| From Movie Theaters to Multiplexes and then | | | | for video and audio, put together by the |
| to home cinema systems. From Betamax to VHS. | | | | "Moving Picture Experts Group" (hence MPEG) |
| From VHS to DVD. Analogue to digital. We all | | | | and yes, it is their 4th version at the |
| know the story so far. | | | | standard. So you can now download a movie in |
| | | | MPEG-4 format - but this can take time! |
| But are you up to date with the latest? If | | | | |
| you are new to the Internet are you totally | | | | DivX: developed by DivXNetworks, is a file |
| confused by the jargon? | | | | format that enables movies to be downloaded |
| | | | much faster without losing any picture |
| Do you know your DVD from your P2P? Do you | | | | quality - and DivX is based on the MPEG-4 |
| confuse your Divx and MPEG4? Have you got | | | | technology that we mentioned above. |
| your MP3s, codecs and plug-ins. What does it | | | | |
| all mean and does it matter? | | | | Codec: although it sounds mystical it is |
| | | | quite simply a piece of software that enables |
| The acronyms get longer, the speed of change | | | | file compression and decompression to |
| faster, the confusion greater. I am one day | | | | transfer it across the internet. |
| watching a movie on my laptop - and another | | | | |
| day I am teaching my uncle to program his old | | | | MP3: short for "MPEG Audio Layer 3" - from |
| VHS recorder! | | | | our MPEG friends again. This file format is |
| | | | for digital audio only, it uses a compression |
| The speed of change has opened up a huge gap | | | | method that means smaller file sizes. |
| between different users and this gap seems to | | | | |
| continue to grow. | | | | You do lose some information but most people |
| | | | can't notice the reduction in quality. So |
| It is now very easy to download movies to | | | | it's great for downloading music and playing |
| watch when you want, with perfect digital | | | | on an MP3 player. But this is just for music, |
| reproduction and you can even watch them | | | | not for movies. |
| where you want - perhaps on a laptop on the | | | | |
| commuter train or on the TV as normal. | | | | P2P: short for peer-to-peer. This is not a |
| | | | file format but one popular method of sharing |
| But to do so it helps to learn the new | | | | these files. Peer to peer is a form of |
| language and if you are interested in joining | | | | computer network that does not rely on a |
| in the movie download revolution then some | | | | client and server, but each computer is a |
| basic grounding in the essential terminology | | | | peer or equal - great for sharing and |
| will help. | | | | downloading audio and home video content. |
| | | | |
| So where to start? Let's start with something | | | | Even with compressed files it can take some |
| we think we know: | | | | time and sharing the load amongst several |
| | | | computers is a clever way to harness the |
| DVD: "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital | | | | power of the internet. |
| Video Disc" - these are discs that look like | | | | |
| compact discs (CDs) but hold much more data | | | | So you've downloaded the files - how do you |
| and are used now for storing movies. | | | | play them? |
| | | | |
| Rewriteable DVDs can be used for storing your | | | | On Windows PCs these files will usually play |
| music and computer files. Sorry there is no | | | | without a problem on the standard Windows |
| space here to go into the difference between | | | | Media Player particularly if you have the |
| the different permutations - DVD-R, DVD-RW, | | | | latest version. |
| DVD+R and the rest - that would be a separate | | | | |
| article in itself! | | | | For Apple Macs, QuickTime is both a file |
| | | | format and a player. Designed by Apple |
| Clearly when you download a movie you are not | | | | Computers QuickTime has been around a while. |
| downloading a DVD! So when you download a | | | | You can download the player from the Apple |
| movie what do you actually download? | | | | website and you can run it on a windows PC. |
| | | | |
| It is quite simply a computer file - but of | | | | Having mentioned Apple it would be difficult |
| course they come in many flavors! Here are | | | | not to mention the iPod. But playing movies |
| the highlights of the file jargon you may | | | | on iPods and other portable players is |
| come across. | | | | another topic entirely! |
| | | | |
| MPEG-4: this is a set of standards for a file | | | | © 2006 WhatMovieDownload. |