Eight leading film companies in the USA added CSS (Content Scramble System) into DVD format for anti-piracy of digital duplication. Furthermore, Macro-Vision was extra-added to prevent analog devices piracy. Due to the different broadcasting time of DVD film in the various regions in the world, they wouldn't want a DVD film sold in one region then transported to another which has not been released, the eight major film companies divided the world into 8 regions (see table below). They got all DVD disc and DVD playback devices embeded with specific regional code which must match the region, the film can be played. This is called RPC (Regional Playback Control). However, the three methods of protection have been hacked. There have been many region-free discs and players in the market. Again, the eight leading film companies developed new technology RCE (Regional Control Enhancement). Region-free DVD-ROM or DVD player can't play disc with RCE technology. RPC-2 is designed only for DVD-ROM. It allows PC users to change regional code on their DVD-ROM up to 5 times. After the fifth time, the drive must be returned to manufacturer for reflash. The manufacturer can only reflash up to 4 times. After a total of 25 changes of regional code, the settings on DVD-ROM can not be changed anymore.

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What is DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) ?

Please download the latest version of program for fixing the problem.

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I got an error message "No hardware find" or "Hardware error" after running the Digital TV software?

DVD started as the Digital Video Disc but now means Digital Versatile Disc or just DVD. It is a multi-application family of optical disc formats for read-only, recordable and re-writable applications.
The main features of the DVD formats are:

Backwards compatibility with current CD media. All DVD hardware will play audio CDs and CD-ROMs.
Physical dimensions identical to compact disc but using two 0.6 mm thick substrates, bonded together.
Single-layer/dual-layer and single/double sided options.
Up to 4.7 GB read-only capacity per layer, 8.5 GB per side maximum.
Designed from the outset for video, audio and multimedia, not just audio.
DVD-Video for full length movies with high quality video on one disc.
DVD-ROM for enhanced multimedia and games applications.
DVD-Audio for higher quality music, surround sound and optional video, graphics and other features.
All formats use a common file system (UDF).
Digital and analogue copy protection for DVD-Video built into standard.
Recordable and re-writable versions are part of the family.

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How many kind of DVD-disc formats ?

All DVD discs comprise a sandwich of two 0.6mm thick substrates. There are four possible read-only formats plus recordable and rewritable formats:

Name	Capacity (GB)	Layers	Sides	Comments
DVD-5	4.7	1	1	Read from one side only
DVD-9	8.54	2	1	Read from one side only
DVD-10	9.4	1	2	Read from both sides
DVD-18*	17.08	2	2	4 layers, read from both sides
DVD-R	4.7/9.4	1	1 or 2	Recordable DVD
DVD-RAM	2.6/5.2	1	1 or 2	Rewritable DVD
DVD-RW	4.7	1	1 or 2	Re-Recordable DVD

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What is the VCD(Video CD) ? Then what is the SVCD (Super Video CD), and What is LD(Laserdisc).

Video CD is a CD-ROM format that uses MPEG-1 so is limited in playing time and video quality. Movies have been released on Video CD, but need 2 discs for a two hour movie.

SVCD(Super Video CD) makes use of VBR MPEG-2 to increase the video quality, but playing time is reduced so that a movie will require three discs not one.

LD(Laserdisc) stores analogue video which is composite encoded, so will suffer from noise and other defects due to imperfections on the disc, but otherwise can offer high quality video that is close to the best that can be achieved from broadcast TV. Playing time is 60 minutes maximum per side.

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What is the difference among those formats ?

Quality and resolution are better than Laserdisc and Video CD and playing time is much longer than HQ-VCD as shown below.

Feature	Laserdisc	Video CD	SVCD	DVD-Video
Encoding format	Analogue composite	MPEG-1 (CBR) component	MPEG-2 (VBR) component	MPEG-2 (VBR) component
Image size (max)	-	352 x 240/288	480 x 480/576	720 x 480/576
Video Bit rate	-	1.15 Mb/s	2.6 Mb/s (ave)	3.5 Mb/s (ave)
Quality	Good	Fair	Good	Very good
Audio channels	2 to 5.1	2	2	5.1
Languages	1	1	2 stereo or 4 mono	up to 8
Playing time	60 mins	74 mins max	37 mins at max bit rate	133 mins nominal

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What is the surround sound ?

Both Dolby Digital and MPEG-2 allow surround sound on 5.1 channels (up to 7.1 for MPEG-2). The channels are:

L, R (Left & Right front)
C (Centre)
Ls, Rs (Left & Right surround)
LFE (Sub-woofer or low frequency effects)

Many movies include one or more surround sound channels usually encoded using Dolby Digital. With the correct surround sound amplifier and speaker setup very realistic results can be obtained. Few players include surround sound decoders but separate decoder/amplifiers are available.

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What is the DVD-Video display format ?

DVD-Video discs can contain video suitable for either 4:3 or widescreen TVs. A total of three screen formats are available.

Widescreen, which is only suitable for a widescreen TV display, where a 16:9 image is displayed full screen.
Letterbox, where the full widescreen image is displayed but leaving black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
Pan & Scan where a widescreen movie is displayed as a 4:3 image which is narrower than the original.

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What is difference between 4:3 and 16:9 of display mode ?

On-disc format	Resultant display
On-disc format	4:3 display	16:9 display
4:3 full frame	4:3 full screen	4:3
4:3 letterbox	4:3 letterbox	16:9 full screen
16:9 no pan & scan data	4:3 letterbox	16:9 full screen
16:9 with pan & scan data*	4:3 letterbox or pan & scan	16:9 full screen

This format requires data to define on a frame by frame basis which part of the image should be displayed. As yet there is probably no title available which use this format. Instead, DVD-10 discs are often used to offer both pan & scan and widescreen versions on one disc.

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What is the DVD-Video ?

DVD-Video players were launched in Japan in November 1996 and in the USA in March 1997. It has already become a mainstream product in the USA and the market in Europe is growing fast. DVD-Video has already become the industry standard format for distribution of movies and other video material for the consumer and corporate markets. When a recordable version is available DVD-Video is set to replace the VHS for home video recording and playback of pre-recorded video.

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What are the requirements of DVD-Video ?

The Hollywood based Motion Picture Studio Advisory Committee defined the following requirements for the DVD-Video format:

135 minutes on one side of a single disc (covering 99% of all movies).
Video resolution better than Laserdisc (LD).
CD quality surround sound for true home cinema listening.
3 to 5 languages (audio) per title on one disc
4 to 6 subtitles per title on one disc
Pan-scan, letterbox and widescreen formats

On-disc format