Which Format For Dvds

[tutsiwarrior]

I am now preparing to assemble a collection of about 300 films most of which will be bought from a US mail order company. Useta be that for VHS cassette format there was something called a 'multisystem player' widely available that would play PAL, NTSC, etc. Is there such a thing for DVDs available in Thailand or do I haveta be careful when indicating the desired format when I order?

As DVD players are cheap I can always buy what I need to suit a number of formats, I suppose. The collection will be almost exclusively classic films which due to a limited market will probably only be available in the most common format, whatever that is. Which format should I stay away from based upon a 'no player available in Thailand' constraint?

Also, anyone care to comment regarding 'blue-ray' DVD format; playable on blue-ray players only? Are there any 'format wars' impending that I should be aware of when thinking long term?

This is the final master collection, folks...I intend to be found dead with a glass of vodka in one hand and a DVD remote in the other...

[Tywais]

Coming from the US they will be most likely NTSC unless you can specify PAL. Most DVD players in Thailand are dual format and can play NTSC/PAL so wouldn't consider it an issue.

The HD - Blue Ray war is now over and Blue Ray has won.

[Crossy]

Yep ^^^, I'll echo Tywais

Most DVD players in Thailand are multi-standard and will play NTSC disks on your PAL TV, one rider is they tend to put out a hybrid format known as PAL 60 (they don't change the frame rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAL#Multisyst...d_.22PAL_60.22) so if you have an old TV it may not display correctly.

The only other thing to watch is that you get a player that is region-free (or can be set to be free) otherwise your US (Region 1) disks won't play

[Cuban]

As well as the region setting - you might need to consider DRM as an up and coming issue in the near future/present. having read up on over coming the issues that affected me directly I fear for the future of building a movie collection. With the technology in existance today to shut down and isolate you from your HDD if non-copyrighted material is illegally accessed on your computer is a scary one. I understand it is not implimented but the technology is in place.

Build your collection and use cheap stupid media players built in China a year or so after the west have paid over the odds for Blu-ray etc. The world of movie and music rights seem to have a deep pocket and are paying techies to build protection - I only hope the same techies release the hacks to the world as well.

[LivinLOS]

Tutsi.. Beware high import duties.. optical media in the post can get 30% tax and then a 7% tax slapped on the item AND the shipping cost.. I am a film buff and also have frustrations with the copy DVD scene (find me the kurasawa samurai box set here !!) and used to buy criterions and others mail order.. Used to be quite cost prohibitive.

You could save a fortune by having a netflix unlimted account.. And then having the DVD's ripped to hard disc.. One single hard disc will hold many 100 DVD's even without compression nowdays.

I have a 1000+ DVD collection and quite a bit of oddball stuff.. Maybe a big time swap session ??

[dave_boo]

Also, you can google various dvd player's model numbers and find out if you can enter a code to switch it to region free. That's what I did for my wife's stand-alone dvd player so that she could watch the American discs I brought for her.

[tutsiwarrior]

thanks for the info, folks...LivinLos, I'll check out your suggestion as an option. I was gonna have the vids sent to my address in Saudi (no tax but loads of confused and inquisitive censors at customs I'm sure) then hand carry to Thailand during trips home. What's the image quality like when a film is downloaded and ripped to a hard disk?

[LivinLOS]

The image quality can be exactly the same as or the image can be recompressed.. Recompression can range from the almost undectable even to a trained eye.. To nasty levels of VCD quality..

[dave_boo]

As LivinLOS stated, it depends. I use x.264 to compress my videos, but since the best I can do is ~115% real time(i.e. a 2 hour movie takes 2 hours and 12 minutes to encode), it's not something that you want to use if you have a large collection--unless you have plenty of time. However, the quality is excellent; they use it for Apple's HD video clips. A higher bitrate XVid or Divx will look almost as good or better, but be a much bigger file.