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PAL vs NTSC DVD Basics

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:35:05 +0000

For DVDs, there are two world wide standards that are followed for the video formatting of a DVD. NTSC and PAL are these two standards.

There are a few distinctions between PAL DVDs and NTSC DVDs.

NTSC DVDs have a frame rate of 29.97 frames per second and have a screen resolutions of 720 X 480. NTSC is the more widely used and accepted format for DVDs.

PAL DVDs have a frame rate of 25 frames per second and have a screen resolution of 720 X 576. All PAL DVD players can also play NTSC DVDs, however, the converse is not true. Most NTSC DVD players cannot play PAL DVDs.

It is for this reason that the best format choice to distribute your DVD project would be NTSC.

Most authoring platforms will author both NTSC and PAL DVDs, however, it is very difficult to convert one to the other once the format has been chosen. The reasoning behind this is that the vertical resolution of an NTSC to PAL comparison is 480 to 576, so if conversion was to occur between the two formats, there would be some vertical squeezing or stretching of the video depending on which way the conversion went. So you end up with people and objects that either look unusually tall or unusually short, or you will have to cut of some of the screen, all are un-natural looks.

So if you are deciding whether to create a project in PAL vs NTSC, your best bet is to shoot, edit and author all in the same format. Mixing format, example: shooting in PAL and editing and authoring in NTSC will still result in a skewed perspective.

So know your format, your target audience, and choose accordingly.

Continued Price Pressure Will not Compromise CD and DVD Quality

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:03:15 +0000

This has been a very interesting year so far for DVD Copycat. In Jan of 09, we saw one of the worst months we have ever had. This seemed to be an industry wide experience as clients unsure of the economic downturn had a wait and see approach for new budgets in 09. After that things picked up to a reasonable level as the Industry Giants started promoting very agressive price reductions. Our current challenge has been how to continue our high level of service while going through the pains of shrinking margins. We are steadfastly commited to the quality of our DVD and CD Duplication and Replication products and even more commited to maintaining our level of customer service. Personalized service is just words these days in marketing campaigns. Our goal is to be able to provide a level of service that makes a genuine positive impact on our client base. Over the second quarter of 09 DVD Copycat has seen some good growth which I believe is a good indicator that service and attention is still valued, even in this economy.
Our pledge to our customer base is to alway preserve our standards of quality to make a positive impact on their projects while trying to stay within reasonable industry norms for pricing on DVD, CD and Blu-ray Replication and Duplication.

For More Information take a look at our website here optical disc manufacturing.
Or give us a call at 1-866-210-8768

Burn a Reliable Audio CD-R

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:08:20 +0000

There are a couple of simple things to remember and implement when burning an audio CD. The first is to alway use good blank CD-R media. You usually get what you pay for, so buck up for some good media. Sony, Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden, are three of the best.

Secondly, most people don’t know this, but when you burn an audio CD there is no self correction to the data writing. This means that you have to be careful not to burn your discs while you have too many applications running. Other applications will eat up memory and potentially cause a hiccup in you disc. Also, you should burn your discs at 16X. If you burn them at the default 48X or 52X you may burn them faster, but you run the risk of having a data error on you disc.

Following these simple steps should ensure that you have a robust, quality CD to play time and time again.

If you need more information on CD Duplication or DVD Duplication Services give us a call at:

DVD Copycat

300 Broadway, #23

San Francisco, CA 94133

1-866-210-8768

415-929-1581

www.dvdcopycat.com

Blu-ray (BD) Replication Costs Coming Down

admin — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:16:02 +0000

Up until this point in time , Blu-ray manufacturing costs have been cost prohibitive for most smaller Video and Film Professionals. Just one year ago if one of our clients wanted to publish 1000 retail ready blu-ray discs the rough costs would be approximately $2500 for the mandatory AACS encryption and about $5.50 per unit retail ready. As the Blu-ray market develops we are seeing manufacturing costs becoming more reasonable and closer to being available to smaller Video and Film creatives.

Currently we are seeing AACS costs at a one time fee of $1500 and a cost of approximately $3.00 per unit for 1000 retail ready Blu-ray units. Overall compared to last year this is about a 50% reduction in cost to our clients.

In contrast to this are standard definition DVDs which have no mandatory encryption fees and are approximately $1.29 per unit for 1000 retail ready DVDs.

So Blu-ray Replication is about $4.50 per unit for the first 1000 units and $3.00 after that per 1000.

DVD Replication conversly is still much more affordable at $1.29 per unit, but the general cost trends are coming down for Blu-ray Replication.

As Eric Manning pointed out to me in a previous post about the mandatory AACS fee, the Blu-ray Association has required all manufacturers to pay a mandatory AACS fee for every new title produced. If the Blu-ray Association were to consider an AACS waiver for small producers it would open the flood gate for small producers to go Blu-ray (BD). This is the only way that I can see Blu-ray Replication truly replacing DVD as a mainstream video medium for ALL video and film producers, not just the big studios.

However, I do feel that we are headed in the right direction. Costs are coming down and the 5% of our clients that can afford Blu-ray Replication can now realize their Hi-def vision.

More information about our San Francisco Bay Area Blu-ray Duplication and Replication can be found here.

If you have questions about standard def, Video Disc Manufacturing and DVD Duplication and Replication, contact us at 1-866-210-8768.

Ask for Amy or Brian

Solving your Blu-ray(BD-R) Burning Problems

admin — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:06:11 +0000

So you thought Blu-ray burning was easy?

Below is a Brief Intro Video about Blu-ray and pro-sumer systems for authoring and burning BD-Rs(blu-ray discs). This reminds me a lot of DVD in its start-up phase. It was very difficult to find systems and software that are reliable. The best way to get past the Blu-ray blues is to realize that developing BD discs is going to be challenging and most video professionals will have to work as a community to “debug” this industry. At some point things will shake out and we should have some good pro-sumer systems for delivering hi-def video on Blu-ray discs.

Below are some links to forums and help pages that discuss and debug High Definition Video and Blu-ray(BD) burning and duplication. I belong to many of these forums and post regularly. I hope this will help you in your quest to put out a great high definition project on Blu-ray Disc.

One of my favorites that is very thorough is Videohelp.com the have many good topics http://forum.videohelp.com/

VideoMaker.com has a good hi-def forum

http://videomaker.com/community/forums/forum/high-definition

Blu-ray.com has a good forum on Blu-ray burning, pc, drives media and sofware

http://forum.blu-ray.com/forumdisplay.php?f=35

Digital Video Forums has a Blu-ray Forum

http://forum.digital-digest.com/forumdisplay.php?f=104

If you need duplications of your project look at our services on Blu-ray(BD) Duplicaton Serices

Or you can always contact me directly at 415-929-1581 for questions on Blu-ray Duplication

Welcome to our DVD, CD, BD Video Blog

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:14:56 +0000

Blu-ray(BD) continues its march to adoption

admin — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:25:20 +0000

After CES this week the consensus from the Blu-ray bullish have continued to confirm adoption of this new Video Technology.
Despite the sagging economy, some in the industry are predicting a six fold increase in sales of Blu-ray(BD) discs and players.

I personally think that despite the online downloading potential in the coming years for Hi-def video, the general population likes to have something new and “gadgety” and fun to that they can possess. Blu-ray discs are seem to have a place in this gadget seeking behavior.

As more of the general population understand the benefits that Blu-ray offers, I believe the BD nay sayers will be surprised with the overall popularity and adoption of this new Video Format.

DVD Copycat
www.dvdcopycat.com
CD, DVD and Blu-ray(BD) Duplication

Merry Christmas – Successfull Year for CD & DVD Duplication

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:10:48 +0000

To all of DVD Copycat’s business associates!

During a time of financial difficultly, I am humbled to say that DVD Copycat Inc. has done very well this year. We continue to grow aggressively and I can’t emphasize enough my most sincere thank-you to all of our customers and suppliers that have made this year a success. Between our customers, suppliers, and DVD copycat we form more than just a business mechanism, but a community of Business Professionals, Film, Video and Music individuals. It is this community that brings us to work everyday. To help promote and provide for great CD, DVD and Blu-ray(BD) projects.
Thanks very much for our 2008. I look forward to 2009!
Brian Fisher

DVD Copycat Inc.
Services for DVD Duplication & Replication

Keys to Successful CD and DVD Duplication and Replication

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:36:04 +0000

So you have finished all the hard work of having your CD or DVD mastered and readied for production. Finally you are ready to have copies manufactured and can’t wait to sell and distribute this project you worked so hard on.

In our business as a DVD and CD Duplication and Replication house, there are a couple of simple preparations that will make your task of getting your project manufactured easier and less costly.

1. Preparation of your artwork – Most CD/DVD manufactures have specific art requirements for the disc and insert printing for your project. Be sure to look into these requirement and follow them to the letter. Changes in artwork always slow things down and usually cost design time and money. Most duplication houses have templates available online for your specific project.

2. Use good media to burn your master disc – sometimes there can be problems with cd and dvd masters when they are burned. Particularly when you use cheap blank discs. Always get a brand name disc to avoid poor master quality.

Incomplete art and bad masters represent 90% of the delays when it comes to DVD and CD Duplication and Replication. So, take the extra time up front to make your art and master flawless, and things will go much more smoothly. In the end you will be happy you did.

Brian G Fisher
DVD Copycat Inc.
DVD Duplication and Replication Services

1-415-929-1581

Do it yourself DVD Duplication – DVD Burning

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:10:54 +0000

Occasionally we receive requests to burn 1-5 DVDs for some of our clients. This is usually a pretty expensive proposition since we have to setup art and a duplicator for just a few discs.

If you would like to save some money and do the DVD Duplication yourself, there are some steps that will result in a good duplication.

Step 1: is to make sure you have a good quality DVD burner. If you have purchased a DVD burner that is a no-name brand, you may be jeopardizing a good burn. You do get what you pay for in burners. A good avenue would be to locate a technical consumer review of DVD burners. The Internet has a long list of available research on burners.

Step 2: is to make sure you use good quality media. Inferior media will result in poor results. Once again you get what you pay for, Sony, Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden all make a reliable burnable DVD.

Step 3: Make sure you leave your computer alone while burning your DVD. If you are using other programs while your DVD is burning, this may cause a problem with the burn.

Step 4: Verify your burn! Most burning software programs have a check box that will have the DVD read after the burn and compared to the original disc image. If they match up ok, the software will tell you that your DVD has been verified and it is a good disc.

If you need any more information on manufacturing optical media, Please contact us at:

415-929-1581

1-866-210-8768

DVD Copycat, Inc.

745 Fillmore, #101

San Francisco, CA 94117