To check the DVD-ROM brand installed in your Raite AV Phile 715, use the following sequence:

You should now see the name, or code, of the DVD-ROM displayed at the upper left corner of your TV screen

In order to get 18 character-long names for your MP3 songs, using Adaptec EasyCD Creator, you need to do the following BEFORE burning you MP3 CDs:

1. Open new CD layout;
2. Go File -> CD Layout Properties;
3. In CD Layout Properties click on Data Setup;
3. Chose ISO option and click Properties (the button next to 'ISO window');
4. In the Properties window select long file names (up to 32 characters) option. You'll find it in the bottom portion of the window.
5. Click Apply and/or OK. (There is also Set as Default... option. By clicking this button, you won't need to repeat setting process for each new layout).

This should set your software for managing long file names, and should also give you 18 characters-name display on your TV screen when you listen to MP3 CDs on Enzer 5015. Since the player supports titles up to 18 characters only, if you have songs with titles longer than 18 characters, these will be cut off after the last one. This applies to Enzer 5015 only, for if you play the same CD on your computer, you will get the full song-titles (provided, of course, they are not longer than 32 characters).

In late 1996, when the hype and publicity for DVD was gearing up, one of the most attractive features was the ability to include two different rated versions of the movie on one disc. Under normal circumstances this would require including two complete versions, which would take up a lot of space leaving little or no room for extras. As part of the original DVD Spec (the bible on how DVD works and is created) there was a revolutionary concept called seamless branching. Almost two full years later, in November '98, New Line became the first studio ever to incorporate seamless branching technology with the release of Crash. The disc contained the R and NC-17 rated versions of the movie. Then came an 11-month dry spell. Back in October '99 Artisan released Stargate: Special Edition, which contained the regular theatrical version and a new cut with 9-minutes of extra footage. The following month, in November '99, New Line released four DVDs featuring seamless branching (Embrace of the Vampire, Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy 2: Lily, and Poison Ivy: The New Seduction). Each of these discs contained widescreen and pan&scan formats of both the R-rated and Unrated versions of the movies.

Okay, but what's so special about seamless branching?

Since there are only a few short differences between, say, the R-rated and Unrated versions of the movie seamless branching allows the authorist to use the same portions that appear in both - saving a lot of space on the disc. If you consider that 95% or more of the movies are identical the extra 'unrated' footage requires only an extra 5% of space on the disc.

To understand how it works you'll need a crash course in DVD production. When a movie is being turned into a DVD the source (or master) is screened and appropriate time codes are assigned. These time codes later become the chapter breaks. The movie is then encoded (converted from analog to digital). Basically all the time codes are fed into a computer and when the source is converted to digital each block is a separate asset (keep that word in mind). As I mentioned above the bulk of the footage between the two movies is identical. For the parts that are different the time codes are carefully set so the different footage can be included seamlessly.

Once all of the assets are encoded the next step is to author (or program) the DVD. For the sake of keeping this article easy to understand I'm going to greatly simplify the authoring process. The authorist takes all of the assets and labels each of them as chapters (Asset A becomes Chapter 1, Asset B becomes Chapter 2, and so on). One of the most common misconceptions about DVD is that playback must be linear (from start to finish). This is not true! If the authorist wanted he could program the chapters to play in any order, leave some out, or even add new ones (which can be longer or shorter). To author the R-rated version the process is straightforward. Chapter 1(R) ==> Chapter 2 (R)==> Chapter 3 (R)==> etc. To author the Unrated version the process is only slightly more complicated. Chapter 1(R) ==> Chapter X (Unrated)==> Chapter 3 (R)==> etc. You'll notice Chapter 2 (R) was replaced with Chapter X (Unrated). When the whole thing is played in sequence the unrated portion is what you watch and it seamlessly branches back to the R-rated Chapter 3. Because this is not linear it is considered branching and since you don't see the transition between the R-rated and Unrated it is considered seamless - hence the name seamless branching.

Take a look at the explanation below representing the differences in the playback of the two versions.

As you can see Chapter X in the Unrated version is 5-minutes longer than Chapter 2 in the R-rated version. There's no slight of hand going on. Earlier I mentioned the chapters can be any length and played in any order.

So there you have it - a very simplified breakdown on how seamless branching works.

Yes, the process of seamless branching is relatively simple. The largest obstacle standing in the way of more DVDs containing this feature is the lack of content. Most movies have only one version available. To create two separate versions of the movie the Director and/or Editor must made that decision. After that it's up to the studios to take the initiative and implement seamless branching. A recent release like American Pie from Universal would have been the perfect candidate for seamless branching, but they chose to release 2 separate DVDs (one containing the R-rated version and one containing the Unrated version).

DVD is still evolving and each studio is still learning what their customers want. In the past the titles that have featured seamless branching have been relatively small ones. Fox has thrown their proverbial hat in the ring with the highly anticipated upcoming release of The Abyss: Special Edition (March 21) - both the theatrical version and a new special edition version with 30-minutes of extra footage will be on the disc. Sometime this year Artisan will be releasing Terminator 2: Special Edition, which will also feature seamless branching. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.