A few words about....Blu-Ray (2 Viewers)

[Michael Elliott]

quote:with 2600 dvds in my collection

In your opinion, which ones would you replace? The reason I'm rolling my eyes at this new format is because I enjoy a lot of older films and I really don't see how they could be too much better on HD. There's no doubt T2, THE MATRIX or other epics (LOA) will look better but what about the Tarzan Collection from Warner or their Film Noir set. Are those types of older films going to look that much different?



Plus, I own at least 300 public domain films that are always going to look bad so again, this here wouldn't need an upgrade. I've got at least that many Euro films and again, I just don't see it making that much of a difference over what we got now. FREAKS doesn't have a negative and has always looked horrid yet the DVD was some of the greatest work I've ever seen done. However, there's still all sorts of problems and can any of it be made to look better on HD?

 

[Seth Paxton]

quote:I think this may be the death of the movie theaters.

I also agreed with this in one way. I am a staunch defender of the movie theater experience (the positive kind like we had at the Arclight the other night, not the cell phone crap) and have always disagreed with the sentiment that my HT is just as good (or better) than going to the theater.



However, the BR demo was so strong even I was waivering. Of course you still lose out on the great crowd experience when a movie is a hit, but damn did the picture look great.

 

[Glen C]

will blu-ray will suddenly render things such as dating, social outings, meeting with friends in a neutral place, taking the family out, kids parties, etc. obsolete?



it has about as (un)likely a chance of killing Starbucks as it does movie theaters.

 

[Tony Scello]

This may be a stupid question but is Blu-Ray backwards compatable with todays standard DVD's? I'm assuming it is not given the different laser color/wavelength. Conversely, I'm assuming that HD-DVD would be backwards compatable given the similar laser/wavelength. Do I have this right?

 

[Greg Black]

quote:will blu-ray suddenly render things such as dating, social outings, meeting with friends in a neutral place, taking the family out, kids parties, etc. obsolete?

What do you mean? Standard DVD has already made those things obsolete for me

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

quote:This may be a stupid question but is Blu-Ray backwards compatable with todays standard DVD's? I'm assuming it is not given the different laser color/wavelength.

You are correct. According to the Blu-Ray guys, they are relying on the market to dictate manufacturers to include both the blue and red lasers in players for backwards compatibility with present DVDs.

 

[Aaron_Brez]

quote:This may be a stupid question but is Blu-Ray backwards compatable with todays standard DVD's? I'm assuming it is not given the different laser color/wavelength. Conversely, I'm assuming that HD-DVD would be backwards compatable given the similar laser/wavelength. Do I have this right?

Not really.

First off, HD-DVD will have a blue laser as well; there was some talk months ago that one proposed format would use red-laser DVD and just use a better compression codec, but as far as I know that was scrapped in favor of using the better compression codec in a blue-laser format: the best of both worlds.

That said, I am sure both will be backwards compatible with DVD in some way-- either a second laser assembly, or merely a separate pickup module if the blue laser can be used for both (and I don't see why it couldn't; a shorter-wave laser should be able to resolve the bigger red-laser pits without a problem).

But then, it's not my field of engineering, and I may not fully comprehend how the laser assembly works. There are a lot of bright guys around here who do, though.

 

[george kaplan]

I don't have 2600 dvds in my collection, (closer to 1100), but I'll rebuy every single one of those in blu-ray if they have an improved picture quality and are OAR and uncut. However, I will probably end up buying very few blu-ray discs for many, many years, because most of what gets released are either going to be films I don't want, or ones that will be p&s, crop&drop or in some other way MARred.

 

[Peter Overduin]

Oh Goody!!



I have become dependant; addicted even to waiting for Star Wars to come out on DVD. The advent of reality has destroyed a very foundational pillar of what kept DVD new and fresh.



Now I get to wait all over again!



Thanks, Sony! I needed this

 

[Robert Crawford]

quote:In your opinion, which ones would you replace? The reason I'm rolling my eyes at this new format is because I enjoy a lot of older films and I really don't see how they could be too much better on HD. There's no doubt T2, THE MATRIX or other epics (LOA) will look better but what about the Tarzan Collection from Warner or their Film Noir set. Are those types of older films going to look that much different?

I would have to evaluate each title as it's released in this new format so I can't really give you definitive answer to your questions except to say that I would be very selective in replacing older black and white films I already have on dvd.

As far as backward compatible to dvds, the manufacturers would be shooting themselves in the foot, if those units are not so, otherwise, they will doom this new format to a niche market in my opinion. Furthermore, at this time, I'm not entirely convinced that it's not going to be just a niche market. I have my doubts and I think it's distinct possibility that this new format doesn't reach the market penetration as quickly nor as fully mass marketed as regular dvd.













Crawdaddy

 

[Roger Mathus]

For me, the Blu-Ray demo exceeded expectations. The view of the broad desert in Lawrence od Arabia was nothing short of stunning. It was like looking out the window of a low flying airplane on a perfect day. The future is near......now the wait.



As stated by several others, I will not re-purchase a large number of titles but will be rather selective. For many of the older and the "small" movies, DVD is good enough. Sure, I would prefer state of the art on everthing but that does not seem practical given the rather recent release of DVD. My thought is that older non Blu-Ray movies might be viewed on

plasma set with the big films and Blue-Ray served up on my projection system.



A topic for another thread, but maybe we should start a High Def want list. Sony has been doing High Def masters for more than a decade.....so software is there. Based upon the DTS visit, we are also likely to see exciting sound to go with the new picture standards.



What next.........high definition wall size 3D images?????

 

[DustinPizarro]

Has Sony or any manufaturer confirm the initial price for 1st year Blu-ray players? I had planned to upgrade my little HT to a BIG HT but now I just may wait to see what will be available two years down the road like displays that are 1080p or receivers that will handle the many audio formats provided by Blu-ray. I can only imagine the kind of upgrades the Blu-Ray players will have much like progressive scan players did for interlaced players.

 

[Alistair_M]

I'm afraid I don't understand the comments about 'older films'. My first love is for the classics, and I'm sure the same issues of lower definition/high compression affect the olders films as much as newer ones.



I saw Brief Encounter in my local arthouse cinema and the picture was far superior to my Criterion dvd. I'm sure that Blu-Ray will do wonders for the classics too.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I believe initial cost of the players will be
in the $1,000-$1,500 range.

That's about or slightly more expensive than the
price DVD players were initially going for in 1997.

If I remember the numbers correctly, there are
also predictions of a 20% increase in cost of
manufacturing these new discs.

These are all predicted start prices and I am
certain we can expect prices to drop rapidly after
initial inception.

 

[Aaron_Brez]

Given the expected timeline, and vaguely predictable price drops, looks like I may make it to the ten-year mark on my Panasonic A110, and replace it with a Blu-Ray device! Never thought it would last me that long...



('course, now that I've said that it will crash and burn *tonight*)

 

[Ron-P]

quote:So basically we'll have to repurchase all our DVD catalog?

Not a chance. Of the 400 or so titles I have only about a tenth of those would be repurchased, so it's no big deal.



I bet this will start out just like D-VHS did, expensive players and media but unlike D-VHS prices will drop faster as the demand will be greater. I'll start buying up HD-DVD titles right off but wait for the players to drop in price.

 

[DustinPizarro]

$1000-$1500..... Ouch. I guess I will make it 4 years before I upgrade.

Thanks Ron for the quick reply.

 

[Sten F]

Player price are one thing. But what about Blue-Ray titles, what are they going to cost?

 

[Ron-P]

quote:Player price are one thing. But what about Blue-Ray titles, what are they going to cost?

I'm guessing, again like D-VHS, $40 or so. As the demand increases the prices will drop.

 

[Aaron_Brez]

A significant proportion of my collection is TV on DVD-- and those are all science fiction (FX rendered at 480i) or mastered on video tape, so there's not much reason to go HD on those.



The remainder will get replaced by HD versions sooner or later, including several which I never bought on DVD because they have not come out on DVD with an acceptable transfer (Secret of My Success, Mr. Mom, Blade Runner).