I don't really care about HD or BR. DVD is good enough.
A smart decision by Criterion!

Good for them! I'm doing the same thing!

"In the end, the porn industry will have very little to do with this format war IMHO."

I tend to agree. Back when tapes were the format of choice, at least initially, porn was selling for $2-300@ in the back of Hustler (go look at some of them from the late 1970's). The flip side was that there were very few mainstream tapes available (again, initially) so the porn was the primary reason to buy a machine as well as time shift recording.

As stated, growing numbers of people simply steal porn off the internet now (especially Alt-Porn); living up to the motto many of the companies themselves have adopted that "it's only porn". Porn ceased to be a major factor in the HD wars when it simply became another choice for entertainment of the medium. As sad as it sounds, there are still a number of companies releasing porn on tapes and making a living doing so since "it's only porn". There are several companies that have spoken to me about releasing titles on either, or both, of the new formats; the biggest likelihood being titles released in the first quarter of 2007 in limited quantities.

The first company to release a true porn title in "real" HD (not the HD-WMV) will have a marketing coup but considering industry sales of SD DVD, I doubt very much that it will be more than a marketing coup since the costs won't be recouped on any but the biggest titles.

Have to agree with Darkside...I was going to wait as well, but the fact is I paid $400 for an HD player and a great up-scaling dvd player. And now, I dont really want to watch S-DVDs anymore. I remember a few weeks ago re-watching Infernal Affairs getting ready to go see the Departed and turning it off half-way through. And I'm far from what most would think a videophile is (yes moreso than your average consumer but nothing close to what is here on this site). And the sound? Doesnt even compare. My wife, who really could give 2 shits about any of this has even commented on the sound.

The fact is this will be the future, if for any other reason because of the storage space that is involved with these formats. Remember, we are not just talking the movie/television industry so although standard dvds my not die anytime soon, this is definitely going to be around for the long haul. Time will tell just which format/formats it will be in.

Well I'm with you fellers!

You sound like my parents talking about VHS tapes back in the late 90s.


I take it that one (or all) of the following are true:

a. you don't have an HDTV
b. you've never seen how good high def movies can look
c. you're trying to rationalize the $$$ you've spent on DVDs and avoid spending any more in the future.


I don't see how you could have possibly seen the HD DVD presentations of, say, Corpse Bride, The Searchers, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Batman Begins or dozens of others and still feel that "DVD is good enough".

I liked everything you said...except for the bolded.

its a great business decision by them. they will continue to put out their excellent discs on sd until there is a winner. then when one format emerges they will go with it and everyone will have to double dip. right now, hddvd/blueray is still a niche market and criterion would only appeal to a small segment within that market.

So, because you don't care enough about a new product, everyone else should be deprived of it?

Sure

After watching HD-DVD, you'll surely change your statement.

They pretty much are identical though. Unless you want to argue that a lot of blu ray discs have crappy transfers, but thats not indicative of the format.

The longer the HD-DVD/BLR battle goes on, the more likely that both will follow the path of the laserdisc format, and that the next innovation will be the one to supplant the S-DVD. At this point, I think this is the most likely scenario. Apparently, so does Criterion.

There are some bad discs in there especially those first two Blu-ray waves, but in general I think we will see both formats pretty even. My point was someone with a collection of HD DVDs for instance wouldn't have to worry about Blu-ray winning. Those HD DVDs are still going to look great and rebuying them on Blu-ray will not be forced on them.

I know there will be minor exceptions. I'm pretty sure anyone with a Blu-ray copy of Fifth Element can't replace that disc with a better copy fast enough.

I disagree. Although I admit that I look at my existing collection of 2000 + movies and say 'damn, now I gotta re-buy them all?' I have already dealt with that fact because HD players play the old dvd's as well. I'll only upgrade to those movies only available in that format or movies I just gotta have in HD.

That being said, I do have an HDTV, I have seen how good they look at a local demonstration and frankly I was underwhelmed. The difference while admittedly there was NOT ENOUGH for me to declare HD the automatic replacement of all video products.

DVD for me is really 'good enough'.

"Its a much bigger jump in image quality than VHS to DVD."

While with regards to video resolution this statement may be mathematically true, it isn't to the human eye except in atypical circumstances that I have seen. I would wonder if those who agree with this have actually watched a VHS tape on a big screen TV. Also, there is no audio improvement remotely comparable to the VHS to DVD jump.

Given there is also no improvement in the mechanics of use and convenience of the physical components of the system, unlike the major improvement from VHS to DVD, and the price point is still off-putting for other than afficianados, the current Hi-Def DVD format still has an uphill struggle ahead of it.

If either or both HD disc formats go the way of laserdisc, fans can expect quality releases for around 20 years.

Let's not forget that Criterion started on laserdisc, so it being a niche product wouldn't really deter them. What is deterring them is the idea that they'd have to press two different discs to reach the entire niche, and the possibility that one of the formats might die out. As they said, if there was a way to reach everyone with one disc, as some WB techs are actually working on, they'd likely adopt that.

I have to wonder if Criterion even has licenses for HD discs set up for their titles right now. It's possible that, like their transition from LD to DVD, they'll have to renegotiate with the studios for HD releases of the films.

Which new product?

Therein lies the problem and I applaud Criterion for not trying to guess.

Well said to you and JoshZ's points. If worse comes to worse I will have no issue with a laserdisc type situation. We still pretty much got all the titles and then some, even if pricing wasn't on the DVD level.

All I know is I'm enjoying my movies in the highest resolution available on home video. Oh, and the audio is definitely a leap over standard DD. Criterion also thought non-anamorphic transfers were good enough, so don't always take their word on things.

If you have HDTV, I don't understand how a format that maxes out at 480p can be considered good enough. DVD is very limited compared to the 2 hd formats. I'm certainly not going to replace every dvd I own. I don't have to have Halloween 5 in high-def, but for King Kong and Batman Begins, I certainly do.

I think this should also be moved to the HD forum. Everytime a HD topic comes up in the dvd section, we get the same defensive, angry comments.

Advanced technology will never stop at one point. Super HD/BR or something better than existing format might emerge in the future. My point is better to stay put than blindly follow at this moment. Until the format war declare a winner and both hardware and software for the format are more affordable, the dvd is fine for the simple guy like me.

By that logic, we should have never advanced beyond VHS, because DVD was just an interim step to HD, which is an interim step to something else, which is.....

Same here. Yes, I have seen high definition DVDs on a high definition set, and they look great. Yes, I have a high definition TV. But I'm not committing to spending tons of money on a player and a bunch of high-definition discs until one format or the other wins. I'm not made of money.

I took a peek at what both formats had to offer and declared a winner myself: HD DVD

I got my player (which, incidentally, also upconverts my standard DVDs and makes them look incredible) for about $350. I'm buying titles for about 18 bucks at pop at Amazon. I consider that to be pretty damn affordable, especially given the level of amazing quality.


I'm not saying that there's no logic in waiting, I'm just saying that the more people wait, the longer this 'war' will take. And the more likely it is that neither format survives. Plus, at the price points I've mentioned above, I think that the 'affordability' argument starts to lose steam for most people, unless you're currently using a $30 Cyberhome player or something.

Mark my words: Criterion will release in HD sometime before the end of 2007. They will not ignore this market for much longer.

Actually, I'm not following anything blindly. I'm enjoying HD content on my HDTV.

Hardware and Software for HD-DVD is quite affordable, do some searching in the HD Forum.

...also most Video Game Consumers would still own an NES or Atari.