After watching several movies on Blu-Ray, I don't think i'll ever go back

I got to wondering, why do you suppose so many niche titles and catalog classics haven't made it to Blu-ray yet? I mean, if the format's most ardent supporters are film fanatics such as Pro-Bassoonist (and my experience to date suggests that to be the case), how is that the studios haven't marketed more titles to that demographic?

I realize that big box office hits are their bread and butter, so there's no need to get into why Warner would rather push "The Dark Knight" this year than something more obscure. Any thoughts?

I'd say that's your answer.

I think the more successful the format becomes, we'll start seeing more classics and niche movies.

1. I collect films. I also go out of my way to make sure that I have the best version of the film I wish to own in my library. With other words, yes, I regularly add DVDs to my film library.

2. I am not promoting Blu-ray. I promote the quality the format allows.

3. My stance on the format and collecting films has been very clear from the very beginning (a quick search from prior, during, and after the HD war should easily prove so).

4. No, I am not a fan of both formats. I am a fan of the films they (can) deliver. As I noted in one of my posts in this thread, without content these formats are simply shiny discs.

5. I don't look down on DVD. If I did, I would not be making announcements about films that are set to be released only on DVD at this moment, I would be ignoring them:

1.
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/internation...-bellucci.html

2.
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/internation...nes-jaoui.html

3.
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/internation...antonioni.html

etc...

I really don't think that there is anything else that I need to clarify here. :) I remember the early days of this forum when there were huge debates between supporters of OAR and full-screen DVD releases, I also remember the days when the DIVX paranoia arrived and Warren Liberfarb's statements were discussed, I also remember well the early days of region-free hardware in the international section (I was promoting region-free equipment and non-R1 DVD releases at the now defunct Nicheflix rental system -- Mark, are you still around? Hendrik?? :) -- so I am somewhat used to objective criticism from those who thought that enthusiasm equates something else) so, the fact that there are people who would always come forward and state that enough is enough is nothing new to me.

Have a great week,

Pro-B

This is actually a great question, so allow me to share my opinion quickly:


First of all, the format has been on its own, with a full studio support, for only a few months. I really would not consider the war as much of an indicator as to where the studios wanted Blu-ray to head (the fact that certain parties, such as Universal for example, had a contract that required them to put a certain amount of titles is very telling -- they ended up delivering some truly awful films with some truly awful transfers, similar was the picture in the Blu camp). With other words, I would think that just as DVD matured, and serious titles with serious transfers began arriving after its second year of market presence, so will Blu-ray expand. Perhaps, not as fast as high-definition viewing requires proper equipment, something DVD did not have to overcome, but the future, in my opinion, isn't standard-def. I could well be wrong, but quality titles do not always sell well (look at the Criterion collection), they require a solid base of buffs to be present in order to be released.

Hope this helps :)

Pro-B

Besides the fact that I don't have a HD display with HDMI inputs with a Blu-ray player, DVD is still viable for two reasons:

1) DVD video upscaling from 480p to 720p/1080i/1080p resolution has gotten pretty good, so a properly mastered DVD looks good on a HD display. However, upscalihg produces artifacts that you can see if you look at the HD display closely.

2) DVD mastering has become really cheap lately, while Blu-ray mastering is still fairly expensive (though the price of mastering hardware has come down a lot lately).

If you are talking about on per unit price, which I believe is exactly what you refer to, your observation is incorrect.

Pro-B

The only thing I am am buying in standard DVD now is the shows I know that won't go to blu-ray. Absolute favorite movies and complete series like, full house - complete series, charmed - complete series, angel - complete series, etc. Any favorite show that has a complete series package. Other than that I am collecting blu-ray. There may be a couple movies I still collect but only when I know for sure it won't be on blu-ray.

Full House? please tell me you only bought that only for the cool packaging? ;)



Another bad reason to buy Blu Ray now for me is: I like new foreign films, and not just the popular foreign films that get released in other countries. There are just too many new foreign films released on DVD in other countries that aren't getting released on Blu Ray, so it's pointless to buy a Blu Ray player. It's hard enough to worry about those DVDs getting English subtitles. I don't want the extra stress of being disappointed that a new foreign film won't get released on Blu Ray...

Pro-Bass, what are you doing in this respect? If you don't hear of a foreign blu ray being released, do you just buy the import DVD, and then when the blu ray comes, do you instantly replace that import DVD with the import blu ray?

If I watched everything on my main TV, I'd probably mostly buy Blu-ray (although I'd buy less since I'm a cheap bastard) but since I end up watching about 99 percent on my TV in the computer room, which isn't HD and has a regular DVD player, I mostly buy DVDs when I buy. At this point, my 6 or so Blu-rays are unwatched since if I'm on the main TV I'm usually playing a game or watching something on regular TV.