How will you handle HD-DVD blu-ray discs? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Click]

I am no super rich guy that can thow away for a few bucks that $20,000+ of dollars took to buy my over 1,200 red laser DVD discs, not counting disc players. This post has festered in my brain for some time. I can afford what I have in my red laser collection but to have the same amount of HD-DVD disc's and players is only a dream to me!

I am retired but a lot of you have families to support, essentially we are in the same boat. What we want and what we actually can afford! How will you handle HD-DVD is the topic?

 

[Stephen Heath]

Personally, I haven't got a HD TV yet (same kind of money situation). However, when Blu-Ray HD-DVD specs are nearing fruition, I will just stop buying DVD's, like I stopped buying VHS's, and have two players, my old DVD player and a newer HD-DVD player.

Until I have a HD TV, I can't imagine I will rebuy any old DVD's, unless studios offer limited time "trade up" specials (which I don't imagine they will). After I have one... well, hard to say, I'll probably just live with the DVD picture for most of it, maybe buying a few special movies again.

 

[Mike Click]

Steve I have a $3,000 HDTV for nearly 2 years now. I have enjoyed over 1200 Discs since 1997, over and over. I have mastered my HDTV thru constant fiddling. I am no match at just going from one format to another in 6 or so short years. Vcr has had a wide amount of time.

We were all told Progressive scan DVD was the future, now all want 120 lines more. Steve a progressive DVD can put out 960i, digital is 1,080i, I would personally have to see a running blue laser disc to want to throw away an investment like I have being a retiree. I am 4 years short of being 60 years old, my SS only went up $7 a *month* from 2002 to 2003! I say throw away because the local pawn shops will only give $1 per Vhs pre-record. I paid between $18 and $29.95 plus tax and/or shipping per red laser disc. what discs will be worth when blu-ray discs are available, I am sure I won't get 1/3 of the new price I paid or less.

 

[Dwayne]

Depends on how they're gonna be priced.

 

[Mike Click]

Dwayne I am asking for guesses you got a guess?

 

[Neil Joseph]

All I can say is I am looking forward to it. I never collected too many titles (I have ~100 after collecting since 1997) but I would start with my absolute favourites first, then very slowly migrate as needed.

 

[Dave H]

So, HD-DVD players won't have a red laser (in addition to the blue)? So, no backward capability?

 

[Andy_S]

Exactly. Red laser are so inexpensive now it wouldn't make any sense not to have both red and blue lasers.

 

[Robert Spalding]

no, they will have both lasers.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I think it will be quite awhile before the studios embrace any disc-based HD format, whether it be Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. The studios continue to be concerned about copy protection, and they are just beginning to reap the financial benefits of DVD. I doubt they will see this as a viable market for the next few years. Also, a format war will only succeed in slowing down adoption of any disc-based HD format by consumers.

When a single format becomes the defacto standard and a there is a reasonable selection of titles, I will add the format to my system. As for replacing current DVD titles I own, I would imagine that not all HD releases would offer enough video improvement over a good progressive scan DVD playback systm to warrant an upgrade. I expect to keep a lot of my current DVD library intact for many, many years.

 

[Jon Robertson]

How will you handle HD-DVD blu-ray discs?

With care.

 

[Mike Click]

I am seeeing a pattern here that you all think HD-DVD is years away. The licences to manufacture blu-ray have already been paid by quite a few of 9 that will put a blu-ray wide sleeve into a HD-DVD player

A number of believe it will be red laser backward compataible, this would be true if the entrance were the same width. We have for the most part seen the sleeve with the disc that is inserted.

Unless a backwards capable disc sleeve can be made to take indivual red laser discs, I think we can forget about DVD changers, just players one disc at a time. If that is the case I am too lazy to change a disc for every movie I watch, which was the whole purpose of having DVD changers. To have 300 + 1 inside your player not filling a whole rack or with discs in their cases was the way to go, now wthin a few years I am to dump that idea in favor of inserting a disc within a sleeve every time.

This is partly what I have been considering HD-DVD and about driving an automatic transmission, suddenly having to go back to using manual transmission for a lot more dollars for blu-ray. How will you handle the much higher cost of a retrofit if anything develops for HD-DVD?

 

[Aaron_Brez]

We were all told Progressive scan DVD was the future, now all want 120 lines more.

Try 240 lines more. 720p - 480p = 240 i.e. 50% improvement

1080i is for wusses.

(and if we get what we really want (1080p interlace-on-the-fly) it's 1080p - 480p = 600)

 

[Ted___________H]

I will totally switch to HD-DVD, under one condition.

This will be the final video format for a looooooong time.

BetaMax
VHS
LD
D-VHS
DVD
HD-DVD

I only have VHS and DVD, but when I rebuy all my DVDs in this new format, I don't want Super HD-DVD/Rainbow laser to come out 6 months after I rebought $1000 worth of DVDs.

 

[MarkHastings]

Mike,

Look at CD's, when they first came out, did you replace EVERY cassette tape you had with a CD? And now with DVD-A, if they eventually came out with every CD available on DVD-A would you replace all your CD's?

I believe that HD-DVD's will live side-by-side with DVD's just as DVD's are living side-by-side with LD's. No big deal...no reason to worry...DVD's look great, so why feel like they'll be ancient history (or virtually obsolete) when HD-DVD's come out? I'm sure I'll replace quite a few DVD's I have (mainly the ones I really LOVE), but I seriously doubt if I'll be so tempted to replace everything. Do I really need to upgrade my "Tommy Boy" DVD to HD? I doubt it...Do I need to upgrade my "Lord of the Rings" DVD to HD? DEFINITELY!!!!!

 

[Paul.Mc]

I'm not going to handle them at all, since I don't have HDTV, and probably wont for a few years, and anyway, "Blu-ray is a recordable format only, intended for home video recording. It is not currently intended for mass-distribution of movies." (DVD-FAQ 6.5)

 

[Dan Hitchman]

If they have 1080p video with extremely high quality (D=VHS or hopefully better) and no edge enhancement, OAR all the time, and better audio than what we get now.

Other than that, I probably won't bite.

As of right now I'm very sceptical about HD-DVD the way the DVD Forum is going on about low bitrate codecs and red laser discs.

Hopefully, the Blu-Ray group will have their shit together.

Dan

 

[Mat_M]

I feel very strongly that HD-DVD should be backwards compatible. DVD is the first format where tons of users have collections of tons of DVD's. You didn't see this many people owning as many VHS videos.

The general concept is the same: reading 1's and 0's from a disc with a laser. I don't have a DVD-A player, but I'm assuming it is backwards compatible with CD's (correct me if I'm wrong). A blue wavelength laser will have no problem reading a DVD formated for a red laser if made correctly, right? Definitely yes.

So anyhow, like others have said, I'll buy HD-DVD for ONLY the movies I really like that I own, and new movies that come out.

 

[RobertR]

I believe that HD-DVD's will live side-by-side with DVD's just as DVD's are living side-by-side with LD's.

Mark,

The problem with that analogy is that DVD killed LD. LDs "coexist" in the sense that some people still watch them, but they aren't made anymore. I don't think it will be the same situation with DVD/HD-DVD.

 

[Chad A Wright]

I only have about 160 discs, but I won't be replacing very many of them, if any. On my HDTV with progressive scan, movies look so good that I don't see the point in spending more for a slight increase in quality. When HDDVD comes out (provided it is backward compatible), I will adopt it and make all purchases from that point on HD. I won't be upgrading my current collection though.