Ten years ago the only people who really used the World Wide Web were scientists and government officials. Internet service providers like FlashNet and Earthlink hadn't even come into existence. Laser printers and cable modems were merely designs on a drawing board. Compact discs to play music, and a 3 1/2 inch floppy disk that could store more than a megabyte of information were the latest crazes.
Now think of all the advances that have occurred in the last decade. Personal computers process information at speeds that were unthinkable in 1988. Color printers reproduce images at photo-like quality. New forms of communication make it possible to conduct phone calls over the Internet without having to pay long-distance charges. And the use of the World Wide Web as a source of information and entertainment has exploded, with as many as 47 million people using the Web in the United States alone.1
Like every other facet of the computer world, data storage has made dramatic advances in the past 10 years. Hard drives now store information measured in gigabytes, or billions of bytes of data. Zip drives, tape backups and recordable CD-ROM drives can store hundreds of additional megabytes of critical files. Some companies have now begun providing off-site data storage, an option which lets you upload important information and store it on a different computer for a small monthly fee.
Now comes a new technology which appears ready to overtake them all: the digital video disc (DVD). It is a new standard of data storage in which a single two-sided disc can hold as much as 17 gigabytes of data. DVD eliminates the annoying need to swap several discs in one drive, and can deliver motion picture-quality video and surround sound to your PC.
By year's end, DVD drives and software will probably become as prevalent in many electronics stores as CD-ROM software is today. To help prepare for the onslaught soon to come your way, we've decided to give a detailed review of what a DVD drive can provide. First, though, a little background information on the brief history of the DVD.
The latest wave of DVD drives and upgrade kits feature secondþgeneration technology (DVD-2), which solves the early compatibility problems. The new drives have improved video quality, and the performance levels are a vast improvement from earlier models. The new drives also allow you to play DVD movies on the television set. TV-based DVD players cannot read DVD-ROM software, so buying a PCþbased DVD drive increases the options you have for using certain types of media.
But there's more. Digital video disc systems have introduced a new type of video playback (MPEG-2) which displays information at a resolution more than four times current MPEG standards. The results are astounding. Compared to current MPEG videos, the new MPEG-2 playback displays images at a quality that surpasses current laser disc movies.
DVD upgrade kits also improve a personal computer's handling of audio, using a new type of sound output called Dolby AC-3. With the right set of speakers connected to your system, your personal computer could become a miniature home theater, giving you the full surround-sound effects and enhanced video display experienced in movie theaters.
DVD kits consist of much more than just a drive and a few small cables. There's the drive itself; a decoder add-in card that works with your system's existing graphics and sound cards; installation software; and associated cables that need to be connected and rerouted to and from your sound card, video card and monitor. Sound confusing? It is. Fortunately, the documentation that accompanies the latest DVD kits is very clear and concise, so experienced users shouldn't have too much trouble following the installation procedures.
Before you run out and start installing a new drive onto your old PC, however, make sure that your graphics boards work with the new hardware. The reason for this depends on the decoder card that is included with the DVD kit. This card enables your computer to play MPEG-2 videos in DVD movies and programs. The decoder card takes the MPEG-2 video and turns it into high-resolution images and movies. The card then either sends this video data directly to your PC's graphics card for display (a process known as video inlay) or adds it to the graphics signal after it has left the graphics card (a process known as video overlay).
If your DVD drive uses the video overlay method, chances are you won't have any compatibility issues with your existing graphics card. DVD drives that use the video inlay method, however, require that a graphics card support a process called linear memory addressing. Unfortunately, many older graphics cards do not support this new technology, meaning that if you install a new DVD drive, you may end up having to purchase a new graphics card.
Even if computer users run CD-ROM software on a DVD drive, they will still be aware of some advantages. Second-generation DVD drives spin faster than older models. On average, the spin rate for a DVD drive is equal to the spin rate for a 20X CD-ROM drive. This translates into faster installation and transfer times when installing a program onto your PC or moving a file from a disk onto the hard drive. As DVD drives continue to improve, these transfer and installation times will continue to increase.
One of the first companies to take full advantage of what DVD has to offer is DK Multimedia, which is known for its award-winning line of reference software. This fall, the company plans to release Eyewitness World Atlas, an interactive map of the world that's been enhanced to exploit the new DVD technology.
"We have a terrain database of the entire earth's surface -- everything -- at 1-kilometer intervals," said Chuck Willis, a manager for DK. "This atlas will allow users to do a fly-through of the entire earth's surface. There will be MPEG-2 video on it, plus a ton of reference information. You just can't do this kind of thing with this level of detail on CD-ROM."2
Other software makers have started jumping on the DVD bandwagon. Microsoft has already released a DVD version of its popular Encarta series, complete with an expanded encyclopedia, world atlas and interactive profiles of historical figures. The publishers of the Encyclopedia Britannica are considering a DVD version of their own for 1999. As more users buy systems with DVD drives already installed or upgrade their existing computers, the number of manufacturers creating DVD software should grow steadily.
In response to those questions, it all depends on what you do with your computer. If your PC is used mainly for word processing, conducting research and occasionally surfing the Internet, a DVD drive may not be for you. And if you already own a home entertainment system, it would probably make sense to just go out and buy a DVD player for your television instead.
However, if you've got the extra money and want to be able to use the latest games and reference software a few years from now, you should consider having a DVD drive installed on your computer. If you're new to the computing world and are buying a system for the first time, it'd would make sense to buy a computer with a DVD drive already installed. These drives set a new standard in PCþbased entertainment, and the software that will be available for them in the coming months is on a level that older programs simply can't compete with. With so much going for it, buying a DVD drive now could be a wise investment that will keep your computer well-equipped and functional into the next century.
References
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
