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Anyone else afraid studios will abandon regular DVD in favor of HD? (1 Viewer)

Carlos Garcia

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I know many TV shows on DVD are already complete in their DVD releases, however, what about shows that lasted many seasons and only recently started being released? Are you afraid your favorite TV show will be abandoned on DVD, and perhaps the only way to complete your collection wil be to buy the rest of the seasons in the new HD-DVD/BluRay formats? Most of my favorite shows are either already complete or mostly complete, but what about shows like Perry Mason, Hawaii Five-O and other shows that had many seasons but only recently started to come out on DVD? What about the Looney Tunes collection, which only releases 1 set per yr? We know it won't be until another 7 or 8 yrs before all those cartoons will be released? Does anyone truly believe these shows won't be abandoned on regular DVD in favor of the new formats? What do the studios have to say about this? Will they continue backing the DVD format until all the shows they started releasing are completely released? Or do we have some disappointment to look forward to in the future?
 

Joe*A

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Based on heresay from those in the business, it's going to be a while before either BlueRay or HD gets a grip on the market. Standard DVDs are here to stay for a long while. Personally, I can't see why (other than making a buck) did the industry "evolve" into HD or BlueRay. Standard DVDs, the right DVD player and the right television look absolutely incredible. We've moved from 97% perfection to 99%. For that additional 2%, the industry will redistribute all their titles, which are in the hundreds of thousands to date? That's absurd - it just doesn't make any sense. Moving from VHS to DVD was a huge improvement and welcomed especially since now we're getting season sets in small little cases which would've been unheard of in the VHS world. The only format in the future that is actually a great improvement over the standard DVD is the holographic DVD, which allows a studio to place the complete Twilight Zone series (classic, 80's and 90's) all on 1 disc (WOW!!!). Holographic DVD's improve storage capabilities - great improvement. I really hope HD and Blue Ray fail miserably - it'll teach the powers that be to give people what THEY want rather what we are forced to get into. BlueRay and HD was an attempt to make money - nothing more.
 

Aryn Leroux

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Not at all.. I don't see it beneficial for studios to release tv product on HD. Maybe some newer show's that can take advantage of the format. But the older stuff they need to keep the price down as it is and releasing on HD is only gonna raise the price and make it harder to sell. There really is no advantage to most tv product being released on HD anyway. Sure you can name a few shows that could probably do well, but regular DVD is going to be on top for many more years to come and your primary TV Source. No doubt in my mind!
 

MarkHastings

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I agree with the responses...

IMO, the "TV show on DVD" market is mainly standard DVD. HD-DVD is too 'niche' (at the moment) to support all of these TV releases.

Just like VHS, DVD didn't immediately kill off VHS production. It's going to be MANY years before we start seeing DVD even BEGIN to fade out.


EDIT: What the near future may bring is what I've been seeing lately - the "HD-DVD/SD-DVD" combo release. May be they'll try to get into the HD market by including it along side the SD versions, but I doubt the SD version is going to abandoned anytime soon.
 

Jeff_HR

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It is not even a mere thought in my mind. I'm MORE concerning about shows being abandoned before ALL of their seasons are released!
 

JeffWld

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The format war, production delays, high cost factor, and tentative commitments by content owners make the over-hyped HD formats a minimal issue in the TV-on-DVD market for quite some time to come.
 

Ethan Riley

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I believe that tv on dvd will not become prominent until the format wars are over. Until one of those formats gains ascendency, the studios will continue to release titles timidly. After all, we all know that one of those formats will not last, and the studios do not want to invest too much money on product that may soon be obsolete. And the fallout from the "loser" of the format wars will be more amusing than the war itself. Hundreds of owners of product from the losing format will be furious at the studios for even introducing that format. Have a seat--it should be hilarious! Already I love it when I go into BestBuy and I see dvd fans snubbing BluRay and HD--and the major retailers are giving away more and more shelf space lately to those formats which are increasingly ignored by millions of consumers. Those formats are NOT making money. One of these days one or the other is going to HAVE to give in and stop production. The real loser, however, is the consumer. There are many people who would like to upgrade to one of those formats, but nobody wants to back the wrong horse, so they, like me, don't bother with either of them.
 

Derek_J

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Yes, there is. For the old shows, one season per disc is more appealing than 6 discs, if they can keep the price the same or less. I probably wouldn't want to double dip that much though.
 

Doug^Ch

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I don't agree with the responses, and this comes from someone with over $20,000 in TV on DVD product sitting on his shelf. I hope that both BD and HD-DVD prosper and become the standards of choice. Why don't we want our favorite TV shows in the absolute best quality video resolution that we can possibly have? I've recently purchased a 720P projector, and when you project an 8 foot image, the limitation of DVD as a medium becomes readily apparent. It simply is not good enough. The mastering on most TV on DVD product looks pretty good on a 34" screen ,but step that size up and most don't make the grade. I will have to say that a well mastered DVD can look amazing at a larger size (The Definitive Twilight Zone for example looks phenomenal). All I can say is that I have ordered the next generation of HD-DVD machines and hope that it does well. With the attitudes, expressed above we would all still be collecting VHS and there would be no DVD.
 

MarkHastings

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LOL - Ethan, you're post sounds EXACTLY the way I view politics and voting. :laugh:I don't see anyone saying that they don't want the best quality. I see people understanding that the majority of the market doesn't want to invest time, money, and frustration into the HD-DVD area, so it wouldn't be very wise for studios to solely target that market.

The HD market doesn't have solid footing in the market place. The increased quality doesn't mean a lot if the footing is weak. I'd rather drive a $10,000 'standard' car with great/brand new rims and tires, than a $50,000 'luxury' car with bent rims and leaking tires.
 

Doug^Ch

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I don't think that the studios will ever solely target the HD market or at least not for a long time. They have only begun testing the waters with titles like Smallville, and it will be years before they put out a title exclusively in HD. I can only add that once you have seen what is possible in HD, it is hard to go back to SD.
 

Randy Korstick

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Absolutely the studios will eventually, just as they abandoned VHS and Laserdisc but not for at least another 4 years.
Just as DVD took 3-4 years to gain its foot hold in the market and overtake Laserdisc and VHS it should be no surprise that it will Take an HD format this long as well despite the weak footing we see now. Just give it time.

As regards to improvement I remember when I 1st bought Laserdisc it was a huge improvement over VHS and people thought that Laserdisc was 97% perfection, well obviously we were wrong.
A Properly Mastered HD film on a disc format and not an overly compressed cable or satelite TV version looks far greater than 2% better than DVD. 40-50% would be much more accurate. As the encoding and processing techniques continue to improve and the prices on HD equipment continue to come down more and more people will be able to see this difference.
 

Juan Books

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I have also developed a sort of animosity towards high definition DVDs. They represent too great an expense in terms of trouble, money, time and frustration, and the benefits are in my opinion minimal.

DVD changed many things when it came out; it was not simply an improvement in video quality. It was convenient and affordable enough to make owning movies mainstream for the first time ever. HD-DVDs represent simply a little more of the same, for a much greater cost. DVDs look stunning on any TV, whereas you need to invest thousands in a whole new display to even begin to see a difference with HD-DVDs.

In addition to the thousands you need to spend in new hardware, you also need to replace the DVDs you have already bought over the years. And for all the trouble and $$$ what do you get? A little more resolution.

I'm happy with current DVDs, and really hope studios concentrate in content (such as the miraculous Mad About You S3 announcement) rather than starting over with a marginally better format.
 

MatthewA

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Some titles I'd gladly rebuy in HD if the picture quality was improved significantly. Dallas and The Waltons come to mind. And if shows that were screwed up on DVD in terms of editing, etc. were improved upon in their HD versions.

With stuff like "I Love Lucy" which has already been done justice on DVD and then some, the only way they can really improve upon it is to allow the option to recreate original broadcasts with commercials, amongst other extras.

Then there's the aspect ratio issue on 4:3 shows. I sincerely hope that they don't try to crop them.

As I've said before, videotaped shows could fit their entire runs on a couple of discs, or even one disc. The storage space that would be saved would help (on my shelf, that is), and there may even be room for substantial extras.
 

RickER

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Not in the slightest bit do i worry. I would worry more that if i bought into an HD DVD format id pick the one that looses. I have an HD TV and i think my regular DVDs are serving me fine played from my upconverting DVD player.
 

TravisR

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To answer the question in the title of the thread: Nope. A majority of people at HTF haven't made the switch so the average consumer will be making the switch in about 2090. :) Seriously though, I could see it taking another decade until SD DVDs are dropped. And as others have said, TV stuff seems to not really be on the radar of many companies and even the ones that are releasing TV stuff only are releasing the newest season.
 

Glenn Overholt

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Gee, you guys are really optimistic about SD continuing for ages. How does 2-1/2 years sound? If the FCC goes with the new broadcast standards, it won't be long until standard TV is going to look better than some of your DVD's.

As for the TV seasons though, you really don't have anything to worry about because you'll still be able to play SD DVD's in HD players. Of course, the HD disks may carry an entire season on one disk, which will save shelf space, but who is going to sit down and watch an entire season of a show all at once anyway?

Glenn
 

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