Mr. Cinema

Some may be saying BD is the replacement. I disagree. I think both will be on store shelves for years, exactly as I said in my post above. I think we'll have a single disc dvd and then a BD special edition option. No doubt the horrible economy has affected sales, but BD is one of the few things that seems to be showing growth.

I think we'll see more expansion of BD titles later this year. I don't see BD going anywhere. I agree that software prices on new titles are too high, but catalog titles are dropping and you're seeing alot more weekly sales on new releases.

And as far as hardware goes, how much longer will their be a need for new dvd players? What else can you add to them? Once hardware gets to a certain price point, I only imagine BD players being on store shelves.

GenPion

You missed my point. The story/direction/acting/etc. is obviously the most important factor to consider. On this, I do agree. So in that regard watching something on DVD or Blu-ray doesn't make a difference to the experience of watching for the quality of a film's most important matter... the actual quality. A bad film is still just a bad film and a good film is still just a good film whether or not it is viewed on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, etc. I watched films on a 10" screen for most of my life, until less than two years ago, and still watched both VHS tapes and DVD's up until recently. I love movies first and foremost.

I was in no way, shape, or form implying or attempting to apply that DVD collectors are LESSER film fans. That is ludicrous. There are many reasons for someone to not adopt Blu-ray as a format and you listed some good reasons as to why the choice isn't right for you to invest as much in Blu-ray as you have with DVD.

There should be no question, however, that Blu-ray does impact the experience as with DVD we are viewing a lower-quality version of the film's presentation. How can this impact things? You can see more detail that the director may have wanted you to take notice of. The cinematography is easier to appreciate than ever before (and personally - this is a very HUGE selling point for me). Color is more accurate and rich than ever before. Special Effects now look more amazing and more visually stimulating. The detail in audio is more crisp and clear and you may hear things, the details in sound, that you didn't realize were even there. These are some examples as to why the presentation is better and it is mainly better in that it gives you an opportunity to experience all of the work put into the film by those responsible for making it behind the scenes. I always viewed DVD collecting as collecting FILMS. I never looked at them as actual film prints. But now I view Blu-ray collecting as getting a copy of the film with the best presentation possible which is sort of like looking at Blu-ray's as actual film prints that would be shown in a movie theater. That's just how they feel to me. It seems fitting for a home theater buff. So far, my Blu-ray's have helped to enhance my enjoyment of a film's presentation but not my enjoyment of films themselves.... a great looking disc can still be a horrible movie and there is nothing that will change that.

I must be confused because I don't see how saying stuff like this makes it sound like I think DVD collector's are lesser film fans. That's not the case.

tylergfoster

I just want to clarify: say in 5 years Blu-Ray hasn't grown OR dwindled. Or Blu-Ray has grown, but DVD is still kicking. From my perspective, in those cases you lost. The scenario you suggested you were betting on was that both a) Blu-Ray would be dead or distinctly dying, and b) DVD would still be a viable format. I wouldn't want five years to pass and everything's the same, and have you claim "DVD isn't dead, so no deal".

WMAangel

Yes.
Not necessarily as a "threat" to DVD (as you seem to feel it is "oooh, look out for the scary Blu monster, coming to take away all my DVDs")...more as a co-existing format for now....given enough time, it may well overtake DVD, but that is still years away...DVD will not fade out as quickly as VHS did, but it will not continue as a premium format either....
Retail stores, such as Target, Wal Mart, and Best Buy would NOT continue to expand their Blu-ray shelf offerings if the product was not growing...even in this crap economy, Blu-ray has been one of the few items with increasing sales...

Trevor

I shouldn't have quoted you. I tried to say, rather poorly, that your post reminded me of other posts that implied the things I mentioned. Your post was just conveniently at the end of the thread, and my mind was on the more critical posts I've seen over the last couple years. In re-reading your post, it is well written and in agreement with my feelings largely. Sorry.

GenPion

Thanks Trevor. Honestly, I don't understand how it gets so heated on DVD Talk sometimes. Some Blu-ray supporters act like DVD is crap now and some DVD supporters act like there is no reason at all for Blu-ray. And then they fight... and people like us seem to get stuck in the middle of those arguments.

As for Special Features, I'm not sure if I directly said it in this thread or not but I was trying to imply that bonus materials should be equal on DVD's and on Blu-ray's. I don't think studio's should favor one format over the other for any reason when it comes to this material. I've always felt like that is unfair to everyone.

beebs

I think this makes sense. As long as a cheaper 1-disc SD DVD is offered on Day & Date titles, this will sell because it will likely be cheaper and everyone has SD DVD players. I think this is the part many miss as they hope for BR's move into the top spot. DVD will play in BR players quite fine.

If SD DVDs are cheaper, who is the say if people won't continue to pick the SD DVD 1-disc at 5:1 (or some similar number) to a BR or 2D SE DVD. IMO, I'm not sure it is guaranteed that someone will buy a PS3 or BR SA and then cease SD DVD purchases. Impulse marginal sale purchases may be easily swayed by $5 delta in price.

At the same time, I expect there's plenty of ignorant consumers who don't know BR players can still play SD DVDs. I guess if BR does replace SD DVD we may see "Plays in your BR player" across SD DVDs someday. Can't wait.

Trevor

I consider myself pretty firmly in the middle, even though I mainly buy DVD still. I love my HDTV and blu-rays, but stand by my price/portability/selection "rule".
I'm a special features whore, and will keep earlier versions of double dips if even one special feature is not carried over. However, I also hate it when studios don't take advantage of the space on discs. So I actually expect blu-ray versions to have more special features than their DVD counterparts. I don't like it when I own the DVD and have no plans to upgrade, but I'm ok with blu getting more content. And if studios have sales numbers that show that DVD has peaked and their future profit is in blu, shouldn't we expect them to do things to steer people to blu? Or if they have a higher profit margin on blu-ray discs, don't they owe it to their share holders to try anything they can to steer people to upgrading to blu? Partly just playing the DA here, I feel more for your argument, but my mind understands what the studios are starting to do.

jjcool

"Industry insiders"? Please.
Again, whose plan is this to eliminate 2 disc dvds? A link or some evidence to back up your statement, please. Other than your own wild speculation, of course.

Mr. Cinema

Who do you think is planning to eliminate the 2 disc dvd? Why studios of cousre. You know, the ones who provide you the content.

It's not my wild speculation. This info comes from Industry insiders, just as I said before. You can choose to believe that or not. Frankly, I don't care about your thoughts at all. Register on blu-ray.com and go to one of the Insider's threads and ask.

Mr. Cinema

I disagree here.

So if someone who has never seen Lawrence of Arabia before asks the best way to enjoy the film, you're going to say they'll get the same enjoyment on a 13" black and white tv vs. in HD on a 50" plasma...or even a 70mm screening at a theater?

The story is the most important, but so is the photography, lighting, and everything else that goes into the filmmaking process. Lawrence of Arabia is a film with fantastic photography. If I had the option, I would want to see that on as big of a screen as possible.

What about the terrific visual effects from 2001? Would you get the same enjoyment from that film on a 13" tv vs a 50"+ display?

For films like these, yes, larger screens do add to the enjoyment of the film.

For something like 12 Angry Men, it probably doesn't matter what size you're watching it on. But for Lawrence of Arabia, with it's superb photography and locations, I'd certainly want someone to view it on as big of a screen as they can. I think David Lean would want that as well.

Giles

^ 'Lawrence of Arabia' looked great on my IPod

Trevor

Obviously the "best way" is probably going to be the theater (Depending on one's personal tastes, some people hate the theater). But you're carefully selecting bits of the argument there.

I would never tell someone that the "best" way to view a film was SD DVD on a small television. However, it all comes down to individual preferences and affordability. Because of my individual tastes of preferring story much, much more than presentation, and taste in films, I choose DVD most of the time. Sure the blu-ray copy of movie X looks better, but it only enhances the experience slightly for me, so I'd rather own two (or more) films on DVD than one on blu. Plus my DVDs are portable. But now I'm rambling and tempted to expand/"chartify"/repost what I've said in other threads, so I'll just shut up.

And actually, I'm not sure if Giles was kidding, but yes, it looked great on my iphone too.