If _Star Wars_ were on D-VHS... (1 Viewer)

[PhilipG]

Look at this pic and tell me you wouldnt like to watch this.

Not with that stupid logo in the corner.
Of course everyone here wants to watch in hi-def. But I am reasonably certain that HD-DVD will appear one day, and I can wait. It is the minor titles that are only now appearing on DVD that I am most interested in (I've seen Raiders on LD so many times I am almost sick of it). These "minor", or "B-List" (or rather, less-popular-amongst-today's-unsavvy-audiences) titles will take forever to appear on DVHS - if the format lives that long (which, judging by the replies in this thread, it won't).

 

[Walter Kittel]

I'm pretty much sold on D-VHS, regardless of whether or not the OT makes it way to that format. Having those films in all of their HD glory would just be the icing on the cake.
I've seen broadcast HD displayed on my projector model at a friend's house. It was stunning in its clarity and color performance. It is almost impossible for me to conceive of a scenario where I would willingly reject a pre-recorded media that can offer the best available performance in a consumer format.
Just imagining the OT in HD gives me shivers -
... the Death Star trench run
... attack of the Imperial walkers on Hoth
... cloud city
... approach of Vader's Imperial transport to the new Death Star.
... speeder bikes on the Endor moon
[shivering] Bring it on.
- Walter.

 

[Dave H]

I'll never buy tape again. I will wait for HD-DVD.

 

[David WS]

I'm of the age (now 30) where I was never really into tapes. I had a few Audio tapes before I got my first CD (1985) and had a few video tapes before I got my first LD (1993). I can't imagine using tape as my main collection format. I only used my VCR(s) for time shifting. I was able to rent LDs from a local Video store and avoided video tapes as much a possible. I got my first DVD player for Christmas of 1998 and have never looked back. Tape is dead to me... I'm a disc man!

 

[Oscar]

Well, though i support DVHS.
I don´t want to go back to tape, i will wait until HD-DVD.
But if it waters down the quality, i will stay with DVD then-

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Hell no. I'll never buy a deteriorating tape, no matter how good it looks before the deterioration,

Technically, the nature of the format would mean the picture quality would be the same everytime. Deterioration reacts differently to digital. You'd have more and more frequent pixelation drop-outs, then finally, it would die.

And since I only have a 27" TV, I could care less anyway.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Retailers have continually looped D-VHS tapes for weeks without degradation.
Some people just don't know how to take care of things. Don't stick abused rental copies in a VCR, and keep your tapes in a cool, low-humidity environment, and retension them every year or so, and you will have decades of problem-free playback. But some new format will come along before then anyway...
I'm sure some people would whine about having a 35mm and 70mm film collection in their home. Oh, no, you have to use some care. Better to have DVD. :rolleyes
Well, this format is the closest thing to your own 35mm film collection, at a tiny fraction of the price, and with a comparable amount of care required. What a terrible thing!
Hey, I love DVD, and acknowledge that not every format is for everybody. But this argument about tape crapping out after a few plays is not realistic, at least not for those who refrain from abuse of our belongings.

 

[Oscar]

Well, yeah those guys are exxagerating that in just a few plays, Tapes will deteriorate.

But, i prefer DVD or HD-DVD over DVHS, every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I think it has more apply to me. and it fits my taste.

 

[Mark_Mac]

I agree with Michael, also its not just about what movies are available. Its also nice to be able to record HD material and the digital sound that is broadcast. Dont any of you tape haters like to archive anything? How are you going to archive HD material when its readily available?

 

[Dave H]

One day we will be able to record broadcast material on DVD. Hence, NO need for tape at that point.

 

[John Berggren]

Presently I'm biased against DVHS. I'm sticking with DVD until there is a better optical format. I'm not going back to magnetic media.

 

[Mark_Mac]

One day we will be able to record broadcast material on DVD. Hence, NO need for tape at that point.

Well that would be like 1hr of HD material....not very practical when Im at work and I want to record a 2hr movie...

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Well that would be like 1hr of HD material....not very practical when Im at work and I want to record a 2hr movie...

Not if they decide on a blueray-based format.

 

[Joshua Moran]

Star Wars is not a buying factor for me on anything.

 

[Dan Martin]

I'll be waiting for the DVDs.

I only wish ol' Georgey-boy hadn't tinkered with The Trilogy...

To those who own the ORIGINAL versions on LD I say this:

Treasure them, keep them safe. You little Lucksters!

 

[Jakob_S]

"If Star Wars were on D-VHS..."

...then somebody would manage to make excellent quality bootleg DVDs and sell them for a lot of money! ...which is the reason why I think they don't come on D-VHS.

I know this topic were meant different, but I just thougt about the headline.

Anyway, this was only my personal thougt, please correct my "statement" if I'm wrong in something.

 

[Carl Johnson]

The only way I'd consider buying a D-VCR is if I already had an HD set and DVCR hardware was priced comprable to what I paid for my first DVD player ($300).

 

[Joseph Bolus]

If Star Wars were on D-VHS..."

...then somebody would manage to make excellent quality bootleg DVDs and sell them for a lot of money! ...which is the reason why I think they don't come on D-VHS.

Well, this part wouldn't be a factor.

With over 30 million dedicated DVD players currently in use in this country, and still no OT Star Wars discs in sight, it's obvious that LucasFilm cares very little in regard to "market considerations". If D-VHS with D-THEATER is considered to be a HT niche market, with very little chance of becoming mainstream, it would not be a shock to see basic editions of the OT in this format in a year or two.

After all, the D-THEATER part of the equation is there to prevent the bootlegging of these films.

Granted, determined pirates will "find a way" eventually to circumvent the safeguards, but there may not be an incentive to do that until Star Wars appears on the format (the rest of the movies released to this format will already be available on DVD; why bootleg them?)

Let's say that Star Wars comes to D-VHS with D-THEATER in November 2003 (when it will probably be re-released to VHS for the last time.) By the time the pirates "crack the code" and get the bootleg DVD's out, we'll probably be within a year or two of finally getting Star Wars on DVD.

Please remember that the last release of the Original Trilogy to the Home Video market, in November 2000, included every format known to man at that time, except DVD. Specifically, the OT was released to VHS, VHS Widescreen, overseas LD, and overseas VCD. So there is no "business logic" associated with these releases; and the pattern indicates that all home video formats except DVD will be provided with a release.

BTW, to answer the thread question, if Star Wars were to come to D-VHS then I would purchase into the format in a heartbeat. (That is, if I survive jumping off the nearest bridge.)

 

[Michael St. Clair]

There is no need for the pirates to wait that long for Star Wars bootleg DVD.

For now, Empire and Return of the Jedi were digitally broadcast on FOX some places as 16:9 480i recently. This can be digitally captured to PC using existing software and resampled to DVD spec. Result - much-better-than-laserdisc bootleg DVDs.

Secondly, if they were to come out on D-VHS, there is no need to crack D-Theater to make DVD. Existing W-VHS decks from Japan record HD from analog component inputs and could be used to make initial capture from the D-Theater source. The result is somewhat degraded from HD, but is still higher quality than DVD. This can then be used as a starting point for a bootleg DVD.

If you only want DVD quality, D-Theater does not prevent bootlegging. It only prevents making an identical HD copy.

 

[Mike_S]

It's interesting that they chose a tape medium (with all it's inherent weaknesses). Why did they not come out with an LD based platform? Could they not fit say, 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' on an LD platter with little or no compression? I doubt that there would have been as much outcry over THAT scenario. Any thoughts?