There are more like you...I'm just not jumping ship or giving in to panic attacks. I'm buying dvds/films like a madman, nothing has changed.

I'll sit back and observe the format war...and then figure things out at a more reasonable time, like in a few years.

No, in a word. I want to watch what I want to watch. Nice picture does not equate to happiness. Until the bulk of the channels I prefer (Spike, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, etc) move to HD, no real difference in viewing. If my Voom ever gets installed, that may increase it a bit, but I doubt it will have me stop watching DVDs. I had already slowed in my purchases, to pay for the HDTV and because frankly, I am starting to run low on catalog titles that are must haves and not merely marginal (as some one else pointed out). I am looking foward to the Daytona 500 in HD.

I am NOT!

I have slowed down considerably since mid 2004. I haven't doubled dipped on any title since then. I still get excited by the content of DVDs and look forward to big releases of the movies I missed in theater. However, I am a lot more excited about the prospect of seeing those movies in pre-recorded HD.

Regarding comments made about DVD looking better than HDTV broadcasts...

I have an ISF'd Sony KP-57WS520 hooked up to a Panasonic XP30 DVD player. I also have HD cable which comes in pretty nicely.

A very good DVD transfer looks just about as good as an HD broadcasted movie. The movie might display a bit more detail, but, if it does, it's very slight. The Mask of Zorro was on HD TNT recently. I popped in the Superbit version and the Superbit actually looked slightly better.

Now, the HD Discovery Channel does look significantly better than DVD as do some live broadcasts -- such as a TNT basketball game. Much of this channel just puts me in awe.

Of course, I expect HD DVD/Blu Ray to look better than HD movies on cable for several technical reasons.

So, as a result, I am still happy with regular DVD. HD-DVD is going to have to look considerably better than much of the HD programming I mentioned. And, I'm sure it will.

I'm not slowing down. I'm looking forward to high definition DVD but it's too early to quit or slow down right now. There's going to be a format war between HD-DVD and Blu Ray and I would never consider buying until we have a winner. If we have a winner. The format war could kill both formats or make them niche products. Look at DVD-A and SACD for an example. When and if a format comes out on top, it could be a long time before it catches on with the mainstream. DVDs became available in '97. From my experiences in our local market, DVD didn't really catch fire with the general public as a whole until 2001 or so. I doubt that the average person is going to want to switch to something else right away. Also, consider that it's taken some titles many years to hit DVD. It could be a 5-10 years before you see certain titles. Keep in mind what early players may cost as well.

I'll wait until we have a winner that I know won't be a niche product that will be neglected by the studios or retailers.

We old timers aren't nearly as demanding, I suppose. Growing up I had 4-5 channels available to watch, lots of signal garbage, and no capability to own the films I loved. For instance, it was a big deal when ABC would broadcast a Bond movie, because the only time someone could watch it (other than during it's theatre run) was when ABC decided to broadcast it.
Now? Now I have a huge widescreen HDTV, a progressive scan DVD player, hundreds of movies on the shelves in pristine OAR, no commercials, and audio of the likes my theatre growing up never had. I can watch concerts by scads of bands I have and have never seen without leaving my living room, and entire seasons of TV shows that didn't look nearly this good when I saw them on their original run. I have NO doubt that what I'm watching today at home looks much better than what I saw at the theatres 10 years ago. I don't have to leave the house, check show times and accomodate the theater schedule, fight traffic on the road, look for parking, spend $7-$10 to get in the door, pay that much again for popcorn and a soda, listen to crying kids or loud patrons. In almost every case I can see a movie at home that was on its big screen run 3-6 months later. In a sense I can relive the theatre experience of watching a movie that was made 30 and more years ago. Nothing replaces seeing a movie at the theatre, but this tops it in terms of both convenience and cost. HD won't make the screen any bigger.

I also have no doubt that HDDVD will look incredible, but to my eyes what we have TODAY looks incredible. Jumping on one bandwagon after another makes me feel like a patsy; there is simply no way I'm replacing the bulk of my movie collection all over again after spending the last 5 years doing just that, getting rid of hundreds of tapes. I've said it before.....if HDDVD players wind up not being compatible with standard DVDs I'll buy half a dozen new players and stick 'em in my closet. This isn't nearly the evolution that some people make it out to be, just another step up the ladder; the biggest steps have already been taken.

Obsolete means no longer in use. Standard DVD has the potential to be in use for many years to come. Hell, as much as I would LIKE for it to be, VHS isn't obsolete as far as the rental stores are concerned. One of the allures that DVD makers threw out there to entice us to switch was that our discs will last for decades. If that's the case, how can they be considered obsolete?

Building my DVD collection is quite addicting. I never purchased VHS tapes the way I do with DVDs now.

I haven't put much thought in the transition, but the way I see it, they're not going to release all the dvds I own on HDDVD/Blu-Ray all at once. Some may never even make it to the newer format. (Hell, I'm still waiting for Wrestling Earnest Hemingway, and Late For Dinner, to be available on DVD.) So, in the long run, I may need to hold on to the DVDs I own that aren't on the newer formats (and not much of a problem since the players will be backwards compatible).

If I really like a particular movie, and it retains all the extras that the DVD had -- if not more, then I'll re-purchase the movie in the new format.

I just hope the new format discs are encased in similar packaging (i.e., keepcases and digipaks), since I like the way they're packaged now.

It's taken several years for DVD to become as incredibly affordable as what it is today. Players and discs are in many cases a fraction of the cost one would pay 5 years ago. HD isn't going to run standard DVD off the market until HD hardware cost does the same thing. I think people are ready to see the difference and make the change (keeping the DVDs they already have), but I also think they'll wait for prices to drop. Whether or not the format catches on quickly depends on how badly both the studios and the hardware manufacturers want that to happen. Put the discs in the $20 range and the players in the $300 range and most folks here will likely own an HD player....assuming they own an HDTV which will also cost them several hundred more, minimum. Put the players on the market for $100 and you'll know the change will happen. For many here it seems like cost isn't as big a variable as it actually is....when DVD became so affordable to the mainstream is when you saw the boom in terms of hardware and media sales, and that pushed tons of new titles and DVD players onto the market.

I'm still waiting for some movies to be updated to DVD that are on VHS. DVD is such a simple format next to VHS and its moving parts that we shouldn't have to pay 5 bucks for a movie let alone 20. I'm not too worried about the next format.

1) Nope, my equipment has been calibrated.
2) Although at 42, I now hold reading material a little farther away than I used to, my "video eyesight", is fine.
3) THAT wouldn't surprise me, and is the most likely cause.

Well, that statement of mine would include having an STB that's not set to output to an HD resolution. Maybe your set-top box is outputting HD material at 480i or something and not 720p/1080i.

They're tremendously botching it, then. If you can turn on something like Discovery HD Theater or HDNet and genuinely think a DVD looks better than that, then something is very, very wrong. You should seriously consider calling your cable provider and having them come out, maybe swap set-top boxes, or something.

Who's your provider?

I have to agree with Adam here. I have a Momitsu V880 connected to a Toshiba 46H84 via DMI->HDMI cable, outputting 1080i. It produces pretty much the best DVD picture I've ever seen, damn near HD quality.

Still, there is a noticable, obvious difference between a DVD and HD material. Even people who don't notice stuff like that can see the difference. When doing A/B comparisons between the same content (DVD vs HD broadcast), it'll depend on many factors -- some will look significantly better, some will just look a bit sharper. But I've yet to see one where the DVD looks better or even "the same".

I'd seriously investigate what's going on with your system. What you're describing just doesn't sound right.

I dont care really.. I'm happy with what I have now.

When Monster Squad is released on dvd, then I'll jump on board the next format.

HDTV is pretty cool but I'm pretty happy with the current DVD format. In fact, I am slowing down on my purchases, apart from the TV shows, not too much is coming out that I would buy.

I'm slowing down on purchases for a couple reasons:
financial;
last of interest in re-watching;
online rental services.

HDTV hasn't replaced DVD for me. HDTV, when done right, is incredible, and I have the HDDVR which makes it a little more convenient. But I'm just not interested in a lot of the content on HDTV yet.

Then something is wrong with your setup. While I don't share the sentiment of the OP, to say there is no difference is such a misstatement it is hardly humorous. If you have HD capability, with HD channels, there can be absolutely no question that the PQ is better if your equipment is calibrated correctly. None whatsoever.

Now to say "don't buy DVD cuz HD is around the bend" seems a bit silly too. Why wait for something that may take years or never come?

And finally, as I have learned from this site, DVD prices in general (deals) are no where near as good as they were 4 years ago.

Excellent analysis. Consise, and insightful.

Don't forget too --- the guy (scracer I think) who said he sees no difference with DVD vs. HDTV -- his screen is only 34". The larger the screen, the greater the difference that can be seen.

Does anyone have screen shots comparing the picture quality of HDTV to DVDs?

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