DIGITAL L.A. : ENHANCED MOVIE-VIEWING GIVES DVD PLAYERS THE EDGE.

Byline: David Bloom 

With all the marketing muscle and millions they can muster, makers of DVD and its rival cousin DiVX are begging us to buy their stuff. So what should you purchase this holiday seasons?

For those who don't know, DVD, or digital video disc, looks like a compact disc but holds 26 times more information, offering plenty of room not only for music but also incredible games, reference works and especially movies. Compared to VHS videotapes, DVDs provide far better pictures, sound and durability.

You also can hop to any point in the movie easily, with scene-by-scene ``chapter'' markers. And because of DVD's huge capacity, most titles are packed with such delightful extras as audio in several languages, running commentary by the director, interviews and biographies of key personnel and special-effects explanations.

By the end of 1998, as many as 1 million players are expected to be sold, and millions more DVD drives are part of new computers. That base of players will further drive down prices and encourage the release of even more titles than the 2,300 now available.

``Already a pretty established base of people love DVD,'' said Gail Becker, vice president of communications for Warner Home Video, which has championed the format since 1992. ``You can get a player for $299 and can rent a disc for the same price as a (video) tape. And it looks and sounds unbelievable.''

To further boost the format, electronics companies, retailers, video rental chains and studios are offering deals through the holidays.

For instance, buy a Toshiba player at the Good Guys or Best Buy and get free DVD rentals at Hollywood Entertainment or West Coast Entertainment. And Warner and corporate cousin New Line Home Video will give you ``City of Angels,'' the goodie-laden ``Lost in Space,'' and three other titles.

In a somewhat similar deal, online DVD seller Netflix.com will give buyers of Sony, Pioneer and Toshiba players up to five free rentals, said president Mark Randolph.

Cheaper alternative

DiVX, or Digital Video Express, players do everything a DVD player does, and one thing more: equipment and a modem (which add $50 to $100 to the player's cost) to run specially encoded DiVX discs.

DiVX discs cost only $4.59, compared to DVDs that usually cost $20 to $25, making it easy to amass a cheap collection of movies.

But while you can watch a DVD disc as many times as you want, you can only watch a DiVX disc for 48 hours once you put it in the player, said Josh Dare, DiVX's director of communications.

Then the controller equipment scrambles the picture until you call DiVX and pay $3.25 for another 48-hour view. The idea was to create a system that made rentals easy and cheap while solving studios' piracy concerns, Dare said.

``We believe we're complementary to DVD,'' Dare said. ``The market we're going for is video rentals, with 10 million rentals a day. But there's a downward trend line, and when you ask customers why, they say they're tired of hassles, taking back tapes and paying late fees. DiVX gets rid of those frustrations.''

Circuit City and a Los Angeles-area entertainment law firm have been DiVX's financial backers and have bet big on the product. But there are perhaps only 200 titles available - and only a handful of DiVX-compatible DVD players.

DiVX titles are also stripped down typically, with none of the extras found on regular DVDs. But Dare said many people don't want the extras, and many films don't warrant them. DiVX provides a cheap, simple alternative.

``If you want the other stuff, we would say there's a fine product already out there,'' Dare said. ``DiVX is the softback to the hardback of DVD.''

But DiVX has enraged many DVD enthusiasts. Netflix's Randolph argues, for instance, that the extras are important.

``I'm amazed how much those special features add to the experience, even on the ones that are not the deepest movies,'' Randolph said.

So what you do depends on how you watch movies. DiVX's convenience may outweigh the format's limits and its more expensive equipment. However, serious film buffs should dispense with DiVX and use the savings to buy four or five movies on DVD.