International HD-DVDs
 

I'm not going to buy an HD-DVD player, because there is no way that this HD-DVD or BLUE RAY gimmick will last. But i'm still going to read the reviews of the HD-DVDs out of curiousity.

I have some questions though:
1. Are there multi-region HD-DVD players yet?
2. Are there even HD-DVDs released in other countries yet? (I'm assuming it's just in USA and Japan so far)
3. Is anyone in here considering to buy a multi-region HD-DVD player in the future and then seek out these even-more expensive HD-DVDs from different countries? (as it's been expensive allready seeking out normal DVDs from different countries, except for Hong Kong and Thai DVDs).

The current crop of HD-DVD players is not region coded for HD-DVDs. They are however region coded for DVD playback.

Whether it's a gimmick seems to be the hot topic of the day. I'm not going to dismiss this easily although the difference is huge to me and I will buy into at least one of the competing formats at one point. The increase in resolution only starts to matter with large screens. Videophiles will see the improvements no matter what but the veto from a majority of people looking at high def on screens smaller then, say, 60 inches is clear (this is a guess, it's really a combination of screen size and viewing distance that matters): they're not impressed or not sufficiently to care.

Believe me it's far from a gimmick when you look at a large image, front projection being the ultimate choice. I tested this with friends who aren't into video and no one needed another word of info as to what good this new stuff is. And that was broadcast quality, lower than what we get with the new formats.

What limits the appeal of it right now is not the quality of the content, but the installed userbase of people with screens large enough to make enough of a difference. What's the percentage of front-projection users in the US? Surely not above 5%. I can see why the remaining 95% isn't going crazy over this. Yet.

The street prices aren't that much higher btw, about 20 bucks in the US and a high but DVD standard 4800 Yen in Japan. I'll be buying as soon as they have content I want. The experience, to me and made first hand, is way worth it. No hype.

The Japanese player from Toshiba included a copy of Resident Evil (which Toshiba distributes in that country) and a Japanese movie called Moonlight Jellyfish. There are also a handful of other movies being released in that country different than what we're getting here. www.cdjapan.co.jp carries them.

Should this thread be in this forum? Being region-free is a bit different with the HD formats.

If it is a gimmick, why do you care?

I continually find it amazing that the incredible increase in PQ is considered a gimmick. But to each their own.

Ugh. Why does everyone forget sound???

If a player becomes available that is region-free for HD *and* standard DVD, I'll be very tempted to pick one up. Also, does anyone know if the HD DVD players can handle PAL DVDs?

I've become so accustomed to being region-free that I'm not sure I can go back to a region-locked player. I could always keep a second DVD player around to play imports, but that's kind of a hassle.

hmmm...I have no doubt it's a bit better video/audio quality than regular DVD, but I have a feeling it will fall like those super HD-VHS tapes, especially with the lousy covers and skinny cases. I don't think people will like that, especially when a lot of DVD consumers buy the DVD due to the packaging. The normal consumer already thinks regular DVD is pretty high quality. Why would they switch to HD-DVD? The normal consumer isn't that picky between slight video/audio quality between regular DVD and HD-DVD. I've seen a demonstration of the HD-DVD and It's not like comparing a VHS picture to a DVD picture.

I find it gimmicky because BETA, LASERDISC, and Super VHS were all known to be better video/audio quality than the popular formats at the time and look were they are now. Just because it's "better", it doesn't mean it's going to take off. I would consider buying a multi-region HD-DVD player that supported old DVDs.

Concerning DVD reviews in general: are the very good reviews of video/audio quality on a DVD only benefiting people with HDTVs with 30 to 40 inch screens more than an HDTV with a 50 to 60 inch screen? I mean, let's say someone reads a perfect 4-star DVD review, are those 50 to 60 inch screen owners still going to see obvious faults? I know it's a general question, but do owners of 50 to 60 inch HDTVs ever have to subtract some points when they read DVD reviews?

For regular DVD playback, they are limited to Region 1 NTSC discs.

They're still international discs, so this seems like a valid place to discuss them.

The question remains if there will be a reliable player on the market that will play R2 (produced in Europe products for example) DVDs? (When regular players first came the scene was quite similar). Looking at all the preliminary discussions that have focused on the issue I can hardly see how anyone that currently shops from all over the world would like to be restricted in his/her searches yet again. The fact is there are still many unknowns as virtually aside from the majors (studios) no one else has stepped up.


Ciao,
Pro-B

Sorry. Look at where ALL of VHS is.

And FWIW, I had laserdisc since 1992 and SVHS since 1999. Both were DEFINITELY worth it.

well I think improved sound and HD picture is worth it, I just wish there werent 2 competing formats. I will probably break down soon and go HD DVD due to the initial price of the players and the fact that they are already available.

How long do you think it will be till there are HD DVD players that are region free for regular DVD's

DIGITALFREAKNYC,
There is nothing wrong with these formats - it's just that they don't last or catch on with the masses. VHS only got phased out due to the massive improvement with DVD. Beta and Laserdisc were competing with VHS at the time, not DVD, and the quality was not large enough to have the masses make the change. And Super VHS was competing against DVD. Actually, I wonder how does Super VHS compare with HD-DVD? I never saw what Super VHS looks like. I assume it's somewhere between DVD and HD-DVD? But these slight differences won't seem to matter to the masses, because the quality on all three DVD, Super VHS and HD-DVD are probably all pretty closely damn amazing looking. I'm still amazed with the quality of regular DVD!
Do you still have all your video formats still hooked up? I wish I could do that because I don't have that many inputs on my tv or tv stand space for a DVD player, a cable box, a video game system, a VCR, a laserdisc machine, and a Beta machine. That would be pretty sweet seeing shelves filled with all of those formats - the mixing of the old school with the new school. I haven't seen that yet in the Post Your Collection forum. It's usually just DVDs, VHSs and video games...

If Blue Ray is going to come out too along with HD-DVDs, then that's totally taking advantage of the consumer, unless every Region 1 DVD that is released will be available on both those formats. Also, I prefer to have one quality format (regular DVD), because if there are going to be a variety of non-compatible DVD formats along with the Region coding, I will go nuts! I don't want to buy tons of different multi-region HD-DVD players so that I can play all the foreign DVDs that I want. The upgrading to HD-DVD is not like having an old TV and upgrading to an HDTV. If HD-DVD and/or Blue Ray become a norm, I have a feeling it's going to get complicated for people that buy different Region DVDs.

I agree with laserdisc but SVHS was a waste of money, glad I didn't get suckered into that. I hope HD-DVD turns out to be better than that.

The HD-DVD discs themselves aren't region-coded, and hopefully will stay that way, so it shouldn't be much of an issue with that format. For regular DVDs from other countries, there are still a number of good region-free DVD players on the market (like Oppo). We'll just have to keep separate machines.

No - S-VHS is somewhere between VHS and DVD - i.e. it is lesser quality than DVD and isn't even close to any HD format.

My point is that there have been rumors that the players themselves will offer certain restrictions (DVDTIMES.co.uk has a discussion on it).

With this said, I am excited about the new format but considering the fact that my collection is strictly foreign/art-house titles plus classic Hollywood/oldies...it will be quite awhile before the majors will get me excited (looking at the titles announced for release...absolutely nothing catches my eye...and I don't foresee classic/foreign cinema getting the HD treatment any time soon).

I am however eagerly anticipating to hear that the following 5 US companies will join (as well as see their titles):

Wellspring
KINO
Koch Lorber
No Shame
New Yorker (!!!!!)

Given the fact that a lot of their titles have been treated poorly, at least the early DVDs with most of the companies, I hope that if and when they adopt the format I will be able to re-buy the catalog product I am interested in.

Criterion at this point does not interest me as they are doing quite well as it is.

Ciao,
Pro-B

Longevity and mass appeal are two different concepts. Something that doesn't last is a fad, something that has limited appeal is a niche. Laserdisc was certainly a niche product, but I don't think it can be called a fad, seeing as it lasted 2 decades.

HD discs are certainly going to be a niche product at the beginning. There's not enough people with the proper sets to enjoy the benefit. They'll probably stay that way until 2009, when the FCC shuts off standard broadcast. Even then, a lot of people will not replace their sets right away, or their DVD collection. Still, higher-definition video and sound is not a gimmick, and some HD delivery format will eventually prevail.

Whichever format becomes "affordable" will take off. The success of DVD is attributable in part to the cheap players and cheap software as much as the high quality.

Beta was more expensive than VHS, including blank tapes. Laserdisc was expensive, hardware and software. S-VHS players and tapes remained a niche product because the industry's marketers chose to price them that way.

I think toddly6666 may be thinking of D-VHS, which is a tape-based HD format.
D-VHS never took off, probably because consumers didn't want to go back to video tapes (and not enough people owned HDTVs at that point).

S-VHS was worth it at the time. Not for prerecorded movies, though. The quality of programs you recorded yourself (from LD, TV, etc.) was noticably better than regular VHS.

Im definitely confusing D-VHS and S-VHS. I was thinking of the recent one, like a year or two ago. I don't know about S-VHS actually then. When did that come out?

Probably about 18 years ago, at least.

Digitalfreaknyc is right, S-VHS was born in 1988, the resolution was 400 or 500 dots per line which is twice the VHS.
The Philips V2000 video was better than VHS, but it came too late, so VHS won.

About region code, I think a market could be locked for a region depending on what DHCP and AACS will be in the future.
We'll have to wait a lot to see other films than blockbusters where the form is more important than the content.
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How would this work though? The HD-DVD players themselves would have to contain some sort of indicator as to what region it's in. With current DVDs, that's included in the region coding spec. As far as I know though, there's nothing in current HD-DVD players that differentiate them by region.