Pioneer's DVD-V7200 cuts a path for industrial DVD-Video players

Emedia Professional, April, 1998 by Jeff Partyka

On February 2, 1998, at Online Inc.'s DVD Professional conference in Orlando, Florida, Pioneer New Media Technologies introduced and demonstrated a standalone DVD-Video player that the company hopes will "blaze the trail" in educational and all applications of DVD. The DVD-V7200, far from being another relatively straightforward home-entertainment unit for playback of movies, is an industrial DVD-Video player with features aimed to suit schools, museums, libraries, retail stores, workstations, corporate environments, and more.

Perhaps the most immediately noticeable features of the DVD-V7200 are its size and weight--8.25 inches wide, 4.5 inches high, 16 inches long, and less than 11 pounds. According to Andy Parsons, vice president of product development and technical support at Pioneer, the player was designed over the past two-and-a-half years in response to market preferences and demands. "The market told us it didn't want a big, laserdisc-like design," Parsons says. "It was important that it be small so that, for example, two can fit side by side on a rack in a school or library setting."

In addition to its size, the DVD-V7200 offers random-access, frame-accurate searches, a feature new to DVD-Video players. It also delivers a "video blackboard" that allows text (via a keyboard), highlights, and graphics to be added to a screen; creation of on-screen interactive buttons (video objects can also be made into active buttons); support for a PS/2 mouse or similar device; computer control via an RS-232C serial interface (as has been standard on Pioneer's laserdisc players), which allows users to take advantage of subpicture and multiangle DVD-Video features; external sync with loop-through; a daily/weekly timer feature for programming; and a large wired or wireless remote control.

The DVD-V7200 supports the DVD Barcode system, allowing control of player operation using a Pioneer barcode scanner and barcodes on the discs themselves. (Compatibility with LaserBarcodes, as used in educational laserdisc programs, is also an option.) It can create new or use existing barcodes and readers, with room in its memory for up to 300 commands. Barcodes and commands saved in the memory can be recalled and displayed on the screen, allowing playback of single commands or stacks of several linked commands.

The player recognizes DVD-Video discs, hybrid DVD-Video/ DVD-ROM discs, Video CDs, and audio CDs. Its mean time between failures (MTBF) is 10,000 hours, which the company says gives it a durability and reliability ideal for use in classrooms, training facilities, and other public venues.

Pioneer's player also comes with protection against two major potential problems in industrial environments: theft and contamination. The threat of theft is minimized by the DVD-V7200's ability to be secured to a shelf or desktop, and to lock the disc in the player tray. As for contamination by dust, dirt, and other nuisances common in certain industrial environments, Parsons says the player "is designed for kiosks in a digitally hostile environment, such as a store. One of the features is a rubber gasket around the tray door to protect the disc from contaminants."

The DVD-V7200, which was made available in March at a suggested list price of $995, is one of the first of what will almost certainly be a long line of industrial-specific DVD hardware products. As DVD-Video's potential beyond movie playback (particularly in the area of interactivity) becomes more apparent, the demand in educational, business, and retail settings for products like Pioneer's is sure to increase--while the perception of DVD-Video simply as a replacement for VHS is just as sure to fade.

(Pioneer New Media Technologies, 2265 East 220th Street, Long Beach, CA 908 10; 310/952-2111; Fax 310/952-2990; http://www.pioneerusa.com)