5.1 How much does it cost to produce a DVD? Isn't it more expensive thanvideotape, laserdisc, and CD-ROM?
Description
This article is from the DVD Formats FAQ, by jtfrog@usa.net (Jim Taylor) with numerous contributions by others.
5.1 How much does it cost to produce a DVD? Isn't it more expensive thanvideotape, laserdisc, and CD-ROM?
Videotape, laserdisc, and CD-ROM can't be compared to DVD in a
straightforward manner. There are basically three stages of costs:
production, pre-mastering (authoring, encoding, and formatting), and
mastering/replication.
DVD video production costs are not much higher than for VHS and similar
video formats unless the extra features of such as multiple sound tracks,
camera angles, seamless branching, etc. are employed.
Authoring and pre-mastering costs are proportionately the most expensive
part of DVD. Video and audio must be encoded, menus and control information
have to be authored and encoded, it all has to be multiplexed into a single
data stream, and finally encoded in low level format. Typical charges for
compression are $120/min for video, $20/min for audio, $6/min for
subtitles, plus formatting and testing at about $30/min. A ballpark
estimate for producing a two-hour DVD movie is about $20,000. A simple
DVD-Video title with menus and various video clips can cost as low as
$3,000. If you want to do it yourself, authoring and encoding systems can
be purchased at prices from $400 to over $2 million. These will drop very
rapidly in the next few years to where DVDs can be produced on a desktop
computer system that costs less than $20,000.
Videotapes don't really have a mastering cost, and they run about $2.40 for
replication. CDs cost about $1,000 to master and $0.50 to replicate.
Laserdiscs cost about $3,000 to master and about $8 to replicate. As of
July 1998, DVDs cost about $2000 to master and about $1.70 to replicate.
Since DVD production is based mostly on the same equipment used for CD
production, mastering and replication costs will drop to CD levels.
Pre-mastering costs are mostly for authoring systems and encoding systems
which cost tens of thousands of dollars, but these too will get much
cheaper in the next few years.
Double-sided or dual-layer discs cost only a little more to replicate,
since all that's required is stamping data on the second substrate (and
using transparent glue for dual layers). Double-sided, dual-layer discs
(DVD-18s) are more difficult and not yet commercially available. (See
3.3.1.)
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