There was a time I recall when babou and I were at Futureshop and we overheard some guy asking about DVD writers and was being told that they didn’t exist. Um… they do exist, you just don’t have them in stock yet because they’re not mainstream enough for a big retailer like you. That was several years ago, of course, and I’m of a forgiving nature.
Tonight I was at Best Buy and I overheard some hapless older gentleman asking about an “HD” DVD player. And for the life of me, I don’t know where they took him, but a sales rep led him away to see …something. Never mind that neither next-gen competitors HD-DVD or Blu-Ray have hit the streets yet. I haven’t a bloody clue where that sales rep was leading the man.
So minding my own business, I continued browsing the DVD players on the shelf. A “helpful” rep asked if I was looking for anything in particular. “Yes, actually. In fact, I’m looking for a deck that will play DVD-Audio.”
He tried to convince me that “they all play DVD-Audio.”
No son, you clearly have no frickin’ idea. So here’s some advice to the corporate brains behind Best Buy:
Have your sales reps from different departments talk to each other!!!
I know – it’s a stretch, but hey, worth a try. Best Buy carries the biggest selection of DVD-Audio discs I’ve seen anywhere. So it wouldn’t be a big assumption on my part to think that just maybe, guys that work at Best Buy might actually know something.
“No – I mean, yes. They come on DVD media, as in discs that are DVD format. No – I’m talking about the audio tracks on a DVD-Video like DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 – I’m talking about DVD-Audio – like SACD from Sony, but it’s a competitor to SACD.” You have no idea what I’m talking about do you?
For the curious, DVD-Audio is a special format of DVD disc that is essentially a really hi-resolution sound disc. Because of the high rate of raw data that is being pumped out when it plays, the decoding hardware has to be built-in unlike the digital sound from a DVD-Video movie (which can be decoded in a home theatre’s amplifier). You gotta look for a DVD-Audio logo on your player.
Anyway – I did find what I was looking for on my own… Should research this model before I buy it though. It’s a Pioneer model that claims to play not only DVD-Audio, but also SACD, and here’s the kicker: DivX video!! Sweetness. That means I’d be able to play my computer downloads in the comfort of my living room.
On a side note: this is my first blog entry typed into MS Word. So far this plug-in is pretty neat…
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
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2 comments:
hehehe. You'd be amazed how many people think the minidisc is new technology, too. *snort*
I've not actually heard anything on DVD audio, but I bet it rocks. Sounds like an awesome player! I forget the configuration, but J hooked his PC up to the tv, and that's how we got by watching downloaded stuff. Or I would convert it and burn it (that takes forever and far too much processor). mmhm.
Whoa, I remember MD! I almost bought a portable recorder when I visited some family in Hong Kong... in 1993.
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