Adam Tyner

There's a huge, huge thread about the quality of HDNet Movies' presentations on the AVS Forum, but the short answer would be to tune in and look at some of the more recent additions to their library, like Quigley Down Under, which look quite a bit more impressive. Most of HBO and Cinemax's movies are in high-definition as well, along with a fair amount on Showtime and Starz.

digitalfreaknyc

That's the way these things go. Again...i had a very good amount of VHS (went into the Columbia House VHS club at 10 or 11 to get $100 movies for $25) and then switched over to laserdisc at 15. Then switched over to DVD at 20. It's just a cycle. I'm sure there will come a point where I don't care much any more because I'm just going to be happy with what I have. Honestly, the movies that are currently coming out are definitely nowhere near as enjoyable as the ones I grew up with and was so amazingly excited about getting on those other formats.

indiephantom

I upgraded about 300 VHS films to DVD and about 30 of my laserdiscs to DVD (I still have all 81 of my LD's and they're not going anywhere...while I sold or gave over half of my VHS collection, I'm hanging on to all of the remaining ones. It's a piece of my video collection history.)

As for upgrading current DVD's. This month I've stopped buying new release DVD's. I do plan to buy a few more boxsets of TV shows I've been following like "Deadwood", "The Wire" and "The Shield". I'll probably stop that by this time next year if it looks like most will go to Blu-ray.

I will of course replace some of my favorite films with their Blu-ray counterparts, but I'm thinking that will be 20 discs at the most. I plan on collecting mostly new films or discs I didn't already own on Blu-ray. Also since the summer I've become a smarter buyer and I don't buy more than 2-3 titles per month. I plan to continue that trend. It helps that I subscribe to TMN and will be getting a PVR soon (Canadian version of HD Tivo) so I don't have to blind buy as much junk.

Mr. Cinema

Spider-man 2 was on HBO HD the other night and looked amazing.

kitkat

It's hard to say, but I'll be looking at as a double dip. It'll depend on the movie, price, quality of extras, and how good/crappy my SD version looks on my as of yet unpurchased HD gear. In other words, I'm not planning a mass selloff of my existing DVDs but I imagine I'll replace a few here and there.

brooke789

I've been reading the threads debating the speculations about what will become of DVD once HD/BR arrives for a while now. I got an HDTV two weeks ago and have been watching lots of OTA HD and my SD DVDs. The stuff that I've seen in HD looks incredible, but my DVDs still look great too. I'll probably replace a few things, but for the most part, I don't think that I'm really going to bother with replacing many of my DVDs. When the format war is over and prices on software and hardware are reasonable, I'll buy a high definition player and begin buying the discs exclusively. As far as my DVDs are concerned though, they're not going anywhere unless they rot.

Mr. Cinema

When I look at my collection, I can't imagine ever dismantling it even with the new formats coming.

RonMexico

I will probably upgrade a handfull of favorites depending on the types of extras they have. For example, I would uprgrade a favorite movie such as City of God just becuase the current release is barebones. Im more than happy with my Criterions and deluxe editions. I dont want to upgrade anything just for the sake of upgrading. I dont need the optimal version. I might hold off on movies that will benefit from Blue Ray such as King Kong and V for Vendetta.

cbtaber

I have an Oppo player up-converting player that gives me a great presentation of my current movies on my HDTV, so I'll probably keep what I have. Plus the Blu-Ray players will have HDMI-upconversion on them as well.

I just watched Into the Blue (don't laugh) yesterday and it looked great, as did the Indiana Jones Trilogy. I may double dip on higher profile titles if they're worth it. As long as I have a good picture and commentary, there's nothing more I need. i won't double dip for an uninspired Java-based game tacked on to Terminator 3 or whatever.

T1000

Nope, never.

In answer to the orginal question.

Loc Nar

As long as there is a split market between HDVD and BluRay, I won't replace my existing DVD's with either.

I'm content with my DVD collection as is, and will ride out this split first HD gen until a clear winner emerges and sweeps the field, or a second gen unified HD format comes along which leaves both in the dust - whichever comes first.

Iron_Giant

No.

If the new BlueRay DVD player can output my DVDs through the DVI cable, my picture should look a little better - and my DVDs already look great on HDTV.

If the price is right, all the rest of my purchases will be BlueRay, if not then I will stick with DVD for a long time.

Lonestar9

Just too early to say...I know that 50 % or even more of my dvd collection will stay as is, whether it's tv shows, comedies, stuff i've recored from tape, etc....and the rest, may or may not be upgraded, have to wait and see what is the price of player, media, etc....it will be a while me thinks before i'm mostly hd-dvd.

consoleman

I, too, would upgrade only if there's lots of new extras. Simply upgrading the video to HD and possibly improving the audio won't make me scrap my DVD collection.

Draven

Since the players are backwards-compatible and I don't care one fig about extras (aside from outtakes), the only "replacing" I will do would be getting things like the LOTR EEs on one disc instead of 4. Otherwise I'll eventually get a player and start buying new discs in the new format, keeping my old DVDs as well.

griz

I started selling off a lot of mine a year ago, anticipating the prices for used DVDs would crash.

pagansoul

I have too much fun making custom covers and arranging my collection to think about selling it. When I started DVD collecting my first movies were played on my computer because I could not afford a new TV and player at the time (end 1997). I expect I will keep getting used DVDs at rock-bottom prices. I'm thinking about doing a collection of AA Best pictures, right now I only have about 20 of them because my favorite genre is Science Fiction and you know how often they win 'Best Picture' awards . I'm not giving the HD/Blue-Ray debate any of my time.

BassDude

Nope. I still have widescreen VHS tapes I won't replace with DVD. I collect the films, not the format. (Of course, all NEW purchases after HD release will be the best possible format.)

BeanDip0001

This whole thing reminds me of how computer software goes;

People who are somewhat into it upgrade when they absolutely have to

Tech people always do the upgrade first and feel like idiots 6months later when everything is half price

And the general public could give a crap, and they'll buy the cheapest thing that the guy from the local best buy who doesn't know what the hell he is talking about tells them to buy.

I just feel the same sort of thing happening here, why I would like to get all new and shiny HD movies, I’m not going to because my better judgment is kicking in and saying, "Hey jackass yeah you remember when you were the first kid on the block to have a DVD player and it cost you $600 don’t make that mistake again!"

Oh yeah short answer no freaking way.

Qui Gon Jim

The part of this that ruins all these comparisons is that HD is an easy sell since the difference is easily visible. The HD CD formats take an "ear" to appreciate the difference, the new version of Windows becomes more popular as the features become well known. Actually, maybe Windows IS a good measuring stick. MS forces users to upgrade by retiring the old versions to obsolesence.

The upgrade of video game systems is the closest analogy. People will buy new systems to play games that are basically the same but just look better.

T1000

I still have my Snes and N64

Joseph B

Since I'm one of those that never really got into collecting VHS or LD movies, but *have* built-up a 400 DVD (plus) collection since 1998, my strategy will be as follows:

1. Continue collecting all the DVD's that I want (I currently still purchase at least 8 titles/month) with the assurance that all my DVD's will still play on either HD-DVD and/or Blu-ray decks.

2. Wait for the HD optical disc format war to sort itself out. (As soon as every new title released for DVD (from every major studio) is being released simultaneously to DVD and one particular HD format, then I'll consider the war over.)

3. Purchase a new HD optical disc deck and continue to enjoy my current DVDs on the new deck. Anything new that I purchase from that point forward will be HD; and I'll replace my current DVD's only for movies like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Disney animateds, and so on. I'll pass the old DVD's along to my daughter (for her portable DVD player); or, if she doesn't want the title in question, then simply trade it in at a local used DVD/games store.

My current main display device is an Infocus 4805 projector, with a native resolution of 480p. The DVD's that I've purchased over the past two years look "very satisfying" with this equipment, even blown-up to a 96" 16:9 screen size. I'm not collecting DVDs as an investment; I'm collecting to enjoy the movies. I can afford to wait for the HD optical disc wars to "shake out". And I will.

Eric D.

I'm not selling off a single disc from my collection and will ONLY repurchase a very select few of them in whatever format I decide to support.

onebyone

I will only upgrade a few titles or movies I collect everything of, like The Evil Dead Series. I am not interested in any of these titles right now though. I will probably later buy whatever format wins out, provided the players are still backwards compatible as stated.

BMan100

I won't even purchase HD movies until probably a few years into the "program". That said, I will not sell my current collection, i'll just simply add on with HD movies...