from NY Times, by Peter Wayner http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/technology/circuits/28basics.html?_r=1
Did you know that if you have a “PlayStation Portable,” you can download a movie on to it? You just have to downsize the file. Eric Petit is the creator of “HandBreak” which is just the program you’d need. Not just for the PSP though, you can also downsize a DVD to work on a cell phone, game machine, or other portable media player. There are a few formats and terms pertaining to video one must be familiar with in order to use the software correctly. Handbreak converts the digital information from the DVD to a smaller version so that the whole movie can fit in a smaller amount of space. There are several programs for doing this, but many are pay for only. HandBreak is distributed freely (handbrake.m0k.org), and thus a scuffle is aroused with copyright laws.
Searching the internet for “video conversion” brings up several companies such as Techspansion which sells VisualHub, used to convert videos from sites like YouTube. The author of the article reminds the reader to be wary of downloading any such software because it could contain viruses or malware.
The software converts files easily enough, but there are some technical terms and definitions one must be savvy of in order to use it correctly, from size of file to bit rate to aspect ratio. The technical complexities involved make the legal convolutions all the more messy. Some people think that having your own DVD files is a just request, a copy of a work that you already paid for. The problem is that once it’s on your computer and unprotected, it is easily shared to anyone else. The editor of 2600 magazine, Eric Corley, lost a lawsuit in 2001 against Universal City Studios for distributing DeCSS, a tool to remove the CSS encryption layer that protects DVDs. From this, some argue that HandBreak is also illegal.
The creators of the software point out the old days when people would make copies of their video tapes or audio cassettes so they would have their own personal copies of music and movies as a backup or to play with. It would be popular to convert music from vinyl LPs to cassettes. This was perfectly acceptable. It made it so one could play a tape with a portable tape player, and I’ve never seen a portable LP player.
This software would be ideal for carrying less as well. One could carry a laptop as opposed to a DVD collection, and have the movies and player all in one place. Laptop owners may choose to convert a DVD they own into files stored on the hard disk to avoid carrying the discs. Also, parents could regulate what their children watch better by putting passwords on files. All this and no more scratched discs to mess up right at the climax of the movie. Don’t you just love that part?
The legal issues are not yet sorted out, but the article goes on to explain the jargon of digital video like bit rate, codec, dimensions and frame rate, which is interesting but I will not get into here. But basically, one needs to learn these terms and plan accordingly. Essentially, it’s like this: the more space you have, the better quality of movie you will have, but there is a certain point where it only depends on your screen size, because once you get a higher quality video after that point, you won’t be able to notice anyway. Another question would be whether you would want to watch the videos on a bigger screen later, thus you’d want to keep as perfect quality possible. Also, how many movies would you want to store? If more, then they’d have to take up less space per movie.
All these have to do with frame rate and bits per second. If you half the frame rate or bits per second, you’ll get a much smaller file size, but lower quality movie.
There is a bit of work involved with all the figuring, but the way technology as advanced so quickly in such little time, the author points out, which I agree with, that in time, it could be as easy as dubbing music to a cassette tape. The legal silliness should disappear if the average person has this equipment and uses it like nobody’s business.
In my opinion, companies are going to have to stop making physical means of carrying media, and we’ll just connect to entertainment, be it games, pictures, movies, music, books, articles, etc via an internet site. And advertising, or maybe a small subscription fee, will make it possible instead of paying twenty dollars for a disc that is likely to scratch, and just a pain.
Since you only watch these movies such a small number of times, one might as well just stream them to a nice screen, sit back, and not worry about rewinding a tape, putting a DVD away, or missing that one portion of the movie, your favorite part, that you swear should have worked because you checked the DVD, cleaned it, and there is nothing on the DVD but it still leaves out that part when the guy blows up! Nope, never again.
I'm ready to start using just a laptop, no more losing individual CDs or DVDs, or worrying about scratches.Photos from:
LP - http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/f/f8/Lp_record_album.jpg
Cassette - http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/429993/2
/istockphoto_429993_audio_cassette_tape.jpg
DVD - http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windowsxp/images/using
/moviemaker/create/68860-insert-dvd.jpg
Laptop - http://laptoping.com/wp-content/0088278074441_500X500.jpg
The only other question is, what if I want to watch my movies on a bigger screen? These connections are possible but I say they're making those easier too. Right now, I just use S-Video and an audio 8th inch jack to RCA audio (red and white) cables.
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