DVD's, Focusing on TV/DVD - How's the Future Looking (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

That's not to say that every Blu-ray is a homerun or worth buying

(Elaborating on my previous posts).

In the case of "Burn Notice" season 2 and "24" seasons 7 & 8, the other big reason why I didn't bother buying the bluray versions around a year ago (besides poor reviews of the picture quality), was that the prices were around $40 or $50 each (or higher) at the time. Eventually I ended up buying seasons 7 and 8 of "24" on dvd for $15 each or less. Even today, I still don't think these bluray sets are worth $40 a pop to me. Though I may possibly pick up the bluray versions as an "impulse buy" if I ever see them in the bargain bins for less than $20 each, and if I am still interested by then.

In the case of seasons 1 and 9 of CSI, I found both bluray sets in the bargain bin for less than $20 each. (I didn't own either season on dvd previously. I have season 2 on dvd).

For Firefly, I already have the dvd version. The main reason I picked up the bluray version, was that I found it for around $11-$12. It was a pure "impulse buy". (I paid more for the dvd version around two years ago). At that low price, the bluray was a no-brainer double dip for me.

 

[jcroy]

Yes, BR is "superior" in quality for most releases (yes, there are cases where the BR release is actually inferior to that old DVD). There are many benefits of DVD over BR that I'll not go into here. From my observations it does fairly well mimic the "New Coke" experience for many consumers. Contrary to Clark's comment comsumers *do* fully understand it. They just don't buy it. There's not enough value perceived with BR over DVD to cause most people to "upgrade"

...

you have people who look at BR as just another way to get into their pocket a bit deeper.

In principle, it is possible to shop around for blurays which are approximately the same price (or even less) than the dvd versions. But in practice, such an endeavor involves doing a lot of online research and going through numerous bargain bins. Basically the domain of the hardcore enthusiasts and collectors.

I suspect most people are not going to devote a lot of time and effort (if any) into doing such research and going on "fishing expeditions" through dump bins, seeking out the best bluray deals.

 

[Jeff Willis]

I'm not sure why this has moved in the direction of DVD vs. Blu-ray, but anyway...

As has been said, the advantage of discs is that you have a hard copy. This is the same argument for CDs vs. downloads. When that hard drive crashes or that cloud goes down, your trusty disc will still play. And that beats any matter of ease or convenience provided by soft copies.

Frankly, I think even Hunt's comment that discs will be around "for a good long while yet" is an understatement. Discs will almost always be around. If LPs ever fully go away, I might start to think otherwise.

I don't get that either but it's included in the Batman thread as well.

As a non-BR guy, I don't post like that, ie "I hope it's BR only", etc. I want both formats so all can be satisfied but I don't get why some BR collectors would care about a dual std release.

Howie, your post #17 was amazing.

I try to stay current on older tv show BR releases and as yet there's not enough out there for me to get into the mkt. It's been predicted years ago that we'd see most tv shows released on BR but it's not yet happened.

I don't see a strong trend in that direction yet but it could happen at some point.

Harry's point about "Time Tunnel" is interesting. I'd be tempted if TT was released on BR, or perhaps "Combat!" remastered from original elements.

I don't see that happening but as we know in this hobby, never say never.

I've done a few comparisons (dvd vs BR) on my nephew's PS3 player but I've only compared a few movies in dual format. The BR's are indeed clearer as I'd expect given the technological reasons but it's not been enough for me to move into the mkt.

I think another reason that BR isn't in everyone's home yet is that there are a lot of collectors out there that aren't motivated to double-dip or dual-format their collections.

One of the reasons that I haven't made the jump yet is that, on the move side of my collection, I have just about all of the movies that I'd collect so there's no incentive for me to move into BR as yet.

I have considered a few movies, such as ones that weren't released in their proper OAR on std dvd but were released in BR in anamorphic format.

If I see one of my few remaining wish-list tv shows being released only on BR, that would get me to buy the player.

Another reason that I haven't been motivated to enter the TV BR scene is that for me, I'm happy with the HDMI upconversion on my Panasonic Plasma set and my viewing distance watching 4:3 sets in their OAR.

Regarding the point in the article, there are a lot of collectors out there so I'm not concerned yet about the decline of the dvd scene.

Bill Hunt (Digital Bits) has often commented on this subject in reply to those that have predicted the advent of streaming/downloading resulting in the end of the dvd era.

So far, his take on this has been good considering what we're still seeing released.

 

[Ron1973]

The other thing holding me back is I already have a DVD players that records that I'm quite happy with. Can't record on Blu-ray yet!!! I don't do a lot of recording but in about a month Hee-Haw will be back out of "re-runs" on RFD-TV and I'll be recording those to DVD. That's one show I think we can all safely say will never make it to DVD or Blu-ray in its entirety! (music rights and 500+ episodes do not make for season sets)

 

[John Hermes]

The other thing holding me back is I already have a DVD players that records that I'm quite happy with. Can't record on Blu-ray yet!!! I don't do a lot of recording but in about a month Hee-Haw will be back out of "re-runs" on RFD-TV and I'll be recording those to DVD. That's one show I think we can all safely say will never make it to DVD or Blu-ray in its entirety! (music rights and 500+ episodes do not make for season sets)

Plus the fact Hee Haw was shot on standard def videotape. The BDs of Twilight Zone, Dick Van Dyke, etc. were made from HD scans of the 35mm original film.

 

[Ron1973]

Plus the fact Hee Haw was shot on standard def videotape. The BDs of Twilight Zone, Dick Van Dyke, etc. were made from HD scans of the 35mm original film.

That too.....lol

 

[jcroy]

I think another reason that BR isn't in everyone's home yet is that there are a lot of collectors out there that aren't motivated to double-dip or dual-format their collections.

For quite a lot of movies I own on dvd, I've had very little to no motivation to buy the bluray version.

I've found that a lot of the "impulse buy" blurays I've been purchasing over the last year or so, were usually titles that I ended up only watching once. (I more or less stopped buying such $5 "impluse buy" blurays, back in late 2012).

It turns out most of my movie dvd purchases have more or less been "impulse buys" too, which were also titles that I ended up only watching once.


Most of my "impulse buy" dvds and blurays were second or third tier (or lower) action type movies, and some less popular horror and thriller type movies. These days I mostly watch these types of movies on cable channels, instead of buying the dvd/bluray.