I just ordered one, for only 2.98 and 27 left. Check out all the Tvs manufacturers.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Classic-Films-About-TV-The-Television-Set-DVD-Free-Ship_W0QQitemZ6396559444QQcategoryZ617QQcmdZViewIt em

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For some reason I can not get any of the MPEG4 files from the site to run on my new laptop. For $2.98 it is no big deal, plus I can watch it on the TV of my choice.

I agree -- looks like a good deal! I download many interesting films from the Internet Archive for "free" after I got a cable modem a year or so ago, and with the cost of the Internet service, the time it takes to download, the work to convert and burn the files to a video DVD plus the cost of the blank DVD, the price this guy is charging is a bargain! Guess he plans to make it up in volume!?

Drats!!
:no:
I bought similiar version from someone on bay and had many problems with DVD-R format ---trying to play on my new laptop(player should easily accept all formats as new) and 2 seperate DVD players at home. Some early black /white footage worked, but dreadfully BORING.

:boring:


All sections on early color TV did not work at all, which is whole reason why purchased. The seller REALLY NEEDS to state THIS IS A DVD-R format and not a DVD to clarify. Is this improvement over other video disks THAT PARTIALLY WORKED???
:thumbsdn:

Somone posts if they get entire dvd-r disks to work on a stanadrd dvd player please.

Vintagecollect:

This is still the "dirty little secret" of the DVD world, and one which occasionally sets me off reminiscing fondly for the good old days of VHS tapes which, while offering relatively ratty picture quality, were pretty much bulletproof: they always worked no matter who you sent them to (except for overseas, but that's another story.)

Recorded DVDs, both DVD+R and DVD-R (pronounced DVD-dash-R, not minus-R by the way -- where's the logic in that?) still suffer from playback compatibility problems, as you have found out. You'll usually be ok, but the conventional wisdom is that somewhere above about 80% of all players will play one or both of these recorded formats reliably, with that percentage constantly rising as older models are retired and more "recorded DVD compatible" models come on the market. But that means that around 2 out of 10 machines still might not play a recorded DVD reliably! And I had someone just a few months ago who was unable to play a recorded DVD I made on either of his brand new brand name set-top DVD players, so go figure.

A huge variable seems to be the media itself. One brand frequently gives me a lot of playback trouble even on my most compatible players, while other brands, even cheap no-name ones seem quite reliable. It's a mess that the industry seems to be keeping awfully quiet about!

The reason is that the information on recorded DVDs is actually a series of darkened spots created on a photosensitive dye surface by a laser during the write process. This is significantly different from the "pits" (which are actual pits!) stamped into aluminum on a replicated DVD. Replicated DVDs are universally compatible with all players, but are very expensive to make. (Well, the first one is expensive, then the next hundred thousand are dirt cheap :)) Recorded DVDs are actually a clever "cheat", simulating the pits of the original DVD spec and DVD players have been engineered to be able to read the lighter and darker areas of the dye in the same way as the reflected/nonreflected light from the stamped DVDs.

One piece of good news: most all recorded DVDs will play in your computer. Try that if you have a DVD drive and a software DVD player. Since this is a compatibility issue, you could also ask the seller if they would be willing to supply you with a copy on DVD+R (assuming your existing copy is -R, or vice versa), that might do the trick. Or, believe it or not, sometimes a copy on an RW (rewritable) DVD will play when an R won't! And don't discount the possibility that you simply got a bad copy.

If you expect to be using recorded DVDs, this might not be a bad time to splurge thirty bucks or so and get a new player.

If you're really stuck, let me know what's on your DVD (I probably have it) or send it to me and I'll make you another copy which might play ok for you.

--Dave

DAVE S. Thanks for your generous offer and A Happy New Year for All!
Richard.

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I decided to splurg $2.99 and see what I get. Does anyone know who has the originals? Where do sellers get this stuff - it sure didn't start life in DVD format!

Tom,

As Andy noted earlier in the thread, most of this stuff that several folks are selling on eBay is downloaded from the Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) and is all freely available "public domain" material. They are ostensibly charging for their copying, not for the contents. In the case of a $2.99 DVD with free shipping, I'd agree it's a bargain compared to making it yourself. However, if you've got a cable modem, there's more material on that site than you could watch in ten lifetimes (although only a few DVDs worth of old radio and tv related movies -- which is still a treasure trove that I never expected to trip over.) I've used their stuff both commercially and as "fun" stuff to show at our local antique radio club. I think the Internet Archive is one of the most amazing resources on the 'net.

It's not well known that the Prelinger Archives material, from which most all of this stuff was culled, is not full DVD quality, even though it's published in MPEG2 form. So it delivers pretty much VHS quality, rather than DVD quality, and certainly nothing near what the original 16mm films had in them. To quote from the website:

"The files were encoded at constant bitrates ranging from 2.75 Mbps to 3.5 Mbps. Most were encoded at 480 x 480 pixels (2/3 D1) or 368 x 480 (roughly 1/2 D1). The encoder drops horizontal pixels during the digitizing process, which during decoding are interpolated by the decoder to produce a 720 x 480 picture... ...Picture quality is equal to or better than most direct broadcast satellite television. Audio was encoded at MPEG-1 Level 2, generally at 112 kbps. Both the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 movies have mono audio tracks." All in all, it's mostly watchable quality, especially considering the price!

A search for "television" or "RCA" on the IA site will turn up most of what you are interested in, however I've found that sitting in your pajamas in front of the ol' computer with a couple of beers doing a search is a great way to work (yes, sometimes I actually get paid for doing that!) and has resulted in some absolutely amazing gems getting unearthed!

Watch out, though. Once you get hooked, this place can be a great time-waster!

--Dave

Dave S. -- I appreciate your great Input giving us all knowledge on these format variations. Your avatar is also very cool and original:thmbsp:

That explains playback issues. I'm going to buy one and try on my newer VHS/DVD combo player. The seller obviously has the good intent to spread history of television since no money really made with such cheap DVDs. The one I got before wasn't as cheap, but wasn't overly expensive either. I'm going to splurge couple of bucks and give it a whirl.

Happy New year to Dave S. and all AKers!! :yes:

There only 19 copies left, just bought and will post results.

Dave - thanks for the info...way cool site. Tom

Well... I just bought one. I figured at $2.99, what the hell.

If you know how to hack an xbox, you can install either linux or a media player and play the movies that way. With both, you can even have the movie files on your computer and play them on the xbox via your network, with file sharing. I personally don't care for xbox at all, I just use it as a pc that can be easily connected to a tv.

Jonathan

Well the DVD arrived today from yumheart from PO Box 31933, Bellingham, WA. The DVD played no problem on my PC. That's the good news. It works. :D

...However, image quality is about half of what you'd get from the internet and down loading the file yourself. I did a side by side comparison of the RCA Hillsboro videa. The DVD had about twice the pixel noise, and was grainier compared to the mpeg 2 (72MB) download from the archive site. Guess the DVD is ok for someone who can't burn their own. My conclusion is that I'd be better off pocketing the $2.99 for myself. However, you have to try new things to find out if it's really worth while. Could be for some of us. Live and learn!

Got DVD today and everything worked great as should! Best clip was history of television, showing prewar sets, cameras, tv trucks, then manufacturing.

:thmbsp:
Worth the money, good compilation and contents label on dvd jacket. Hopefully someone will make dvd for each genre, ie-early color, prewar, and postwar tvs. Clips are definetely better with sound though... :yes:

Hey Dave S. about your thoughts on VHS,
This is still the "dirty little secret" of the DVD world, and one which occasionally sets me off reminiscing fondly for the good old days of VHS tapes which, while offering relatively ratty picture quality, were pretty much bulletproof: they always worked no matter who you sent them to (except for overseas, but that's another story.)

You are forgetting about Hi-Band or SVHS tapes, other than not having instant access to the section you are looking for I find the quality of an SVHS tape shot with a three CCD Camera had no digital artifacts or other flaws inherent in the system.
Richard.