Will you be rushing into the new Hi-Def formats in 2006? (1 Viewer)

[stewart borland]

No, not for me any time soon - and I'm talking years!

Very happy with what I've got and the quality of current DVD's.

Slimeball Blair will be switching off the old signal and going to digital only TV here sometime soon so the TV will be the first replacement for my system.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

As I mentioned in a different thread, personally, I'm rather amazed at the number of people who re-bought Toy Story and Toy Story 2 due to the extremely small improvement in A/V quality, and yet say "Standard DVD is good enough for me", when even 720p video looks head and shoulders superior to standard DVD. The leap in resolution alone from standard DVD to 720p DVD is far greater than the leap from VHS to DVD - and 1080p has 200% more resolution than even 720p...

I guess I just don't get the lack of excitement, except from those that are understandably put off by the format war, unanswered questions about the specs, and initial costs, but then again, many people have no problem what so ever re-buying the same titles over and over, for something as small as a new transfer in the same resolution, when an HD transfer would/does look soooo much more superior.

That said, I feel no urge to replace my entire collection with HD versions as soon as they become available, but only because the cost currently does not warrant such a drastic upgrade. I will though be replacing many of my favorite titles as soon as they are released in HD, as for me, the quality improvement is so very much worth it!

I imagine the more HD video I get, the more likely I'll stop watching my standard DVDs, as I know this was the case with TV shows. The more shows I watched in HD, the more I realllly hated watching shows in standard def, and now I'll even avoid shows I might have normally enjoyed seeing, simply because I really can't tolerate the poor quality of standard broadcast video - despite the fact that prior to HD, I was as content with it as ever I could be.

 

[Ricardo C]

My support is behind BluRay, though it'd be hard to resist buying into HD-DVD if a key title for me (such as the LOTR trilogy) were made exclusive for that format. Warner may be supporting both formats, but that doesn't mean equal release lists and schedules for both.

I must say I'm surprised by the amount of people who're saying they're perfectly happy with DVD. This is a chance to build a film collection with near-cinema quality, and people are balking? Were Laserdisc owners this reticent to embrace DVD when it first popped up?

 

[Richard Kim]

I'll buy a PlayStation 3 when it comes out, but primarily for the games, not for Blu-Ray.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I wouldn't think so unless you're buying it because it is Blu-Ray and you intend to watch Blu-Ray movies. If I plan to buy a pick-up truck to haul stuff around in the bed, and it comes with a trailer hitch standard, I would not respond to a poll about which kind of trailer I'd support. Similarly if I didn't have a car or truck with a trailer hitch (and therefore didn't have the option) I wouldn't reply to such a poll. Because if I did, I'd be distorting the results.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Well said!

 

[John H Ross]

The concept of "building a film collection" once again suggests something definitive. I thought I was building something definitive when I invested $1000 in laserdisc. And again when I invested $1000 in DVD.

There's nothing "definitive" about any of this. We haven't yet tested the durability of the discs, or the quality of the mastering, or anything (DVD suffers from both of these things even now, 9 years after the format was launched!) Personally, I recommend extreme caution.

JR

 

[Ricardo C]

It's home video, not nukes. I'm gonna wait for the first serious reviews, then buy.

 

[RyanAn]

I collect various formats for a sense of the past, BETAs, Laserdisc players, etc... So, even if I bought a player and it became obsolete it would not be a negative for me anyway.

I will probably hold off until one or the others reigns supreme. Heck, I almost put my faith and money in Divx, but thanks to patientence, it all worked out on it's own.

Unless I rich and can afford the first initial player for each, I will wait and see who has got the goods.

- I'm in lust with these ones: http://www.blu-ray.com/players/


Ryan

 

[Jeff D Han]

Hi Ricardo-

You said in your earlier post that you're surprised that
some of us have chosen to be happy with SD-DVD. You may
be ignoring that alot of us here have sizeable DVD libraries
already, and alot of us don't have the money to completely
upgrade our libraries into HD, even if everything released
on DVD ever gets an HD upgrade. Like I already said in my
post, I know I would become dissatisfied in my library if
I bought a backwards-compatible player (SD-DVD just won't
hold up to a good HD transfer). I think I'd rather have a
nice consistent collection of films than have a few great
HD masters and not want to play my SD-DVDs anymore.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I agree!

 

[John H Ross]

Well that's exactly right. But the argument here is quality. I can "enjoy" a movie (the story, the acting, the direction, the score) just as much on DVD as on HD. Hell I can "enjoy" it just the same on VHS (as long as it wasn't pan/scan obviously!).

I upgraded from VHS to laserdisc for the durability and better picture (but durability isn't a word that 3M understood!) I upgraded to DVD for the more solid picture, DD/DTS sound, better price and more convenient size - and the increased durability (but durability isn't a word that some studios, let's single out Universal, understand!)

I don't see how buying those same movies again with 2x resolution (or whatever) is going to help me "enjoy" these movies any more than I do already. I'd get much more satisfaction simply knowing that they'll play properly when I put them in my player! Sure I'd like them to look/sound as good as they possibly can, but that isn't the be-all and end-all. Nor is it the reason why I purchase movies!

The general opinion seems to be that finally we'll have something "definitive" (i.e. something that comes close to matching, or indeed maybe surpassing, cinema quality) that we'll finally be able to build this so-called "ultimate" collection. This is, of course, utter rubbish - unless, of course, they can assure absolutely 100% quality control. And what are the chances of that?

What all this actually boils down to, in many respects, is getting one up on your mates and/or your neighbours by having/boasting about the latest technology. And that's not what "enjoying" movies is all about.

John

 

[CraigF]

^ Some people bought Toy Story *expecting* a large visual improvement and found it to be negligible to minimal. That's when they knew it was the end of the line. An experiment. Not to be confused with *intentionally* paying good money for virtually nothing.

I don't think anybody's saying that standard def is the ultimate, just that it's "good enough" (for some) to enjoy. Not that it's the best they ever want etc. etc., just that they can live with it. Anyway, that's where I am.

I'm sorry, but a very good DVD transfer is still something to get excited about. Why am I going to think that the barely-competents who do or supervise transfers are suddenly going to become maestros just because I upgrade *my* equipment? Doesn't make a lick of sense. There's more to the problem than higher resolution, resolution is the least of problems in most DVD transfers I have issue with.

 

[John H Ross]

This is exactly right! How many of the new releases in 2005 actually were the very best quality they could be? You could probably count them on one hand...

HD will be just the same, there will just be different (but equally irritating) levels of good and bad!

JR

 

[Robert Holloway]

I certainly have the cash to make the plunge but am becoming increasingly skeptical, having been duped so many times.

It's not even a hardware isssue. Hey, my garage is a literally a VHS, LD and DVD player junk yard.

I have built two collections so far - 300 LDs and now 1000 DVD's to yet agian see them "obsoleted". If there had been one format and players at reasonable prices that made me believe that they would be mass adopted quickly I may have jumped in.

However, I increasingly believe that this mess called High Definition DVD is simply opening the way up for HD on demand. DRM, non component, two formats, feature reduced players, high price points, i could go on.

So I will sit out 2006 and watch and wait and then decide what to do. Most likely I'll upgrade the JVC SX21 to a Sony Ruby and subscribe to a Netflix type HD service (that will ceretainly be here within 12 months) and an HD VOD service in 2007/8.

I guess that the cynicism is finally catching up and the stupidity of my movie buying habit is starting to sink in. Here's my embarassment:

I love the Abyss

I bought it in the Uk as a PAL P&S VHS, then the widescreen VHS, then the box set LD and then the LD Dolby Digital version. Finally I get the DVD and it's not even anamorphic. One mistake call me stupid, twice call me a fool. But 6 times for god sakes?

Regards
Rob

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Robert,

Don't kid yourself. You will buy a HD player (whether it is HD-DVD or Blu-Ray) fairly soon after release in order to get all you can out of your Ruby (or SX21 for that matter).

To me it just doesn't make sense to drop nearly $10,000.00 on a 1080p projector and not buy a player that is capable of actually taking advantage of that resolution!

 

[Kain_C]

Good points, John Ross. I guess some people can't fathom that alot of us are on fixed incomes and can't afford to rebuy our movie collections AS WELL AS new equipment to play them on. I'll continue to buy SD DVDs (and enjoy them) for a good while.

 

[Ricardo C]

I guess some people can't debate the opinions people actually post, preferring strawmen instead.

 

[dpippel]

Is it really neccessary to get personal here? No.

 

[Kain_C]

I'm pretty sure my post -- which by the way was not aimed at you necessarily -- is an adequate response to your "surprised" feelings. It wasn't an attempt at a debate, ok?