Should I worry that I may be collecting a dead format? (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Scott]

there are currently millions of people collecting a 'dead' format- and it's called DVD. Obviously New releases aren't going anywhere on it for a while, but the writing is on the wall. Anyone who has seen The Searchers, Or Batman, or Grand Prix or Serenity or any of the others on a large 1080p display (or even a medium sized 720p) knows that there is just no going back now.

 

[Luis Cruz]

The problem with that kind of thinking is that your average Joe most likely doesn't see a big difference. Many are happy with DVD's quality. I don't see DVD going anywhere for a long, long time.

 

[Scott Wong]

This is an excellent point. I don't own either format and it isn't because I *wouldn't* choose HD-DVD over BRD... I simply don't have the funds right now to get a player. At the risk of sounding very naive, how do we find out what Universal knows that everyone else doesn't? Surely, there must be very good reasoning. I think it's fact that one of these formats is going to fail. As previously outlined, it sounds like that part is inevitable. I guess I can't really grasp the concept as to why certain studios are supporting both formats while others are simply supporting BRD.

I don't know if what I'm asking makes any sense...?

 

[Mike.P]

I don't really care if I'm collecting a Dead Format - I'd rather spend 200 (HD-DVD drive from Microsoft) and 30 for Superman returns to know I am getting the best home video release I can then imagine dealing with regular old DVD. Not to mention King Kong, Batman Begins, Pitch Black...oh man, I've been holding off on buying many new DVD releases the last 6 months - and I'm very glad I've done so.

 

[Dan Keefe]

That and the fact that this player comes with King Kong Brings the cost down to what about 160-170 depending...it's a no brainer right now to give it a whirl. Being an early adopter usually carries above average risk. Dreamcast, Jaguar come to mind in the videgame world...

Anyway, no matter what happens in the future we can enjoy what is being offered now.

 

[AaronSCH]

I was someone that was firmly in the "no need to upgrade" camp. However, my curiosity led me to purchase Toshiba's HD A1 at Best Buy one day back in August with the pesimistic intention of returning it. Well, it's just 3 months later and I already sold off well over 1000 DVDs on Ebay and added about 80 HD DVDs to my new collection. The people who do not see a huge difference between standard DVDs and HD DVD either don't have a decent size display (properly calibrated) or are just blind. I used to own two video stores and I heard the same nonsense when DVD emerged. To expect a new format to be widely adopted within a year of its launch is ridiculous. More people will begin the migration to high definition as they buy HDTVs and become educated by friends, family members and personal experience.

 

[Cees Alons]

I own more than 30 HD DVDs now. Given the enormous satisfactory of the quality they offer, I would happily have added $10 to the price I actually paid for those, now I know this fact.

So, my HD-A1 is already payed for - from this moment on the discs are going to be less and less expensive to me (while, as said, the player already payed itself back).


Cees

 

[Tim Glover]

Excellent assessment. Ditto

 

[Ron-P]

At $20 a disk I can agree, $20 on up, no way. The PQ is good as is the SQ (on most) but worth adding $10 per title, not a chance. Spending that much we should be getting better sound, hi-def sound, not lossy DD+. We should be getting TrueHD on all HD-DVDs. After all, this is a hi-def format, right?