If You're Going, Go Digital; DVD movies play major role in the modern road trip.(Brief Article)

You're on a long stretch of blissfully empty asphalt when you hear: ``Are we there yet?'' Then, you hear it again. And again. If necessity is the mother of invention, then back-seat whining is its father: And so was born the rear entertainment system.

Designed in large part to help keep the kiddies firmly planted in their seats, eyes glued to a screen, headphones attached to their heads and mouths shut, it's a great way to help wind away the hours on American-scale road trips.

DVD systems are finding their way into more vehicles lately, adding better sound and picture quality to the experience, plus portability and more.

Once relegated to a tiny corner of your local Blockbuster, DVDs are now rapidly supplanting VHS tape as the video format of choice. According to the DVD Entertainment Group (DEG), more than 120 million DVD movies and music videos were shipped to retailers in the first three months of 2002, a 74 percent increase from the same period last year. The DEG also estimates at least 35 million DVD players have been sold through March of this year since the introduction to the U.S. market in 1997.

Such a trend could hardly escape the attention of automakers.

General Motors pioneered with VHS-based entertainment systems in its midsize vans in the 1998 models, and more than 100,000 buyers have chosen the option. GM went digital for 2002, offering systems on the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Oldsmobile Bravada. GM minivans Chevrolet ...