Is Disney Done with DVD? (The Never Ending Blu-Ray Debate)

[roswellian]

I hope they don't filter out regular dvds. I don't make enough to buy a high definition tv and a blu ray player plus more expensive movies just to watch dvds.

[Flanger-Hanger]

I hope they don't filter out regular dvds. I don't make enough to buy a high definition tv and a blu ray player plus more expensive movies just to watch dvds.

Prices will go down, formats will be phased out, history will repeat itself. All who deny will be reminded by me a few years down the road of their previous opinions.

Already were seeing stuff like $99 Blu-ray drives for macs introduced and under $100 Blu-ray players being sold at Best Buy while Blu-ray sales continue to increase and more titles get released. You may not have to deal with the change now, but it's inevitable it will come.

Oh and I was 9 or 10 when I started collecting DVDs including the first wave of WDT and Snow White's Platinum edition among other much sought after titles today. Age has got nothing to do with adoption of formats (unless your old and then you just have trouble with everything )

[Fflewduur]

Fine---how about "self-proclaimed" experts like <a href="http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/inside_ ... d=13">John Lasseter</a>?

I've been working with pure animation since 1981. And one of the things that we've always been pioneering at Pixar is high resolution, high-definition of everything that we've done because that's the way that you really want to see this stuff. And finally, as of Tuesday, Pixar Films are available to [consumers with the capability to] see the film on Blu-ray discs the way that we see them at Pixar for the very first time. I'm so excited. <b>You cannot believe the amount of detail that we put into our films that you've never been able to see on DVD before</b>.

Or <a href="http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA ... ml">Andrew Stanton</a>?

This is the first time where a format exactly represents how good a film looks in the building here...It used to be that you’d only go downhill from here after [creating films in the studio]. We sweat over every pixel.

Or <a href="http://www.dvdtown.com/news/a-qa-with-b ... 4908">Brad Bird</a>?

But, the quality of the Blu-ray disc? The guy who was the technical director on "The Incredibles" named Rick Sayre did "The Incredibles" DVD, and I think he pushed the technology to the wall. I'm really proud of that DVD, and the image quality and all that. He's totally against edge enhancement and all the tricks that you guys know about. And I was so blown away by what he did on "The Incredibles," even though he didn't work on "Ratatouille" I asked him to come in and do the "Rat" Blu-ray. And he pushed Blu-ray to the wall. <b>I was flabbergasted when I saw how good the picture quality was on the Blu-ray. I had a tough time telling it from our 2K $100,000 projector, you know--full-on image, it is really amazing. The richness of its detail, the color accuracy--you know, if the film is going to reside out there after its theatrical run, I can't think of a better way for it to reside.</b> If you get a nice player and a big screen, you will have an amazing experience on this film...I think anybody who's seen "Ratatouille" in a decent theater knows how much detail there is in the movie. And unlike a live-action film, we don't get any of that free. ...n animation and CG we have to build all that stuff, and we have to put in all those little scratches and those little breaks. People have to design them and paint them, so every single thing is put there, and every single thing is a decision. All those little dents in a copper pot we put in there, so we have a TREMENDOUS amount of detail in these things. And we put that detail to be viewed on a really big screen, and we are assuming that people will have the best projection and the best sound. Unhappily, a lot of theaters don't...[t]he thing about Blu-ray is that it's a perfect copy of the film--the color balance is exactly what we intend it to be. If your monitor is calibrated, you're gonna see it the way we made it. And with Blu-ray, in particular, if you blow up the image--I mean, it'll look great on a Hi-Def monitor, but if you have a projector and you want to blow it up a bit, it looks really good because . . . you know what it's like when you make things larger. You see more problems. <b>And this is just jaw-dropping. I expected it to be good. I just didn't expect it to be that good. It's really great. So you are gonna see all of the details that we put in. All of them.</b>

[DarthPrime]

I hope they don't filter out regular dvds. I don't make enough to buy a high definition tv and a blu ray player plus more expensive movies just to watch dvds.

Prices will go down, formats will be phased out, history will repeat itself. All who deny will be reminded by me a few years down the road of their previous opinions.

Already were seeing stuff like $99 Blu-ray drives for macs introduced and under $100 Blu-ray players being sold at Best Buy while Blu-ray sales continue to increase and more titles get released. You may not have to deal with the change now, but it's inevitable it will come.

Oh and I was 9 or 10 when I started collecting DVDs including the first wave of WDT and Snow White's Platinum edition among other much sought after titles today. Age has got nothing to do with adoption of formats (unless your old and then you just have trouble with everything )

Blu-ray drives for your computer are pretty affordable now. I've seen a few go for $80ish. You need a few things on your PC to play them, but most recent computers will work.

I have not seen any $100 or less Blu-ray players at Best Buy. Were these open boxed or something?

I remember getting my first DVD player as well (I was 20). It was around $300 at the time. I had a DVD drive in my PC before that, but hardly used it because I didn't like watching movies sitting at the computer.

[Flanger-Hanger]

I remember seeing a sale on Best Buy's website for a player around $100 on sale for a limited time (a basic thing, just for playing movies, no BD-Live features).

As for Drives, the lowest I've seen is $250 at BestBuy.ca (though I haven't looked hard enough)

Anyway, I'd rather have the player so I can later hook it up to a TV vs. the drive that I have to then download a version of PowerDVD to go with it (version 9 is coming soon I saw).

[DarthPrime]

I remember seeing a sale on Best Buy's website for a player around $100 on sale for a limited time (a basic thing, just for playing movies, no BD-Live features).

As for Drives, the lowest I've seen is $250 at BestBuy.ca (though I haven't looked hard enough)

Anyway, I'd rather have the player so I can later hook it up to a TV vs. the drive that I have to then download a version of PowerDVD to go with it (version 9 is coming soon I saw).

Most drives I've seen ship with PowerDVD (don't know what version), and the readers run less than $120 usually. Burners are still more expensive. Newegg.com has some great deals on retail and oem drives. I can see buying one if you have a HTPC (home theater PC). Just for watching movies on your computer, personally I don't. The burners could be useful for backing up files, but blank Blu-ray media is still pretty expensive.

Nice to know that some basic players hit the $100 sale mark. Personally I don't care for BD-Live, just as long as it plays the movie. Although having the network connection would make it easier for firmware updates.

[CJ]

I have split the piracy discussion into a seperate thread. You can find it here.

[Goliath]

Fine---how about "self-proclaimed" experts like <a href="http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/inside_ ... d=13">John Lasseter</a>?

Or <a href="http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA ... ml">Andrew Stanton</a>?

Or <a href="http://www.dvdtown.com/news/a-qa-with-b ... 4908">Brad Bird</a>?

Of course they're spouting this nonsense! They want to sell more of their stuff!

[2099net]

Fancy the people who spend so long making the images (years) wanting the public to see them as they can see them themselves.

Nasty little corporate shills.

[The_Iceflash]

Fine---how about "self-proclaimed" experts like <a href="http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/inside_ ... d=13">John Lasseter</a>?

Or <a href="http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA ... ml">Andrew Stanton</a>?

Or <a href="http://www.dvdtown.com/news/a-qa-with-b ... 4908">Brad Bird</a>?

Of course they're spouting this nonsense! They want to sell more of their stuff!

That's true.

[Goliath]

Fancy the people who spend so long making the images (years) wanting the public to see them as they can see them themselves.

Nasty little corporate shills.

You're buying the marketing talk that they can actually see things that we, on our old dvd's, can't. Don't ever trust anybody's words when that person has something to sell.

[2099net]

Er. No. I can see with my own eyes, with my own set-up that I can see things on Blu-ray that I can't see on DVD. And my TV's not even that great.

[The_Iceflash]

Er. No. I can see with my own eyes, with my own set-up that I can see things on Blu-ray that I can't see on DVD. And my TV's not even that great.

What "things"? Are they "things" that actually matter or are they "things" one normally wouldn't care about anyway?

[DarthPrime]

Er. No. I can see with my own eyes, with my own set-up that I can see things on Blu-ray that I can't see on DVD. And my TV's not even that great.

What "things"? Are they "things" that actually matter or are they "things" one normally wouldn't care about anyway?

More detail in the images, better colors... That's the main things I see different on Blu-ray compared to DVD. It also depends on your TV and your viewing distance. I've seen a Blu-ray of Transformers on a 32 inch HDTV and to me it wasn't that great. I had to get real close to the TV to get the benefit of Blu-ray. The extra details were not as noticeable far away, but you could still see a difference in color. The same Blu-ray on a 46 inch HDTV was a big difference, and didn't require sitting so close.

One thing I think if your planning on Blu-ray is to get the biggest TV your room/wallet can afford. Blu-ray really stands out on a large screen compared to a small one. Also audio is better on the Blu-rays I've watched. Even using the built in TV speakers I could tell a difference. Although its not as big of a difference as the video. I think video improvements will remain the main selling point for Blu-rays.

[2099net]

Er. No. I can see with my own eyes, with my own set-up that I can see things on Blu-ray that I can't see on DVD. And my TV's not even that great.

What "things"? Are they "things" that actually matter or are they "things" one normally wouldn't care about anyway?

In Ratatouille hairs, in Cars reflections in the vehicles, in Nightmare Before Xmas the texture of the models and the environment and in Sleeping Beauty the brushwork on the backgrounds.

Should I care? Well, Lasseter and co who you're so keen to dismiss is corporate pimps obviously care, or else they wouldn't have spent literally millions on the computing hardware and software development. The model makes of Nightmare Before Xmas obviously care, as they spent hours delicately crafting model sets and players. Eyvind Earle obviously cared because he too spent hour upon hour carefully painting backgrounds.

Just like no doubt people like Ben Burtt care that the soundtracks they so painstakingly mixed, or people like Danny Elfman who not only composed the soundtrack for Nightmare Before Christmas but also produced and even sang on the same soundtrack care that it can now be heard in lossless 7.1 audio.

But I guess they're all shills, just because their opinion doesn't match your own.

[Goliath]

But I guess they're all shills, just because their opinion doesn't match your own.

No, I'm saying it's not smart to trust somebody's opinion on a subject that he/she wants to sell to you. When I walk into a store and I want to buy a TV, the personell will try to sell me the most expensive one. Of course they try to; that's their job! But that doesn't mean the most expensive tv is the best. It's simply the most expensive. That's why I make my own judgement and I don't rely on what these employees tell me who want to make as much money as they possibly can.

[2099net]

I don't think the metaphor above it exactly right. I doubt Lasseter and Co. are on "commission" as such. Knowing very little about Hollywood accounting (but enough) I would expect any monies owed to Pixar or the creatives to be a flat fee per purchase regardless of format.

But yes, no doubt people in the movie business are under certain obligation with their employers to "promote" the new format. The thing is, everything that they say is true, and can be proven to be true - so it doesn't really bother me. It's not like Lasseter is saying "Cars is the best movie I've ever made" when on one of his press junkets which is subjective.

I'm curious who you think can speak with authority on Blu-ray/High Definition? Not the filmmakers. They're biased. Not the manufacturers. They're obviously biased too. Presumably not critics like Roger Ebert (who raves over Baraka Blu-ray) as they're biased. Not satisfied customers either, we're either biased or brainwashed.

[Goliath]

I have split the piracy discussion into a seperate thread. You can find it here.

Cool signature!

I don't know if Disney is done with DVD, but I'm done with this discussion. I think I have exchanged all arguments with people whom I disagree with, and now it's becoming a rehash of previous discussions. Whether you agree with me or not: it has been fun.

[The_Iceflash]

I have split the piracy discussion into a seperate thread. You can find it here.

Cool signature!

I don't know if Disney is done with DVD, but I'm done with this discussion. I think I have exchanged all arguments with people whom I disagree with, and now it's becoming a rehash of previous discussions. Whether you agree with me or not: it has been fun.

I just hope that Blu-Ray and DVD will exist like SACD and CD do. I don't want DVDs becoming obsolete. Especially as last year was my first full year re-buying DAC's, Disney Live Action, etc. I'm not going to upgrade to a new format till I have to. I'm not going to be those who have to get the new format the day it comes out.

Bottom line: DVD to Blu-Ray isn't as practical of an upgrade as VHS to DVD.

[CampbellzSoup]

DVD will always exist until Digital Distribution takes over. Blu Ray is just the optinoal upgrade if you choose.