Stop buying DVD because of the new format?
 

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

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?

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.

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.

Nope.

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.

Hell No.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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" :D

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!!

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

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.

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.

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.

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. :)

I will *never*...
 

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!

No. The format holds more, not necessarily better.

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

Do you by any chance own this TV?


http://members.brabant.chello.nl/~a....un/tvdood2.jpg

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.

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!

:D

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

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.

Somewhat curious that so many people insist that J6P will not convert b/c they are just getting used to standard dvd and don't want to rebuy their collections all over. I don't think this is the case. IMO, J6P has the least to lose as they havn't invested nearly as much on as many dvds as the niche collectors here!

1. J6P doesn't have 1000 dvds, or he/she certainly wouldn't classify as J6P to begin with. Most people have 10-50 dvds if they are even a "dedicated" consumer.

2. J6P wants the cool HDTV. If HD-dvd is better than standard dvd they will want that too. It is also hard for a HDTV owners such as myself to justify paying 20 dollars on a standard dvd that looks significantly worse than the nightly news program. Yes, 1080i is to 480p what DVD is to VHS.

It's going to come down to price. When is HD-dvd going to be on par with dvd pricewise? I predict a single format will sell pretty well to HDTV owners for about 2 years before regular dvd players are switched over to equally priced HD players. Then the average consumer has very little choice as to which to buy. Not only that but the studios have no real motivation to get rid of standard dvd for a while as they are still making a fortune selling a lower quality product that is cheaper to make.

The other thing I was thinking is that the comparison to the Music Industry everyone brings up is just one possibility. Could a format war be SACD/DVD-A all over again? Sure it can! I just don't think either Audio format had a chance to replace CD anyway though. They were just too expensive with little word of mouth to the public. The people I work with have never heard of either multi-channel music format. Today, when they shop in Best Buy and CC and even Wal-mart, people can see the difference in picture quality from 480i to 1080i.

A better comparison, IMO, for the new HD format(s) would have to be the video game industry. Consider that the game industry is constantly replacing systems every so many years. Now, we have three game companies pushing out systems at a much faster pace and the general public doesn't really complain. Not only that, but people are actually looking forward to the X-Box 2 and PX3 while we have not really out-reached the capabilities of the current systems. Nobody complains about this industry though and they have always had no problem doing business like this and getting the casual gamer to keep buying new machines. It's all in the advertising and hype IMO .....

For myself, I have around 900 dvds and will probably rebuy 2/3s of them. I will not buy into the next format though unless/until we have ONE clear format.

I don't have an expensive Entertainment System (Philips DVDR, 27inch Sony TV, Sony VCR, a Huges Tivo, and a Sony Dolby Surround System) so i doubt that when the next generation comes out that I will buy the players right off (it will probably be years considering I'll be in college still). So I would probably not rebuy any titles (with small except that my TV Shows Titles are released with alot more special features (like Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Deleted Scenes or more commentaires, or even in widescreen).

I'm a fan of primarily older films and at this point in time, I don't see the next digital format offering me anything more than what I already have with DVD. And if the transition from LaserDisc to DVD is any kind of indication, chances are some extras (like commentaries, etc.) won't be carried over to the new format.

Of course, once the format arrives, I'll make the decision then based on what it actually delivers (instead of what the technology can hypothetically deliver)

My last DVD purchase will be ROTK: EE.

Then in late-2005, I'll ebay every single DVD title I own and upgrade to HD-DVD as they come out...

There is NO comparision between DVD and HD-DVD. Bar none.

Bring it on baby...

I've got X-2 on the DVR, haven't watched it all yet, but it definitely does look much better than regular DVD. And Bye Bye Birdie was nice as well, especially for being a 40 year old movie.

I won't rebuy everything, and like someone else said, it'll be on a per-disk basis based on what each new release offers [quality and content], and I wont' be an early adopter.

I have to respectfully disagree and classify that comparison as terrible. There have always been complaints about the shelf life of video game systems. However, the content changes, for the most part, between each of the systems. A Halo 2 just can't be played on a Playstation released in 1995, both for improved graphics and simple practical issues.

The content won't really change between HD discs and present discs -- it'll still just be your latest release (video and audio) with some "extras" attatched. The analogy with SACD is perfect in this respect. SACD (and DVD-A) are inherently high resolution formats, just like HD. Between audio and video, however, the greatest difference becomes limitations of the end media. While audio resolution does increase with better smpling, it's hard to tell the difference, since CD is already capable of delivering the maximum possible signal frequency audible to humans. Visible sharpness proves relatively easy to distinguish.

Thanks! You missed my point and pretty much said the same thing as me in your post. Point being the general public ACCEPTS the new game systems and doesn't question how they are "slightly" improved. They can see for themselves that they have better technology/graphics, just like the new HD formats will be visually improved over standard dvd. SACD is IMO a terrible comparison to HDDVD b/c as you said, most can't tell the difference in audio formats. People compare an audio format to a video/audio format as an excuse for why this new format will not work. Why compare a format that has a noticable difference with one that does not? As I said before people will buy what they can see is better.

BTW, my arguement for the game systems is more geared toward the new systems coming up. PS1 to X-box is a much larger divide in years than what we have now. Current systems have not maxed out technology yet and they havn't even figured out how to do the live services that well.

I only see HD-DVD/Blu-Ray being beneficial for newer films. IMO DVD is the definitive format for classic/older (pre Post-Modern) films.
I mean, ask yourselves this, how would the Wizard of Oz look in HD? The painted backgrounds being utterly fake? The string holding up the lion's tail being clearly visible? HD will make the magic of these older films disappear.
If it wasn't meant to be shown in HD then an HD presentation will do more harm than good.
Also, source material for many of these older films isn't that great and HD will only exaggerate these deficiencies.

Also, I really don't think films like LoTR or Spider-Man will be launched with the new format. Expect films to be released that have been released on DVD 2001 or before.

It will take a while for a film like Public Enemy to reappear on HD-DVD if the DVD release is in two months, i say at least another ten years for us to see films like these rereleased on the next format.


Also, the concept of diminishing returns is proof enough that HD-DVD will be adopted much more slowly than DVD.
DVD was better than VHS in EVERY possible way but HD-DVD is just promising a better picture, and maybe even sound.

The overlooked element of CONVENIENCE/PRACTICALITY is what made DVD, HD-DVD promises no improvements in this regard.

DVD was launched in late 1997 and became mainstream around late 2000/early 2001.

If HD-DVD is launched late 2005, i really dont see it hitting the mainstream as DVD did until around late 2009. It will be a niche market like Laserdiscs until then which people who frequent this forum will adopt. But when one factors the video game systems into the this, mainstream adoption may happen a little earlier.

I have a decent TV. I didn't spend over a thousand dollars on it, but it's nice. And DVD looks a little better, but not by much. I still buy DVDs, don't get me wrong. I like widescreen. I just don't see the HUGE improvement. Maybe if I was rich and could buy a nice WS digital TV, but I can't and probably never will. I can also never tell the difference between a "good" and "bad" transfer. I couldn't imagine ever buying a Superbit edition of a movie.

But as you say, it's not technology that sells game systems, it's the video games, Sony's forays being the perfect example of that. Similarly, it's not the technology that sells home video or audio recording, but the movies and music. Utility is what moves a format when there are differences. SACD, DVD-A, HD-DVD, and BlueRay posses no utility and few content advantages over CDs and DVDs.

I only buy what I will watch over and over again on DVD:

1. LotR
2. Spiderman 2
3. TPOTC
4. Shrek 2
5. Chirstmas stuff
6. Star Wars
7. Etc

HD will not be on the market for another year and the movie selection will not be great for another 6 months. Then the price for the machine and the movies will not be in my price range for another year or two.

So, I have about 2 1/2 to 3 years befor I switch to a HD DVD player, I do have an HDTV already.

Relax and enjoy what we have now.

:up:

The driving factor in all of this may be the studios desire to curb dvd piracy by moving to a new medium. Perhaps DVD will be slowly phased out. I'm still buying plenty of DVDs, esp. TV sets, but I can't wait for HD-DVD.

I see this line of reasoning again and again in this thread, and it simply could not be more wrong.

Even older films, and especially big budget extravaganzas like "Wizard of Oz", will look far better in HD than SD. More specifically, it will look more like the film source, which is the whole point of this. Unfortunately, even 1080 lines of resolution won't reveal all the detail of a well-produced film like "The Wizard of Oz", at least not on a large monitor (and certainly not on the size screen that "Wizard" was intended to be projected upon), but it will bring us so much closer. And it will represent a huge leap over the current 480P limit of DVD.

I can only imagine that those of you who don't think early films will benefit don't have HDTV. If you did, the improvement would be obvious. I recently saw "Bye Bye Birdie" on HD Movienet, a gorgeous technicolor film that rivals "Wizard" in the brilliance of its colors, and it was simply jaw-dropping. Many decades old, for sure, but that hardly means anything. Many older films look far better than newer ones. This has nothing to do with the era of films you prefer, as they will all benefit greatly from the hugely increased definition and color fidelity.

But even a cheap low-budget flick like "The Terminator" looks fantastic! This image of this film doesn't come close to the quality of "Bye Bye Birdie" or "The Wizard of Oz", and yet it looks so much better in HD than on DVD. Like I said before, even your grandma will notice. And even on a low-budget film like this one.

I'd love to know whether those of you with doubts and negative opinions have HD-TV? If not, I think living with it for only a very short while would change your mind in a heartbeat. Like I said, I was until very recently in the "DVD is plenty good enough" camp. After one day of HD-TV, I realized just how much I'd been missing.

Not waiting. It's still about two years min. before a new machine enters my house.