Is everyone really going to rebuy all their movies in HD-DVD?
 

Hi I am kinda worried now, DVD has only been around for a few years reall,(rather vhs has been a lot longer)but all this talk about HD-DVD is getting me worried, its coming out in only like 2 years?, can it really be that much better?, people with 100's of dvds are gunna rebuy all of them? and dvds will turn into the now VHS?,Hopefully it will flop like Laserdisc,etc....

As long as it is Bacwards compatible, I'll be happy. I have about 85 Laserdiscs, and I only felt the need to update some of my titles to DVD. If they have something substantial to offer in a new version I may get a HD version. But very few films that I own do I feel the need to upgrade to High Def, with about 300 DVD's in my collection I wouldnt even begin to think about upgrading my library.

HDDVD will scucceed only if

1. The players are backwards compatible.

2. The discs are dirt cheap like DVD is now (Somehow I doubt this one)

and of course,

3. They offer something you cannot get on regular DVD, the average consumer is not going to care about the added picture clarity, as most people do not have high Definition TVs and wont for some time. And people love DVD, Just like they love CD's just cause a new format comes out does not mean they will abandon the media.

I mena how much more better could it really be? for me watching a dvd on a regular TV is fine Its more about the movie then getting the best picture possible.

nope.

I haven't been following any of the HD-DVD rumors, so I admit I don't know much about it. But I agree, "how much more better could it really be"? I have a 51 inch HD-TV, a kick ass receiver & HT set-up I really don't need, & more importantly have no desire for anything better.

No. I might replace a few, but I still plan on having dvds as the backbone of my movie collection.

Nope - it's good enough. I may get NEW stuff with HD-DVD, but DVD works for most of my collection.

Going from VHS to DVD was a large and completely different step and consumers could see a clear benefit.

1. DVD's were digital (no lose in quality after so many watchings),br> 2. Twice the resolution of a VHS tape.
3. Better then CD quality sound. (people could relate to CD quality sound versus tapes as they already had CD's)
4. No need to rewind (Be kind rewind :p )
5. Bonus features up the wazoo
6. Nice packaging (4 color picture printing on disks versus text lable on tape)
7. Able to play in computers, car decks, laptops, ect.
8. Chapter markings
9. Audio Commentaries
10. Subtitles
11. Multiple languages

All these things made for a huge leap in value on the part of DVD's. However besides a resolution and color gain I can't see HDDVD's having as good of a sales pitch. Truth is for the first time in a long time people are now seeing the full power of their TV's resolution with the advent DVD's. For most people it's good enough. To introduce a new format less then a decade after the previous could be a downfall.

For that comment I'd like to reference CD's that were debuted in 1979. 23 years ago. They are still going strong and nothing has really "replaced" CDs in the year 2003

yer stressing for no reason. relax. I will have around 2,000 titles or more, by the time HD-DVD gets here. replacing every title is crazy talk. I will replace maybe about 100 films....depends. films from my current library like Blood Freak, Aswang, She-Devils On Wheels, Scum Of the Earth...and about 1,000 others...will never see HD and will have no need to be released in the format. selected titles that will benefit only...thanks.

I will just replace the ones that I need to but if a DVD is already pretty good I see no need to replace it.

Maybe you should ask this question in about 5 years, when they have already re-released most of our DVDs 2 or 3 times over on HD-DVD.

well I think it will be more than 5 years before that happens but yes I will buy. I think most of us here know that hd blows away the quality of dvd. Of course I'll wait for the technology to show up and see it in action but yes i forsee myself replacing most of my discs

No

Right after I finish replacing all my CDs with SACDs...Not!

Nope, not interested in HD at moment. If and When I go HD i'll start by buying new films rather than spending money replacing old ones.

No, definatly not. I havent even replaced half my VHSs and I dont plan to. I will only replace my favorite movies like Ghostbusters. But if its not backwards compatible I dont see it being as successful as DVD. DVD to me, is as good as it gets.

No.

1. A lot of the films I'm into probably won't benefit much from HD transfers. I'm talking older, low budget, and/or arthouse types of movies. DVD already has a pretty hard inclination toward big loud action movies, and I would expect HD-DVD to be moreseo slanted toward stuff like "Fast and Furious."

2. Remember how stupid everyone acted when DVD came out? How many years did it take Fox, Paramount, and Dreamworks to start releasing DVDs? DVD has been around for six/seven years now and STILL no "Star Wars" OT? At that rate, it'll take Lucas another decade to put his stuff out. Remember when Steven Spielberg would'nt release his movies on DVD until there x amount of players?

3. Will HD-DVD transfers necessarily be better? Look at how many DVD transfers suck ass now? How will EE look in Hi-Def? Someone authoring DVDs must love that shit, so I'd expect it to be marring HD-DVD as well. How many DVD transfers were just recycled LD transfers? How do we know half of the HD-DVD discs won't just be rehashed LD/DVD transfers?

i just hope its backwards compatible. i wouldnt mind buying hd dvds but i dont want to replace all my dvds. $$$

Negatory...

Im pretty happy with just DVD and dont see (maybe im blind) the difference...

Think about the quality of the original film prints? How many of them would benefit from an HD transfer? I am willing to be most people will simply keep their current DVD collection, and start buying the "NEW" stuff on the HD format. I see no reason to replace any of my current collection simply to have it in a different format. Odds are the next couple of formats will be backward compatible with the venerable DVD format.

and HDDVD aint gonna be mainstream til at least 2008 anyway...

NO!

I'll replace some titles and buy new ones in HDDVD if the price is reasonable. as stated before it really depends on the transfer. if the time is spent into cleaning up a movie and releasing it into HD, it may be wirth it, but most films out now don't look as good as they could on the current format, so...

Not a chance... I may replace a few but in all seriousness, the verdict is still out on even that....

I think the points made in regards to the huge number of benefits provided by upgrading from VHS to DVD are the most valid...

I simply can't see HD-DVD becoming the norm until years from now (and by then something else will have come along)... maybe I'm wrong but I truly think benefits and cost dictate an upgrade in standard within the marketplace. In this case there just isn't enough meat there to change my diet.

It is still way to early to tell. I'm not gonna take a stance one way or the other. Knowing a HD format is coming won't affect my DVD buying since I am pretty selective in what I buy in case I do need to sell some or all in the future.

Probably not, for all the reasons others have specified. I'm surprised that they're trying to move forward so quickly with HDTV when there STILL isn't a decent way to record dvds like VHS.

I currently own less than 100 DVD's and plan to replace probably less than a quarter of those. I'm CRAVING HD-DVD but I'm not stupid. Do I really need a HD version of Eight Legged Freaks? No. Braveheart, Gladiator, LOTR and films of that nature? Absolutely! Gimme gimme gimme!

However, even older films that aren't in great condition could benefit from a HD transfer. As long as the source material is film you should see increased detail in medium to far distance objects in a shot anyway which is where HD really comes into play and creates that "looking through a window" effect. You'll also see more specks and scratches and what not though but that sort of thing doesn't bother me with older films. I actually think it adds some charm in weird kind of way.

I think people tend to use close-ups to make a comparison between HD and DVD and that's not the only thing they should be looking at. Close-ups of someones face on a standard DVD can look awesome now but standard def dvds simply don't have the resolution to bring that background detail to life.

Both the blue laser and blu-ray HD-DVD formats were developed to be recordable first and foremost. Just FYI. I hope it's a standard feature that will be enabled on ALL of the players.

That's what I'm thinking. Also having films that are currently on two discs (LOTR EE, Pearl Harbor, Gangs of NY) on one HD disc with no break would be very cool. I'll prob buy those.

i think its a scam, hopefully it will fade out like the laserdisc, i mean cmon how logn was vhs around?, I hope dvds could withstand atleat 20 years like vhs its only been out and mainstream like 6-7 years, now I mean i wouldnt mind to much rebuying in like 10-15 years but not in a couple I mean cmon we need to get sometime out of our discs and the money we spent on them, I think if the only differenece is going to be a little picture upgrade then its not worth upgrading. my 0.02

In a nutshell, no.

I really don't understand that mentality. If you love DVD so much, why wouldn't you be in favor of an even better version of DVD? Especially when the players will most likely still play all of your existing collection (meaning you'll get plenty of "time" out of them). Some people here seem to see this format progression as some sort of threat. I don't get it.

If they found a magic way of getting an even better image out of standard DVD, would you be in favor of it? Because that's not too far from the reality of what's happening. It isn't like it's a completely new format that will render your collection obsolete overnight. If anything you should be happy that your current collection will play (and probably be enhanced by way of scaling) in the new tech that will probably be around for a long, long time. DVD came out near the end of the standard definition television era which pretty much dictates it will not have the lifespan it would have enjoyed if it had came out ten years earlier. Nearly everyone on this forum will have a HD capable display within five years. DVD will progress to match the capability of HDTVs. It should and will happen.

Look at it this way. Your current DVD player is going to stop working at some point. Someday you'll be faced with this decision; Do I buy another regular old dvd player or spend a little more on one that can read standard DVD, HD-DVD and quite possibly record 20 gigs of video?

One thing I do know, once you see a stellar example of your favorite film running on a perfectly calibrated HD display, you'll be chomping at the bit to buy it. If you really think that won't be the case, you're kidding yourself.

It's still DVD after all. A new player will be a small price to pay to be able to enjoy it.

No I understand that, but People have to realize they keep doing thing sliek this like new forms of dvds and video game systems eveyr few years to ge tmoney out of you, and that is why we will never settle down on just one format, and hd-dvd cannot be THAT much more better, off course when my dvd player I dies I will probaly by an HD-DVD Player but I probaly will not rebuy all my movies, that is just ridiculous,If you have the money to spare sure but I and many others don't. Some people realy don't care if the picture is 0.2% better, I just don't think It shoudln be realeased this early and they should just settle on one format and DVD is fine for me.

Yes I believe people will rebuy their collection, at least of the movies that will be improved in hi def as some movies were never released in their native OAR (Full Metal Jacket anyone?). Hi Def dictates 16x9 so maybe we will see the death of Pan and Scan.
I watched "The Simpsons" Episode today when Homer was at the Springfield Dump and they had a sign for Betamax Tapes which was full, a Sign for Laser Disks which was full and a sign saying "Reserved for DVD".
Interestingly enough there wasn't a sign for VHS tapes.

Comparing DVD and game systems is apples to oranges.

Saying HD is 0.2% better is ridiculous. A lot of people claim to see a noticable improvement with simple Superbit titles (and to some degree, there is an improvement on some of them). Superbit just increases the bit rate and removes some filtering. HD-DVD will more than double the actual resolution of the image you're seeing.

I've seen sub-par HD on television and cable. I've seen good HD on sub-par HDTV's and I've seen excellent HD on nice, properly calibrated (can't stress that properly calibrated part enough) displays. The difference is sure as hell more than 0.2%. It may not be night and day to everyone but there is a "whoa" factor when you see a great example of it.

This is an imperfect example but look at it anyway. This is not D-Theater or HD-DVD. It's HBO-HD which will surely have more compression than HD-DVD will.

http://www.geocities.com/sircash13/Gladiator.html

Let's not go there!

I think many of us are threatened by the thought of our collections becoming obsolete in the not-so-distant future. I think we all need to face facts and realize that a better format IS coming, and most of our titles will be re-released in that superior format.

With about 180 DVDs, I'm not exactly thrilled about the notion of replacing my collection... but I'm also not completely against it. It's part of the fun of being a videophile! As far as the expense goes, I wouldn't be in this hobby if I couldn't afford it. I think many would agree.

Excellent example... thanks for posting. Wow!

am sorry but youa re missing my point I do Realize that my collection IS going to go obsolete, I jsut don't want it to go obsolete in liek 2 years. I just think its unfair that DVD was so short lived compared to VHS,and sit here a possibility HD-DVD can become liek laserdisc, I mena LAserdisc was much better then VHS but many people stuck to VHS.

I don't get it... so you'd rather they sit on better technology and release sub-par DVDs? I don't see how this is unfair. No one will force you to upgrade your collection... although you may have to give in and buy an HD player somewhere down the road if you want to purchase new releases.

I get what you're attempting to say. I just think your point is short sighted. You're not seeing the big picture (err.. no pun intended).