| DVDs have become ubiquitous. Whenever we want | | | | How is DVD duplication carried out? |
| to watch a movie or listen to some music we | | | | |
| reach out for a DVD. Here are some basic | | | | Duplication is an industrial process where a |
| facts about the DVD: | | | | glass master used to physically stamp copies |
| | | | out like a cookie cutter. |
| What is a DVD? | | | | |
| | | | What is DVD video? |
| DVD is short of Digital Versatile Disk. A | | | | |
| DVD-ROM closely resembles a CD or compact | | | | DVD video is technically superior and the |
| disk. However, a DVD-ROM is formatted to hold | | | | closest we have to studio quality video. |
| far more data. While a CD commonly has a | | | | Digital studio master tapes are usually |
| capacity of 650 megabytes, the smallest | | | | encoded from to MPEG-2 format to create a DVD |
| capacity DVD can store about seven times more | | | | video. The encoding process uses lossy |
| data, or 4.38 gigabytes (GB). A DVD-ROM | | | | compression that removes redundant |
| encodes data in the form of a spiraling trail | | | | information. |
| of pits and lands separated by mere | | | | |
| nanometers. There are various kinds of DVDs. | | | | What is a DVD menu? |
| The DVD-ROM is the most common. It is a disk | | | | |
| that cannot be written over. Blank DVDs with | | | | A DVD menu allows easy access to the titles |
| designations like "DVD-R" and "DVD+R" are | | | | without having to scan the DVD. This is both |
| formatted, recordable DVDs. The -R and +R | | | | convenient and accurate. A DVD could have a |
| refer to competing format standards, but both | | | | main menu with 4 title sets each containing a |
| will record movies, audio or other data. The | | | | menu and a single title. All the titles are |
| best examples of DVD-ROMs are the music and | | | | made from multiple input files and each input |
| film DVDs that can be bought off the shelf. | | | | file is one chapter. |
| | | | |
| What is DVD authoring? | | | | What is a menu? Menus are just an mpeg file |
| | | | with subtitles. The basic mpeg is the |
| Authoring is the process of collecting audio, | | | | background and the subtitles produce the menu |
| video, menus, subtitles, etc onto a DVD. In | | | | buttons. The background can either be a short |
| common parlance it is called burning. This is | | | | movie or a still image converted to an mpeg. |
| done on DVD authoring software. There are | | | | MPEG stands for "Motion Picture Experts |
| numerous DVD authoring programs but which you | | | | Group." It stands for the committee that |
| use depends on your need, be it personal, | | | | dreamed up the MPEG-2 compression algorithm. |
| professional or corporate. | | | | MPEG-2 is the de-facto standard compression |
| | | | technology used for DVD video. |