I needed to learn about creating a DVD, and most of the recommendations that I got steered me towards DVD Demystified by Jim Taylor. The book, and accompanying DVD, do exactly that - it demystifies the DVD media.
I enjoyed the review of the history of DVD, including the interesting machinations that moved the standard along and continues to scare the entertainment producers. The section gave valuable information without diving into the technical details too quickly.
After that, the author gets technical enough so that a novice can learn about the requirements. Everything from information for the home set-top box buyer to material preparation, standards (such as they are), file formats and clear explanations of the terms used in DVD and the programs with which you create them are all there. While the book doesn't give hardware or software recommendations, I actually think this is a plus. The field is changing so rapidly that such a book would be useless in short order.
To me, two of the best chapters of the book are those on DVD myths and the accompanying chapter "What is Wrong with DVD?". It both gives you an idea of what improvements could be coming to this technology in the future, plus if you need to convince your boss to transition to this technology, it breaks down the misconceptions about DVD in easy to understand language that can be easily converted into a presentation that even Dilbert's boss could understand.
The DVD has some program demos and some odds and ends that I couldn't get very excited about. There is also a website associated with the book that is updated monthly and is a terrific resource. Since Amazon throws out reviews with web addresses in them, suffice it to say that you need to type "dvddemystified" into Google and look at the first address listed.
The only real disappointment I had with DVD Demystified is that the scripting language of the media is not explored. Anything that I have learned about scripting has come from the authoring program I am working with, but I would like to have another reference to fall back on.
Thus, if you need to move towards delivery of DVD products, I do recommend you read this book.