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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: DVD "Security" Devices
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Barry Martin
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 203
From: Newington, CT USA
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 12-26-2004 11:46 PM
From my working at retail stores I can tell you any type of recorded media is the item most often stolen. DVD, CD, games, software, etc. Granted most of these items don't cost as much as say PDAs, cell phones, cameras, portable DVD players, etc. but there wouldn't be a day I worked where at least a 5-10 recorded media items were lifted. I think the tabs make more sense than the tape for theft deterrent. It is really simple to take a razor and cut through the tape starting from one end of the case to the other. I found a pen knife one day and we used it to show how quickly someone could make off with a disc, less than 10 seconds.
As for the tags inside the cases used to set off door alarms, people would occasionally get told to go ahead and walk on after setting it off but only when it was slow and the door man saw they purchased. Of course, they could have bought something cheap and hid a bunch of discs in there pocket so the door man is supposed to check receipts on everyone that buzzes the door, but even then all you're preventing is someone slipping something extra in their bag, they could still have it on their person. So you need to catch the person picking the item up, removing it from casing, stashing it on themselves, and then passing the last point of sale. Sometimes they would wait for the person to buzz the door instead of just taking them right after the registers just to have extra cause to ask them to empty their pockets, handbag, etc.
I'm all for anti-theft, it doesn't bug me to slice open a package but the bad news is there are always going to people wanting something for nothing and willing to risk jail/prison to get it. What I hate is the places that are so lazy about security that they keep their video games/software locked in glass and you have to hunt someone down to get a copy.
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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene
Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 12-27-2004 10:59 PM
quote: Joe Redifer
I have never seen any retailer "deactivate" the little magnetic sticker that is inside the DVD box by rubbing it on something.
Depending on the system they may be deactivating and you would never know it. the simple task of running the item under the led bar scanner often is the same motion to deactivate the device, usually hidden underneath.
What is to come is radio tags. The tags are never deactivated, instead, they are tracked. Once purchased, the item in question is safe to leave the store, but the tag is still active. In fact, with the radio tag system, once you step through the door, they can tell what items you just tried to steal. They would know exactly what they were looking for, and what copy it was.
Aaaah technology.... love it..
ciao baby
dave
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-27-2004 11:29 PM
Have you ever been to Wal-Mart when the cashier scanned the item and you hear a "Boing!!" sound as the item is scanned?
That's the sound of the security tag being deactivated.
Those security tags are RFID devices. Radio Frequency tags.
When you walk through the funky gates, an electric field is produced. (Imagine a radio antenna inside the gates.) The field incuces a current in anything made of metal within range. Inside the security tag is a strip of metal which is the right size and shape to emit a field of a certain frequency when it's induced by the gates. A receiving antenna picks up said field and sets off an alarm whenever it's of the right frequency.
Usually, the sensor tags are made of two pieces of metal, connected by a "cat whisker" of metal. The whisker acts as a bridge between the two metal parts. When the bridge is intact, the resonant frequency of the tag is one value. IF the bridge is broken, the tag's value is nullified or cut in half. When the tag is passed over the "deactivator" (hidden beneath the surface of the counter) an electric field is produced which burns out that link as if it was a fuse. Resonant frequency is nullified. Tag won't set off the detector.
Here's your lesson in how to steal:
Take a sharp knife or, better still, a razor blade and cut through the tag. It will be deactivated.
If it's one of those square tags with what looks like an aluminum foil spiral inside, cut radially from the center to the edge.
If it's a flat foil sticker with two dots on it, cut lengthwise between the dots.
If it's a rectangular plastic thing, cut through the plastic, into the metal foil inside, crosswise at a diagonal.
You will sever the metal foil pieces inside and change their resonant frequency enough that the detector won't go off.
Oh! And, just so you know... Getting caught tampering with a security tag carries the same penalty as shoplifting in most places.
And, another thing... Don't let the cashier "double stack" items on the deactivator. She MUST pass each item over the plate ONE AT A TIME! -- Even if you bought two identical items! The power of the electric field produced by the deactivator is enough to "blow the fuse" inside ONE sensor tag but not two. If she passes two or more tags over the plate, NEITHER tag will be deactivated.
Wait! Forget I told you that! LET the cashier do that! Then when the alarm goes off and the security guard chases you across the parking lot you can sue the store for false arrest and defamation of character!
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Barry Martin
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 203
From: Newington, CT USA
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 12-29-2004 02:43 PM
I agree it's easy for anyone set out to do it too, so I guess my solution would be screw the extra cost of tape and tabs, stick with the shrink wrap, and make sure the store actually has undercover loss prevention. The two things I thought ridiculous at the Best Buy I worked (and at all as I've been told) is they don't have those sensors for the security devices at the entry to the bathroom hallway, which would make a HUGE impact on people taking stuff in there to steal it. And they didn't have loss prevention walking the store. The LP guys are door greeters and receipt checkers. Even paying one person per shift to wander the store would seem to be a huge help against the large dollar amount of theft each store faces. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) They also have a small amount of camera coverage for all parts of the store compared to department stores like Sears, JC Penney, etc AND they don't have anyone really watching them. The front door man can check cameras one or 4 at a time on a small TV, and they record so when they do catch someone stealing they can go back for the evidence, but I've seen some of these stores with security rooms with 1 or 2 guys just watching cameras all day AND undercover LP detectives walking around on top of the security that you see at a Best Buy, Sam Goody, etc.
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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene
Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 12-30-2004 10:22 AM
quote: Eric Webb was the last to post
I would rather have the full bitrate dual layer version instead of the recompressed video that was already compressed in the first place.
The deal with compressing video is the same deal with compressing audio. You can only put so much on to one space without losing integrity.
With audio compression, if you use a gread encoder, you end up with no discernable loss between original and compressed copy. Yes you can find loss using several different engineering methods, but if you do it right, you cannot tell the difference between the two. I personally use the fraunhoffer encoder with a dual pass vbr high encoding rate. It gives me an average of 1.1 mb per minute of music, and no one can ever tell the difference. There are no digital artifacts that can be heard.
On to video encoding, you have the same philosophy on space versus file size here. Using 5.1 DD audio, you can compress about 2 hours and 15 minutes of video on to one single sided dvd blank, regardless of its original file size. If the sound is 2 channel stereo, you can do about 2 hours and 30 minutes, and if the sound is 5.1 DTS, you can get about 1 hour and 50 minutes, safely.
This is of course dependent on your ripper and encoder. As the above mentioned dvdshrink, it can if you select properly, to do a dual pass vbr with adaptive error compensation, using comparative models between encoded file to original file to increase picure integrity.
Its all in the method used.
ciao baby
dave
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As for the little pressure fingers breaking: That does happen in about 1 of 1000 cases, but it's easy to replace the inside tray for about 50 cents. And, even if it is shattered, the disk can't move more than 1/4" in any direction, so the playing surface is still protected.
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