I watch from out of town.
My picture and sound are very good. The picture is digital and so is the sound (or DTS).
Of course I've had a DVD for a while. Mine was a little more expensive, but it can record on to VHS. I have a super VHS which checks the tape before doing anything to see if it's likely to produce a god recording.
You may have missed something in the previous paragraph. All the DVD players you buy contain something called Macrovision. This is an anti-copying device which stops you copying the DVD on to tape. As you might expect, we can bypass Macrovision and tape the DVD disk anyway. Not of course that we would dream of doing such a thing. It's illegal.
Anyway, the DVD player can produce an excellent picture on my 60" television screen. As, at the same time, the surround sound system does its thing through the seven speakers.
Boy, it's great being a consumer.
Harry
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian wrote:
Harry the happy consumer! I wonder just how clear and just how pristine the pictures and sound will get? As Rome burns Harry watches.Happy New Year, Brian > Keith, > > You will be interested in this - a (relatively) free market at work. > In an > LA Times story, a graph shows that in the last five years, DVD players > have > increased in sales from about 350,000 to 20,100,000. > > Their prices have dropped from $491 to $132. > > I can get one from a reputable manufacturer for as low as $49. > > Instead of cursing corporate darkness, perhaps we should light a free > market candle! > > Here is the story. > > Harry > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------ > > Los Angeles Times - latimes.com > > SUCCESS OF DVD PLAYERS PROVES A MIXED BLESSING > > By Jon Healey, Times Staff Writer > > No product has been as bittersweet for the consumer electronics > industry as > the DVD player. > > Drawn to the sharp pictures and cinematic sound, consumers have bought > up > DVD players faster than any other electronic device in history. Even > though > the players became widely available in the United States only 5 1/2 > years > ago, more than 46 million homes now have one attached to a TV or a > computer > monitor. > > But sales have skyrocketed in large part because prices have > plummeted. In > turn, so have manufacturers' profits. As no-name, no-frills brands > have > flooded stores, the Japanese and European electronics giants that > invented > DVD have watched their profit margins get squeezed in record time. > > Retailers' profits have mostly evaporated, too, as the average price > of a > DVD player has fallen from $491 in 1997 to an estimated $118 today, > according to NPD Intelect, a research firm. Entry-level units sell for > $59 > or less. > > "The joke is you're going to get a free DVD player with the purchase > of a > DVD [movie] pretty soon," said Noah Herschman, vice president for > video at > Tweeter Home Entertainment Group of Canton, Mass. > > "You can buy a DVD player that has a laser and all sorts of advanced > technology ... for less money than it costs to buy a necktie," he > added. > "It doesn't make any sense." > > Even worse for consumer electronics makers and retailers, the DVD > experience may be a harbinger of things to come. Competition at the > market's low end is intensifying for all sorts of digital gear, fueled > in > part by low-wage assembly plants sprouting up across China. > > Faced with this difficult situation, many manufacturers and merchants > hope > to widen their profit margins again by enticing consumers to buy > something > more than just a budget DVD player. > > "You survive by making new technologies," explained Andy Parsons, a > senior > vice president at Pioneer Electronics Inc. in Long Beach. > > One area with potential is DVD recorders. Mike Mohan, director of > audio-video merchandising for Good Guys Inc. of Alameda, predicts that > more > DVD recorders than players will be on the market within two years. And > he > expects them to sell for $200 to $300 per unit. > > Meanwhile, at the International Consumer Electronics Show this week in > Las > Vegas, an array of more expensive DVD machines will be on display. > Among > their features: > > * High definition: At least two companies -- Samsung Electronics Co. > and > Philips Electronics -- plan to introduce DVD players this year that > convert > standard DVD movies into simulated high-definition pictures when > viewed on > an HDTV set. > > Next year, the first DVD players capable of playing true > high-definition > discs are expected to arrive. But manufacturers have split into two > camps > that are backing incompatible high-definition formats, potentially > slowing > the emergence of the new generation of discs. > > * Hard-drive recording: Several manufacturers, including Toshiba Corp. > and > Apex Digital Inc., have or soon will offer DVD recorders with built-in > hard > drives for temporarily storing programs. And Thomson, which makes RCA > products, has two types of hard-drive-equipped DVD players in the > works: > one for recording TV, the other for storing music in a digital > jukebox. The > latter also will play radio stations from the Internet. > > * Home networking: Sonicblue Inc. plans to introduce a DVD player soon > that > can connect to a home network. The device lets consumers move digital > music > and movies from their computers or the Internet to their stereos and > TV sets. > > Herschman of Tweeter Home Entertainment, a retailer that caters to a > high-end clientele, said gadget lovers and videophiles are willing to > pay a > premium for DVD players that offer extra features or boast superior > picture > quality. > > So far, however, most consumers have resisted paying more for such > enhancements. And low-cost manufacturers already are setting their > sights > on DVD recorders, threatening to slash prices and profit margins in > that > arena as well. > > Fierce competition has long been a hallmark of the consumer > electronics > market. Prices have dropped over time in virtually every product > category. > According to some industry executives, though, DVD players have taken > that > trend to an extreme, with prices falling faster and further than ever > before. > > In many cases, DVD technology has been reduced to an add-on in other > products, such as TV sets and digital video recorders. "Probably > quicker > than we wanted to, we've been pushed into making DVD a feature of > other > things," said David H. Arland, director of government and public > relations > for Thomson. > > It wasn't supposed to be like this. > > Sony Corp., Pioneer and Thomson were three of the nine consumer > electronics > companies that developed the DVD format in 1995 with Time Warner. > Sales of > TV-oriented DVD players took off, hitting 1 million in the first year > of > widespread availability. > > "It was the savior of the industry," said Claude Frank, director of > audio-video product marketing for Samsung Electronics America Inc. > "Everyone was touting how great it was, that it would bring > profitability > back." > > Instead, the high-priced players lured new manufacturers into the > fray, > many of them setting slim profit margins for the sake of high volume. > These > companies typically bought components from independent suppliers and > even > their competitors. > > And with so much of a DVD player based on industry standards, the > upstarts > could build models that were hard to differentiate from the > established > firms' basic offerings, said Sharon Taylor, a video product manager > for > Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sonicblue. > > Take, for instance, Apex Digital of Ontario. Using low-cost Chinese > factories and lean operations, it was able to grab chunks of the DVD > market > with players priced far below those of its bigger rivals. > > Yet Apex hasn't been solely a cheap provider. Its devices also caught > the > attention of music-loving gadget freaks by playing homemade CDs with > tunes > downloaded from the Internet. As a result, noted Apex spokesman Colton > Manley, electronics chain Circuit City Stores couldn't keep the Apex > players on the shelves. > > The company's low-margin, high-volume strategy has worked: Since > November > 2001, Apex has sold more DVD players than any other firm, Manley said. > > Many retailers have tried to use the Apex players and other low-price > entries as "loss leaders" -- a way to draw people into stores, in the > hopes > of selling them either a more expensive DVD player or a bunch of DVD > movies. The movies have sold well, but the souped-up DVD players > haven't. > > Frank, the Samsung executive, said he recently discussed the situation > with > a regional consumer electronics dealer known for selling higher-end > gear. > > "The gentleman referred to the product as 'a sewer of a category.' > That's > how it's progressed in five years -- from a savior of the industry to > a > sewer of a category."
****************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of LA Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (818) 352-4141 Fax: (818) 353-2242 *******************************
--- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.434 / Virus Database: 243 - Release Date: 12/25/2002
