Hello George Pope!

** On Sunday 09.01.22 - 16:48, George Pope wrote to August Abolins:

 >> My DVR must pre-date yours. I would have loved to have a
 >> DVR/DVD machine that can read video "files" directly from a
 >> DVD.  I spent a lot of time burning and reusing DVD/RW
 >> discs for the machine.

 GP> Right, one movie to one DVD at one time, eh? My wife
 GP> started doing that, luckily I had found a great source for
 GP> brand new blank DVDRs.

Not really. I discovered FreeMake. It allows multiple video  
files to be coded as a proper playable DVD + a menu to pick  
each video.  The more you stash onto the DVD, the lower the  
quality, but I've never noticed a quality change until I exceed  
the 6hr point.

 GP> So, with 5 movies to a disk, each
 GP> movie, playable on our DVR, cost 3.5c!

I just used DVD/RW discs at the time. I didn't really need to  
keep previously watched YT videos or TEDx lectures or  
documentaries or movies.  Infact.. I'm sick and tired of all  
the standard DVD/R discs laying around. Nobody else needs them.  
They'll just end up in landfill eventually.

I really enjoyed erasing the DVD/RWs and reusing them.


 >> Later, I acquired a small media player that accepts SD
 >> cards and USB drives and plug that directly into the TV.
 >> That's not bad 'cuz it accepts up to 64GB SDD devices.

 GP> Ours reads my 512Gb USB thumb just fine -- much nicer than
 GP> going through multiple DVDs! But I can't get the right
 GP> format down, so a lot jhust dn't show  up on the DVD play
 GP> menu. . .

Mine handles MKV files ok, but they can't be the 11-bit  
variety.  One way I found out how to "test" a MKV to be  
compatible for my player is with Freemake. If I can see the  
preview/thumbnail of the vid in Fremake's edit window, then I  
know the file will be viewable on my media player or as a DVD.


 GP> Pretty sure MKV is too new. . . (most files come as this
 GP> now, with subtitles or captions built right in, instead of
 GP> needing two separate files as previously.)

See above. There are different MKV types.  Avoid the 11-bit  
ones and you should be fine.


 GP> Yeah, right, Shaw, trying to charge me $6 for a 30-minute
 GP> epiosode on PPV! GL  with that pricing plan. . .

2.99 to 14.99 seems to be the standard for many ppv solutions:  
ApplePay, AmazonTV, etc..  even for a short film.  They call it  
"renting", and you get about 14 days to watch it as many times  
as you want.


 GP> I prefer free for my books, movies, & TV shows.

Have you started into Dirt Birds yet?  It's hilarious. The  
author intersperses quite a bit of Canadiana/trivia/history in  
the mix. It makes for a very Canadian read.

--
  ../|ug

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