wish I could take advantage of the discounted Amazon/Fox discs that I would buy if I owned a Bluray player - but oh well.

I really think the most important question here is why do you care what they're saying over there?

Well, the sad thing from my point of view is that AVS was a place I would refer fellow audio/video enthusiasts to visit to increase their knowledge from a technical standpoint. If anyone asked me a question I was unsure how to answer or if I needed user review/feedback about a specific model that would be the place I visited.
I've noticed since last year, you've got to tread through a lot of bullshit and filter out meaningless posts before you find something that's helpful. It's very time consuming now and not worth it anymore.

Oh no, I meant AVS.

avs has two sets of supporters slinging mud. on here it's generally just been one set. that should make things easier when one format eventually wins out.

Everyone I saw who was "slinging mud" on dvdtalk has been banned. Everyone else here is pretty realistically reasonable in their support, for the most part.

there are still issues with some posters on this board - such as posts about "fire sales" in the amazon 50% off thread.

Look, if you're going to be vague in your posts, i'm really not going to know what you're talking about.
You should really point fingers.

I've always thought that this is the way it will be for some time, a niche product. So much of the general public think that standard DVD is good enough. Just like people thought CDs were good enough, and never tried DVD-A or SACDs (hell if anything, people have gone backwards and are commonly listening to music on devices that end up being lower quality than CDs). Maybe in the future, when the majority of people have large HDTVs, and HD television is the norm, then they will look at standard DVDs and they just won't look as good. But who knows?

We are really in the minority here. I've had family and friends watch Blu-ray movies on my tv, and while they admit that things look and sound better, I can tell that they don't care enough about that to run out and replace their DVD players, even if BD or HD-DVD players were down to $200. I'm sure many people feel that way, and just think we are all nuts.

I've brought many people over to watch HD movies. All thought they looked great and none have any interest in upgrading. Many have HDTVs, but are perfectly happy with standard DVDs.

The only way these formats will catch on is for the HD players to be so cheap they replace all DVD players and the disc prices to be just as cheap as DVDs. That is it. I don't think that solution is why the studios have invested in these new formats. They want us to see the value in HD and pay extra. At this point I don't see it happening outside of a niche that maybe sells 5-10% (which is better than the current .5%) of regular DVD sales.

Those are some awfully big stones you're lobbing, for someone who lives in such a fragile glass house.

I dont think its that far-fetched. I dont think its because BD is in trouble, but many of those are Fox titles which are over-priced and featureless.

So, its not odd to think amazon has alot of unsold ones that they are trying to get rid of.

looking at the performance of both formats it's unlikely that they would have a fire sale of the one performing better, and not of the other. and while some are fox, many aren't.

your posts there were inappropriate, and of a level with the avs ones cinema put up in this thread. unless you're now going to show some evidence for this "fire sale"...?

100% correct... I really don't think these companies know there consumers sometimes. Most people don't have the money to continue to drop on emerging technologies. Its pretty clear. HD-DVD shot out of the box because it was affordable for a good amount of people and gave good quality. BD doesn't begin to get a foot hold until they released the less expensive PS3 which oddly enough appears to be the best player right now. And neither of these are anything to write home about in terms of making a dent in the market at this point.

Its about price, and that will decide who and who doesnt win this "war".

When the HD-DVD/Blu-ray war first started, I told myself maybe I should be cutting back on my standard DVD purchases in preparation for adopting one of these standards a year or two after its release. The funny thing is that with stores selling standard DVDs for so cheap nowadays, I've been buying more standard DVDs as I ever did and have abandoned any plans to upgrade to any one of these HD standards. I'm no videophile, only a movie-nut, and am happy just to be able to watch the DVDs I have. I only double-dip on a movie when a new-improved special edition comes out (I'm a sucker for buying 2-disc special editions to replace older barebone versions), and while the superior video/audio of the HD standards are nice, it's simply not an incentive for me to upgrade. If the HD and SD versions have the same content and the SD versions, over time, always seem to sell at a bargain basement price, I would be content just to stick to SD. So I'm in agreement that for most people, it's about price. HD players and discs are simply too expensive for most people right now, and for most people, any upgrade in video and sound, however fantastic, is not worth the money.

^That's certainly true, and it could be applied to a lot of things in life, like food, clothes, a car, etc. Some people want better "editions" and are willing to pay more, while others are fine with less.

It seems like every week, BB or CC is having $4 dvd sales on good titles. And sometimes on fairly recent titles for $6.99. It's hard to not buy those. Especially when their HD counterpart is $20+. For example, I bought Nacho Libre on dvd at BB a few weeks ago for $6.99 rather than paying $25 for the HD version.

It wouldnt surprise me if some unpopular hd-dvd titles have this happen also. Im not saying it IS a fire sale, but I dont think its far-fetched to speculate. That was my point. Neither format is selling out every disc.

I agree. As has been pointed out previously, a lot of the titles being released currently are not supremely amazing blockbuster films, and the only way studios are getting away with selling copies at all is the basic lack of "must-buy" titles. Early adopters are hungry for HD content, and price cuts like these are going to help move a lot of titles that wouldn't otherwise just blow right out the door.

The sale at Amazon was because the titles generally STUNK, not because the format is losing a war or anything. Out of 2 pages of titles, nothing jumped out and I had to convince myself to buy 2 of them.

These format "wars" are a joke. 90% of lay people think they are experts and the other 10% dont care.

I am happy to say as a BD owner, I dont care. I refuse to spend so much time trying to figure out which format will live.

Stop arguing over the formats and go watch one.


EDIT: I just noticed digitalfreaknyc was banned??? anyone know why?

The discs are being blown out at 50% off. What more evidence do you need? Does Amazon need to put them in a bin on the sidewalk with a handwritten sign that says "Free Stuff! Please take!"?

digi banned again, what the hell?

I think I might relent and buy the BR discs up for sale at Amazon:

Kingdom
Broken Arrow
Kung Fu Hustle

Hahaha....that is funny....takes me back to the days of me trying to dig through the wal-mart $5.96 DVD bin to find a widescreen copy of Last Action Hero (which I was never successful at doing)!

And WHY would you buy this movie in either format?