Dvd Demystified: The Guidebook for Dvd-Video and Dvd-Rom (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A sort of protracted Popular Science-style article about digital video disc (DVD) technology and its applications, DVD Demystified provides readers with almost every technical and practical detail about this new means of encoding data on disks.

This book teaches you how data (computer data, sound, video, or a combination of the three) are encoded on DVD and how DVD readers extract it. This guide includes plenty of information about bandwidth, aspect ratios, and the other technical details that go into storing, transmitting, and retrieving video information--media nerds will have a field day. A nifty quiz helps you decide whether DVD equipment is worth buying in your case. Furthermore, DVD Demystified shows you how DVD fits into the historical progression of recording media--it's sort of a shock to be reminded that Thomas Edison made his first wax-cylinder recordings in 1880.

While Taylor's assertion that "DVD is the future" may or may not prove to be true, his thought-provoking responses to various criticisms of DVD make entertaining and informative reading. He also goes into detail about how DVD fits into various environments, including home video, personal computing, and business applications. He even includes a cable-by-cable guide to hooking up a DVD player.

Simply put, this is the best encyclopedia of DVD information on the market, as it helps you understand DVD thoroughly from both technical and consumer perspectives. --David Wall

From Library Journal

DVD (digital versatile disk) technology promises to change the world of CD-ROMs?or at least make it much more unstable. DVDs do not have a single standard everyone is designing toward, but that isn't stopping all sorts of folks from producing hardware that may be useless in a year. If you are in the information business and making hardware purchases, you need this book just for background knowledge.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 443 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (Tx); Pap/DVD edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070648417
• ISBN-13: 978-0070648418
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,938,757 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic look at DVD from both tech & consumer side., March 31, 1998

By A Customer

Jim Taylor does a great job of describing not only the history of the DVD format, but the technical details as well. Anyone ever slightly interested in this great format should get this book. It's a DVD bible and it even comes with an actual DVD Disc! The disc contains Dolby Digital and THX trailers, as well as test patterns and DVD movie previews.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very educational, cleared up all my questions about DVD, September 2, 1998

By	M. J. Teator (Lexington, KY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I would recommend this book to anyone with or planning on buying DVD. The chapters are divided up well so it's easy to skip over the too-technical items. Now I can finally know what I'm talking about when arguing about DVD with friends :)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive book for the videophile or professional, June 23, 1998

By	[e-mail] "davewall" (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

An excellent book for the audio/videophile or professional. Every detail appears to be covered. An excellent value even at twice the price.