Rating: 
Summary: This book is insane...
Review: ...it seems to have every minute detail about the DVD format. There is a history of photography through moving pictures to film and television into recording and finally DVDs. Full technical information on how DVD functions and was created, comparisons of the DVD format to every other popular format of recorded video, even examples of how to hook up a DVD player are included. DVD Demystified is a 700 page book, and obviously it will take a while to go through, but so far the 100 odd pages I've read are brilliant for defining DVD technology, and the rest of the book which I have flipped through appears to go in depth to an absolute degree. If you need a bible for the DVD format, get this book. I haven't stopped marveling at the anal ability of the author to compile this information.
Rating: 
Summary: IN THE BATTLE FOR A BOOK VERSUS GOOD OLD GOOGLE...
Review: ..this book may not exactly be a shining victor. Don't mean to crash the party, the book indeed does its job remarkably well and for those who prefer their information packed and printed into one huggable volume, this is perhaps the best there is.But the first question that people like me ask is "What can I find here that I cannot find for FREE on the net?" And the answer to that is, unfortunately, not much because a lot of this info is accessible elsewhere. Even if you search for the words "DVD demystified" it turns up a whole slew of immediately relevant websites (on almost all search engines). That said, it is a fantastic book that doesn't gloat over the merits of DVD versus older discs, or the engineering nitty gritty of the whole format. If you are looking for practical advice for getting busy with your DVD-R/W, and are lazy (or busy) enough to want a book for it, then this is great bang for your buck. For the rest of us there is always a search engine.
Rating:
Summary: awesome achievement but still...
Review: Don't get me wrong - there is a huge amount of well-written material in this book and I'm glad I bought it.
Yet.. I wanted a detailed description of how menus and player commands worked so that I'd feel comfortable authoring complex compliations with angles, timed stills, wipes, subtitles, the works. Jim spends a lot of time on this area and talks a lot about the features, but still only managed to hit the high spots. This book won't make you into an authoring expert. Dunno if there is another book that is better, or if you have to buy the specs (ha) or if you can eventually infer what you need from the right authoring software, or...
Rating:
Summary: DVD Demystified - the industry insider's bible
Review: DVD authoring pros and interested beginners as well use DVD Demystified as their handbook to the "DVD standard". True industry insiders pay ten thousand dollars to join the DVD Forum to get a copy of the "real" standard plus thousands more for each extension. In DVD Demystified, Jim Taylor not only reveals the important parts of the spec but also helps you to understand where it came from and, as best can be explained, why it is the way it is. In addition to the valuable book, an included DVD has some very valuable examples of nearly every trick that can be done on a DVD-Video with ROM and web extensions. It is used as a standard in the industry to study some of the finer details. The author's website which carries the title's name-dot-com is a continually updated resource and is simply the most up-to-date available on the industry. As a DVD author myself and full-time multimedia worker since before the word was coined, I still refer to sections of this work on a frequent basis. I'm willing to wager that almost every one of the members of the DVD Forum who have access to the multi-thousand dollar spec books also have a well-worn copy of DVD Demystified at their desk. If you want to do anything beyond the most casual creation of DVD's for home, you should own a copy of this book.
Rating:
Summary: DVD Demystified - the industry insider's bible
Review: DVD authoring pros and interested beginners as well use DVD Demystified as their handbook to the "DVD standard". True industry insiders pay ten thousand dollars to join the DVD Forum to get a copy of the "real" standard plus thousands more for each extension. In DVD Demystified, Jim Taylor not only reveals the important parts of the spec but also helps you to understand where it came from and, as best can be explained, why it is the way it is. In addition to the valuable book, an included DVD has some very valuable examples of nearly every trick that can be done on a DVD-Video with ROM and web extensions. It is used as a standard in the industry to study some of the finer details. The author's website which carries the title's name-dot-com is a continually updated resource and is simply the most up-to-date available on the industry. As a DVD author myself and full-time multimedia worker since before the word was coined, I still refer to sections of this work on a frequent basis. I'm willing to wager that almost every one of the members of the DVD Forum who have access to the multi-thousand dollar spec books also have a well-worn copy of DVD Demystified at their desk. If you want to do anything beyond the most casual creation of DVD's for home, you should own a copy of this book.
Rating:
Summary: The single best resource for DVD production...
Review: For anyone who is a professional or serious about producing professional quality DVD, this book is an absolute "must have". Jim has managed to take a _very_ difficult subject and make the technical details of the specification understandable. I frequently train people in DVD production for feature films, and I use this book as my text. By most in the "business", this is considered to be "The Bible" and Jim is considered to be one of the most authoritative "voices" we have. And the accompanying DVD is a valuable addition, with excellent examples of what the spec is capable of. My absolute highest recommendation!
Rating:
Summary: The single best resource for DVD production...
Review: For anyone who is a professional or serious about producing professional quality DVD, this book is an absolute "must have". Jim has managed to take a _very_ difficult subject and make the technical details of the specification understandable. I frequently train people in DVD production for feature films, and I use this book as my text. By most in the "business", this is considered to be "The Bible" and Jim is considered to be one of the most authoritative "voices" we have. And the accompanying DVD is a valuable addition, with excellent examples of what the spec is capable of. My absolute highest recommendation!
Rating:
Summary: The single best resource for DVD production...
Review: For anyone who is a professional or serious about producing professional quality DVD, this book is an absolute "must have". Jim has managed to take a _very_ difficult subject and make the technical details of the specification understandable. I frequently train people in DVD production for feature films, and I use this book as my text. By most in the "business", this is considered to be "The Bible" and Jim is considered to be one of the most authoritative "voices" we have. And the accompanying DVD is a valuable addition, with excellent examples of what the spec is capable of. My absolute highest recommendation!
Rating:
Summary: Great update on an industry standard book
Review: Jim Taylor does a great job with this updated book. It goes over what DVD is in great detail. What is missing is any list of DVD authoring tools. This is probably done to be objective, but there are some great authoring tools that should have been listed. I was hoping the included DVD disc was going to have a copy of SpruceUp or some other tool to try and create my own DVDs.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Demystified Maybe two years ago
Review: The search continues for a truly up-to-date review on the technology relevant to DVD players. Whether for home audio/video use or for computer DVD drives and burners, this book is out of date by almost two years due to the fast pace
of DVD drive technology. High time for the Third Edition.
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