Since people still get confused by releases from Viva which are of good quality (Fox, Disney), I decided to update this thread with a sample guide of DVD covers from Viva/Disney, Viva/Fox, and Viva/others and what to look for in them. The pics are done in haste (I'm busy
) so pardon the low and amateurish quality.
Spotting a Viva Disney/ABC release:
1. You get the Disney Logo on the spine, that should give you an indication this is probably a DVD9.
2. Most of the time, Disney titles from Viva has this box, inside the region code, aspect ratio, running time, and DVD type is indicated. Under it is the Viva Video wordings, ignore this, as long as it's Disney, it's most likely a good DVD.
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Spotting a Viva 20th Century Fox release:
1. Like Disney releases, the spine will indicate the company logo. This time it's 20th Century Fox's.
2. Most Fox releases has a box like the one indicated here in one form or another, again, The aspect ratio, sound options, and subtitles are often indicated. Most Fox releases don't include information about the DVD type (DVD5 or DVD9), but more than likely it will be a DVD9. Again, Most Fox releases are A-Okay.
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Spotting a Viva DVD to avoid:Now this is the way to find DVDs from Viva to avoid.
1. It's most likely to have three Viva Video logos on the front (Small), on the spine, and on the back. If you see those, it should be warning that the DVD is likely to be of doubtful quality in terms of picture-quality (PQ), audio quality (AQ), and extras.
2. On the spine is a catalogue number in this format VPI-DVD-09-123. The '123' is variable, for Ip Man pictured above, the number is 290, whether that means Viva has already released 290 of these DVD5s, I do not know for sure, but it seems likely, since the number seems to be consecutive.
These types of DVDs are most likely DVD5s and as such, compromises in terms of PQ, AQ, and extras have been made to fit the contents on the smaller capacity DVD5.
Disclaimer: This is a general guide, and not all DVD5/DVDs to avoid are in this format. Some like The Banquet comes in thinline packaging and doesn't carries the signs indicated above. Also, there's no guarantee that Viva will not change it's packaging in future releases or re-releases.
To sum this up, for the
nth time, most (if not all) Disney-ABC, Fox releases from Viva are mostly likely DVD9 and mirror closely Region 1 releases. Viva releases from independent studios like Lionsgate, Miramax, and Asian film outfits are suspect. Look for the signs indicated above and/or check this thread.
In closing, I really do hope that Viva would eventually wake up and give us our money's worth and I would be able to close this thread for good.... until then, if you come across any errors in my postings or happen to find one lemon from Viva that's not posted here, please post in this thread.
