Follow Up--Our "Star Wars Trilogy" VCD's
Inserting a VCD in the computers resulted in an "Untitled" CD icon on the desktop containing a number of arcanely named folders. In the MPEGAV folder, there are files named MUSICxx.DAT--these are the movie files. Don't double click them but select them within a player application. Apple's DVD Player v2.2 couldn't open them but QuickTime 4.1.2 could. I also downloaded a $10 shareware application, Mac VCD v1.6 to test.
The portions of "Star Wars Trilogy" I tried ran great full screen on the PowerBook with QuickTime 4.1.2. I had to reduce it to half screen on the iBook (an original one with slower graphics) to eliminate some slowdowns and pauses. Same with the G4 and a 19" monitor even with an ATI Radeon graphics card. The playback quality was similar to a VHS tape in a VCR but there were occasional minor pixelation events during rapid movements on everything but the PowerBook. Using Mac VCD v1.6 did not improve the speed or quality of the playback since it uses QuickTime but it has other handy features including a skin that eliminates the extra screen space taken up by the QuickTime Player.
Why don't we see/read more about VCDs outside Asia? In the US anyway, VCDs are apparently the video equivalent of Napster's MP3 audio files according to this MSNBC article. A Senior Vice President of the Motion Picture Association of America stated that VCDs produced in Asia are not licensed to be sold in the US. Purchasing them from web sites like CoolVCD that physically originate in Malaysia might be purchased in Asia rather than in the US but US Customs may not agree when they come in by mail or courier. Our copy of "Star Wars Trilogy" came by FedEx in 2 days. The 6 CDs were in jewel cases in a shrink-wrapped box about the size of a VHS tape and looked every bit like a quality licensed product. There were no obvious signs that US Customs opened or even checked the shipment.
-- TGIF, November 24 --
"Star Wars Trilogy" NOW Available on VCD from CoolVCD.Com for $26.88, according to CoolVCD's Vi Vien K. CoolVCD.Com (Pristine International, Inc) is a Malaysian firm that specializes in VCD (Video Compact Disc) movies. VCDs are standard CDs which use MPEG-1 technology and which are so common in Asia that they have replaced VHS tape according to the CoolVCD web site. Most DVD players and CD-ROM drives with QuickTime 4 or later can play VCDs with the quality of a VHS VCR. There are also dedicated VCD players and CoolVCD sells one for $135. VCDs are fairly inexpensive, e.g. "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" is available for $12.88, "X-Men" for $11.88 and "The Perfect Storm" for $10.88
Saw something? Send a tip
The archive ran on reader tips. What did you see, where, and do you want the credit?