Digital Video Daze

By JOSHUA QUITTNER

You've probably heard about DVD, the digital video format that allows full-length movies to be squeezed onto CDs. But chances are you don't own a DVD player--yet. Only around 700,000 people have bought one in the year since they were introduced. So what hope is there for the even newer (and curiously kludgy) format known as Divx?

The first Divx (pronounced "div-ex," it stands for digital video express) players began shipping to retail stores nationwide this month. Since Divx can run the old DVD disks while performing other amazing digital tricks, I suspect the new format is going to cause some confusion among the folks who are supposed to be trading in their VCRs for digital video decks this holiday season. Let's see if we can fine-tune the picture.

First, why would anyone want to get rid of his old reliable videotape player? For the same reasons that music lovers upgraded from record players to audio CDs: superior quality, compact storage and the ability to hop quickly to a precise spot in the programming. I've been trying out a Panasonic DVD A310 ($599), and am surprised that the picture really does look twice as good as those blurry images my half-as-expensive, suddenly depressing VCR has been grinding out. That's because VHS recorders typically display movies at about 240 lines of resolution; digital video paints the screen with 500 lines. It's one of those situations in which you don't realize how unsatisfying a thing is until you've got something better to compare it with. And by then, of course, you're ruined. DVD decks, I should note, are available for as little as $399, or for even less as add-on drives for computers.

I like being able to jump to any spot in a video. Many digital movies are broken up into "chapters," making them easier to watch piecemeal (a plus for anyone with an infant in the house). Some DVDs allow you to change camera angles and make the picture window horizontal, like a movie theater's, or square, to fill the TV screen.

While a Divx deck can run DVDs, it also plays its own disks. Divx decks plug into the TV, just like DVD drives. But they plug into the phone line too. When you first set up your deck, you must establish an account with Divx central--your machine calls a toll-free number, and you key in credit-card information. (The player automatically calls headquarters once or twice a month in the middle of the night, which I find creepy.) You see, rather than simply renting Divx disks, you buy them outright, for $4.50, and never return them to the store. You don't have to view them right away, but once you put one in your deck, you have 48 hours tops to watch it (as many times as you want). Then the movie locks. Want to see it later? That will cost $3.25 for another 48 hours. You can buy perpetual viewing rights for $20. It's all done via that phone rigmarole.

Josh Dare, a Divx spokesman, admits that the format won't appeal to everyone. Market research showed that people who prefer staying home and watching a video to going out for a movie and dinner were especially receptive to the endless viewing possibilities of Divx. "Think of it this way: you've got a video collection you're starting for $4.50 a movie," says Dare. Me? I'd rather go out for dinner.

For more on digital video decks, see time.com/personal Watch Anita Wednesday nights on CNNfn's Digital Jam.