Digital Rush

Sure, you're skeptical of yet another hot new consumer electronics format--especially with those compact-disc-interactive and digital-compact-cassette systems collecting dust. But give us just a minute. Barring eleventh-hour disputes over technical standards and legal issues, the digital versatile disc should be on store shelves this fall--and it is here to stay. In fact, DVD could do to VCRs and VHS tapes what the compact disc did to turntables and vinyl. Just as the audio CD's lures were (and are) its sound quality, portability, track access and durability, DVD offers those same advantages for both audio and video, then goes several steps further. Consider storage: Audio CDs and regular CD-ROMs can hold a maximum of 680 megabytes of data, the equivalent of 485 floppy disks. A single-sided five-inch DVD holds at least 4.7 gigabytes, or some 3400 floppies. In real-world terms, that means a DVD can easily hold a feature-length movie, including multiple soundtracks (in different languages) and a slew of subtitling options. · With DVD, moviemakers can incorporate multiple plot lines and scenes shot from different camera angles. · DVD provides a digital picture more than twice as sharp as videotape, and about 20 percent sharper than high-quality laser discs. · DVDs will play back on your TV set or computer with a DVD-ROM drive. But instead of confining Arnold Schwarzenegger to a postage-stamp window marred by low resolution and jerkiness, this format will have him wreaking havoc smoothly across every inch of your computer monitor, as well as your television screen. What's more, in addition to choosing to fill the screen of a standard 4:3 set, you can view a movie in letterbox format with the touch of a button. And when you eventually buy one of those wide-screen monsters that already account for 40 percent of TV sales in Japan, you can enjoy DVD in the wide screen's 16:9 ratio, too. · Many DVDs will have a control feature that provides parents the option of toning down the sex and violence in movies. Similarly, a studio could give users the option of seeing the director's cut or the theatrical release. · Want state-of-the-art digital sound? Most movies on DVD will be ready for Dolby Digital (also known as AC-3). Dolby Digital is the next step up from Dolby Pro Logic, which is compatible with the new format. Dolby's latest and greatest offering re-creates movie-theater thrills by delivering the sound into six channels of digital audio, plus a low-frequency effects channel for a subwoofer. With this configuration, sounds can shoot across the room diagonally, in addition to left-right and front-back (Pro Logic, by comparison, sends one audio signal to both rear speakers).

Finally, you'll be able to play back your audio CDs on a DVD machine, making it a possible replacement for your VCR, laser disc player and CD player.

That's the good news. The bad news is that for now, DVD is a playback-only medium. Taping TV shows and transferring your home movies onto silver disc are still a few years away. Some manufacturers feel that DVD's initial success could be limited by the lack of recording capability. They expect many consumers will wait a year or two until DVD recorders become available and prices come down. (Currently, a recording version would cost at least $8000 extra.)

Certainly, if history is any guide, prices should drop fairly quickly. But even without cost reductions, the full suggested retail price for today's promised players doesn't seem half bad. The first DVD machines are expected to have tags between $500 and $1000. That's three times cheaper (in real dollars) than first-generation CD players were 14 years ago, and only marginally more expensive than high-quality VHS machines today.

Pricing aside, some industry insiders feel the format is "not yet ready for prime time" and worry that the first generation of DVD machines may have annoying "bugs and incompatibility problems."

Toshiba disagrees: "We have invested tremendous R&D time into this technology," says Craig Eggers, DVD director of marketing at Toshiba. Eggers also points out that the industry, which had previously wrangled over competing incompatible videodisc formats (one by Toshiba and Time Warner, the other by Philips and Sony), came to its senses last September when it agreed to create a single standard.

This unified effort has inspired several other major players to take the DVD plunge this fall. Thomson Consumer Electronics plans to introduce a machine under the RCA banner this fall, which will be followed by GE and Pro Scan offerings. Panasonic will launch two players, including one with a built-in Dolby Digital decoder. (Basic systems will require a separate receiver to use this DVD feature.) Samsung and Goldstar will release variations as well, and Pioneer (concluded on page 144) Digital Rush(continued from page 114) promises a hybrid player that handles DVDs as well as laser discs. Other companies, including Sharp and Philips, are keeping a low profile to see how the technical issues and consumer acceptance play out.

One major issue is storage capacity. Although the 4.7 gigabytes packed into the single-sided DVD is impressive, Sony and Toshiba have each proposed ways to double that figure--and ultimately almost quadruple it to 17 gigs. Toshiba's method stores audio and video on both sides of a disc. Sony developed a single-sided DVD with an extra layer of data that can be read by a laser.

If industry buzz is accurate, the latter format may prevail, as the laser technology solves the problem of having to flip the disc. Another significant DVD hurdle is the concern of filmmakers over illegal copying. Already losing billions of dollars annually to piracy, studios fear that the ability to create pristine digital copies will play right into a pirate's hand.

The problem is exacerbated by DVD's worldwide playback compatibility. By comparison, an American videotape carries an NTSC signal and can't be viewed on a VCR in Europe, where PAL is the standard. This is obviously something of a mixed blessing for movie studios. While it enables them to mass-produce one standard DVD for the world, they relinquish control over their product.

One more thing. DVDs are cheap, and easy to produce and transport. Unlike videotapes, they have no moving parts, are not bulky and don't require real-time duplication. "In simpler terms, it's squirt, splat, and you're done. You can make a lot of these discs really fast," explains Jim Bonan, vice president of new business development for Sony. That's great news for manufacturers who must rush to meet demand for a hot new title. But it's also a potential shot in the arm for big-time movie pirates.

As of early summer, copying and copyright issues were still being debated by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association, an umbrella group, and the Motion Picture Association of America. Technological and legal solutions were in the works. But except for representatives of Time Warner (which is partly owned by Toshiba) and Sony Pictures, studio delegates seem divided about DVD. If DVD is to succeed, the format must have full cooperation from the studios. After all, a machine isn't worth much if there's nothing to play on it. Still, even skeptics believe that DVD's acceptance is inevitable: "It features the highest-quality picture and sound ever delivered to the home," says a studio source. "That's pretty hard to resist."

It's also hard to resist DVD's versatility. You get great audio and video, interactivity, lots of extra info and the parental control feature--and that's just for starters. You'll soon be able to enjoy shopping tie-ins and Internet integration as well. A DVD version of Batman, for example, may contain links to various related sites and to the virtual Warner Store, which you can reach via your cable modem.

Also working in DVD's favor is the price of the discs--about $20 retail. That would have pleased Steve Ross, Time Warner's former chairman, who once said he wanted to sell "a movie on a piece of plastic for the price of two tickets, parking and a box of popcorn."

Coming soon to the television screen near you.

More Digital Diversions

This fall, you'll find a slew of new tech toys beyond DVD that deliver on digital's promise of crystal-clear audio and video. If you're into the superior sound of digital-to-digital recording, Pioneer offers the PDR-05, a recordable CD player priced at $1950. Hook it up to one of the 100-plus CD changers from Pioneer, Panasonic, Fisher or Sony and store 72 minutes' worth of favorite tracks on your own custom compilation discs. The minidisc player is another great digital-audio option--and the $1000 tag on Sony's slick Qbric CMT-M1 pictured here indicates that prices are coming down. This microsystem includes an AM-FM tuner and both CD and recordable MD players. On a larger scale, Sony's DHC-MD7 ($1900) and Sharp's MD-X3 ($1000) team a tuner with a three-disc changer and an MD player-recorder. If you already own a CD changer, Sony is selling an MD home audio deck with an MZ-E3 portable for only $800. That's a deal.

Perfect Vision

Interested in a digital camera? Canon's new Power Shot 600 ($950) works like a point-and-shoot automatic but stores up to 900 high-resolution shots in its electronic memory. You can also talk to the camera, appending pictures with reminders of why you took them. Images can be viewed, edited and stored on a PC, then reproduced on a color printer or distributed electronically.

For camcorder users, the jump to digital promises sharper images and enhanced sound (both of which can be manipulated on a PC), plus smaller, analog cassette-size tapes that store up to an hour of footage. Sharp's digital Viewcam VL-D5000U (about $4600, pictured below) offers resolutions that are 25 percent better than those shot with Hi-8mm analog camcorders. If you're in a miniaturization mode, try RCA's CC900D ($2595) or JVC's. similarly designed DV1 Cybercam ($3000). Each camcorder is about the size and weight of a paperback thriller--and will probably be included in one soon.

Look to the Sky

Joining RCA and Sony in producing Digital Satellite System 18-inch dish and receiver packages this fall are Panasonic, Toshiba, Sanyo, Hughes Network Systems, Samsung, Daewoo, Hitachi, Philips and Uniden. Although individual features may vary, all of the new equipment will deliver 175-plus channels of digital audio and video. Costs range from $500 for a basic setup to $1000 for a top-of-the-line system capable of sending signals to multiple television sets. Programming packages from DirecTV and USSB are priced on a par with cable and include Playboy TV, multiple HBO and Showtime channels, pay-per-view movies every half hour and lots of sports. How does the entire NBA schedule sound? --Ted C. Fishman