Talking in general about HD disc formats these are valuable to me because they provide the best available picture quality on my setup. I have both a 1080p SXRD and a 720p front projector and nothing beats the PQ of HD-DVD. BluRay is a future purchase for me as reports of improved PQ are encouraging. HD-DVD for me is an improvement over broadcast HD and is definitley a quantum leap forward over upconverted DVD. Everytime I watch an upconverted DVD all I think about is how much better this could look if this was released in HD format. True it works "just fine" but why settle for "just fine" when you can have "holy crap!" "Just fine" doesn't cut it any more and "holy crap" is worth the money I spend on it.
Perhaps for some, but not for others, and the upconverting is a compromise. I hope you are aware - I have brought this up in the past - that you will be expected to switch formats again in several years. Other formats like HVD already exist and are standardized. While they may not replace the hi-def formats right away, they will eventually. If the history of DVD is any indication, it'll take BD and HD a few years to become commonplace. We'll stay with the hi-def format (which ever one wins, or both) until movie sales start to taper off, and the entertainment and electronics industries will start pitching HVD or some other "better" format. The cycle simply continues. Personally, I'm not THAT impressed with hi-def that I'd want to re-purchase my collection. Then again, I won't spend $2000+ on a TV, so the benefit of BD is largely moot.
Well that's why you can't appreciate the HD discs - you don't even have an HDTV! If they come up with high def HVD's in the future then well and good. I'd probably be one of the early adopters for the new format. What matters to me is that I'm enjoying the best picture I can at this moment in time.
Actually I do have HDTV, just well short of 1080p. That's the thing, it's not worth the money. It's a major investment, beyond the movies you buy. Maybe when 1080p-capable TV's come down to $700, it'll be worth it. But even then I still can't adopt BD or HD.
I may sound callous and rude by saying this but someone has to. Based on his most recent posts Dunker is bashing the BluRay format in particular and HD discs in general because of one reason - HE CAN'T AFFORD IT. What he's doing here in the BluRay forum is plain and simple TROLLING and I for one am sick and tired. Why can't he just leave us alone to enjoy our HD. If this was one of the gaming forums he would have been suspended by now.
...with one significant difference being that it's encoded in 1080p and this alone makes it worth the bother. But the BluRay forum on AD is the wrong place to do it. Do this here and your message will fall on the deaf ears of BD and HD supporters who could care less about your issues. Better to do your bitching in the Safety Valve area. eatsushi puts it very well when he said "just fine" doesn't cut it anymore - especially for us who have the equipment to tell the difference between formats encoded in 1080p and an upconverted 480i source. (BTW I've seen HD-DVD in action on my 60 inch 1080p Sony SXRD and my dad's 1080p Sony Ruby projector on a 110 inch screen.) ...and the difference between upconversion and HD is visible big time on our equipment. ...and I'll be the first in line to buy the new HVD high def disc player not to mention the new SED display.
@error5 Uh, no, edited by ddp. I'm bashing them because you have to be pretty stupid to buy the same content you already own, and perhaps have bought a few times over. I do have other financial priorities, though, like paying for a boat rather than a pretty TV. I guess it's a matter of priorities. But paying $2000 for a TV, $1000 for a video player, and $30 a movie strikes me as dumb when I paid $800, $70, and $10 respectively for the same thing. While no doubt your hi-def is a bit better, paying the difference is cost is what many would call being stupid, at least to pragmatic folks like me. It's kind of like these needledicks who buy Lexus' when they could buy a car that gets twice the gas mileage, lasts 3-4 times as long, costs a tenth as much to fix, for half the price. Moreover, what I'm saying is relevant here on AD because, as I stated earlier, this is one of the key places where people constantly bitch about the excesses of IP law abuses and the restriction of consumer rights. As I stated earlier today, people like you are supporting that, if indirectly. That's where I can, and will, vote with my wallet, my political choices, my free speech rights to stop this. By the way, since you fell for hi-def, you strike me as the type of person that would love this gadget: http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2...u.com/2006/10/03/the-dvd-rewinder/&frame=true
You constantly whine about this rebuying business so I hope you have the statistics to back up your claim. Take me for example - do you know exactly how many HD-DVD discs I own and how many of those titles I already own in DVD format? How about the rest of the HD-DVD and BD owners - do you know what percentage of HD discs bought commercially are "double dips?" I guess you also don't realize that some HD releases are in combo format where one side is standard DVD and the other side is HD-DVD. BTW I own 30 HD-DVD titles and only 2 of those are movies I already own on DVD. Lastly, I think a mod should just close this thread.
@Dunker: If you're really as rabidly anti-MPAA and anti-Hollywood as I think you are here's what you should do: 1. Pack up your DVD player, your TV and your entire DVD and VHS collection and send it off by Fedex to the president of the MPAA. Attach a note telling him how fed up you are with their abusive practices and that you won't stand for it any longer. 2. Promise not to buy or rent another DVD movie, buy another DVD player or buy another TV as long as you live. 3. Promise not to see another movie in a movie theater as long as you live. 4. Promise to tear off all your hair when a Hollywood actor wins another election for public office. That'll show em! HOWEVER, if you: Buy or rent another DVD movie Buy another DVD player Watch another movie in a theater then you will be as guilty as all of us of supporting the big bad Hollywood movie machine. No downloaded or ripped movies on your PC either!
[bold]EVERYBODY!!!!![/bold] anybody starts a flamewar will be flamed off this site & doesn't matter if you are a newbie or senior! understand people??!!
dblbogey7, I found it quite interesting that some of the HD releases are "combo formats". Do you have a running list? I have noticed HD discs now showing up in some of the shops I haunt. I can find them pv'd for $10 CAD/no tax. I have no plans on buying an HD TV or a player in the near future, but if I can get BOTH formats on a disc for a reasonable price, why not? Unfortunately, consumers sometimes don't have a choice. I, perhaps, owned less than 10 VHS kids movies. I was never terribly fond of the format. Now, they no longer put out VHS (machines, too, are becoming scarce), and I know our local Mom and Pop store is tired of keeping up with technology. They haven't even finished replacing their VHS to DVD. They refuse to carry XBox 360 games/systems, and will most likely not carry HD or BluRay. The studios do not realize that they are putting the small people out of business, or maybe they do, but just don't care? In my opinion, BlockBusters and Rogers Video milk me by their high rental costs, especially when I can find pv'd dvds for less and own to boot. I just have to wait a while, the pv'd market is now saturated and I can find many titles in the $4-$5 range. BTW The original DVD version of Scarface was just horrid, the video transfer was unwatchable in my opinion. Too bad I didn't sell mine on Ebay while I had a chance
Here's a list of current and future HD-DVD Combo releases (may be incomplete): 16 Blocks (Warner) Animal House (Universal) ATL (Warner) Firewall (Warner) Good Night, and Good Luck (Warner) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Warner) Rumor Has It (Warner) Unleashed (Universal) Lakehouse (Warner) Land of the Dead, George A. Romero's (Universal) Tokyo Drift, The Fast and the Furious (Universal) Army of Darkness (Universal) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Universal) Waist Deep (Universal) The Breakup (Universal) Slither (Universal) The Thing (Universal) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal) You, Me, and Dupree (Universal) An American Werewolf in London (Universal) Superman Returns (Warner) Miami Vice (Universal)
