Jesse Skeen
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 1999
- Messages
- 5,038
Just thought that since I have some time to post this, I would do so since apparently some of the studio people read these threads but don't always listen to them:
For the past year or so I've been thoroughly disgusted at Sony/Columbia/Tristar's DVD department. When they started out they were one of the best, but have done almost a complete 180 and are now one of the worst. For a while virtually every title whether new or old was put out with a new 16x9 transfer, plus a "Full Screen" pan and scan version on the same disc if it would fit. Later many titles were coming out only with pan and scan transfers, even if the movie was short enough to include both versions, and several of these titles were available in letterbox format on laserdisc. If that wasn't bad enough, they've now decided to dumb-down their previous releases- first reissuing the dual-format "Annie" disc as a "Special Edition" with only a pan-and-scan transfer, and have now been reissuing their 2-sided discs as 1-siders with only the pan-and-scan sides! What in the world was the reasoning behind that??? Although the list prices on those were also lowered, Warner has lowered prices on their dual-format titles without dropping anything, and Columbia's DVD quality USED TO BE so reliable that I didn't at all mind their $29.99 list prices (still a bargain compared to laserdiscs)! I can buy public-domain films on DVD for $1 at stores like Dollar Tree, but I won't knowingly buy a bad-quality disc even at that price, certainly not a pan-and-scan version of a widescreen film!
This practice is completely unacceptable from any company, but even more so from a studio owned by an electronics company. One would think they would consistently put out the best-quality software to motivate people to later buy some new Sony hardware to take full advantage of it. Instead they are putting out discs more suited for no-name 10-inch TVs and under-$50 DVD players.
In the next few years I'll be in the market for some new electronic toys, and if Sony's DVD department continues their backwards-thinking ways I will make a point of NOT buying any electronics from Sony. I may be getting a used computer from a friend that will at least need a new DVD-ROM drive; I'll make sure whatever brand I buy isn't a Sony. More importantly, although my 4x3 TV is still serving me well I'd like to upgrade to a 16x9 soon; when that time comes I will NOT consider any Sony TVs since they seem to think that we should buy our movies in 4x3 pan-and-scan.
I don't know what's happened at this company over the past year or so, but as a consumer the impression I get is that the people who started the DVD division mostly knew what they were doing, but have since been replaced by people who clearly don't. Whoever decided to reissue older titles with only the pan-and-scan versions should be fired. The ONLY products I will be buying from Sony are DVDs that are done RIGHT- as long as they continue to downgrade existing titles and put out new pan-and-scan-only titles, I will not be buying ANY of their parent company's electronics.
For the past year or so I've been thoroughly disgusted at Sony/Columbia/Tristar's DVD department. When they started out they were one of the best, but have done almost a complete 180 and are now one of the worst. For a while virtually every title whether new or old was put out with a new 16x9 transfer, plus a "Full Screen" pan and scan version on the same disc if it would fit. Later many titles were coming out only with pan and scan transfers, even if the movie was short enough to include both versions, and several of these titles were available in letterbox format on laserdisc. If that wasn't bad enough, they've now decided to dumb-down their previous releases- first reissuing the dual-format "Annie" disc as a "Special Edition" with only a pan-and-scan transfer, and have now been reissuing their 2-sided discs as 1-siders with only the pan-and-scan sides! What in the world was the reasoning behind that??? Although the list prices on those were also lowered, Warner has lowered prices on their dual-format titles without dropping anything, and Columbia's DVD quality USED TO BE so reliable that I didn't at all mind their $29.99 list prices (still a bargain compared to laserdiscs)! I can buy public-domain films on DVD for $1 at stores like Dollar Tree, but I won't knowingly buy a bad-quality disc even at that price, certainly not a pan-and-scan version of a widescreen film!
This practice is completely unacceptable from any company, but even more so from a studio owned by an electronics company. One would think they would consistently put out the best-quality software to motivate people to later buy some new Sony hardware to take full advantage of it. Instead they are putting out discs more suited for no-name 10-inch TVs and under-$50 DVD players.
In the next few years I'll be in the market for some new electronic toys, and if Sony's DVD department continues their backwards-thinking ways I will make a point of NOT buying any electronics from Sony. I may be getting a used computer from a friend that will at least need a new DVD-ROM drive; I'll make sure whatever brand I buy isn't a Sony. More importantly, although my 4x3 TV is still serving me well I'd like to upgrade to a 16x9 soon; when that time comes I will NOT consider any Sony TVs since they seem to think that we should buy our movies in 4x3 pan-and-scan.
I don't know what's happened at this company over the past year or so, but as a consumer the impression I get is that the people who started the DVD division mostly knew what they were doing, but have since been replaced by people who clearly don't. Whoever decided to reissue older titles with only the pan-and-scan versions should be fired. The ONLY products I will be buying from Sony are DVDs that are done RIGHT- as long as they continue to downgrade existing titles and put out new pan-and-scan-only titles, I will not be buying ANY of their parent company's electronics.
