HD DVDs??

[Disney Lover]

I decided to make a new thread about this so as to not keep making that other thread so off topic.

But will all new dvds at the end of the new year be the Blu Ray? And if so that means I'll probably have to buy a new player huh? And I just bought a new vhs/dvd duel player last week so I hope I don't have to.

What will the difference be between the original dvd and the blu ray dvd?


Tabbi <3

[Nicky]

The blu-ray DVD doesn't even look like a standard CD. It looks more like a mini disk. Technology always changes, and it is hard to always stay on top of it, but I love my DVD collection and don't want to replace it already.

Edit: removed broken link

[Disney Lover]

Nicky..I clicked on the link and it says File Not Found.

So if the new dvd is going to be smaller then that would mean a new player to play them on? Hopefully this won't last long.

Tabbi <3

[Jayden]

Here, hopefully this will answer your questions. I copied and pasted my response from another thread:

Hi-def is NOT going to be the norm in 2007, that I can guarentee. All it takes is a look at some previous stats to realize that this is true.

Fact 1: The current DVD technology did not really catch on with the public until (at least) 1998, if not later

Fact 2: VHS, although it has been outmoded for at least 9 or 10 years, is still supported (although it is dying a quick death now)

Fact 3: Most households just got a DVD player not that long ago and will be unwilling to get a new one so soon. The general population is not exactly tech-saavy

Fact 4: There are going to be 2 formats at the begining (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray), which will turn off some that will interested in this technology, thus reducing the sales of players

Fact 5: The Hi-def players are going to start coming out later this year, which means that they won't START dropping in price (from their initial prices of around $3000-$7000) until late 2006/early 2007

Fact 6: It would be absolute suicide for any studio to stop production of normal DVDs as so many people own players that can play only those. People are going to stick with their normal DVD players until those are run into the ground.

Fact 7: HD-DVDs are not going to make that much of a difference on a normal television

Fact 8: People are going to think of it, at first, as an attempted screw-job by the big corporations and refuse to buy into it

All of these facts are REALLY going to slow the inception of HD-DVD into the market place, and it's because of these reasons that I theorize that it won't become the norm until, at least, 2010, if ever.

IGN.com had an interesting article that brought up an interesting point, that is that HD-DVD may never catch on and may go the way of BETA. They theorize this because of fact 3 above, so the general public will not support it. However, they also speculated that the format war coming up between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will turn away the tech-saavy people who would initially buy it and start the ball rolling towards it's inception. In other words, we may not see very many HD-DVD's before it dies (which is alright by me!)

Sorry for the diversion, it just seems that a lot of people are going under the assumption that HD-DVDs will quickly replace the normal DVD, when it most certainly won't. It's going to be a slow, long process

[Nicky]

Those facts are absolutely true. I remember how ridiculous the price of DVD players were when they first came out. Unless you had money to blow on state of the art electronics, no one had a DVD player. Most people don't own an HD-TV either, but I have a feeling that will change since many shows are now being broadcaast in HD format. Thanks for all the info, Jayden.

[RJKD23]

I was gonna post another thread that related to the question you asked, Tabbi, but I think Jayden answered you!

Anyways, here it is if you still want more info on <a href="http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... t=6607">HD DVDs</a>.

[Disney Lover]

Thank you all for the info! Least its reasurring to know it won't catch on for a while if ever. And that they will still continue to make movies in DVD format.

Tabbi <3

[Big Worms]

Until they decide on a format, I would not worry. Keep on buying.

[Mr. Toad]

I believe neither of these formats are going anywhere. SACD was a significant improvement over the CD nearly 20 years after CD became mainstream. It failed because CDs are good enough.

Yes, you can continually improve both video and audio quality but the improvements become so minute especially on the quality of most systems it just aint worth it to replace everyting.

After watching Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Lord of the Rings I dont see how they can make it better enough to switch.

[Jayden]

I believe neither of these formats are going anywhere. SACD was a significant improvement over the CD nearly 20 years after CD became mainstream. It failed because CDs are good enough.

Yes, you can continually improve both video and audio quality but the improvements become so minute especially on the quality of most systems it just aint worth it to replace everyting.

After watching Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Lord of the Rings I dont see how they can make it better enough to switch.

Mr. Toad is absolutely right. When is good, good enough? I think a lot of people are more than happy with current DVDs and they'll be here for a while longer at least. I don't know, I'm kind of hoping that HD-DVD and Blu-ray will fail. I'm hoping this because it will teach companies a lesson. Mainly that we don't need a new format that will require us to upgrade our entire home entertainment system every couple of years.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens

[Mr. Toad]

I guess the biggest problem with SACD or DVD Music is I can hear the difference but I own 1,000 CDs(it was once about 1,500) but what am I gonna do spend $20x1000 to replace it all so I can here it in multi channel. Not a chance.

DVD was a major improvement over VHS. To me replacing Star Wars for $60 was worth it. To do the same for the improvement of HDDVD over DVD. Again, I will be able to see the difference but will it improve my viewing experience to the same degree of DVD over VHS. Nope.

[Dan05]

I hate this technology crap. First they keep making video game systems and now it seems like they plan to do the same with movies

[tomothy81]

I know that I personally will not buy into the new technology. First I do not have the money, and second DVD's provide me with all that I want when it comes to viewing movies. DVD is a far more superior format than VHS not just because it provides a nicer picture, but mainly because it provides the viewer with so many more options and extra features. I do not need a new format so that I can view movies at a higher quality, DVD's do a fine job at this. I love my DVD's and will not replace them with a new format.

I'll stick with my DVD's.

[Dan05]

All this stuff is getting me kind of confused...

It doesn't really matter though cause i'm sticking with DVD's anyway

[JP_S]

This is something you cannot stop.
Too many companies are putting money into this.

Have any of you guys seen HDTV?
A mate of mine has a CRT Projector. He showed me a part of Lord of the Rings (Return of the King) first from DVD then from a HD broadcast.
The HD was razor sharp. When you have seen the difference you want to go to that next level.

JVC already has invented a format which has both the HiDef movie and the 'standard' DVD format.

Players will probably be pretty expensive as were DVD players at first. Also manufacturers will probably make HiDef DVD players to support all formats DVD, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD) or at least one of both new formats.
They have to make them downwards compatible.

And you don't need to replace ALL your DVD's. I will not do that either, only movies I really like will be replaced by a improved version.

Then again this new format is great for us, consumers, because this will make more possible. Games can be visually better without changing a disc whilst playing.

Thank God for progress.

[bmadigan]

DVD was a major improvement over VHS. To me replacing Star Wars for $60 was worth it. To do the same for the improvement of HDDVD over DVD. Again, I will be able to see the difference but will it improve my viewing experience to the same degree of DVD over VHS. Nope.

Which is the major reason I am NOT buying the current incarnation of Star Wars on DVD. I will wait until I have an HD-TV and the blu-ray/HD wars are settled and only then will I get Star Wars on HD-DVD. Until then I can enjoy my VHS classic versions.

[bmadigan]

Have any of you guys seen HDTV?
A mate of mine has a CRT Projector. He showed me a part of Lord of the Rings (Return of the King) first from DVD then from a HD broadcast.
The HD was razor sharp. When you have seen the difference you want to go to that next level.

I've only seen what they have on display in the stores as HD, and sure the picture is better, but it in no way lives up to the hype. I had expected the picture to blow me away and I had heard the the picture would look positively 3-D. No way.

[cydney]

It upsets me to think that by the time I get my movie collection caught up, there could be another format out. I dont want to spend the money to replace them even though it could turn out to be a must. I work in a movie store, and I see people come in looking for VHS, which we have a small amount of, and they refuse to update to DVD because they have spent so much time and money working on their movie collections. I dont want this to be me in the future.

[shr_fan]

*sigh* and I just got used to DVDs. Oh, well I'll probably get it a few years from now, if it catches on, but it's not anything I'm going to save up for right now. DVD's are just fine with me. I'm trying to get through college so I guess picture quality doesn't matter that much to me, just as long as I can see the movie.

[TM2-Megatron]

Have any of you guys seen HDTV?
A mate of mine has a CRT Projector. He showed me a part of Lord of the Rings (Return of the King) first from DVD then from a HD broadcast.
The HD was razor sharp. When you have seen the difference you want to go to that next level.

I have no doubt that I'll want to; but that isn't going to change the fact that I won't do so until a format is decided between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Nor do I really want to spend thousands of dollars right when the players come out for a technology in its infancy.

I'll likely buy a HD-DVD and a high-def format player at the same time; a few years from now.

JVC already has invented a format which has both the HiDef movie and the 'standard' DVD format.

I'm personally hoping that one won't catch on, and will fail quickly. The last thing we need is a crude, intermediary format when there are already 2 competing for the real thing. I can't see those dual-format things having any great number of extras, and those are one of my favourite things about DVD and the future optical disc formats. The HD quality is all well and good, but if it came to deciding between a normal DVD with alot of extras, or a disc with a regular DVD side and HD side with few or not extras, I'd choose the normal DVD.