD+RW disks can be played on most set top DVD and computer based DVD players. A single write version of this technology called DVD+R is expected early 2002.

The industry has pretty much split into 2 groups, the dash (DVD-R/-RW) vs the plus (DVD+RW).