I am puzzled by all the Joe Six Pack references...it seems like the general feeling here is that if u can't really appreciate or afford expensive A/V systems then you are branded an idiot or backwoods Walmart shopping mouth breather and guilty of "holding back" formats or upgraded technology. Maybe these J6P people that are talked about have other interests or responsibilities that prevent them from even thinking about HDTV or HD DVD in the near future...

If the new format becomes mainstream I'll only re-purchase major titles like Star Wars, Alien saga etc. Stop buying DVDs? No way.

I should have explained myself better. I didn't mean that Casablanca and other old B&W films couldn't be improved upon in HD. I just meant that seeing those films in HD instead of on standard DVD are not going to blow your mind the way big color epics are likely to. Casablanca is not a visual experience; it's mainly a lot of scenes with people in rooms talking to one another. It's also a 60-year old black & white print - not exactly on par with a great technicolor masterpiece like The Wizard of Oz. Sure, an HD-DVD offering (assuming the transfer is done properly) would offer more clarity and finer detail, probably deeper richer blacks too, but I bet most people wouldn't think the improvement mandates an immediate re-buy. It would certainly rate very low on my list of priorities for HD-DVD "upgrades," whereas The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, etc. would be definite must-haves.

You'd be amazed what viewing extremely old film can be like in high definition. I've seen old WWII specials (using some of the crappiest film ever) in HD that I was just mesmerized by. The footage was grainy as hell, lots of scratches and blemishes but there were no digital artifacts. Completely free of the blurriness caused by upsampling a low res image on a large HDTV. It was like you were looking at the film stock itself. Very impressive.

Resurrecting an old but interesting thread I found while doing a search.

One thing a lot of people aren't taking into account - upconversion technology. I think with that number of DVDs people own these days. a big selling point will be how much better the new HD-DVD players can make your current DVDs look. Samsung has some models out now that upconvert 480P to 720P, but my understanding is that the results are good but not overwhelming. If they make strides in this area, 48Op could end up looking almost as good as 1080i - but when 1080P becomes feasible, it will put everything else to shame (at least until they start the next generation 4,000 line format LOL).

The limitation is in the the native resolution of DVD. There are 480 lines and while it may look good upconverted, there is no way it will look as good as a native 780 nevermind 1080. Think of it like this: convert a cd file to an MP3 and the quality suffers. Convert it back and the quality will not be nearly as good as the original source.

weren't they saying that BY LAW *EVERY* tv made by 2006 should be HD TV ready?

Thanks for bumping this NCYankee. It is an interesting thread. I greatly expanded my DVD collection when the used DVD market gained traction. I now pretty much follow a self imposed rule that I will not pay more than $15.99 for any movie. The only exceptions I've made to that rule are for sets like the LoTR EE's, which I paid $19.99 for used, or for TV box sets, which I also pick up used. Lately, I've been able to lower my average single DVD purchase threshhold lower because many places offer buy one get one free deals, etc, and by using Columbia House.

The bottom line is that I have grown very accustomed to not paying a premium for the movies I want, and I'm not interested in paying more than I do now, no matter what the format. So, my upgrade strategy is simple - I will wait until there is one definitive format (and if that means sitting out the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray war for the format that succeeds them so be it) and when that one format establishes itself, I will then wait until the titles I want are available at $15.99 or under due to loss leader sales, the development of a used market, or great CH deals. Then, whenever practical, I will trade in my DVD's towards the new purchases. I say practical, because, as we all know, it is a big assumption to think that the next format release of a flick currently on DVD will carry over all of the commentaries or extras that were on the original (or subsequent) DVD issues.

Also, I get OTA HD channels and while they do look great, I still marvel at the incredible DVD picture quality I get running my DVD's through a TheaterTek HTPC setup via DVI to my Sammy DLP. The difference between the two is not so extreme that I am champing at the bit to throw cash at HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

Nope. The FCC law only requires a switch to digital and that date keeps moving. A digital signal can still be standard definition and in the 4:3 ratio. Thankfully as more stations and studios make the switch they are switching to the HD version of digital for many of their programs and it should only increase with time. So in reality you can buy a digital TV that is not HD ready and only handles enhanced definition (EDTV) for display at 480p. Many of these EDTVs will accept an HD signal and convert it down to ED for display but not all of them do so you need to shop wisely.

Quality upconversions are really dependant on all the hardware being used. HTPC or a HD dvdo for example will most likely do a better job than most stand alone dvd players made today, bar maybe the new Denon 5910.

Most dvd players that upconvert SD have numerous problems. Handshake issues with various displays, macroblocking, white/black crush problems, green push, colorspace problems ....

Upconversion is a great way to improve dvd images but many problems still exist with it. I don't think the first generation HD players will be able to fix all these problems with playing standard dvds at a higher resolution than 480P.

I may be wrong here,but dont these DVDs already exist?
I have a few that say they were shot in HD.Like Godsmack - Live (2001) by Image Entertainment/ComingHomeProductions.
Does FILMING in HD not mean it is 'pressed' onto DVD?Because that video I mension above is spectacular on my HDTV!Best 'visual' DVD I have.And since I watch HD,it looks very 'HD' to me.

A DVD can be mastered from a HD source - this produces a better quality image, but it is still only at 480 lines of resolution.

The only HD DVD I am aware of is the HD version of Terminator 2 on the extreme version - it can only be played on Windows media player 9. Unfortunately, this requires you to install PC Freindly / Interactual player, which I refuse to do - it crashed my hard drive when I first got my current computer, resulting in a reformat. Thus, I haven't yet had the pleasure of watching this in HD on my computer.

why hold off buying now when blu-ray, HDVD comes out that shit will be hella expensive for the players.. toshiba showed one at CES2005 and it say it would retail at $1000 when it comes out. Im guessing that's how much dvd players were when they first came out? Maybe the time to hold off on buying dvd's is in 3 or 4 years when the HDVD/bluray players are at LEAST 2-3 hundred dollars?

To me the key to HD-DVD sales will be getting the prices down, and quickly, in order for the average buyer to make the transition. Tell J6P he's going to have to pay $500-1000 for a player and he's going to close his ears immediately. Hell, tell ME that and I'm gonna do the same, call me J6P as well. I've been around long enough to have done my share of jumping on new technologies at their onset.....and it's usually a case of basic usage for high cost....then that technology starts working out its' bugs and lowering it's price to own. Maybe that won't be the case with HD hardware, but I'm betting that to some degree it will be- the first $1000 units being dinosaurs a few years later. The smart money says to just watch the prices fall on the HD hardware, then get onboard. When I DO get onboard I can see me buying select titles I already own on DVD in the HD format, and buying HD discs released from that point on (pretty much) exclusively. The manufacturers would do well to make the transition as painless as possible for the consumer by getting their business quickly with a low cost player and HD discs being priced in the same range as what SD DVDs cost today. I don't think that will be the case for the first year, but DVD has already shown that this is the way to cause the new format to boom.