Jan
Movie File Terminology – from Confusion to Movie Download Revolution!
From Movie Theaters to Multiplexes and then to home cinema systems. From Betamax to VHS. From VHS to DVD. Analogue to digital. We all know the story so far.
But are you up to date with the latest? If you are new to the Internet are you totally confused by the jargon?
Do you know your DVD from your P2P? Do you confuse your Divx and MPEG4? Have you got your MP3s, codecs and plug-ins. What does it all mean and does it matter?
The acronyms get longer, the speed of change faster, the confusion greater. I am one day watching a movie on my laptop – and another day I am teaching my uncle to program his old VHS recorder!
The speed of change has opened up a huge gap between different users and this gap seems to continue to grow.
It is now very easy to download movies to watch when you want, with perfect digital reproduction and you can even watch them where you want – perhaps on a laptop on the commuter train or on the TV as normal.
But to do so it helps to learn the new language and if you are interested in joining in the movie download revolution then some basic grounding in the essential terminology will help.
So where to start? Let's start with something we think we know:
DVD: "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc" – these are discs that look like compact discs (CDs) but hold much more data and are used now for storing movies.
Rewriteable DVDs can be used for storing your music and computer files. Sorry there is no space here to go into the difference between the different permutations – DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R and the rest – that would be a separate article in itself!
Clearly when you download a movie you are not downloading a DVD! So when you download a movie what do you actually download?
It is quite simply a computer file – but of course they come in many flavors! Here are the highlights of the file jargon you may come across.
MPEG-4: this is a set of standards for a file for video and audio, put together by the "Moving Picture Experts Group" (hence MPEG) and yes, it is their 4th version at the standard. So you can now download a movie in MPEG-4 format – but this can take time!
DivX: developed by DivXNetworks, is a file format that enables movies to be downloaded much faster without losing any picture quality – and DivX is based on the MPEG-4 technology that we mentioned above.
Codec: although it sounds mystical it is quite simply a piece of software that enables file compression and decompression to transfer it across the internet.
MP3: short for "MPEG Audio Layer 3" – from our MPEG friends again. This file format is for digital audio only, it uses a compression method that means smaller file sizes.
You do lose some information but most people can't notice the reduction in quality. So it's great for downloading music and playing on an MP3 player. But this is just for music, not for movies.
P2P: short for peer-to-peer. This is not a file format but one popular method of sharing these files. Peer to peer is a form of computer network that does not rely on a client and server, but each computer is a peer or equal – great for sharing and downloading audio and home video content.
Even with compressed files it can take some time and sharing the load amongst several computers is a clever way to harness the power of the internet.
So you've downloaded the files – how do you play them?
On Windows PCs these files will usually play without a problem on the standard Windows Media Player particularly if you have the latest version.
For Apple Macs, QuickTime is both a file format and a player. Designed by Apple Computers QuickTime has been around a while. You can download the player from the Apple website and you can run it on a windows PC.
Having mentioned Apple it would be difficult not to mention the iPod. But playing movies on iPods and other portable players is another topic entirely!
Nov
The Hills Have Eyes Remake Is A Spooky Home Watch
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic horror movie which has been replicated in every shape and form over the years by a host of movies. Wes Craven paid homage to the storyline in the 1980s when he released the original "The Hills Have Eyes". As is the common trend in modern horror movies, a different director has stepped up to give his interpretation of Craven's idea.The Hills Have Eyes has just been recently released on DVD, and it can prove to be almost too much of a scare to even the most hardened horror movie buffs.
The film's plot goes as follows: a family, heading on a trip to California, decides to take a desert route to get to their destination. Midway through the trip, they take a rest at a gas station located deep in the desert. The owner of the store lets the father in on a secretive short-cut that would save them a bunch of time. However, the owner has a dark secret; he's leading them straight into the territory of a gang of deformed people who were abandoned by society due to their horrid deformations caused by United States nuclear bomb tests.The film follows the predicament of the family as they try to find a way out of the trap they so easily fell into. While this movie follows the basic idea of Texas Chainsaw Massacre nearly exactly, there are some aspects that help it to stand on its own two feet. The characters all have a dynamic that we can relate to, the visual presence of the desert is overwhelming, and there is more intense violence then you will find in the most gruesome of horror flicks. Be warned – if you are planning to see this film, be fully aware of the fact thatthe film leaves no aspect of terror behind. While the violence and emotional trauma of the movie are very intense, they help to add to the helplessness of the situation being faced by the family.
The film does have its down points; some dialogue is a little shoddy and certain mutants just seemed all-out too unrealistic. However, if you're a person that enjoys a good scare, this might be a good movie for you. While at pointsthe film can be unbelievable, you inevitably feel for the family, with the film playing on our great fear of solitude in an unwelcome place. One aspect of the film that may cause it to attract the attention of the viewer is the sudden changes of pace. At one second, you believe everything could be OK, but a tipping point is reached and suddenly you are filled with despair for the characters. All in all, I would callthe film an above-average watch. It doesn't break new ground in the genre of horror films, but it does a good job of improving on a tried-and-true formula.
Sep
Home Entertainment Center
Author: jarnold
I remember that it seemed like only a few years ago that watching movies at home was second choice only to flossing or a root canal. The quality was poor, the sound was scratchy, and there was not even a close comparison to watching the same flick at the movie theatres. But today, home entertainment centers have come a very long way.
In fact, with today's home entertainment centers, watching a DVD at home with your surround sound system is a very enjoyable experience, and with your microwave popcorn only steps away and NOT costing you $8 a bag, that makes it even more enjoyable. Plus you don't have to put up with other customers making noise or somebody's kids running down the aisles during the movie — it's just you and whoever you decide to invite over to watch the movie with you and your family. Today's home entertainment systems are every bit as good in quality and sound as the movie theatres, plus they are getting better and even cheaper as technology continues to advance.
Although you could invest literally tens of thousands of dollars into a home entertainment system, excellent systems can be had for a fraction of that. (See the portion of this site that discusses purchasing a home entertainment center). The primary components you will have consist of the screen or the display, the audio system and speakers, and of course the source of the video signal, which could be your cable TV system, your satellite TV system, or your DVD player or VCR player. With some of the more advanced systems today, it could also be your PC through wireless streaming audio and video, but that is an entirely separate discussion.
The video display or the screen is going to be the biggest investment. You could go with a television tube system, although those top out at around 36 inches, maybe 40 inches with some of the top manufacturers. You also have the option of an LCD screen or a plasma screen for your home entertainment center. Both of these technologies consist of screens that can be as little as 4 inches thick, and could be mounted securely on the wall, thereby possibly freeing up some floor space in your target installation room. There is also DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology, which is cheaper than LCD or plasma but can still provide a sharp picture on a big screen. "Big Screen" usually starts about the 40 or 42 inch level, and can go up to 60 or even 100 inch displays. Of these technologies, the one that provides the sharpest and crispest display with excellent color tones, in my opinion, is the LCD technology. Keep on top of the trends though, because technology is a fast-moving target.
No home entertainment center is going to be complete with a good surround sound system with amplifer. At a bare minimum, this should be Dolby 5.1 or even Dolby 7.1, and should consist of 2 (preferably 4) speakers for the high ranges, 1 or 2 midrange speakers, and a good bass sub-woofer.
When all these components are connected, you almost cannot help but enjoy your investment immensely, and you will enjoy it even more knowing that you made informed buying decisions.
Source: Free Articles
Jul
Music Tube Videos
With an ever growing list of internet sites that support an active online community for folks to share their videos and experiences, a new contender throws their fresh and new site.
Watchitplayit, a new place solely for folk who appreciate music and understand its performers. It is now the one place for folks to share their love of music.
The world is in a media revolution as user-generated content is here for good. Folk who once thought they never had voices are now realizing how straightforward it is to get heard by millions. Every day new web sites open to help users get out and share concepts with folk all around the world. User-generated content has made new places where folk decide what they see and hear. Its is a new form of expression that is open and often unanimous. It permits users to show themselves to alternate perspectives of the Earth from the comfort of their own living room. User-generated media is the future and its here for good. Since the inception of web sites like YouTube, users have been sharing and viewing all forms of free online video content. While web site like YouTube were not the 1st to supply forums for users to submit their own video content to the globe. They were first to successfully make a deep and rich community of users around their service. They did so by providing users with a web community for video content creators of all ability levels. All of a sudden , out of the blue, folks who were formerly unknown started to make a name for themselves. Using web sites like YouTube as a tool to launch themselves into bigger things or simply remain and debate current events. Folk may be able to share their concepts in tactics never previously seen. The transfer of info could now come right from the source, by the folks that where there. What was made was a freshly discovered way for folk to take a look at the globe. While user-generated content would get lost in the mass of videos on other web sites Watchitplayit offers a technique for musicians to share their music with one another. Watchitplayit is an active online community that offers the best place for musicians to get together and create in an environment completely for them. A domain made by music fans to support the wants of musicians around the planet.
It doesn't matter what ability level anybody is, Watchitplayit offers a way to share with any one of any ability level. Also to help spread and improve the works of all musicians around the planet.
Watchitplayit offers lots of the same functions as most other preferred internet sites.
Best of all, it permits the user the power to insert their videos in whatever web site or weblog they selected. Watchitplayit gives folks a positive and functional way to store their musical content. So keep the media revolution going, Watchitplayit is straightforward, user friendly and free. Perhaps the subsequent Web sensation can be discovered on Watchitplayit.
Setup is straightforward and free, so start and the earlier the following Web sensation can be discovered.