Anybody else starting to feel ennui setting in? (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Scott]

i don't know if its lack of interest in the majority of whats been announced for this year so far (tho there is some great stuff coming up, without a doubt), or maybe just personal things in my life at the moment, but i'm finding it harder and harder to get enthusiastic about this particular hobby anymore.
at this point the prospect of high definition on a disc soon should have helped stoked the fading embers a bit, but thats only seeming to add to the problem.

its not just the format split either, when i think about it a little, just the fact that there will be HD content soon makes me feel already like any new SD DVD purchase i make is is money thrown at the 'losing format'.
yeah it will be great to finally get "____" in a couple weeks/months...but how do i know that 8-12 months later they won't put out the HD version?
the superbit dilemna was annoying...this is downright disheartening.

 

[Walter Kittel]

This is going to be another great year for fans of classic films simply on the basis of what Warner Bros. is releasing. More noir, more classic comedies, more TV on DVD, the prospect of HD-DVD content at the end of the year. More Kurosawa, more Renoir from Criterion. A new release of Dune. Possibly more noirs from Universal. The Fox noir releases.

Ennui? No way. Sorry that you are in a rut with this hobby, but I think it is going to be a great year.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Not me, especially, since I decided to sitout this upcoming format war and will only invest in new HT hardware and software once the dust has settled and I know as a consumer which direction we are heading.





Crawdaddy

 

[Roger Rollins]

I feel exactly the opposite of the initial posting. There has never been a more exciting time than what's happening now on DVD. Just what Warner Bros. is doing alone is cause for celebration....

Even if there wasn't a format war, and there most certainly (and sadly...thank you Sony) is one, HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray will not be a mass consumer product for many years, if ever.

I won't go into the reasons....Then I'd end up spewing a diatribe that might get political or offend someone...and that's not what this forum is for...

Let's just say that there are thousands of great films (yes, thousands!) that were on VHS that have yet to see a DVD release, and there are hundreds that came out on DVD in the early days that warrant remastering....

,,,and only NOW is DVD household penetration starting to match what VHS achieved.

Everyone can certainly rest assured that Standard DVD as it is right now, will be the dominant format for at least the next 7-10 years.

When the next format or formats arrive, they will be more expensive, and content will be more limited. Thankfully, most DVDs (with the exception of Criterion's) are reasonably priced...and certainly worth a purchase if it's a film you want.

Just my two cents....

 

[Paul_Scott]

that's just it Robert, we all know which direction this is heading...and at this point standard definition dvd is reverse.
i'm not going to break out in a sweat when i pick up the Fox classics in a couple weeks, or the Warners comedies a week later (both weeks containing some of my all time favorite films and most wanted dvds).
older 1.33 content on HD is not a big deal for me.
but later in the year when we get to other releases, like potential remasters/SE of scope movies, then i'm going to begin to feel a lot more queasy about laying down the money.
i just know that whatever work Universal is doing for a SE dvd of Flash Gordon, that new transfer is going to get released to HD as well(at some point), and damn if that piece of celluloid eye candy isn't one that would make me seriously start to crave high definition.
same if Fox puts out a new disc for Oklahoma! or Sound Of Music- the the shadow of the phantom upgrade is going to cast its pall over me.


i keep getting this sense of deja vu, and the time it most reminds me of is 97 when i would pick up that free , glossy laserdisc flyer every month (forgot what it was called) and you would see some great, really interesting, deep DEEP catalog titles being released on $30-40 lds, complete with the blurb "avaialable only on laserdisc!" and then see some lower priced listings for dvds at the end of the catalog, mainstream titles i could care less about, but just something about the fact that they were there made me uneasy...

and at that point i wasn't buying anymore new laserdiscs.

and never would again

 

[Peter Overduin]

welll...I'm with Paul on this one. To rejuvinate my enthusiasm, today I went out and bought a 60 inch Sony Wega and the brand spanking new dual channel HD TV decoder for my Shaw cable (when's superbowl...haha).

But certainly I have cut back on DVD purchases in view of the HD DVD/Blue Ray arrival.

It was more fun though, when we were fighting DIVX, arguing about OAR and slamming studios for not releasing anamorphic DVDs (geez...remember the initial release of Planet of the Apes box set?) BTW...anybody seen Mr. Staddon around?

 

[ArthurMy]

What Roger said. It has taken six years to get some of the great classics we're now getting. DVD has caught on with the masses and let me tell you the masses are not going to ANY new format for a long time to come. They tried new audio format wars a few years into CDs - the masses took to CDs just like they've taken to DVDs. CDs killed LPs and DVDs have pretty much killed VHS. All the other audio format wars of the eighties lost because the masses will not go to a new place this fast, no matter how spiffy the new place is.

And once one of these formats is declared a winner, it will still be years and YEARS before they get around to the sort of classic films they're now releasing on DVD.

Ennui? No sir.

 

[Robert Crawford]

To me that direction is still in question because there are still too many unanswered questions. Furthermore, I'm not so sure the general public is going to rush out and buy not only new players, but perhaps even new televisions and audio gear to accomodate the hi-def. format. I know a lot of folks who in the last 3-5 years bought televisions for thousands of dollars that they might have to replace in order to view hi-def dvds. These people are not going to be happy campers about making such an investment again.

 

[Paul_Scott]

the HD matter was really only tangential to what was really on my mind.
i think Walter was right in that i'm just in a rut at the moment. equipment problems and whatnot.

around Christmas time i was positively giddy surveying my dvd collection. i was sooo happy with how much great content i had immediate access to.
in some ways now though it feels like an albatross around my neck.
hard to explain

 

[Kevin Deselms]

For me, I only ever buy movies that I really want on DVD - so my enthusiasm never really fades, because I'm always looking forward to some new release. My enthusiasm for the standard-def DVD format has been dampened somewhat since buying a 60" HDTV set, and the knowledge that a high-def format is right around the corner. But I won't stop buying new releases on DVD; it's not that big of a financial investment and I can recoup part of it, by selling my used DVDs on eBay (which is what I'll do when I upgrade my favorites to HD).

My wife thinks my DVD collection is a little silly, but she's one of those people who watches a movie once and that's enough for her. To me, it's like picking up a book you haven't read in a while...I still enjoy the story, even though I know what happens. She puzzles over why I laugh at events or jokes I've seen many times already - to me, some of these things don't lose their effectiveness. Like, "Hey Dad...wanna have a catch?" Or, "Help me help you!" Those moments still have the same effect on me that they did the first time I saw them.

Anyway, my enjoyment of this hobby is directly related to my love of movies...so I doubt my enthusiasm will ever diminish, unless I get completely disenchanted with movie watching!

 

[Anthony Wolfe]

I am in no way qualified to speak on technical aspects of DVDs , but I can agree with the lot of you in that DVDs aren't going anywhere for a long while.

We're starting to see the bulk of titles get great DVD releases, not to mention the surge in TV on DVD. It's simply stunning, I'm more worried about a company releasing a better version of a DVD I currently own, than releasing another format. I hate when I get Leon and a year later there is a 2-Disc SE for it out. *sigh*.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

What with the high likelihood that HD-DVD or BluRay will require not only a new player but also a new display to replace my perfectly good HD-ready component-only set, I'm not slowing down dvd purchases at all.

Initially these players will cost upwards of 1k, and I can't afford 2-3k for an hdcp compliant set any time soon.

IF HD-DVD or BluRay won't do any better than 480p over component outs they will most probably remain niche market formats as LaserDisc was during the VHS era, and I see no danger of the standard dvd format disappearing any more than VHS was threatened by LaserDisc. As niche market formats I don't forsee drastic price drops for HD-DVD or BluRay players as we've experienced over the years on standard dvd, there won't be the sales volume to allow large price drops for these players for years.

So I think we'll continue to see exciting new standard dvd releases for many years to come.

 

[Adam_ME]

Ennui? It's a good word. It makes me wanna go home and watch my Antonioni discs.

 

[ArthurMy]

Or listen to a classic Cole Porter verse.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I'm going to ignore HD/Blu-Ray altogeher. As far as I am concerned, there isn't any kind of HD format until there is only one left. The two formats can fight it out, and I'll keep on buying my SD's.

I think too that as soon as the word gets out that there are 2 new formats competing against each other, eyes will roll while Joe and the rest of the consumers shake their heads and mutter out - Betamax! - and then laugh!

Some movies will show no improvement on an HD disk, so the SD's will continue to work just fine, and the new players will have to be able to play the SD's anyway.

I can also see the studios putting out releases on HD right off of the same masters that they used for VHS too. We're getting that now, so why should any studio suddenly decide that all of the HD releases will be done "right"?

...and yes, I can see Wall-Mart requesting FS releases. This could be the worst disaster since the "New Coke"!

Don't worry about HD, it isn't worth it.

Glenn

 

[Roger Rollins]

Sony: Betamax
DAT
MiniDisc
Blu-Ray

Watch what happens.....

 

[Kelly Grannell]

But we only look at North America alone.

1. Betamax was big in some parts of Asia and in the Middle East where people are more into quality than price

2. DAT is very successful in the professional recording world. It was the de-facto standard for digital mastering.

3. MiniDisc was and is still big in Europe and Asia

 

[Roger Rollins]

DAT machines are no longer manufactured...and they never took off with consumers....

All three were big disasters for Sony

By the way, I still have an operating Betamax, and 2 DAT machines... Not condemning the formats, just stating the obvious.

 

[John H Ross]

Don't worry, Paul. Everybody that leaps onto HD-DVD and BLU-RAY is going to be feeling much the same thing when they find out HVD (with TONS more storage capacity) is on the horizon.

There's no such thing as "security" when it comes to future-proofing your collection. Might as well just stick with standard DVD and be done with it.

JR

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Me too. I still have 2 Sony SuperBeta Hi-fi (same quality as S-VHS, if not better), and 2 Tascam DAT recorders from my recording studio days.

BTW, just sold one one of my Tascam DAT recorders (used to have four) for US$800 on eBay.