Re: [Marxism] The Cranes are Flying

["Joaquin Bustelo" <jbustelo@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bob writes: "For the less technically savvy, it's worth pointing out that
many torrents will download a video file that's meant to be played on a
computer (in this case a file called "The Cranes Are Flying.avi") which you
can play with Windows Media Player, or the free software VLC (available
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/).  This tends to limit viewing to people
sitting in front of a computer. "

Bob is right, as a general rule, and I very much second his recommendation
of VLC as a media player. Especially because on non-English language films
there is an additional complication: subtitles. These are often contained on
a separate file, which VLC knows how to use but other programs do not. I do
not know if Windows Media Player handles sub files well, because I try to
avoid it at all costs. The program goes rummaging through your hard drive
looking for media files and often calls out via the Internet on its own,
supposedly to get album information. 

However, there are *some* DVD players (a very few models, you have to
search) which WILL usually play *most* avi files. They are called "Divx"
certified, look for a logo with that word on the carton. Lite On and
Phillips are among the brands that often (but not always) feature this
convenience. 

A DVD player with this feature will take a CD or DVD that you have burned
the "avi" file onto and play it. And I actually got a home theater at Xmas
from Wal-Mart for less than $200 that not only did this, it has a USB port
and you can bring a thumbdrive or even a 500 gig portable usb drive and play
music and videos from there. It ALSO has an iPod port and the documentation
says it will play video from those, too, while charging your Ipod at the
same time and allowing you to remote control it.

MOST modern DVD players will play computer-burned CDs and DVD files of mp3
music and mpg1 and mpg2 video, without the disk having to be in a special
DVD or Video CD or Audio CD format. But as Bob indicates, transcoding video
from one format to another is a pain. With a FAST single-core processor
(2GHZ+ AMD, DDR2 memory) you're talking roughly real time, sometimes a
little less, sometimes 2-3 times more. 

So if you're looking for a new DVD player or home theater, look for a
DIVX-certified one. ONLINE they're easy to find, not so in stores. They're
usually not more expensive, and often these are multiregion players (or
easily hacked to be that). And it is really cool to be able to download a
movie and see it on a big screen.

Joaquin



________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu