AnyDVD

Following I just sent to AnyDVD support (2005-06-10) of www.slysoft.com:

This is a feature request, not a technical problem!

My Player Software has a lot of trouble with all those defective DVD-Authorings out there. Each time a DVD is named "DVDVOLUME" (or some series uses one unique volume name for a complete season, like in Star Trek) my player goes nuts. Yes, this partly is a player problem and not a problem with AnyDVD.

However it would be nice, if AnyDVD would be able to fix this buggy authoring on the fly (option).

The problem is the non-unique DVD volume name presented from the DVD. WinDVD uses this name to identify the disc, and thus does remembers a false start of the main menu, a false re-start of the DVD position and overlays all bookmarks of all DVDs named identical. I suspect other player software and such to do the same.

Would it be possible to implement a button in AnyDVD named "give the DVD a unique name", which consults a text file or such which has some "fingerprinting" on the DVD (length, titles, md5 of first frames of the main titles, etc.) to assign an automated unique name (based on date/time of addition) to the DVD? One could edit this file then to suit ones need.

Perhaps it would be feasible to combine this with a free internet database, such that all DVDs out there could be identified uniquely worldwide.

Please ;)

Note:

This feature would be extremely helpful for Users like me. I do not need the CSS-Cracking, I mainly bought AnyDVD to play DVDs with foreign regions on my laptop, as to do so is allowed but impossible else. Also the remove PUOs-feature is a delight, as without this I could not even play DVDs with the noted false authoring, because often I need to be able to directly navigate the DVD (which is ofen denied else) to escape the false remembered main menu position.

But with a "unique name feature", AnyDVD would become even more a must to be installed on computers to play buggily authored DVDs bought or rented.

Note that I started to buy DVDs en gros when I saw AnyDVD to become available.

You are allowed to cite following, anonymously or with my name:

For me AnyDVD is the tool of choice to enable me to buy DVDs from all over the world.

As the makers of DVDs are often too careless in how they author their DVD, the DVDs would be unusable for me, if I would not have AnyDVD.

Today I own over 1000 DVDs I would not have bought if AnyDVD would not be arround.

Thank you for your firm support of the DVD industry.

-Tino
PS: This is the simple truth and I am willing to testify.