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Your DVD might not be the first device that springs to mind as a channel for connecting your PC to your home entertainment system, but why not? DVD players can already handle some of the files stored on your PC: MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 movies and in many cases MP3s. And DVD players are already on good terms with your TV and your sound system. Add a PC card slot for wired or wireless networking; toss in support for WMA music, MPEG-4 video and JPEG still images; and you've got yourself a pretty good PC-to-entertainment-center bridge. Nearly every movie produced today is available on DVD, and many older movies are being moved to the DVD format. Often, a movie comes out on DVD before it comes out on video tape, because the manufacturing and distribution costs for DVDs are so much lower! By bringing outstanding picture and sound to our favorite films, the DVD format is doing for movies exactly what CDs did for music. Philips DVP642 DVD player brings MPEG4 to the masses. WHAT better way to contradict Bill Gates' gloomy predictions about the Death of the DVD than reviewing a very affordable DVD player. This one is able to play almost every file you throw at it, including MPEG1, MPEG2 (.MPG) and AVI video clips encoded in the popular MPEG4 format (with the proprietary codec DivX or the open source Xvid codec). You know, the kind of videos often posted on the web and shared on Peer-to-Peer networks (National Geographic kind of material, I'm told). The Phillips DVP642 quickly won a large following by its low price and hefty feature set, including component video output, NTSC and PAL selectable output signal, and the possibility of making it region free just by entering a sequence of commands on the remote. Oops, the MPAA tells me I was not supposed to say this. Where's My (Bleeping) Sex? Who wants a DVD player that automatically deletes all the juicy bits of movies? One guess. Companies that will, without anyone asking them to, protect us from media evildoers and exposed flesh and scary exploding things and that part in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" wherein the universe is blessed, for the briefest of moments, with the joy of Kate Winslet's radiant nipples. Group of Chinese DVD player manufacturers have filed a class action against the western consortium, 3C DVD Patent Group, who own most of the patents related to the DVD technology. The Chinese manufacturers behind the case include Wuxi Multimedia and Orient Power (Wuxi) Digital Technology. Patent issues have been a hot topic during the last couple of years; the big fight was launched by Philips back in 2002 when it took the matters to courts in the U.S. and in the European Union, threatening to ban imports of unlicensed DVD players from China. Chinese manufacturers, such as Apex, had already managed to take lion's share of global DVD player markets, but refused to pay licensing fees for western patent owners that include Philips, Sony and Pioneer. DVD is ready for the future! Its unique integration of multimedia technologies such as WMV-HD, TrimensionDNM, WM9 support, in addition to its support of advanced audio features including DVD-Audio, HD Audio and a first-class suite of audio technologies to ensure a rich, surround sound audio experience. With new features such as Quick Clip and Smooth Reverse Playback you can take your movie entertainment to the next level of enjoyment - sharing favorite clips with friends or watching a video sequence in reverse. Progressive scan is a cool feature that makes the picture quality of your DVDs look even better. It replaces the interlaced signal that is usually sent and processes each line in sequence, allowing for less flicker and ultimately an much smoother and clearer signal feed. You will definitely be able to tell the different on HDTVs, and even if your current TV does not support progressive scan playback, you are able to turn it off, allowing you to switch back when and if you upgrade your tele. Well, assuming you already have a TV and assuming that you might like to be able to move your DVD player around with a minimum of trouble, Sony has an affordable portable DVD player that you might want to check out. The PSYC, as Sony calls it, is a DVD player that can also play audio CDs as well as CD-R/CD-RW discs that are loaded with MP3s. The PSYC weighs less than three pounds and is quite compact when compared to the traditional rectangular stereo component shape of most DVD players. The PSYC is even able to be color matched to your room: the player comes with a silver background from the factory, but there are three color panels that you can insert to change its looks. Lindows.com, Inc. (www.lindows.com) today announced the release of Lindows DVD Player, a software application that joins a long line of Linux-based DVD player programs such as Xine, VideoLAN client, Mplayer, and Ogle. What makes the Lindows DVD player unique is its name and the fact that it costs money while the other applications don't. "In our continuing mission to give consumers choice, we're introducing this DVD player for Lindows," said Michael Robertson, Lindows CEO. "As I said, our goal is to give consumers choice, and that is what we have done."
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