Is it just me or do auto-starting DVDs annoy everyone? Often I put a DVD in and start it then go off and make something to eat or drink and come back, the aim being that we’ll have got through the piracy warnings (I bought it!) and copyright statutes that you can’t skip and be ready and waiting at the menu when I return. Unfortunately, some DVDs wait at the menu for a set period of time, then think you actually meant to start watching the movie and must have misplaced your remote control, or are so drunk you’re having trouble hitting the play button and are just mashing the controls with your fist instead. Maybe they’re designed for shops where they can loop round and round. I just find it annoying. I want the DVD to start when I want the DVD to start, like when I hit play, not whenever you feel like it.
This kind of leaches into another whole topic, the dos and don’ts of DVD menus. What I want it simple, the time from when I put the disc in to when I see the menu should be as small as possible. I don’t want to sit through piracy warning, copyright notices and trailers, then a long and convoluted menu introduction just to show how clever you are, just get me there fast. Certainly I don’t want to scroll through three or four screens to pick my country (UK, always on the last page) so you can then show me a disclaimer in the appropriate language and using the relevant legal wording.
Skip the intro clip from the film I’m about to watch (thereby giving parts of it away) and the snazzy screens that fit in with the ‘feel’ of the movie (e.g. having the menus on small computer screens for a Sci-Fi film). A flat graphic with the options in nice big lettering that change state in an obvious way when I select them. I want some standard, easy to pick options, nice and obvious and fast to switch to. When I switch menus, and most importantly, when I hit play, I don’t want another little cute clip or a slow transition with expensive effects, just get me there, fast.
For scene selections, think about the UI, I’m using a remote control, far from and ideal control method, so squeeze as many scenes on a page as you can, I hate scrolling, and when I reach the little scroll left or scroll right buttons, do it when I highlight it so I don’t need an extra click. When I arrive a new page, stay highlighting the navigation so if I want to flick through a few pages it’s easy, rather than auto-selecting the first scene on the page so I have to move to the bottom before I can move on. Stick with standard navigation, scenes in a grid, navigation at the bottom (left and right arrows on either, scene groups and return to main menu button between them).
Maybe then putting in a DVD and getting to the movie wouldn’t be as long-winded as sticking in a tape, which it can be on some.
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