The DVD revolution: Why we can thank the pirates

It wasn't so long ago that DVD players were still a video techie's dream, now they have become part an integral part of many people's lives; for movies and music, data storage and even work presentations.

Until recently, most people here still used CD and VCD players and one reason the new technology took off was the availability of cheap, pirated discs. So, ironically, DVD manufacturers have markets like Glodok, with its Rp 4,000 a piece discs, to thank for the popularity of their players.

A slew of DVD players are now available on the market with a great variety of features and prices. Some DVD are now come in mini-compo, micro-compo and home theater sets. They also come with handycams, TV sets, car stereos and are even built into headphones or active speakers. For those that still want to hold onto their old-school video cassettes there are DVD-VHS players and DVDs built into expensive new LCD sets for the "high-vi", high-fi buffs.

To ensure the continued survival of DVD players in an age which is becoming increasingly virtual, manufacturers are also making DVD players with card readers so that they can read films in a JPEG format stored on memory cards, memory sticks like the IPod.

A small "desktop" DVD player is now available at a very low price, affordable even to factory workers. Chinese-made DVD player start at a mere Rp 275,000 now while players made by South Korean producers Samsung and LG with the minimum of features are little more pricey at prices over Rp 500,000, as are some Japanese-made sets. If we talk about DVD compos, however, then Polytron's GV-912, selling at Rp 1,275,000 must be the most inexpensive in its class. This mini-compo has a DVD player, MP3, JPEG, double cassettes, an FM radio and a karaoke feature.

If you have a portable DVD player with an LCD screen, then you are a truly mobile, movie-music dude. Most portable DVD players are now provided with anti-shock features and screens between four and nine inches. Portable DVD players are often completed with a TV tuner and connections. Portables are obtainable at prices starting from around Rp 1.5 million. If you purchase one without a screen, it is available at Rp 500,000. But then you've got to get the screen, right?

Nowadays, DVD handycams are the new trend for aspirational middle class wealthy Jakartans. What will happen, then, to the poor now-out-of-date owners of handycams still using the Super VHS-C, Video8, Hi8, Digital8 and Mini DV formats? Must they replace their old handycam with a DVD handycam so that the recording output from these cassettes can be transferred to the DVD-RAM format? Of must they always use a special service to have these data transferred from their old cassettes to DVD format?

The answer is in the negative if one owns a DVD recorder. You can, however, transfer all your data from a celluloid cassette format to the DVD-RAM disks with a DVD recorder. This gadget can also be used to play back your home movies.

A DVD recorder does not only record data from handycam images it also does programs coming through your TV tuner, just like the old-style VHS recorder, with all the programming features that video has.

DVD recorders range in prices from Rp 2.1 million (Chinese- made Vitron DVD-301) to Rp 8.35 million (the Sony RDR-GX7). Pioneer has also launched a DVD recorder with a 80GB hard disk. It is DVR-510H-S and is sold for just Rp 7.2 million. Tempting, huh?

If you are audio-minded, you can't go wrong buying a DVD audio player. There are several makes on the market -- the Marantz DV8300 (Rp 7.5 million), NAD-T533 (Rp 3.15 million), Panasonic DMR-E60 (Rp 3.8 million), Panasonic DMR-E51 (Rp 4.76 million) or Samsung DVD-HD748 (Rp 1.47 million). Each of them has their own superior edge.

The latest makes of DVD players have also been provided with a slot for memory cards like the Memory Stick and SD card. Having this feature, a DVD player can read video/audio recordings recorded with the card and pictures in JPEG format.

In today's market there are five types of DVD players of this kind. They come from four manufacturers: LG RH4820 W (Rp 6.2 million, the two Panasonic DVD players referred to earlier, Samsung DVD-P348 (Rp 1.05 million) and Vitron DVD-666A (Rp 500,000). See how big is the gap in price between a Samsung product and that of Chinese manufacturer Vitron is.