The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

I feel very strongly that SD-DVD will still be around for quite a while.

Don't forget that all Blu-ray players will play all commercially-made SD-DVDs. So it's quite feasible that studios will continue to release vintage TV series on SD-DVD even when the majority of new players sold are Blu-ray.

I do foresee a time when many series from the 50s, 60's, 70's, and 80's will be re-issued on Blu-day discs --- but in standard definition. Imagine the entire five season run of "I Love Lucy" in one box containing two BD-50 discs with loads of interactive extras! But we're probably half a decade away from seeing that.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

I agree with Joseph on the perpetuation of SD DVD now that Blu-ray has won. I've only got one TV on DVD set in Blu-ray and that was ``Lost'' S3, and I'm very glad that I bought it...a great, great set. All the other Blu-ray discs I own are classic movies, such as ``Superman'' and ``Close Encounters,'' and I'm eagerly awaiting the day that ``Star Wars'' comes out on Blu-ray!

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

Same here. I'd be surprised if SD didn't last another decade. It might limp to that decade mark but with quality downloads for the masses being a pipe dream right now and little interest in a huge number of people in upgrading so quickly again, SD DVD has alot of time left in it.

Looking at Wikipedia, it took until 2003 (6 years into the DVD format) for DVD to overtake VHS in sales. And there's no way that Blu Ray is going to be as successful as quickly (if ever) as DVD.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

You guys are blowing a pipe dream ... many entertainment fans are not ready to jump to new format. With Blu Ray TV DVD sets fetching between $75-100 per set, there's no indication that the prices will come down.

While Sony is tooting their own horn, specifically put, Blu Ray is not the successor to the DVD format and many entertainment fans, especially households who have held onto the VHS format are just now starting to get into the standard DVD format.

Rest assured, the DVD format will be aroound for quite awhile longer. Sony would love nothing better than to see the standard DVD format bite the dust so that everyone would buy Blu Ray but that isn't likely to happen. Even when the VHS format was anounced as being discontinued, there was still support from the industry long after it was announced as no longer being discontinued.

VHS lasted almost 25 years. It really is ego if Sony thinks that they can introduce a new media format, Blu Ray, not even ten years after the introduction of the DVD without regulating the price problems that come along with it.

Currently, Blu Ray disks are fetching an average of $35 per disk, lower if you buy two or more. Blu Ray sets are even priced higher, closer to the $100 price tag and consumers, no matter how much everyone argues the point, simply are not going to jump onto the bandwagon for that one just yet. When the format stablizes around $20 per single disk and around the price price for Blu Ray sets as they are for standard DVD sets then entertainment fans, families and so forth aren't going to jump into the new format.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

Exactly. For now, Blu Ray is a "niche" product and is to DVD what LaserDisc was to VHS. Prices for BR players and software will have to come down to the level of DVD players/software before the general public will embrace it.

That is, unless some better, even more super-duper (and lower-cost) format comes along in the meantime and displaces BR (like DVD did to Laser). If BR wants widespread adoption, then Sony had better be planning on cutting costs soon if they don't want to bec

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

The whole idea of affordable HD media was a pipe dream just a few years ago.

For filmed shows, I would want to see 1080p transfers. For taped shows I wouldn't mind replacing season sets with entire series on as few discs as possible, but that's probably less likely because of the absence of improved picture quality. I don't see Sony rushing All in the Family: The Complete Series on Blu-Ray when they can't even finish the darn thing on DVD!

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

I think most people see no reason to switch Blu-ray until they own a hi-def television to really take advantage of the format. With the cost of HDTV's still being at least a $1000+ investment, that will prevent most households from buying one until their old TV takes a dive. I think the transition from SD to BD will be very, very slow, if it happens at all before yet another format emerges that is even more desirable.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

now that BluRay won, not HD DVD, can people stop this "SD DVD" crap? Call it what it is... DVD.

I hate reading that as much as when people refuse to call the old Star Wars movies by the title we knew them as for 20 years but instead "Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope", why not just call it "Star Wars" like you did when you went to buy a ticket in 1977 to see it, same with Empire and Jedi. (Lucas and Spielberg tried unsuccessfully to make the Indiana Jones fans call Raiders "Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark", but thankfully the fans didn't bite) I feel the same way when people call it SD DVD. Nobody calls cd's SD CD even tho there's SACD and DVD-Audio.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

Dave L (TSoD has a blog over at TVGuide for those interested in talking up Blu-Ray as it relates to TV/DVD's.

For myself, I'd be interested to see what happens when the Blu-Ray TV/DVD catalogs start to grow some down the road.

TV Shows on Blu-ray Disc - DVD News and Reviews | TVGuide.com

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

I myself am looking forward to Firefly and Justice League on Blu this fall!
Of course i hope for a Blu-ray release of Star Trek sooner, and not later.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

When the two part Menagerie was screened in theatres, there was a piece about the frame by frame restoration that was undertaken to get the original series ready for hi-def. I suspect this is very expensive and the sales on most tv shows will not justify the huge expense. I would expect only cult shows with large followings to get the treatment.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

For most filmed shows prior to 1985, assuming their negatives are in good condition, all that would need to be done is to make new transfers. If restoration work is necessary, it probably won't entail as much as ST:TOS did, because keep in mind that they not only cleaned it up but added CGI effects. They're not going to add CGI to I Love Lucy or Cheers, but I wouldn't put it past them.

It's the post-1985 stuff that's the big "if".

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

Well, older stuff like I Love Lucy could probably be re-transfered from the original film elements and released as HD. But I'd love to see entire seasons of video-sourced SD series on a single disc -- Doctor Who, Babylon 5, etc... lots of 70s and 80s series would fit this release model very well. That may go over poorly with many consumers, though. They'll see one disc and think that it should cost no more than a $20 single-disc movie release.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

Then perhaps selling multi-disc sets of whole videotaped series for about $100 a pop might work. And add extras.

Re: The effect of the Blu Ray win on TV DVD

As excited as I am about hi-def media, I just don't think we're ever going to see much in the way of vintage TV released on Blu-Ray. It's hard enough getting shows out on regular DVD. I will be very surprised if we see any shows (other than STAR TREK -- Paramount will always find a way to milk that cash cow) made prior to the late 90s get a BD release.

I do think that new series shot and aired in HD, like LOST, PRISON BREAK, GREY'S ANATOMY etc. will become more and more common on BD.
And a good thing, too. I'm sure LOST season 3 looks amazing in 1080p.