Today we talk about the DVD Copy Control Associations attempt to add an amendment to its licensing agreement that requires a DVD to be present during playback. We discuss an article in CEPro entitled "DVD CCA Aims to Prohibit DVD Ripping Once and For All" written by Julie Jacobson. Then we move on to discuss an email from Jason in Brooklyn, NY which spurred some debate around the offices of the HT Guys. Jason asked us to convince him why he should upgrade to the next generation DVD format.

Is a next generation DVD player right for you?

How big is your screen? - The smaller your screen and the farther away from your TV you sit may make buying a next gen DVD player unnecessary. You can not tell the difference between DVD and next gen DVD on a 40 inch HDTV TV at 12.5 feet regardless of resolution. At 12.5 feet need a screen size of 50 inches before the difference is noticeable.

Do you want next generation sound? - Even if you can't tell the difference between DVD and next gen DVD you may still want to upgrade for the sound only. You can not hear Dolby True HD of DTS HD sound on a standard DVD player. If you want to hear that incredible new sound track then get the upgrade.

Take it for a test drive (sort of) - If you want to see if the difference is worth it try this out. Watch a movie in HD on HBO, Showtime HDNET Movies, or even on the Networks. If you have a 1080p TV watch on HBO or HDNet. If you have a 720p TV watch a Saturday night movie on ABC. Make sure you have the DVD handy and do an A/B comparison while the movie is on. Recording the movie to a DVR if you have one will make it easy to sync up scenes. Check to see if the improvement is worth it. You do have to consider that the quality of the next gen DVD should be better than what you get over the air of through satellite or cable. Compression can affect the quality of the picture but its should still be a good indicator of the improvement over standard DVD.

Other things to consider - If you have built a video server (like Ara has) you may not want to give up the convenience for improved picture. After all, DVDs are still very good quality. A next generation player will upconvert your existing library and improve an already good picture of standard DVD.