DVD sales figures: WIDE SCREEN vs FULL

[WizarDru]

So what is illegal about skipping commercials?

Honestly, I'm not sure, but there is a legal precedent that they're following up on. Music isn't the only battlefront where things like recording rights are getting weird. I believe they're being sued on grounds of altering the original material and for it's copying/rebroadcasting. When you consider that the programs are actually merely there to keep us around to watch commercials, you can understand how they don't want us to automatically cut them out of the process.

When I have time, I'll see if I can dredge up some information about the suit and it's grounds.

 

[TeeSeeJay]

He didn't say it was illegal, he simply said they were being sued. ;-)

Myself, I cant imagine how you could get such a suit into the courtroom. On a tangent, doesnt ReplayTV have its hands into the MP3 hardware business? They were really on the ropes a couple of years ago financially (which would have been a great time to launch a nuisance suit) but now they've merged or been bought out?

They've filed Chapter 11. Yes, they also had their Rio line of MP3 players.

The commercial-skipping suit is basically networks saying "watching commercials is how you pay for television, no way are we giving it to you for free" because if time-shifting becomes as popular as, say, the VCR in terms of watching live TV, the ability to skip commercials essentially sends the value of the commerical airtime down the tubes, networks can't charge an arm and a leg for a 30-second spot, so can't pay David Schwimmer $26 million a year to play Ross.

CW: Why not?

JK: Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming.

CW: What if you have to go to the bathroom or get up to get a Coke?

JK: I guess there's a certain amount of tolerance for going to the bathroom. But if you formalize it and you create a device that skips certain second increments, you've got that only for one reason, unless you go to the bathroom for 30 seconds. They've done that just to make it easy for someone to skip a commercial.

CW: What if I'm using my PVR to rewind a story on CNN or pause during Moneyline With Lou Dobbs? That's good for you, isn't it, if I can keep watching the network when I might otherwise miss the shows?

JK: Is it good for me? It's good to make it easier for consumers to watch the programs they want to watch. I'm not opposed to consumers getting a program without commercials in it. But they have to create a new model that charges them for that programming the way HBO charges them.

I can't link to the originating site anymore, since it's now a pay site, but it wasn't when this article was posted. "JK" = Jamie Kellner (Turner CEO), "CW" = Cable World magazine.

here's an excellent thread on the topic from DVDTalk.com: http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=204277

 

[Aeolius]

For those with Tivo, the new Home Media Option is now available!

What this means is that you can plug your Tivo into your home network (wired or wireless) and "publish" pictures and music from your computer to your Tivo. If you have two Tivos (both with active service), then you can swap programs between them. You can also program your Tivo via the web, from anywhere.

Granted, you need the newer Series2 Tivo to take advantage of the Home Media option.

I'll be testing it on my Macintosh wireless network, in the coming weeks

 

[John Crichton]

I guess this means I'll be buying another TiVo soon. Doh....

 

[Frostmarrow]

My girlfriend's TV was on it's last leg. A shadow was beginning to cover the entire screen from left to right. We didn't wait around for it to cover the entire picture and decided to go get a new TV.

I pitched the idea to buy a widescreen TV and a Playstation 2 as we don't have a VCR and we watch DVDs on my computer (17"). Naturally she didn't agree with me at all. She wanted a normal TV and a VCR. (On account of we are expecting a child and have all Disney classics on tape.)

In the end we did compromise. I got to chose the TV and she chose the VCR. We got a Philips 28" Widescreen TV and a Philips DVD/VCR-combi machine. No Playstation for me, sadly. I hope it's a boy so we can decide to get a Playstation with majority vote In all it cost us some $800 give or take some $100 due to currency rates.

We are quite happy with our purchase and I am especially satisfied with the widescreen property. It allows us to watch movies in a variety of formats. We rented Amelie of Montmartre and Reign of Fire. Both were anamorphic 2.35:1 and looked neat on our widescreen.

When we watch TV we usually set the picture to "superwide". It's a crazy format that blows up 4:3 to 16:9. I guess people on the screen gets wider at the edges than in the center. Please explain this to me.

 

[Welverin]

No Playstation for me, sadly. I hope it's a boy so we can decide to get a Playstation with majority vote

Girls play video games too! If you have a daughter just make sure to train her properly, none of that rading or outdoors crap!

 

[Aeolius]

Discovery HD finally made it to my neck of the woods in NC...boo-ya!

 

[Valavien]

Most of the dvd's in australia are widescreen. It used to annoy me but I bought my first tv a few months ago and went with a widescreen tv because I mainly watch movies and most of them are widescreen. HD got a lot more content over here 1st July this year but there are not many PAL tv's that are HD yet so it's still quite new. One of our problems is that the HD format is still being sorted out.

So now I am annoyed when I watch free to air because I get boxes on the sides!! Digital TV set top boxes have come down to about AUS$299 so that way I will get anything broadcast in widescreen just not HD. I figure it will still be a few years yet before it will be worthwhile. I am really happy with my dvd's with component inputs at the moment.

 

[Mistwell]

I heard a couple of weeks ago that Jos Weadon (who made Bufffy the Vampire Slayer, and some other shows) is quite pissed that they released Buffy on DVD in widescreen version in the UK. He is upset because, while he is a big fan of widescreen, he filmed it intentionally in full screen, with full screen shots in mind, and feels his artistic integrity is being screwed by them selling it in widescreen (which he feels will look like crap). Interesting...I've never heard of someone being upset that their stuff was released in widescreen before.

 

[Welverin]

Well it makes sense in this case since it was made to be view in full screen, to modify it for widescreen is the same as changing a movie from wide to full (or close enough anyway).