DVD Playback
Playing DVD Video
As with any media content, issues of copyright, public performance, and fair use in the classroom need to be considered. This author is not a lawyer, and cannot offer specific advice. However, there are several other considerations to be aware of
Practical Matters
The server has a single DVD-RW drive. This drive is visible to all the multipoint sessions, but is not useful for DVD video. (The DVD drive works fine for reading data discs from all stations) Generally, this poor performance is because our multi-user virtualized hardware environment precludes the ability to use hardware features that make DVD playback smooth on stand-alone computers.
- DVD video playback is passable on the server using VLC
- Windows Media player will not be able to play DVDs
- DVD playback is exceptionally poor from the L300 workstations. You should not attempt it.
Since DVD playback is limited with the single drive, and the playback is poor, we are providing portable DVD players that can be used to watch DVD videos.
Additional Legal complications of playing a DVD on the computer
VLC uses a technology that can find and guess keys from a DVD in order to decrypt it [1]. This may be a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DCMA). The Librarian of Congress does have the discretion to designate exemptions:
The Copyright Office has concluded the fifth triennial rulemaking proceeding pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 1201. Section 1201, part of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, provides that, upon the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, the Librarian of Congress may designate certain classes of works as exempt from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works.[2]
Should the need arise to to play DVD's where VLC's implementation is incompatible with your use, you can always play the DVD on the supplied portable DVD players. As licensed DVD playback devices, they do not suffer from any ambiguity regarding circumvention. If at a later date there is an absolute need to play incompatible DVD content on the computer itself, we can investigate purchase of a commercial DVD playback solution. Be advised that locating such software that is compatible with our multi-user environment may be difficult or costly.
Portable DVD Players
They are independent of the computer workstations
Instead of taking up a valuable computer workstation just to watch DVD's, users can watch on the portable players, and leave the workstation open for other activities
AC Power
(As opposed to only 12v for in-car use)
Video link between devices
Each DVD player can, of course, play a DVD itself, but you can also connect two DVD players together to share the same content. One player may be suitable for a single viewer, or perhaps two. When more viewers are interested, you can power-on another player, switch it to AV in and connect the the two machines using the video link cable connected to the AV OUT ports
- The AV OUT port is actually an IN when that device is in AV IN mode
- There are headphone splitter adapters avalable to share the single headphone port
- The DVD players do have a fairly powerful internal speaker
Upright position
Unlike the clamshell style of DVD player, the upright position takes up less space, and it more naturally positioned for viewing. Also the retractable kickstand means you can retract it, and comfortable grip the player to watch while holding in your hands or lap, so as not to take up desk space that might be better utilzied for other activities.
AV OUT to the projector
These portable player are fully capable DVD players, and have a Composite Video out cable you can use to attach the output to the projector, and speakers.
9" Screen
This is the largest screen one can get for a portable DVD player
DVD Button/Ports
