A Few Words About A few words about... The Phantom of the Opera -- In High Definition (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

First of all -- no donations. Thanks anyway.

This is not an affordability factor, it's a reality factor.

The format is too new and the first generation players will be
replaced by better second and third generation players. Normally
I'd buy the first generation, but not when there are two separate
formats competing against each other.

If there was a combi-player, I'd have one in my hands right now.
However, we know this is not going to happen anytime soon since
the combi-players would outsell the separate products that are
being pushed.

In time, I'll buy a new TV and I'll settle on a second (or further)
generation player that will probably perform a lot better than what
is available now.

Meanwhile, HTF will be fully supportive of HD/Blu-Ray, and I look
forward to future reviews and discussion from this membership.

 

[Jordan_E]

The proud owner of an A1, Tuesdays have become exciting again with the idea of going out to buy a new HD DVD; I had gotten to the point with SD DVDs where I usually went: Maybe I'll get it when it hits the used shelves. Now, it's time to go get Apollo 13!

 

[Carlo_M]

Ron is channeling my thoughts

I agree with him. While I will never forget my first DVD player in May of 1997 (Toshiba SD2006) I will also never forget the mastering of the first-gen DVDs, the discovery of "anamorphic downconversion to 4:3" method of the Toshiba, the recycling of LD masters, the limited functionality of the first gen player, etc.

I don't regret buying the SD2006, I had no LDs, 20 pre-recorded VHS tapes, so I wanted to get into home theater badly and took the leap.

Now I've got 600+ DVDs, an HDTV and an RP91 in the living room, and a 32" LCD 16x9 powered by HTPC in the bedroom, and I'm okay for now. I want to let the HD market mature. I want HD and BR to resolve the situation. And if it isn't resolved I want a true universal player. I want to be able to see 1080p in its true glory (requiring yet another HDTV, luckily my living room set is 6 years old so next year it's due to be replaced).

I don't begrudge those who jump on the HD wagon now. Au contraire, I wish I could too. But for me (unlike Ron) it is a financial (as well as logistical) consideration. So as the soup nazi says "No Hi Def for me!" just yet (although I do get HD OTA, so there's that!).

But talk to me in a year, and I will be singing a different tune

 

[Paul_Scott]

well...it's not like you are going to be missing that much waiting a generation or two. I would prefer not to buy the initial units either, but by the end of July, there are going to a several titles i'm going to be jonesing for big time. and then after that, it looks like at least every couple weeks is going to bring something that is an immediate buy or upgrade.
and for a launch product, these players don't appear to be that compromised.
unless a lot more substantial complaints come in before the second allocation hits, I'm game to try it out. If i'm as happy as everyone else seems to be, when a better unit is released, i'll sell off my early one for a slight hit and upgrade.
but its something i feel a lot more comfortable doing at HD DVDs price points than Blu-rays.

but i expect this to be the equivilent of video crack-
maybe you're smart not to be getting involved with this stuff just yet

 

[RobertSiegel]

So, I guess what you are all doing, who are buying now, will be to buy both formats? What about the 1080p that this player doesn't provide? What about the lack of Disney and Columbia and MGM titles (for a few)? I think for myself I'll try and be patient and wait for blu-ray. Universal is the only studio not on the blu-ray list, and the way they have been about dvd, I have given up on them anyway. If I had the money to spare, I suppose it wouldn't matter.

The other matter for me is my Sony vp-11ht projector, with the analog-only input. No use even wasting my money on a new format and buying all new movies again when there is a chance they are going to be down-res'ed. I agree with some others posting here that for me, it's worth the wait. Bill Hunt at the bits obviously had problems, where others didn't. There were a few other sites I read of problems. That means they need to tweak before I buy anyway.

Thanks Robert for the notes. It's very exciting and sounds like a movie lover's dream. But I will wait for blu-ray since I Just can't afford more than one new player(barely)....hopefully they won't be down-rezing the classics, which is my main concern. This is one reason I am waiting, I want to know how many movies I will actually be able to play in high-def with component-only. I've always been one of the first to jump in, Betamax, Laserdisc, dvd, now this time I decided to be as patient as I can.

 

[Paul_Scott]

just the opposite for me- i'm always way late to the party.
my first vcr (a Beta deck) was bought in 1985 when the handwriting for that format was already on the wall (and amusingly enough it also cost around $500).
my LD player was bought in 1990, my first dvd player in 99/early 00.

apart from Bill Hunt (who has an acknowledged bias for B-d), I haven't seen a lot dissatisfaction with these units so far. in fact, there is a satisfaction poll over on AVS that has 105 people reporting they are happy with it, versus 4 who aren't.
As for Bd, the only material that's going to be out realtively early that i'll miss not having access to are the Bond films. And Alien, should Fox release it.
Otherwise, I'm not expecting to see things like The Apartment, Elmer Gantry, Who'll Stop the Rain, Towering Inferno, Planet Of The Apes series, or the hundred other titles i really want anytime soon. And i'm expecting that Fox will jump ship and be dual format before Universal (with its connection to MS) will.
I've heard Sony has been disappointed that the MGM catalog hasn't yielded the revenue it expected it to- and they have been seriously cutting back their output across the board- look what they did to the Midnight Movie brand- and where are the classic westerns this year? To me, that doesn't really bode well for a new format.
No- for a movie buff Sonys operating like an 'also ran' now. And while they aren't the entirety of B-d, they are going to be the driving force- and as I think Robert said, they are going to be trying to serve two masters with the PS3.
Assuming the Bd players are relatively trouble free, i'll pick one up when it hits the $500 mark- but i don't think any of that formats advantages at the moment are all that substantial- tho i know others will readily disagree.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

That's the plan.

- Steve

 

[DaViD Boulet]

RAH,

Are you running component or HDMI into our projector? Is it the SXRD 1080P Ruby or Qualia?

I'm thrilled to hear (both here and at AVS) that HD DVD looks great. I knew that it would. Of course...since Blu-ray will look just as good...I'll save my purchase dollars just a month or two longer...but a hi-def movie player is in my very near future...



p.s. now I'll be tempted to upgrade to a full 1920 x 1080 projector!




Ron,

with any luck, the studios won't use that ICT to restrict analog resolution (as many studios have stated and Warner has apparently demonstrated on these first HD DVD titles)...so owners of component-only HD sets should be in luck. I *only* see the studios going that direction if it does turn out that piracy concerns are founded...which is unlikely.

This is true for both HD DVD and Blu-ray.

Though I agree you're best bet is to wait anyway to buy a more affordable player after the bugs have been worked out of the first-generation units with either format.

 

[Robert Harris]

Ruby. Better contrast ratio and one third the price.

 

[Mike_G]

I plan on buying both formats, but I'll only buy BR when the price drops. $1800 for a Pioneer when a DVL-700 LD/DVD combo player in '97 was only $1000? Out of PRINCIPLE, not my wallet, do I refuse to spend that much.

 

[DeeF]

When do the blue-ray players arrive? When will there be hybrid players that will play both kinds of disks?

More importantly, when will The Searchers arrive on HD? (because I want to be ready for that)

 

[Christopher Lee]

I have to agree with many of the voices here that cry out against throwing money away in the interest of being guinea pigs to an upgrade that has yet to define itself. Whether one can afford to do so or not, it's a question of principle (paraphrasing Mike G above). I love film and I love the idea of seeing my favorites in an improved fashion, but it seems painfully obvious that laying down to the base desires of corporate greed (competing formats) can only foster its growth. Why not take a stand: refuse to accept the current situation, and demand a unified format; it's our dollars that will dictate the future. If we choose to placate the existing environment with our HD DVD / Blu-Ray purchases, then why should we assume that there will ever be a unified format? Surely the current dilemma is much more multifaceted than that of VHS over Beta. Of course, as individual consumers of means, we each have a right to satisfy our needs for pleasure regardless of the effects on the general marketplace, but do we truly gain anything in the long run via that train of thought? When all that we are talking about is watching movies at home, I tend to think not, as we will no doubt find ourselves replacing the software yet again down the road (perhaps that is overly pessimistic). In any case, time will tell.

As someone else above said, just my two cents.

 

[DeeF]

I read somewhere that this format war is going to be resolved by pornography. If you want blue-ray disks to win the war, then buy as much pornography on blue-ray as you can.

 

[Mike_G]

Possible release date/price leak on the PS3:

November, $399

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/26/ps...se-date-price/

It would be a good entry into BR, but my issue is that I don't want to lug the PS3 up and down the stairs all the time.

 

[Carlo_M]

Actually, the belief is that porn drives the acceptance of most technology (VHS, DVD, Internet, etc.).

While most people were excited when the last 3 holdout studios agreed to do DVD, those "in the know" knew the writing was on the wall when a month or so before this happened, Vivid Video had committed to releasing their product on DVD.

So the deal isn't to "buy as much porn on HD/BR" -- it's "which format will porn be distributed on first or most?" because right now there is no adult content available.

Or so I've heard...

 

[Mark Zimmer]

The problem is that at least initially, only Sony/Columbia will be doing BD mastering and pressing, and they won't do pornography. There's a thread at Mobius where Don May relates his talks with Sony about doing BD transfers of Synapse's releases of Thriller and The Image (which, while they have some hard-core sequences have socially redeeming value), and they flat-out refused to do them. So don't expect to get your porn on BD for a while. How long it will take for other authoring houses to get onboard? Could be a few months, could be longer; Don didn't seem too optimistic about it being in the near future.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

$399? Wow - Sony is either going to take a major bath on the PS3 or they will recoup the cost by charging premium prices on software.

I am very skeptical of the PS3 being released at that price.

 

[DeeF]

Interesting... if that's true, then HD-DVD will win the war -- no question in my mind. Once people have bought porn in one format, they will not switch.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Here's Don May's actual post from that thread I referenced above:

"Sony's pressing facilities will not do anything adult. But, having said that, there are going to be some other pressing facilities that pop up in the next year or so that MAY do adult content on BLU-RAY. At least that's what I am hearing now. Unfortunately, unlike Sony, who is set up right now, these other replicators may not be set up for BLU-RAY replication for quite a few months down the road.

At first, since it was a Sony technology, it was widely believed that every BLU-RAY disc would somehow have to be run through the Sony corporation, but that isn't so true anymore.

Because of issues with the content of THRILLER and THE IMAGE, the fellows at Sony told me, right away, that they could not replicate those for me in either standard defintion DVD (which is why we took our business elsewhere) or in the BLU-RAY format. They just didn't want to do anything adult. It's too much of a risk for them when they deal with major studios, like Disney, etc. But, that being said, that doesn't mean that another company that will be set up for BLU-RAY replication in the coming months WON'T do it.

So, in a way... yeah... at this point in time, since they are the only BLU-RAY option right this moment, Sony IS dictating what content does and doesn't get put onto BLU-RAY... that is... if you are talking adult oriented material. "

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Yeah, I'll be getting BD also, but I'll probably wait until prices come down. The HD-A1 will keep me entertained in the meantime.