Technical Turf
by Diane Rackowski
Hay! We got a new zone-free DVD player on Cart#5, the one with a projector! Now, showing international DVDs in Folwell is no longer a hassle.
What’s the deal with DVDs?
What’s all the fuss about DVDs? We already own shelves of videotapes, so why bother with DVDs?
One reason is that DVDs offer improved video quality and last longer. You’re unlikely to get a DVD stuck in a DVD player and break off chunks of the DVD, though you wouldn’t be surprised to find that a VCR had chewed up a video tape.
Just like an audio CD, DVDs are random access. That means you can easily skip to whatever section of the DVD you would like to watch. If you’ve made a note of the time-index where you stopped a DVD, you can just search for that time for the next showing. If you forgot to note the time-index where you stopped the DVD, you can use the chapter feature to get somewhere close to where you left off.
What’s especially useful to language teachers is the varied audio track and subtitle features. The audio tracks and subtitles vary from DVD to DVD, but often you will find a number of language options for audio tracks and subtitles (including no subtitles). Sometimes it is possible to display subtitles that match or paraphrase the audio.
Like videotapes, DVDs come in different broadcast standards, but with some differences. Videotapes use NTSC, PAL or SECAM formats. Many tristandard VCRs also convert the output to NTSC, viewable on any U.S. TV. DVDs come in only NTSC or PAL formats. Unlike tristandard VCRs, dual-standard DVD players do not convert the output to NTSC. This means you will need either a signal converter, a multi-standard monitor, or a video projector to view a PAL DVD in North America.
To add another complication, DVDs are also formatted into zones indicating where the DVD was produced. Zones are intended to prevent DVDs produced in one part of the world and not yet released in another from being sold abroad ahead of time. There are six zones that divide up the world in this way:
Zone 1: Canada, U.S., U.S. Territories
Zone 2: Japan, Europe, South Afr., Mideast
Zone 3: Southeast Asia, East Asia
Zone 4: Australia, New Zeal., Pacific, Latin Am., Carib.
Zone 5: Former USSR, Indian Subcontinent, Africa
Zone 6: China
DVD players as well as the DVDs themselves are divided into zones. DVDs and players bought in the United States are Zone 1. You can usually tell what zone the DVD is by looking at the back of the DVD case. There is usually a little globe with a number on it which indicates the DVD zone.
Not all DVDs have zones. Some DVDs are issued with no zone coding at all. In that case, the DVD can be played on any DVD player in the world, assuming it’s the correct TV format (NTSC or PAL).
DVD zones pose a new challenge to language instruction. The Language Center has purchased several code-free DVD players that play all the DVD zone formats and both PAL and NTSC television formats. The G4 computers in FolH 152 and many of the computers in FolH 148 can play DVDs. In principle, computers can handle any zone, but some machines limit you to six zone changes. Your sixth zone choice will lock in, and that computer will not be able to switch zones again.
As with any new technology, there is a learning curve, so be sure you try out (i.e., practice) your lesson ahead of time. And don’t forget to take a look at the games and other “extras” that are almost always included on DVDs.