awmurray

Over in the HD-Talk section, there's a thread which says that besides Magnolia another small company is releasing in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. BCI Eclipse will release these titles as their first 4:

That's the Way of the World
Galaxina
Night of the Werewolf
Vengeance of the Zombies

I've never heard of them before. I'm pretty sure they qualify as niche titles.
The full press release is here which states:

awmurray

That deals with perceived resolution not actual resolution of 35mm film.

As for 8mm, I've seen calculations putting 8mm at 1280 x 960 (which was based on Kodak 40, 8mm film which has resolution of about 80 cycles per mm). DVD would limit to less than 960 lines of resolution, so I think HD will be a much better capture.

Also from a site that deals with film-to-DVD transfer:

mdnitoil

Yeah, I saw that too. Most every format has the occasional oddball who figures he can make a mint if he can get in early. When there are no titles, folks will buy anything that supports their format. Let's see how long it takes Warners to put out Gunga Din, for example. A basic deep catalog title.

Drexl

The only thing I've done lately is not buy the expensive 2-disc versions of most movies when there is a choice.

I'm not convinced that we will see an entire season of a TV show on a single disc. I don't see the studios putting standard definition content (unless it's for supplements) on a disc that has the consumer expectation of HD video. I remember when DVD-Audio was introduced, there was some talk of putting every album by an artist on a single disc. That hasn't happened, and I don't think they'll do it with HD discs.

Of course, it could be done in a homemade fashion with the recordable discs if one were so inclined...

The Bus

I'm going to buy niche titles on HD or Blu-Ray as they may be worth something once that format (or both formats) fail.

lamphorn

HD is not affecting my buying because I have no HDTV nor will I be able to afford one for years (at least a proper one at a decent size), and wouldn't waste my money on HD or BluRay until there is a clear standard.

Drexl

I've been thinking about this recently, and I may have to answer yes.

Even though I may not be getting into an HD format for a year or two, I think it would be best to wait on titles that I know I will want to buy in HD.

The discs are cheaper than I thought they were going to be. They're not that much more expensive than DVDs. In some cases, they're even cheaper compared to certain editions because of the two-tiered release scheme. Why should I pay more for a 2-disc DVD version of something that is available in HD with the same extras? (I'm primarily concerned with the content; I know some will say the packaging is "nicer" on the DVD editions, but I don't really care).

What I think I'm going to do is watch the HD releases, try to form a sense of what titles are going to be released, and from there decide whether I should buy a particular DVD or not. Some more obscure titles that won't make it I'll still get, and things with restrictive schedules like the Disney Platinum editions are safe, but for the most part, I think I'll slow down my DVD purchases and only buy things I really want to have right away (about 3-5 theatrical releases per year would fall into this category).

I don't feel at all that my DVDs are suddenly worthless, or that I'm being "forced" into it. I will continue to enjoy my collection just as I have in the past. After all, the change isn't going to happen overnight, and it will take time for these titles to even be made available. I may even hang on to many of them for portable viewing. I have a feeling that the stronger copy protection is a reason why some aren't so happy about the new format (not necessarily for piracy or sharing reasons, but for being able to watch movies on portable devices without paying again). However, when it comes to new purchases, I'm going to be a lot more careful about what I buy.

The worst that could happen is that neither format really takes off, and then I'll just go back and buy those titles I didn't get on standard DVD later on. By then, they'll certainly be cheaper, and with some of them I may not even have the desire to get at all.

visitor Q

I think it all boils down to $$ .. who has it or who is willing to beat the curve. Since the format wars are being waged at the upper tiers (electronic manufacturers and such) .. some are hedging there bets, but are either sold on HD or Blu-ray or can easily afford a $500 or greater for a player in addition to double dips, just to have it outmoded or a substitution three years down the road (with a limited production release of software). Those that can't will sit back and wait until it all plays out.

Personally, I'm still sitting down to a 27" flatscreen (non-dig) presentation .. but I derive most of my DVD pleasure from sound .. not video. Unless HD can beat it .. not just marginally, then I'm just not interested enough, as I've invested well enough into the software and audio sides.

The other problem is importing. A large percentage of my software collection is imported and I haven't seen enough supplier support of either competing formats. Until this happens, I'm quite satisfied with the continual search of the best audio .. and sometimes video .. DVD support from abroad or stateside. There's just not enough benefit to the investment at this point.

So .. I'll just wait on the side lines and see how it all plays out. No rush here.

BuckNaked2k

Whew! I thought I was the only one. I think the DVD format is great - resolution-wise, in terms of HD disc capacity, I will concede.

I have a 42" screen 10 feet from my viewing area, and a Denon DVD-3910 player. My eyesight is not what it used to be, so DVD is plenty good for me.

Simpson Purist

I'm also waiting until there's one format standing, not to mention my concerns with backward compatibility.

Brian Shannon

And I agree with this 100%. My theater is nearing three years old, my Sharp 10K projector coupled to my Denon 2900 puts out a great picture. I see absolutely no need to chase formats or decipher specs. I have a dvd library and I intend to enjoy it now.