|
|
|
| Issue II July, 2001
|
|
|
|
Today's DVD is powerful, reliable, and versatile. And it's kicking the competition out of the way!
DVD's have widespread acceptance in the home video market. Even today, four years into its launch, DVD's use for a variety of other applications is known primarily to insiders. But vendors of DVD tools, faced with a maturing market in the Hollywood sector, have been pushing hard to anoint DVD as the format of choice for industrial video. And as the format catches on in the corporate and institutional settings, its versatility is once again coming to the fore.
|
|
Video, ROM, or Hybrid?
In the corporate setting, there is a role for both DVD-Video and DVD-ROM. But attention currently seems focused on DVD-Video, which can play on both set-top DVD players and computer-hosted DVD-ROM drives. "If the program relies on video material to make its point, then DVD-Video is the obvious choice," says David Anthony, president of Metropolis DVD, an authoring house in New York City. "All the benefits of using DVD-Video in the entertainment world apply in the corporte arena-capabilities like extremely high video and audio quality, the ability to jump directly to a relevant part of the program, durability, portability, and the ability to play on computers."
Of course, DVD-ROM has its own attractive capabilities. "You can do things like database searches, Internet connectivity, and logic functions." says Anthony.
|
|
The Competition
Whenever a new format comes along for existing applications, its advocates face the challenge of explaining why current formats - often supported by extensive investments in infrastructure - should move over and make room. In the corporate world, DVD touches on the turf of three existing formats: videotape, CD-ROM, and laserdisc.
"DVD-Video is reliable, easy to learn and use, TV-based, and has a graphical interface," says Rene Yzaguirre of RISE International. "Videotape is linear, degrades, and offers lower image quality.
Craig Campbell, manager of IBT Media Group in Merriam, Kansas, sees additional drawbacks to DVD's competition. "CD-ROM still works better than DVD when integrating other software applications in the program," he acknowledges. "But while CD-ROM video quality may be fine for some applications, DVD's MPEG-2 is far superior, and DVD holds at least seven times the amount of content. As for videotape it is not interactive. DVD allows you to have several video clips accessible at any time on one disc. Presentations are not always linear, so when the client asks to see something at a moment's notice, the presenter easily can play that clip.
|
|
Promotion and Presentation
According to Metropolis' Anthony, corporate video work on DVD tends to fall mostly into the categories of product promotion, sales tools, presentations, and kiosks. Anthony points to a recent project with A&E Television Network-a sales pitch to potential advertisers-as one example of DVD's strengths for presentations.
Before we made the DVD they used to switch between PowerPoint and videotape. With DVD they are able for the first time to combine their demographic charts and graphs with samples of their programming.
Yzaguirre agrees that sales & marketing, presentations, and trade shows are the most attractive areas for corporate DVDs. "Companies can often utilize existing content," and the applications can be fairly simple to author.
DVD also offers an attractive way for video content producers to create a portfolio of their work, either for distribution to potential clients or for face-to-face pitches.
Another popular use for DVDs is at tradeshows. "By far, most of our initial DVD jobs have been for tradeshows," says Paul Brown, president of Star Video Duplicating in Phoenix. "The convention-loop DVD has been the most accepted format because it does not have to be rewound and it does not wear out, so the quality does not diminish over time."
The same advantages, as well as ease of use, make DVD a candidate for in-store displays. "Encoding an hour's worth of material onto a DVD that a salesclerk doesn't have to set-up or rewind is very appealing," Barnum says. "Turn the player on, insert a disc, and it automatically loops until you shut it off at the end of the day."
Beyond today's applications, Anthony expects to see the corporate sector eventually embrace DVD's media-delivery capabilities as part of unlocking the full potential of the Web. "The next horizon is incorporating DVD with the Internet," he says. "This will allow combinations like web-based
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Harrington Productions now offers a complete web site solution - Web Design, Hosting, E-Commerce, and Web Site Promotion. Click Here to find out more!
|
|
|
|
|
|
