Sep 17, '09 07:30:02AM • Contributed by: seanm5
This is more of an observation than a hint, but I haven't seen it documented anywhere else.
In Snow Leopard, you can now take screen captures while a DVD is playing. In previous versions of OS X, the system would give you an error screen saying that this wasn't allowed. In 10.6, the system will take the screenshot like normal, but block out the DVD Player app window with a checkerboard pattern.
So while this still won't allow you to take screen captures of a DVD (you can use VLC for that), you're now able to at least take screenshots of your screen without being forced to quit DVD Player first. A very welcome refinement.
[robg adds: This behavior has always confused me -- does Apple think consumers are going to take 30 screen captures every second, moving frame by frame over 90 minutes, in order to rebuild the movie from scratch? There are so many easy workarounds for screenshots (VLC, SnapzPro), recording the screen as a movie (ScreenFlow, Camtasia for Mac, Snapz), and just ripping the movie (MacTheRipper, etc.), that it seems really strange to prevent a single snapshot of the DVD Player's screen. In any event, if you want or need a screen grab from a DVD, you'll want to look into one of the alternatives. At least now, though, a playing movie won't block a screenshot of something else on your screen.]
