Galaxy & Space

The Evolution Of Home Movie Equipment

Movie viewing at home has come a long way from the old days when movies where only available on VHS, or even BETA. Many younger people who have grown up in a world of the latest technologies probably don’t even know what a VHS, or Beta system looks like. One can look at the Sony BDP-CX960 Blu-ray DVD MegaChanger to realize how far technology has come. Another older technology that most people now days don’t even remember, are 8 track tapes, or even audio cassettes. They are obsolete now because of several flaws, tapes got worn out for one. This usually happened because of the other problem, having to rewind the tape. These are just a couple examples of the problems that this format had.

The predecessor to the BluRay or modern DVD player was the laser disc player. This was probably the precursor for all modern CD, DVD, and computer disc players we take for granted these days. The disc was made similarly to today’s, but technology was very primitive, which means certain characteristics were different; for example, the disc was 11 or 12 inches around, and up to an eighth of an inch thick. The disc player itself looked like today’s DVD players of “Slimline” format.

There were some major problems with these players. The discs that used were large and hard to store in a safe environment. They were loud. Because the technology needed to create a movie disc was so expensive, there were not that many selections. The first movie in laser disc to come out was Star Trek, The Motion Picture. For it’s time, these laser discs had the sharpest picture, the best stereo sound, and put every thing else available to shame.

Today, however, BluRay and DVD technologies are available everywhere, with technology improving so that players are smaller as well. Today, BluRay is becoming increasingly popular, but movies are still more expensive in this format than they are for DVD format movies. Because of that, DVD remains popular. DVD discs also use most of the available technology, with multiple DVD disc players available; these players let you put all of your DVDs in one changer and switch when you want to watch a particular movie, such as Sony BDP-CX960. Simply let it find the movie you want to see.

There are many different features and functions, like programming a certain selection of movies or music remotely, a 400 disc capacity, and a separate slot for putting in rented movies, like the BDP-CX960. These systems come with standard features like full HD quality with a 1080p/24p accessory outlets. HDMI ports that convert regular DVD video into as close to HD that you can get. Good systems even have the new Dolby TrueHD sound systems.

If you’re looking to buy a DVD disc changer, make sure you know what you want. How many movies do you want to be able to store? What features would you like? Can you program it easily? Having a lot of features isn’t going to help you if you don’t know how to use them, so the instructions should be easy to follow; you should know where the different output and input ports are, so that you can set things up by yourself without the help of a professional.

These players are power-hungry, so it’s imperative that you choose one with an EnergyStar rating, for the best energy efficiency with all of the power necessary for the features you want, too.

Star Trek Q/Janeway-Requiem for a Dream

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