marioxb

I never plan on upgrading from DVD. I am perfectly happy with the picture quality/ features/ long lasting-ness of DVDs. I can't see them getting any better. You're talking to the guy that goes to whichever movie theater is cheaper, not the best one or anything. I mean I do despise fullscreen when I am supposed to and all that, I just don't see a reason to ever upgrade. I'm just wondering if I will be stuck in the past as my grandmother who misses VHS and doesn't know how to work DVDs. Besides, aren't DVDs already HD? Isn't that what progressive scan means? Good enough for me.

djtoell

DVD will not be around forever. At a minimum, the sun will eventually expand and swallow the Earth.

DJ

Giles

and on that cheery note....

rw2516

I don't plan to repurchase a single title in HD. While both standard and HD-dvd are available I'll buy the standard until HD Players stabilize in price. I'll only start buying the HD version of a title that has never been available when the players are less than $200 or that's the only version released, which ever comes first. The thing I'm most excited about is being able to watch all the dvds I already own through the DVI interface of the tv. I know there are upscale players that do it now but none made by the major manufacturers, and I hear the ones available can be somewhat quirky.

Eric F

The HD disc players will be backwards compatible anyways.

That said, like everyone else I will pick and choose which titles deserve repurchasing.

digitalfreaknyc

Enh. Like I've said in other threads, those who complain about repurchasing probably don't have an HDTV. Once you see the difference, watching DVD isn't as fun any more.

Goat3001

As long as HDDVD players will play DVD's (which they will) I don't plan on upgrading any of my titles. I don't plan on buying a HDDVD player until it 1) is reasonably priced and 2) HDDVD's are reasonably priced. I'm perfectly happy with the state of DVD's right now and will keep purchasing DVD's until it is logical for me to switch.

boe

I have seen the difference on an HDTV and it is pretty good. My HDTV only does 1080i, once you've seen a HD source that is 1080p on a 1080p TV/projector you will see why these are going to be great!!!! I figure I'll keep my 1080i mits 65" CRT which I really like-looks better than any plasma or LCD I've seen to date for about 2 more years. Trust me - I've looked at ever TV at every major dealer as well as all the ones on display at CES and the only thing that really blew it out of the water was the Sony qualia stuff. But that might be partially due to the fact that they were using a 1080p source. I can't recall but I think the qualia TV was DLP. Of course the qualia was a few times the price of the Mits (I can't afford that), I figure in about 2 years either LCD or Plasma or OLED (I have not seen one yet) will be worth considering if they improve the format so it doesn't have that screen door effect and reduce issues such as burn in, dimming, and longevity. I've seen diag alternate display formats but they still don't compete in some ways with the rear CRTs. That said, I don't know if rear CRTs will evolve to display 1080p so I'm hoping the alternatives improve significantly.

To avoid triple dipping, I'll wait until the movies I want have DTS-HD or Dolby Digitial Plus recordings- then I have a list of movies I'll probably upgrade although I won't upgrade all of my movies(probably only 50 movies I'll upgrade) So I'd suggest if you get a chance to see a 1080p source displayed at 1080p you might feel different about blue laser.

digitalfreaknyc

My 75 year old GRANDmother saw a huge difference in HD. I fail to see why people who consider themselves movie fans and videophiles cannot.

Cocopugg

I've been told Plasma TVs need "recharging" every couple of years, at a cost of well over $100. I've also been told LCD is much better quality than Plasma in the longrun. I've also seen (for myself), that neither Plasma nor LCD can even approach the awesome quality of CRT screens. They may be alot heavier, but if quality is the most important issue for you, stick to CRTs. As for HD-DVD, since I like old movies and TV shows, and all HD-DVD will do for these old shows are to show more of the imperfections in these shows and movies, I can live with all my shows and movies on regular DVD. To me HD-DVD is best for seeing whatever new programming they decide to show on TV, but that's where it ends for me.

Panda Phil

I'll probably consider HD someday. But the prices are gonna have to drop considerably before I make the leap. Right now its way too rich for me.

digitalfreaknyc

I hear this excuse a lot as well. Is $800-1000 a lot to people who spend that much on DVD's over a few months? i don't get it. I'm still paying my TV off and it was more than that. But $75 a month is a small price to pay for what I'm getting. All B.S.

boe

Digitafreaknyc -
I agree! I know some people who pay over $100 a month for cable and premium channels plus all the DVDs they buy but say paying $2k for a TV is too much! They will have the TV at least 3 years so I don't get the issue.

rdclark

It's not about picture quality or HD vs SD or anything like that.

It's about the fact that DVD is NTSC/PAL, and NTSC/PAL is going to disappear as the analog TV era ends.

Eventually, I believe, support for DVD will become a legacy feature, just as support for phono inputs is disappearing from current AV amps. HD disc players will drop the feature as it becomes increasingly irrelevant to consumers, in order to keep costs down and simplify products.

And of course the DVD itself will disappear. The market has never supported a dual inventory system (LP/CD, DVD/VHS) on an ongoing basis. No retailers want to have to stock two versions of every title, and no manufacturers want to have to make, package and ship them.

Two years from now all TVs sold in the US will be digital TVs. It won't be long after that when the analog transmitters are turned off forever. When everybody is buying digital TVs, they will want to buy discs and players that take advantage of them.

I give the current DVD maybe another 5-6 years before it is surpassed by HD formats, and maybe another 4 years after that until we start seeing "Best Buy discontinues DVD" announcements. And it could happen faster.

RichC

Nickofdoom

You never know, the public just might not accept HD-DVD. DVD might wind up like music CDs, there have been superior formats, but none have been universally accepted.

Dark_Sithlord

I absolutely agree.

dadaluholla

Another Vote with the Goat. That summed it up for me as well.

I have seen HD displays, and honestly I just don't care. I love dvds and movies, but i'm happy where we're at.

bis22

Personally, I really want an HDTV and almost bought one a couple weeks ago, but the only thing holding me back is the issue with burn-in. I want a CRT because of the superior picture quality when properly calibrated (and obviously the price), but I play video games, which are high-risk for burn-in, so I just don't know what to do.

Josh H

That is a possibility, but a remote one IMO.

HDTV will catch on eventually. Most cable and satellite and all broadcast will be HD in the future and people will see how much better it looks and have an incentive to start buying HD-DVDs.

Now people aren't going to scrap and rebuy all their DVDs, they'll just rebuy a few choice titles and start buying new releases on HD-DVD.


With CDs, there just wasn't much incentive. Most people don't notice better sound quality as much as better picture quality, and there wasn't anything like HD TV programming in the audio world to give people a taste of what better sounding audio formats could offer.

digitalfreaknyc

The public won't have a choice. Eventually Digital will be the ONLY answer. Analog will be dead...and you'll have to pony up and get a digital set. There's no if's about it. It's going towards HD and nothing can stop it.

I also think there's a little bitterness from people who've never had to repurchase their collection before. I don't think you're going to hear the laserdisc clan bitching too much.

regent

Ditto, also there seems to be a bit of confusion here about all of the competing new and old tv technologys (CRT,Plasma, LCD, Rear projection DLP & LCD, Rear projection CRT, DLP front projection, CRT front projection)and there true pros and cons. I sugest a long read at AVS forum.

There are so many choices and price points in HD sets now that there really isn't a reason to wait, get in the game, believe me its worth it.

One thing I will probably never understand is the attitude that "I love movies but could care less about the quality of how there watched", just odd to me. I consider DVD collecting to go hand in hand with Home Theater.

Hamburger3

Still does not mean people will buy into the HD-DVD format. Expensive players and discs plus the fact most people will probably not care to upgrade for years if ever.

Having a HD tv is a separate issue as their wont be a choice at some point.

Hamburger3

So why watch HD and ruin your Dvd experience ?

I doubt most of america will care about a small increase in picture quality.

TV and movies are not that important to the majority of people.

rdclark

There's no reason to think that the discs won't cost the same as DVDs and players won't cost under $200 within a year or two of introduction. Indeed, don't I remember a thread here that said the initial releases of both HDDVD and Blu-ray titles are supposed to list for the same price as their DVD counterparts?

If the new player will play your old discs, if the new discs cost the same and will give you a better picture on your new HDTV, then how long will it take before you're willing to replace your old DVD player?

If the industry pushes hard enough -- and it has every reason to do so -- a transition like this can happen very fast.

RichC

boe

I find some of the responses in threads like this one odd. People have made up their minds in advance even if they haven't seen the difference. I'm not sure if they are trying to state their opinions or just trying to convince themselves not to buy anything. Can you imagine a thread like this about 10 years ago?

"I won't switch to DVD, my VCR tapes look good enough - DVD players will be too expensive for me to ever buy one - I can't tell the difference on my 19" B&W TV - My children never come to visit - Is Matlock on yet? I like creamed corn..."