DVD Capacity?

tonyselon

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Apologies if this seems a daft question but here goes. I understand that a double sided double layered DVD has a 19Gb capacity. So why do the manufacturers(film studios) insist on putting out films on multiple discs? I was given the Twin Towers 4 Disc edition for Christmas. I love the film but I'm amazed that a caption comes up and tells me that part 2 of the film continues on disc 2. Why did they not make use of the flip side of disc 1 instead of going to the expense of creating another disc. DVDs are supposed to be double sided but I only have a few of these beasts (Friends, A Bugs Life) yet the manufacturers seem obsessed with multiple discs. These box sets of unecessary extra discs are the same width as VHS tapes taking up retailers ( and my) shelf space. What was the point of the two original opposing formats (Double sided & double layered) combining to form the DVD we know today if one of those formats is totally ignored?
 
Perhaps they just prefer to have nice artwork on the disc, which double sided would prevent .
 
Loads of double sided discs are made. Loads of double layered discs are made. Not many double layer, double sided discs are made. This makes them expensive.

The same reason 3" discs cost more than 5" discs.
 
I hate double sided discs. Really bad for scratches/fingerprints and awkward to handle. Much prefer 2 seperate disks.
 
I do not care about having 2 discs instead of one flipper since it is easier to handle, less likely to get one side scratched, and sometime it can be confusing which side to have face down.
I cannot understand why some film about 2 hours long can have loads of extras on yet some have to have 2 for the same amount. Could this be due to the bit rate?
 
Originally posted by tonyselon
I was given the Twin Towers 4 Disc edition for Christmas.

lol. i presume you mean the two towers!

i think the lotr films have to be on 2 discs due to the commentary tracks on the disc which take up too much room. personally, i wish they'd leave off the boring, self indulgent commentaries and use the freed up space to fit the film all on 1 disc.
 
There is no technical reason why they couldnt have made The Two Towers Extended Edition a flipper, after all both discs are DVD9 and a dual layered double sided dvd is just 2 dual layered discs put together, most likely comes down to production costs, producing 2 seperate dual layered discs is cheaper and in the end, it all comes down to money.
 
Originally posted by shortround
personally, i wish they'd leave off the boring, self indulgent commentaries and use the freed up space to fit the film all on 1 disc.

have you listened to the commentaires shortround? I've listened to all the commenatries on the two towers and on fellowship, i found them to be very insightful and enteraining, with a great deal of explanation as to why the story was changed, also i found PJ to be very self deprecating and the cast were just dam funny.

Other fantastic chat tracks include Dog Soldiers and Spinal Tap. as for fitting the film on one disc - most of use will need to go to the loo once in the four hours so its a good opportunity.

As for the orginal post - i'd go for two disks too. i've got the R1 T2 (DVD 18) and it does worry me i'll damage it one day.

Gary
 
DVDs are difficult to manufacture. I heard at one time that the failure rate of a dual layer disk was 25% because the each layer is manufactured separately and glued together.

If you imagine a double sided dual layer disk (which is basically 2 dual layer discs glued together), then the failure rate would be even higher.

If they really wanted to, they could have put the LOTR : EE disks on a single DVD but they choose to split the movie so that the picture could have a higher bit rate and extra audio tracks.
 
Double sided and double layered discs hmmm no thanks as i'm sure the production process could lead to the dreaded disc rot easier than a normal double layered disc, i have a few discs with disc rot and its the only downside to dvd.
 

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