I’m waiting for my Dad to decide which way he’s going. he’s way better than me at this technology stuff (making us the opposite of every other family in America).
Cool… Interesting to see the results.
Personally I have a very nice DVD collection which has taken me years and a small fortune to build up. The ‘step up’ in picture quality etc is just not big enough to warrant me taking any kind of action any time soon. Maybe when I get around to buying an HD TV, when the format wars eventually die down… hell, I may even wait for the next format(s) and skip this one- why not?
I picked up the DVD add-on drive for my Xbox 360. I figured that, for only $200, it would be worth trying out. (I also have a 46″ LCD TV.) I’ve picked up a few HD-DVD movies, including Serenity, Batman Begins, Superman Returns, BBC’s Planet Earth, and 300. I figure I’ll buy most of my “Big Special Effects” movies in HD, but for the most part, I’ll be sticking with the plain vanilla version.
It all seems like a storm in a teacup. If someone were to start offering DRM free HD movies online then I would be right there.
In the past format wars were dictated by necessity; the consumer had no alternative but for the competing formats. Nowdays a format war like this is just going to send folks like me to seek “alternative” means to acquire content. And when it’s all said and done, chances are that both side will be losers.
I have a pre-HDMI HDTV, so I’m in no hurry to adopt either of the new formats. Neither HD-DVD nor Blue-Ray wants my business because of their piracy paranoia.
Maybe in five or six years when I’m ready to think about a new TV, the format war will be over. Until then, I’m pretty happy with what I have in a progressive scan DVD signal.
Went with a HD-DVD when the stand alone was at $300 and got 7 free movies to go with it. Hell, even if HD-DVD loses, I don’t feel like I lost anything. I wouldn’t mind also getting blu-ray once the price goes down to $200 or so. I love the picture quality. My HD-DVDs are the highest quality content I watch on TV, and its easy to tell the superiority of HD-DVD over even the HDTV content I get from Comcast. Blu Ray should look equally as good as HD-DVD. I think its laughable that people will spend thousands on HDTVs but not spend $200 on a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player.
But as far as a winner, I don’t think either format will win. Did SACD beat DVD-Audio? Neither format will gain critical mass.
I’m quite happy with my DVDs the way they are. I don’t need my explosions to be explodey-er, or my my swordsmen to be swordsmen-ier. I don’t need Hi Def. I’m quite happy with Mid-Def of DVDs. I don’t understand the big kerfuffle behind HD, and I refuse (i.e. can’t afford) to be ping-ponged between formats.
I’m waiting for an affordable combi-computer drive. I don’t have a HDTV yet so there’s no rush.
HD-DVD seems a bit less piracy paranoid and therefore a bit more likable. technology wise Blueray may be ‘better’ but I’m not sure anyone really needs their movies this good.
there’s downsides to resolution too: people getting old, makeup not perfectly applied (or just too damn much of it to conceal fact 1), actors just not pretty enough for HD and so on.
DVD works fine. doesn’t degrade with viewing like those damn tapes did. doesn’t even degrade with time, as long as it’s the bought DVDs and not the burned ones, those degrade like crazy.
I’m waiting for my Dad to decide which way he’s going. he’s way better than me at this technology stuff (making us the opposite of every other family in America).
Cool… Interesting to see the results.
Personally I have a very nice DVD collection which has taken me years and a small fortune to build up. The ‘step up’ in picture quality etc is just not big enough to warrant me taking any kind of action any time soon. Maybe when I get around to buying an HD TV, when the format wars eventually die down… hell, I may even wait for the next format(s) and skip this one- why not?
I picked up the DVD add-on drive for my Xbox 360. I figured that, for only $200, it would be worth trying out. (I also have a 46″ LCD TV.) I’ve picked up a few HD-DVD movies, including Serenity, Batman Begins, Superman Returns, BBC’s Planet Earth, and 300. I figure I’ll buy most of my “Big Special Effects” movies in HD, but for the most part, I’ll be sticking with the plain vanilla version.
It all seems like a storm in a teacup. If someone were to start offering DRM free HD movies online then I would be right there.
In the past format wars were dictated by necessity; the consumer had no alternative but for the competing formats. Nowdays a format war like this is just going to send folks like me to seek “alternative” means to acquire content. And when it’s all said and done, chances are that both side will be losers.
I have a pre-HDMI HDTV, so I’m in no hurry to adopt either of the new formats. Neither HD-DVD nor Blue-Ray wants my business because of their piracy paranoia.
Maybe in five or six years when I’m ready to think about a new TV, the format war will be over. Until then, I’m pretty happy with what I have in a progressive scan DVD signal.
Went with a HD-DVD when the stand alone was at $300 and got 7 free movies to go with it. Hell, even if HD-DVD loses, I don’t feel like I lost anything. I wouldn’t mind also getting blu-ray once the price goes down to $200 or so. I love the picture quality. My HD-DVDs are the highest quality content I watch on TV, and its easy to tell the superiority of HD-DVD over even the HDTV content I get from Comcast. Blu Ray should look equally as good as HD-DVD. I think its laughable that people will spend thousands on HDTVs but not spend $200 on a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player.
But as far as a winner, I don’t think either format will win. Did SACD beat DVD-Audio? Neither format will gain critical mass.
I’m quite happy with my DVDs the way they are. I don’t need my explosions to be explodey-er, or my my swordsmen to be swordsmen-ier. I don’t need Hi Def. I’m quite happy with Mid-Def of DVDs. I don’t understand the big kerfuffle behind HD, and I refuse (i.e. can’t afford) to be ping-ponged between formats.
I’m waiting for an affordable combi-computer drive. I don’t have a HDTV yet so there’s no rush.
HD-DVD seems a bit less piracy paranoid and therefore a bit more likable. technology wise Blueray may be ‘better’ but I’m not sure anyone really needs their movies this good.
there’s downsides to resolution too: people getting old, makeup not perfectly applied (or just too damn much of it to conceal fact 1), actors just not pretty enough for HD and so on.
DVD works fine. doesn’t degrade with viewing like those damn tapes did. doesn’t even degrade with time, as long as it’s the bought DVDs and not the burned ones, those degrade like crazy.
just my 2.5 euro-cents
Idefix