Don't know if anyone saw this in today's USA Today, but on page 3D they went into DVD trends in 2003. They hit on my biggest pet peave--Warner snappers (Hope you are listening Warner) among numerous others. But anyways, if any of you missed the newsprint copy today, the story can be found HERE . I thought it was pretty interesting. Happy Holidays!

I'll drink to all those suggestions, I"m shocked to see something that well thought out in the mainstream press regarding DVD's, but good points all around.

Well its a good list I guess. They like in depth special features? Well good lord I think I do too? And all shows from a tv series should be on the dvd? Really? Thanks for the hot tip.

Good list. Even though a lot of those seem like No Brainers, I'm sure there are still quite a few out there who might be "enlightened".

That's a great list, I agree with everything.

They still didn't hit on the worst problem of all in DVDland: fullscreen-only releases, especially pan and scan.

I agree with Drexl, they need to stop releasing two versions of each film, one Fullscreen and one Widescreen. In fact, Fullscreen should be banished! Also, one other pet peeve, I prefer Anamorphic Widescreen to 2:35. I don't know about you, but I think that's way too skinny.

You mean you prefer 1.85:1 to 2.35:1. All widescreen DVDs can either be anamorphic or non-anamorphic, regardless of their aspect ratio.

Do some research. A 2:35 film can be anamorphic just like a 1:85. The black bars you see on a WS set are there because the 2:35 image is even wider than a 16x9 TV. I have a friend who zooms 2:35 films on his set because he can't tolerate the black bars. OAR is the way to go, wether ith is 2:35, 1:85 or 4:3.

Isn't Anamorphic 1.78, not 1.85?

In a sense. All anamorphic DVDs are meant to be played at a ratio of 1.78:1. If the ratio is wider than that (as it is with the vast majority of movies), black bars are included as part of the anamorphic picture.

But still, any widescreen video can be anamorphic. 1.66:1, 1.78:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1... plus any other weird aspect ratios.

I think DVD is on the verge of becoming mainstream now.

Great article. I especially like the line, "And while we're at it, Seasons 4 through 15 of The Simpsons."

Uh-oh, don't tell the RIAA:
"Music DVD. Concerts have never been more realistic. You get great sound, cool visuals and all sorts of extras — all for the price of a music-only CD. No wonder traditional music sales are down."

A little thing called competition.
I don't own any concert films, but I just got Weird Al Complete Videos for Christmas, which is quite cool so far, so that's kind of in there.

Good list--probably anyone here will go, 'Duh' for all of them, but we're probably not their main demographic/target audience. I would have liked to see the inlusion of OAR-only releases, also, but I guess that's a little *too* wild a request...

So very true

huh?? Blade Runner DC is not longer! It's missing extra violence (among other things)

Good list.

Hmm. I guess you do learn something new everyday. I didn't know that Anamorphic essentially means widescreen. Well then, yes, I prefer 1:85 to 2:35. Thanks for the clarification.

On the verge? Dude, my grandma has a DVD player.

Anamorphic doesn't essentially mean widescreen, but your getting closer

This should help:
http://www.dvdweb.co.uk/information/anamorphic.htm

One very bad thing, which I hope isn't a trend: TV shows filmed in 4:3 being reformmated for 16:9 televisions (re: rumored upcoming release of Kung Fu). In this case, 4:3 is the correct, original aspect ratio and the 16:9 release will crop off the top and/or bottom of the frame. I know there has been some discussion about this on this and other forums but I'm surprised there hasn't been more.

Since in almost all cases modification of a movie's OAR involves changing from some form of widescreen to fullscreen, will it be the case that when an older TV show is released in modified AR and goes from (correct) 4:3 fullscreen to widescreen, that the releasing media company will claim that "well, you asked for widescreen, you got it"???? I wonder also if the derogatory "foolscreen" terminology is having any effect on the media companies, i.e., if they release ANYTHING in fullscreen (even if it's correct) they are going to be criticized?

The correct thing to ask for is OAR, not (necessarily) widescreen.

I agree with the article saying buying TV shots on DVDs is a good idea. The past month or two most of my purchases has been DVD box sets, as I get more enjoyment from them as opposed to movies.

So do my grandparents, though my grandpa keeps calling it a "BVD player."

I agree with everthing but the Security Tape on the sides of DVD. If you remove the Tape you will see theft of DVD go through the roof. The tape never would have been added if people did not steal so many DVDs.

I work part time at a retail store and had to encourage 2 theives from stealing some items last night. They left the store with nothing but the jackets on their backs.

I'm trying to ignore the silliness of preferring 2.35 to 1.85, and just comment on the others. I agree with foldout packaging like the Alien Quad, it's absurdly unwieldy. I much prefer individual cases. And I do agree with the tackiness of Warner's snappers, but I have to remind everyone that they own the company that makes them, so it could be a while before they change. Maybe if they retool the machines, but that might not be worth the expense.