Other Features of DVDs

If you already have a large LD collection, a combo DVD/LD player such as Pioneer's DVL-909 might help you protect your investment in LDs. Watch out for the region code, though!

Regions
An important aspect of DVDs that anime fans in particular need to be aware of are "regions". Regions are areas of the world designated for their language and copyright laws. All DVD discs are coded with a digital stamp that says what region that disc is for. Before DVD players play a disc, they scan it to ensure that it's region code matches that of the player's. If not, you can't play the disc. This means that if you have an american DVD player, and buy an import anime DVD from Japan, you won't be able to watch it. Hardcore anime fans with a knowledge of the Japanese Language might be a little put off by the fact they can not watch imports on DVD. But there are ways around region codes. For example, some companies (especially in Europe) are selling "modified" DVD players the don't check for regions. Another way around this limitation, is to purchase a DVD player for your home computer. You can then download software from the net that can disable the region checking on some of these players. It should be interesting to watch & see how the anime public in general deals with region lockouts now and in the future.

Advanced Subtitles
Laserdiscs have used closed-captioning as subtitles for years. It was a great idea then and still works today. The only drawback to this method are: if you don't have a CC compatible television you don't get the subtitles. If you do, the CC are sometimes hard to read in comparison to real subtitles. And of course, they weren't as aesthetically pleasing as the regular subtitles.
An interesting thing about DVD closed-captioning is that for you to view them, you don't even need a television capable of closed-captioning. The reason for this is that the DVD player/decoder actually does all of the work of decoding and displaying the CC over the top of the video. This gives DVDs the added ability to include multiple closed captioning tracks, in different languages. On some DVDs, you can even watch your anime with the english soundtrack and have the subtitles appear in Japanese text! Handy, if you're trying to learn the written language. The DVD players also do a much nicer job of displaying the closed-captioning. They look a lot like real subtitles, instead of the large white text on rectangular black backgrounds we are used to seeing.

If a DVD deck is out of reach in terms of price, a DVD-ROM such as Creative Lab's Encore Dxr2 may fit your bill.

DVD, The Second Generation
Early adopters of DVD technology were slightly burned by less reliable players and poor transfers. Many people were quick to notice that DVD movies sometimes had "compression artifacts" (small blocks of video that flash on the screen). Others noted that some discs would skip or flicker during play. What these people were seeing was a combination of slower players that couldn't decode the video fast enough, and discs that were compressed poorly causing glitchy playback. Don't let these setbacks scare you though. Almost all new DVD players available for purchase are known as "second generation", which means that they spin the discs at twice the speed (double speed). They also have larger buffers so more of the video can be read in at a time, taking some load off the decoding process. As long as you perchase a second generation player you shouldn't have any problems. More good news is that production companies are doing a better job of compressing their movies by paying closer attention to data-rates and overall quality.

How To Try This Out
DVD players are really expensive, but they will probably be going down in price in the near future. If you really want to give DVDs a whirl, the cheapest way is to get one in your computer. A lot of new computers come with them already, but if you have a computer without one, an upgrade kit can cost hundreds of dollars less than an actual player. These kits come with decoder cards, but still rely a lot on your computers processors to do some of the work. So, you'll need a computer with at least a Pentium 133 or faster processor, and a decent amount of ram. With these kits, you get the added ability to watch the discs on your monitor as well as your television, and you'll be ready when the market starts coming out with DVD-ROM computer software titles. As mentioned earlier, it's important to get a "second generation" DVD player for trouble-free playback. I personally recommend the PC-DVD Encore Dxr2 from Creative Labs.

Future DVD Releases
Here is a list of anime titles that are slated for release on DVD in the near future., which serves as an indicator of how the anime market is currently using the technology. For example, only a small amount of these releases are new titles. Most companies seem content to only release titles that have sold well in the past. Hopefully in the future, as DVD becomes more widespread, newer anime titles will appear on DVD simultaniously with VHS and Laserdisc.

8 Man After: Perfect Collection Area 88 Art Of Fighting Big Wars Bubble Gum Crisis #1 Bubble Gum Crisis #2 Bubble Gum Crisis #3 Gall Force 1: Eternal Story Iria Kiki's Delivery Service (Buena Vista) M.D. Geist I & 2 Night Warriors Vol. 1: Darkstalker's Revenge Record Of Lodoss War Roujin Z Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer Wings of Honneamise

Conclusion
Is DVD a do or don't for the anime fan? It depends on what each individual fan wants. Hard-core collectors who deal in large numbers of imports probably don't need to worry about DVD in the immediate future. And anime fans who are happy with VHS will still of course have that format to keep them satisfied. However, fans looking for high-quality, permanent format for their domestic anime releases may find that DVD is the way to go. But there does not seem to be an urgent need to rush out and get a DVD player to view the latest anime releases from either Japan or the United States. On the other hand, DVD is rapidly encroaching on LD's territory in America. It's up to you to decide what you want and what you are willing to pay for.