pocketpc

Is anyone else holding off on buying DVD because of the upcoming HD-DVD or Blue Ray format? I started my DVD collection back in 1997 with an average of about 75 DVD per year. My purchase went down to around 10 DVD a year after 2002. I do not want to repurchase the same movie in the newer format.

-pocketpc

bossman284

Why would you have to repurchase movies because there is a new format? I'm sure the new format will look great, but that won't make the dvds I currently own look bad. I'm sure if the difference is that great I will re-buy some of my favorite movies again, but I will not replace my entire collection. I've got way too much invested in it. If you're going to stopping buying dvds because of the new format, why buy the new format at? I'm sure there will be something even better somewhere down the line...where does it stop?

TomOpus

We've had this discussion here and the concensus seemed to be that very few are waiting.

Why wait? It might be YEARS before a movie gets released on HD/Blu-ray. Look how long we've been waiting for some movies and DVD has been out since '97. Plus there's the chance it might never come out on HD/Blu-ray. The format may never get embraced by consumers after going through the change from VHS.

Scott716

It's silly to not buy, I'm still waiting for many movies to be brought over from VHS. If all you buy are the most well known "popular" titles then maybe it makles sense but I bet a large portion of my collection will never make it over to the next format just like many haven't and may never make it from VHS.

LBCrazyFool

Nope.

chowchris13

I think the HD/Blu-Ray for the most part is going to be for a niche market (ala SACD)....I have feeling it won't be too popular...so keep buying those dvds.

bodomnet

Hell No.

Richard Malloy

Watch much HD-TV? I do. And it makes many of my DVDs look bad (and particularly those DVDs of movies that get broadcast in HD!).

I only buy movies that are must-haves for me (and they number in the hundreds!), but a steady diet of HD-TV has left me feeling that DVDs are soooo lacking. I think once the average viewer gets a good whiff of HD-goodness, they'll be clamoring for a better DVD.

Make no mistake: HD will represent a very significant upgrade over current DVD quality, so much so that your grandma will even notice. A very short time ago I too was in the "how much better could it be?" mode... and then I saw, over-and-over, just how much better it can be (and is).

tonyc3742

I agree with that in principle.

My problem is: there's very little on HDTV I *want* to watch, even with a DVR to allow timeshifting.

If I can catch something on HD, and it's done right, it beats the pants off of anything on regular DVD. But I don't want to watch The Swan or any of that junk in HD, I'd rather watch my totally non-HD anime on dvd, for instance.

I am slowing down on DVD purchases, however, but for other reasons: have a large backlog; not a lot of releases I really 'need to have'; greater reliance on Netflix; shifting attention to playing videogames; etc. I'm not necessarily holding off because of HD-DVD, because it'll be at least a few years before the players are down to my price range, and that's if the format war settles down.

Richard Malloy

The lack of HD programming is definitely an issue, though the last year has seen a mini-explosion in content. I'm not a fan of network programming, so I don't watch CSI or Lost or some of the other popular shows. They do, however, look spectacular.

I'm talking about HBO-HD, Cinemax-HD, Showtime, Starz, HD-Movienet, etc. Though far too many 'scope films are cropped to 1.78:1 on HBO and Max (like all "The Matrix" movies!), they look far superior to my DVDs in every other respect. (Naturally, I presume that the blu-ray/HD-DVDs will preserve OAR.)

And I'm sure you've noticed that most DVDs in recent years from the big studios, Criterion, etc., are encoded from HD transfers, meaning that the studios are sitting on nice little libraries of HD transfers ready to be encoded to whatever disc is capable of holding the immense amount of digital data required, be that HD-DVD or Blu-ray.

Make no mistake about the quality. My digital cable package provides HD in lossy compressed 1080i -- not a very high quality HD standard -- and it still easily bests my DVDs of the same programming. I've watched in amazement at everything from "The Terminator" and "X-Men 2" to "Bye Bye Birdie" and "The Manchurian Candidate", and have never again thought "DVD is good enough".

Seriously. You don't know what you're missing until you see it. And I truly believe this will become a mainstream phenomena, though we may have to wait until HD-TV is more ubiquitous. But once people get a good taste of HD, they'll want more. And that goes double for the sorts of people who frequent this forum.

DrGerbil

Nope. I can't imagine j6p spending money on movies he already has. And quite frankly, that's the major demographic buying DVDs.

That said, I will no doubt buy a film like Fight Club when it arrives on HD, or perhaps Finding Nemo. It would definitely be on a film by film basis.

Dmacsg1

Hello all!!

"Regular" dvd players are not going away! As many have stated in this thread and others just like it....The new format whether it be Blu-ray or hd-dvd or whatever will take alot of time to trickle into the main stream. I think that these new formats will not replace "regular" dvd but will instead be a sort of upgrade option.

Besides, we are just now getting J6P used to "regular" dvd!!

J6P will not want to touch this "New fangled format"

J6P, unfortunately, is a big part of the market and will have considerable influence on how things progress with these new formats IMHO!

But, in the end, who knows!! Anything can happen!!

Take care all!!

Chemical

Maybe this is a dumb question, but won't either format be backwards compatible?

bodomnet

Ill upgrade a few movies (30 or so) apart from that my dvds are fine with me.

Alot of tv shows and sports stuff is still in the early stages of realsing seaons and stuff.. with all these dvds coming why worry about hd?

Until HDTV is very mainstream the tv's and players come down a HELL of alot and there's enough titles out to decide it's not just a fad im not wasting a few grand on equitment me and 98% of the people I know cant afford to buy a damn hdtv.

DVD is just really catching on.. 2004 has been a great year for dvds and a number of stores have been making alot more room for dvd displays and alot less for vhs (finally)

Alot of people are still just catching onto dvd.. so in the next 5 or so years i only see rich quality junkies upgrading.

jmj713

I highly doubt HD-DVD/BR will replace DVD anytime soon (or ever, even). I think DVD, like CD, will be around for a very long time. I think this will be like CD and SACD situation. There are tons of CDs and everyone's buying then, and there are very few SACDs and I don't know anyone personally who's buying those.

darkside

Nope. I don't even have a HD TV yet, so I'm not going to wait. Doubt I will ever have half the interest in HD-DVD that I have in the current format.

antennaball

No way am I going to slow down. I'm not that much of an a/vphile to replace everything I've bought.

My only hope is that the manufacturers make the cases the same so when I DO buy new DVD's on the next format, it will mesh well with my currents.

Duality

buy HD/Blu-Ray. OK, maybe "never" is a bit strong. However, I don't think I'll ever buy DVD audio or SACD; I just keep buying regular CDs.

Besides, it will take at least five years after they introduce the format(s) for all the "bugs" to be worked out. Discs skipping, pixelating, freezing... Oh, and don't forget Edge Enhancement!

The Cow

No. The format holds more, not necessarily better.

ben12

I barely notice the difference between VHS and DVD, so I'm definitely not waiting.

phr33k

Do you by any chance own this TV?

BassDude

Iwill re-buy some movies on the new format, and will start buying new releases on it as well.

I have had HD programming for about 6 months now, and it is amazing. I can't wait to view movies of my choice when I want to view them with that much clarity. But I still haven't even re-bought all of my old VHS.

Some of my older films I will not rebuy as they are in the OAR and I don't need crystal clear image for an old film I will not watch over and over. (Exceptions are the classics of course...I'll rebuy Citizen Kane and Casblanca on EVERY format available.) But I'll enjoy what I have now, replace maybe 10-20% of the must upgrades, and buy the new ones as they come out.

gutwrencher

I'm back to "speeding" up my buys. the library is far from complete and I'll still be topping 2,000 titles soon. I'm far from jumping ship. except for those discs which may fail in time due to poor manufacturing...I expect my library to service my film needs for many, many years to come. poor disc quality can be expected to happen to the new format also, so I'd wait a bit before dropping to my knees to worship. I'll upgrade as I go along...when needed. it all depends on the title.

it will be YEARS before many of my faves hit and succeed on a new format.....so why wait? live for today, people!

Fok

I'm not waiting, although I may regret it years later, but that's years later.

scottp120

I'm not going to stop buying movies simply because that some movies will not make it to the new format. I'll get blu-ray when I get my Playstation 3 and may get a new player once they get around the $150 area. Again it all matters on how much better blu-ray is vs DVD. Sure it holds more info, but I usually only watch the movie only and not the extras. I will only rebuy a handful of movies. I will not buy it the first day it comes out for $500 or more and have only a few movies available. I enjoy DVDs enough where I can see myself watching my collection for many years to come.