MachineOfTheMonth: Entertainment Software Series: DVD players for Linux and Video CD Recording

[ Thanks to Glenn Mullikin for this link. ] Entertainment Software Series: DVD players for Linux

"I used a 1.2 Ghz Athlon with 1 GB of RAM with an inexpensive DVD drive that cost me maybe $30. So yes, MPEG2 decryption was going to be performed in software but with a machine like this, that would not be a problem, and it wasn't a problem with all of the software I tested. The quality probably doesn't equal a standalone dvd player because there are sometimes some artifacts and sometimes the screen blanks out with one of the players and the monitor seems to think it lost a video signal but on the whole, the quality of video is acceptable. Sometimes the screen will freeze with one of the players and stay that way for a few seconds and then all of a sudden the video and audio start playing again. No, it's not perfect but we're getting close.

The real question is "Do I miss my DVD player?" The answer to that question is "I love my Linux box and the more things I can do on it, the more I love it." So sure I miss Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound on a home theater system setup but I get more satisfaction out of watching a movie on my computer than a big home theater system. Why? Because it's open source. How? Because I compiled and installed it."

Xinerama (Dual Head), Watching TV and Making Video CDs

"Having fun is a key to investigating all the things you can do with linux. Pick the things that you are interested in, and go for it. When I first got started in Linux, one of the first things that I did was go and purchase a Hauppage WinTV card. Why did I do that? Because I wanted to be able to watch tv on my linux box, even if couldn't watch dvds. Of course, dvd support is here now but watching tv on your computer is a given. It's definitely fun to fire up xawtv and watch the news or watch whatever. We'll take a look at how you can get started watching tv on your linux box - and it shouldn't cost you more than $50.

For me, I recently became interested in what is called multi-head displays. Since I have 2 17-inch monitors sitting side by side, I figured it was now or never. It didn't hurt that I had 2 video cards that have drivers for Xfree86 version 4 either. Xinerama is a form of multi-head where you have one big logical screen made up of however many monitors. I am not sure about running more than 2 monitors because I have never done it but I have run 2 monitors side by side. I'll tell you what my impressions are on doing that.

And last but not least by any stretch of the imagination is what I call mpeg video and working with it to produce video cds. Now, before you say "I don't have a video cd player" just think for a moment. You have a linux box. You have a windows box? Well, hopefully whichever one you have my video cd that I make on my linux box will run on it and no matter what video cd playing software you use. Steep requirement, I know. But that's how the world should work."

Related Stories:

• About.com: Making VCDs with Linux(Jan 27, 2001)
• Machineofthemonth: Playing video cds under Linux using GPL software(Nov 24, 2000)
• ZDNetUK: First (legal) software DVD player for Linux(Apr 03, 2000)
• Wired: Legal DVD for Penguin-Heads(Mar 31, 2000)