New Format for Pirate DVDs from China.
I've become a pirate.
I've got to admit that I love the new "unofficial" Chinese compressed DVD format that's popped up in HK. Average $5 or $6 per season of a TV show. Compression is VCD quality, which is acceptable on a stadard def TV, and a whole season of 43 minute shows fits on a single dual-layer DVD-9, which is very convenient for storage, viewing and ripping.
There are also "movie collections" being produced in the same format, with about 4 films per $5 disc, usually in 4 or 8-disc sets, which means your movie collection can expand very quickly.
This is also perfect for my commute, as no matter how low the quality of these discs, I can still downsample them for viewing on my iPod.
I have no idea why the HK customs department hasn't cracked down on this yet. They seem to be very slow on this.
For my favorite shows I'll still buy the official DVDs.
I'm posting this because I want to know how everyone feels about this kind of piracy. Go ahead and tell me how horrible a person I am for supporting the pirates and ripping off the studios. You might even spark my conscience about it.
Benefits:
* Good source for videos you might not otherwise be inclined to pay for.
* Quality better than many other pirate DVDs.
* Easy way to get TV shows and movies on to the new 160GB iPod Classic.
* Easy storage, as sets are attractively packaged in minimal packaging.
* Cheap.
* Convenient - Can get series that are not easily available through regular channels.
Cons:
* It's still piracy.
* Not DVD quality.
* No booklets or DVD extras.
I've got to admit that I love the new "unofficial" Chinese compressed DVD format that's popped up in HK. Average $5 or $6 per season of a TV show. Compression is VCD quality, which is acceptable on a stadard def TV, and a whole season of 43 minute shows fits on a single dual-layer DVD-9, which is very convenient for storage, viewing and ripping.
There are also "movie collections" being produced in the same format, with about 4 films per $5 disc, usually in 4 or 8-disc sets, which means your movie collection can expand very quickly.
This is also perfect for my commute, as no matter how low the quality of these discs, I can still downsample them for viewing on my iPod.
I have no idea why the HK customs department hasn't cracked down on this yet. They seem to be very slow on this.
For my favorite shows I'll still buy the official DVDs.
I'm posting this because I want to know how everyone feels about this kind of piracy. Go ahead and tell me how horrible a person I am for supporting the pirates and ripping off the studios. You might even spark my conscience about it.
Benefits:
* Good source for videos you might not otherwise be inclined to pay for.
* Quality better than many other pirate DVDs.
* Easy way to get TV shows and movies on to the new 160GB iPod Classic.
* Easy storage, as sets are attractively packaged in minimal packaging.
* Cheap.
* Convenient - Can get series that are not easily available through regular channels.
Cons:
* It's still piracy.
* Not DVD quality.
* No booklets or DVD extras.
Comments
I've become a pirate.
Welcome to the club.
I will say that I have spent over $150 in this week at Amazon's new MP3 download service (quality VBR mp3 with no DRM at all).
Where I cannot get high-quality, downloadable music/movies for a reasonable price I will pirate. The market speaks. Give me decent-quality films with no DRM for ~$5-$10 each and I will buy them. Until them, I will pirate them.
I have no idea why the HK customs department hasn't cracked down on this yet. They seem to be very slow on this.
I'll tell you why, because the Chinese government is involved.
True story... about a month ago I was in Shenzhen where I visited a very well known mall (not a collection of free-standing vendors, mind you) which was full, and I mean FULL, of vendors selling fakes and knock-offs of famous name brand goods, from watches to jewelry, to luggage, purses, shoes... any kind of high-end good you could imagine. It is impossible to have a gigantic mall with established vendors selling fake products without government involvement. Impossible. The Chinese government is involved in corruption that would make the most hardened US politicians blush.