Why DVD? For the Same Reason You Bought CD
Jun 18 '00
As CD is to a cassette tape, so is DVD to VHS. DVD is the most successful consumer electronics product ever, taking off faster even than CD's did, with good reason. DVD should not replace your VHS machine. You'll still need that to record, at least for now. If you're like me though and are building a library of classic films and TV shows, then DVD is the way to go. I will elucidate below.
The first reason in my book to upgrade to DVD is the picture quality. There just is no comparison between VHS grainy picture and the crystal clear, sharp quality of DVD. DVD won't degrade with playback as VHS does.
Each time you play a tape it sheds particles through physical contact with the magnetic heads. DVD, like CD, is read by laser beam: no physical contact.
I was never satisfied with VHS, and for that reason bought my movies on laserdisc for the longest time. That format never took off, even though it offered a vastly superior picture than video tape did. It's drawbacks were the size of the discs, the fact that you needed to flip the discs over halfway through the film, and the price of the discs (around $50 each). DVD offers a picture with resolution surpassing even laserdisc, no need to flip the disc in most cases, convenient CD size, and affordability, most titles run around $20, not much more than VHS.
DVD offers you flexibility in playback of your movies that VHS simply cannot. Most films are available in letterbox, or widescreen. You'll notice black bars across the top and bottom of the screen, this is simply because movies are filmed with theatre screens in mind, and the display format for them is not the same as that of your television. In order to display as a normal, full screen picture on a TV part of the film is chopped off on either side. You're not really seeing the entire film. Letterbox versions eliminate that problem. Some people don't like this. No problem, many discs come in both formats, and some players will take a widescreen movie and display it full screen.
DVD offers other features VHS doesn't. Some include DVD ROM games for your computer, theatre trailers, multiple endings, deleted scenes, multiple language options. The sound quality is superb and gives you the true theatre experience when incorporated into a surround sound system. VHS Hi-Fi is almost as good here, but not quite. And of course, your DVD player doubles as a CD player, something to consider when it's time to replace the CD player. It won't cost you much more than a CD player either.
If all this isn't enough to convince you, let me present you with one more argument. Recently, I bought a boxed set of the first season of the X-Files. $90 for 7 DVDs, 24 episodes, and all kinds of extras. That is far less expensive than the cost of all 24 episodes on VHS. The set takes up roughly the space of a hardcover book too. Try fitting a dozen VHS tapes in the same space.
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