A few Volunteers Needed

**Andrew Pratt** · 03 August 2001, 17:53 Friday

you got mail

**ThomasW** · 03 August 2001, 23:58 Friday

Ralph

I've got a HTPC running into a Extron sync-combiner feeding a Sony 400Q. I can "play" any of the formats you listed plus a few more.

So if you send a disc I'll provide a review similar to the one I did for the Naxos discs.

So you've got more mail.

ThomasW

theAudioWorx
Klone-Audio

**KennyG** · 04 August 2001, 01:13 Saturday

I will also "volunteer", this doesn't seem to painful

I'm using htpc also, and NEC xg110lc projector and custom made screen.

**JonMarsh** · 04 August 2001, 10:41 Saturday

My DVD usage is *only* on computer based systems, and I can readily switch between widescreen display resolutions and standard 4:3. Realize, though, that computer testing is most likely to be a compatibility test of the software player! And none of these are perfect!

Seriously, it's an interesting sounding DVD; when it's released, it sounds like a title I would be interested in, musically and visually. You'll have mail.

Best regards,

Jon

Earth First!
_______________________________
We'll screw up the other planets later....

**P-Dub** · 07 August 2001, 16:31 Tuesday

Ralph: Thanks for the offer. I'd be interested in volunteering.

Do you have a specific date when you would like feedback?

**Bing Fung** · 07 August 2001, 20:19 Tuesday

Ohh, ohh Pick me!

(hand waving frantically!!!)

Bing

pf · 07 August 2001, 23:00 Tuesday

Ralph:

I would love to volunteer except neither my home nor work PC's have DVD capabilities. I do have the usual DVD player hooked up to my 4:3 RPTV for HT and if there's anything I can do to help let me know.

PF

**Bing Fung** · 16 September 2001, 01:35 Sunday

Ralph,

I have sampled the Oceania check disk that you sent me, here are my findings as tested.

Display modes:
All 3 modes (4x3 pan-scan, 4x3 letterboxed, 16x9) displayed correctly as I switched through my DVD player's settings. My XBR triggered the 16x9 anamorphic mode correctly as well.

DVD ROM Portion
When I loaded the DVD into my PC DVD-Rom, the Ineractual software loaded correctly. Sorry, I can't remember if it was automatically or if I was prompted to install the Interactual player. I will uninstall and re-load again to confirm which it is.

Edit: Interactual Player starts automatically, and does prompt for installation before loading.

Context Sensitive Menus
The menus worked properly during the DVD playback in both my console DVD and PC DVD-Rom. When "Menu" was pressed it would go to the main menu, and when pressed again would return back to the point of play. In the DVD-Rom section, it would only skip forward through the chapters if menu was pressed on the Interactual player.

General Comments

When using the PC-DVD Rom during playback, if the Audio button was pressed on the control panel (Interactual) two selections would be displayed, both of them were "English US" The top one is selected by default. If I selected the bottom one, it would mute the Audio. :?

Subtitles during program display is very nice. The text is a well chosen font with a nice opacity for the material presented. Of most importance, it was nice to see what part of the globe we were looking at.

I noticed an image skip in the Interactual player whenever the setup button was selected, This may be more a fault of the software player. I though it maybe my hardware, but I tested it using Power DVD, and this did not happen. Not a real issue.

The real time image window with image synopsis during DVD Rom playback was very informative, and well thought out. The use of the Interactual player here is executed brilliantly and makes this one technical power house of a disk. It was a special treat to learn more about the images presented. Seen Below...

I loved the music and find the DVD to be a very relaxing and peaceful experiance. The images are stunning to say the least, and I would have to say it is now my most favorite Alpha DVD title, with out Question, however I have not seen Earthlight to compare.

Here is just one of the many beautiful images...

Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas NM-23

Thank you Ralph for the opportunity to reveiw Oceania, I think you have a hit series here!

Bing

Equipment used:

Display- Sony 36" XBR 250
DVD- Sony 550

PC- Pioneer 104S DVD-Rom Slot load
Video- Hercules Geforce 3
OS- Windows 2000
Platform-AMD

Bing

**Lex** · 16 September 2001, 01:58 Sunday

That's on my list of things to do, I will put my comments here soon as I get to it...

I also need to draw some DVDs tomorrow.

Lex

**KennyG** · 17 September 2001, 01:03 Monday

Between Friday & today (sunday) I'm finding my way around this disc...very interesting.
This has been a nice distraction from what's been going on.
The one thing I can't seem to access are the DVD-rom features???

**rlabarge** · 17 September 2001, 07:26 Monday

The DVD-ROM features should auto-load on a Windows PC once the disc has been inserted into the DVD-ROM drive. If you have "auto-load" turned off on your system then you will need to manually start the DVD-RON install program on the disc. This can be done by running the following program:

run d:/setup.exe where d: is the drive letter of your DVD-ROM drive where the Oceania disc is.

This installation information is provided on the Oceania package art, which of course you dont have since I only sent you a check disc.

The DVD-ROM setup program will install the latest version of the InterActual Player 2 software. You can then launch the DVD-ROM application by double clicking on the Player 2 icon on the desktop when the disc is in the DVD-ROM drive.

Thanks

Ralph LaBarge
Managing Partner, Alpha DVD
Author, "DVD Authoring & Production"
rlabarge@alphadvd.com

**Andrew Pratt** · 17 September 2001, 09:52 Monday

I got mine early last week but am still waiting till I get my player back from the shop...I'll post comments as soon as I get to see it

**Andrew Pratt** · 18 September 2001, 23:56 Tuesday

Ok I got my DVD player back from the shop so I finally got a chance to view this disc. First let me say a big thank you for giveing us the oppertunity to participate in shaping at least some aspects of the products we'll be able to purchase. I already own the Earthlight DVD (highly receomended) so I had some idea what to expect but this disc is in many ways superior to that disc. I really liked the music you choose for this disc, its very relaxing, doesn't distract you but does add to the mood of the images you're viewing. I haven't seen this disc on a 16:9 set yet but on my 50" tosh 4:3 the images were of reference quality much like the other alpha titles I own. I really liked the context sensetive menu's but it would have been nice to have a small key map to show where these locations are in the bigger picture. I'm a geographer so I'm used to seeing north arrows, scale bars and kep maps so these IMO would be welcome additions to the still menu image's. I quite enjoyed the little write up on each image as well.

I did find one problem and that was I set the audio on my Panny A320 to DTS and set the captioning to on which worked great...the problem was though when it switches the the next chapter it defaults back to DD with captions off?

thats about all I've found so far though. One other thought I had while listening to the music was that it might be nice to have music that correlates to the geographic image we're looking at. By that I mean say its an image of new zealand, maybe some mouri music might be appropriate or irish music for Ireland etc. It might be difficult to get the right feel from some of the cultral music but its just a thought I had...

**rlabarge** · 19 September 2001, 07:09 Wednesday

Hi Andrew

Thanks for the feedback. In regards to the audio mode and subtitles if you set them from the menus they will keep working all through the title. If you change the audio mode or turn subtitles on or off using the buttons on the remote control, the change will only be effective for the segment you are currently in.

Your idea of a small map or key is a good one. It is too late to do this for the Oceania title, but I will see if I can implement if for the other 6 titles in the series.

The other 6 titles will have music that is "native" to the area of the world where the video is from. For example the Planet Earth: Australia disc will have music from an aboriginal Australian performer, and the North America disc will have original music composed and performed by artists who live in Texas. The Europe disc will have classical music, etc.

Ralph LaBarge
Managing Partner, Alpha DVD
Author, "DVD Authoring & Production"
rlabarge@alphadvd.com

**Andrew Pratt** · 19 September 2001, 09:58 Wednesday

Thanks ralph I'll use the menu settings next time. My problem is I never remember to swap the audio to DTS till after the movie starts so I usually end up doing it from the remote. No a major issue though and I'm glad you liked the key map idea