Platinum Release Schedule vs. Upcoming HD format

[Pluto Region1]

According to the website administrator (thank you for such a great site BTW), Disney has sped up the release schedule for the Platinum series in anticipation of starting again with a new high definition series. However they also added 4 more titles so now they have to somehow squeeze the four titles into the Platinum release schedule or they will be releasing the remaining 4 titles WHILE they begin releasing HD version of the Platinum series movies? Does anyone have any idea how the scheduling conflict will be resolved?

I don't know but now I am thinking I should NEVER bought ANY of the Platinum series and just wait for the HD version (then again my consumer purchases encourage Disney to continue releasing the classics for sale so.....). It also makes me mad since we went through this with records to CDs, etc. It is crappy to have to reinvest over and over again to have the "latest" format. My husband wonders if the old Disney animated cartoons will be able to hold up in the new HD format.

I've bought

[danamichelle]

You do not have to re-invest in newer versions if you are satisfied with the dvd's you already have. Companies are always making things better even for dvds. For instance, Wizard of Oz has already been released as a single disc but on Tuesday it was re-released as a 2 and 3 disc.

When dvd's are replaced, I will not be replacing my entire collection.

[Enchantress]

Even with the newer format coming out i'll still be buying Disney DVDs. It took me a good few years to get into DVD, and it'll probably be the same with the new format.

Also, i'm happy with the general standard of DVDs that i have now. For most of them i would've regretted not picking them up

Chin up though, a lot can happen between now and then .

Rach

[271286]

Im sad that the dvd only lasted like around 8 years.

Im satisfied with the current DVD format, and i hope the new HD/Blue Ray format will fail like the laserdisc.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Im sad that the dvd only lasted like around 8 years.

Are you telling us the end is here already?

[ohmahaaha]

It's hard to imagine the DVDs that I have now (most of them) looking better in HD format than they do already, considering the source material. By that I mean the age of the stuff and the technology used when they were created, I think some of them look so great now what with the restorations done, I don't think it could be improved?? HD is probably better suited for new material.

[Jordan]

For instance, Wizard of Oz has already been released as a single disc but on Tuesday it was re-released as a 2 and 3 disc. .

Yes but in that case, the movie was entirely restaured and remastered in its new edition and its presentation is gorgeous, way greater than the older edition.
Plus, the bonus features are really nice and the 3-dsic set is full of very nice memorabilia.
What I'm telling is that it's worth the upgrade if you have the old edition, just like Disney DVD reissues sometimes

[deathie mouse]

I'm satisfied with the current DVD format, and i hope the new HD/Blue Ray format will fail like the laserdisc.

i still dont understand this thing about "I prefer upcoming better versions to what we have now to FAIL and NEVER exist."
Must be a selfish thing. "If I can't buy it, no one else can"
?

So we prefer worse versions and formats? like prefering VHS over DVD and wanting DVD to fail? (Which a LOT of people said they wished 8 years ago)

It's hard to imagine the DVDs that I have now (most of them) looking better in HD format than they do already, considering the source material. By that I mean the age of the stuff and the technology used when they were created, I think some of them look so great now what with the restorations done, I don't think it could be improved??
HD is probably better suited for new material.

Err totally wrrong, old film formats used larger negatives than modern films so their quality can hold up and actually in many cases be better, if care is taken care of extracting every bit of info (at 4000 pixels of resolution or more), than many current films or HDTV programs. Technicolor Academy movie images (like Disney's) and Technirama/VistaVision/70mm films were shot in 4-7 times the negative area per picture height than lets say The Lord Of The Rings. Even true Cinemascope shot films of old have 60% more negative area than the LOR or the Matrix.
And it's not hard to imagine the DVDs that you have now looking better in High Def format than they do already, imagine your 20"-40" TV being 100" and still as sharp. Like in an IMAX presentation.

I for one want that instead of DVD's barely 16mm quality (and then only sometimes)
but to each it's own

[Pluto Region1]

Im sad that the dvd only lasted like around 8 years.

Im satisfied with the current DVD format, and i hope the new HD/Blue Ray format will fail like the laserdisc.

Well like a dum dum, I found 2 more Disney titles I wanted to get. After reading reviews at this website about the Latin package films, I got really interested and bought 2 titles today, totally forgetting about this coming HD threat to my collection! Now I am even MORE invested in this small and growing DVD collection of Disney stuff. But then there is my film noir stuff, my first season of Leave it to Beaver DVD on pre-order via Amazon, the 2 Green Acres seasons that I bought on DVD... the list goes on. What am I doing?! I should cancel all the orders and have my head examined.

Seriously for a moment, my husband seems to think that the Disney stuff will not hold up to the new technology - that it will look bad. I really don't know enough about it. He has delayed the purchase of a flat screen TV for us, waiting for the technology to get the bugs out so to speak. He says if we wait another year for example the TV will be much cheaper. Likwise maybe I should have waited on collecting Disney DVDs - if the HD format is only 2 years away.

[Pluto Region1]

i still dont understand this thing about "I prefer upcoming better versions to what we have now to FAIL and NEVER exist."
Must be a selfish thing. "If I can't buy it, no one else can"
?

So we prefer worse versions and formats? like prefering VHS over DVD and wanting DVD to fail? (Which a LOT of people said they wished 8 years ago)

It has nothing to do with selfishness and everything to do with money. No one wants to have to buy their collections all over again in a new format. I know a few people, when CDs came out, who tossed their old record collections and replaced what they could with CDs. Now that's alot of money. As it turned out, the records ended up being worth alot of money years later on Ebay, but that's another story.

Err totally wrrong, old film formats used larger negatives than modern films so their quality can hold up and actually in many cases be better, if care is taken care of extracting every bit of info (at 4000 pixels of resolution or more), than many current films or HDTV programs..... it's not hard to imagine the DVDs that you have now looking better in High Def format than they do already, imagine your 20"-40" TV being 100" and still as sharp. Like in an IMAX presentation.

So what you're saying is that actually current TVs don't show the true richness or detail of the actual films we are watching, therefore the animations will do fine in HD format.

[deathie mouse]

your husband is right about the TVs, Sony just introduced two 1080 x 1920 TVs (50" and 60" for $3999 and $4999 list) at great reviews (they have the high contrast/color of a CRT tv and the 1000 lines) tho the initial offerings only have a 1080i input (but they display that as 1080p) so soon the competition is gonna heat up with Texas Instruments' 1080 x 1920 DLP chips etc so in a couple of years 1080p will be as commom as todays 720p HDTVs etc..

About DVD buying, well, all 20 bazillion DVD titles are not gonna be released tomorrow in Blu-ray, it took Disney 7 years to complete its 44 Classics on DVD so something similar will hapen to Blu-ray, so if you wanna enjoy movies now well that's what current DVDs are for! I just wouldn't buy crazily like hundreds of DVDs that i havent watched yet and just buy a little more judisciously things i realy wanna enjoy now. Anyway as one UD member said once (can't remember who) Disney don't release the same title in the exact same edition again too.
Don't privy yourself of watching things you really enjoy now if you can. It's like records, first there was mono Beatles, then it was stereo Beatles, then it was CD Beatles, then it'll be Surround Beatles (well there's some on DVD ), etc.


btw i think Blu-ray's launch is barely 2 seasons away, not 2 years

[deathie mouse]

Pluto Region1, yeah, a US The Lion King DVD can show only 480 x 720 pixels (details) (total 345,000 details) on a 16:9 widescreen TV and just 360 x 720 details (259,000 details) on a 4:3 square TV. On Blu-ray it can show 1080 x 1920 details (2, 073,000 details) on a 1080 TV

That's 8 times more than what people with 4:3 Tvs are used to seing , 6 times more than what people with 16:9 TVs are seeing.

Film negatives can actually record even more detail but you almost never see it as normal average theatrical exhibition from prints barely reaches 1000 fuzzy lines (as opposed to Blu-rays 1000 digital sharp lines).
Lately sometimes 35mm on some theaters looks even worse than DVD! (like when i saw The Incredibles on a theater ) so it's only on IMAX prints where I've seen the great quality I expect from film in my latest excursions to movie houses

I wanna see true 35mm film quality in my home!

[Pluto Region1]

About DVD buying, well, all 20 bazillion DVD titles are not gonna be released tomorrow in Blu-ray, it took Disney 7 years to complete its 44 Classics on DVD so something similar will hapen to Blu-ray, so if you wanna enjoy movies now well that's what current DVDs are for!

Yeah, based on my logic we would still not have bought a computer by now as we'd be waiting for the "final" computer technology before buying one! Kind of silly. You only live once, might as well buy the DVDs... yeah, and you are right I mean, they may never release titles or could take years to release. I am still waiting for many old 30s vintage movies to see the light of day on DVD (probably will never happen - I should have hung onto the old VCR tapes I had of them), so it is best to get it in whatever format you can because you may not get a chance to get it in the new format.

Along those lines, I was over at Amazon and they had one of those pre-orders for the much anticipated "Disneyland: The Secrets Stories and Magic of the Happiest Place on Earth." Usually when you think of these pre-order deals, you figure the release is eminent, like within a few months. Well, according to Amazon the release isn't until like the year 2010! Why in the heck would they have an "order now" for a movie that was not even scheduled to be released for 5 years! Its ridiculous. I might not even be alive in 5 years.... Assuming that we'll already be into high definition releases by then, who wants to "lock in" now for the DVD version?

[PatrickvD]

I think getting people to replace their dvd collections with Blue-Ray or HD-DVD will be a lot harder than dvd replacing vhs. The quality of dvd is pretty damn good. A lot of people who are unaware of a new format coming probaply think dvd is the ultimate quality.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Think about this: If you don't want to, no one will force you to replace your whole collection when a new format comes along. If it helps, you could even (for a while) pretend that the new format doesn't exist.

I have not replaced the majority of my laserdiscs. Instead I spend most of my "DVD money" on titles that I haven't got.

[Gurgi30]

Does anybody at this point know that DVD will become obsolete? Sure, their will be a new technology either by Sony or the other company coming out with a similar format (don't remember who they are). However, from what I've been hearing, the new machines that come out will play both DVD and the new tech. For example, the Sony Playstation 3 is releasing next year and it will play both DVD and Blu-Ray discs. I think you'll see more of this in the future since they are both similar in format (disc).

[Aladdin from Agrabah]

It's unbelievable and sick. I mean, people, WAKE UP!!! What are you talking about! We all love Disney movies but it just hasn't to turn out to a paranoia!!! I know it's hard to know that a better format is coming and all your dvd collection suddenly seems useless and poor, but don't give them money for fun(unless you are Scrooge Mv Duck!!). You know what I did with my previous VHS collection? I saled it to a video club! With the money I got, I replaced it with a bright new DVD collection. I'd like to do it again with this upcoming new format, but I don't think anyone would buy a whole dvd collection just like that- I was very lucky the first time but people are not always that silly. I tried to sale 3 dvds yesterday, but noone wanted them. The doors opened one time and they will never open again. THAT'S IT!!! So here's what I'm going to do; I 'll buy in HD format only my MOST FAVOURITE movies af all time, which means only 5 or 6 movies. As for the others I will enjoy them in DVD and I will always like them because a movie FIRST and FOREMOST offers you ENTERTAINMENT and beautiful feelings and then comes the perfect video and audio.I DON'T CARE!! I don't want to be able to see every tiny detail in "The Fox and the Hound" or "Robin Hood", I'm not that mad! If they were my favourites, I would! And I will, with The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Hercules, Sleeping Beauty and SnowWhite! But that's it! No more, or I'm going to lose the meaning of life, I'm going to lose myself!

[Pluto Region1]

Think about this: If you don't want to, no one will force you to replace your whole collection when a new format comes along. If it helps, you could even (for a while) pretend that the new format doesn't exist. I have not replaced the majority of my laserdiscs. Instead I spend most of my "DVD money" on titles that I haven't got.

Oh boy... you bought laser discs, Lars? So what am I crying about?

I bet that I don't even have a fraction of the DVDs you guys have. I am not a "collector" of DVDs (until I joined this website a few wks ago!). Many of you have stated that you have "all 44 classics," well that is more DVDs than I own entirely! When we made the transition from VHS to DVD, I had bought so few professionally released VHS tapes, that I've maybe only had to replace 5 VHS movies with DVDs. Since then, I've been more eager to buy DVDs, as I thought, "this was it," the final format. Had no idea until recently about the newer format. So the DVDs I've spent far more on, However:

The industry knows people will be reluctant to upgrade to the new format. Whichever format they choose (the industry hasn't decided between the competing Blu-ray or HD-DVD), they will make the new format players "backwards compatible." Backwards compatible means that they will be able to play DVDs as well, because the industry knows people are not going to want to drop their significant DVD collections into the trash bin.

The other issue is that the new format is only as good as the TV set its played on, so they need to bring the prices down on the TVs (see Deathie's post above).

As Deathie Mouse pointed out, it will be years before all titles will be released onto the new format - and it's possible MANY may NEVER get released on the new format. If that title didn't do financially well on DVD or they don't think they can sell enough of them, it might not get released on the new format at all. I'm sure most of you can think of something you want that has not come out on DVD (I've got a long list).

(Deathie if you are still watching this thread, my husband wants to know which format you think they will go with - Blu-ray or HD-DVD?)

[Nemo7]

The quality can always improve. I'm sure a lot of people are saying "'Blu-Ray/HD-DVD is the ultimate quality!", but that's what was said about LaserDisc and DVD.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time until there's some new 3D technology, or until people get bigger and BIGGER TVs. I'm also betting it'll take 5+ years for the new format to really take off (and if Disney is anything to show by, the first generation of releases on the new format won't be the best quality). I only bought 1-3 releases a year at first, but in these last two years my collection has gone from 10 DVDs to 150.

Ultimately, animation can only look so good. However, 3D and Live Action really have no limit.

[Pluto Region1]

It's unbelievable and sick. I mean, people, WAKE UP!!! What are you talking about! We all love Disney movies but it just hasn't to turn out to a paranoia!!! I know it's hard to know that a better format is coming and all your dvd collection suddenly seems useless and poor, but don't give them money for fun(unless you are Scrooge Mv Duck!!). You know what I did with my previous VHS collection? I saled it to a video club! With the money I got, I replaced it with a bright new DVD collection. I'd like to do it again with this upcoming new format, but I don't think anyone would buy a whole dvd collection just like that- I was very lucky the first time but people are not always that silly. I tried to sale 3 dvds yesterday, but noone wanted them. The doors opened one time and they will never open again. THAT'S IT!!! So here's what I'm going to do; I 'll buy in HD format only my MOST FAVOURITE movies af all time, which means only 5 or 6 movies. As for the others I will enjoy them in DVD and I will always like them because a movie FIRST and FOREMOST offers you ENTERTAINMENT and beautiful feelings and then comes the perfect video and audio.I DON'T CARE!! I don't want to be able to see every tiny detail in "The Fox and the Hound" or "Robin Hood", I'm not that mad! If they were my favourites, I would! And I will, with The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Hercules, Sleeping Beauty and SnowWhite! But that's it! No more, or I'm going to lose the meaning of life, I'm going to lose myself!

You know what this reminds me of, it reminds me of the stock market crash of '29 - some didn't get out in time, some had significant holdings and learned to regret it..... I guess that is how I felt when I started this thread, but hey, there is always someone with far more DVDs than me, so I should not feel that badly.

The only reason I even bought any DVDs was my husband encouraged it. He kept telling me that the VHS format was going to deteriorate and if I really wanted something for all-time, I should get the DVD. So this is all his fault!

DVD is not going to be obsolete over night. It is only now where I am looking at my old VHS tapes and thinking, these are "obsolete" or "less valuable" than they used to be. (The poor stores REALLY got stuck holding the bag on their VHS titles - they can't even give 'em away)

However, I still have stuff on VHS that I cannot get on DVD. Fortunately I did not toss out all my movies that were taped on VHS (I had culled a significant amount due to space constraints and wished I hadn't!). Many of the titles I taped off the TV were NEVER available even on VHS from the stores. As for DVD, they are only now starting to put "Leave It to Beaver" on DVD. Some programs have never made it onto DVD... like "I Dream of Jeannie" "Mr. Ed" etc. Plus, who can afford to buy everything on DVD? I can't. I am glad I taped the stuff. My husband used to fix VCRs so I figure I can get him to work on it when it breaks down.

BTW, we are a prime example of why the industry has to make the transition a long one amd fortunately we are not alone! People are not going to dump their DVDs outright, so therefore, it will be a long time before our DVDs are seen as obsolete. I had a good run with my VHS tapes - started in 1989 and they are still useful due to no DVD replacements for many of them, in 2005.

Now, the music industry are now trying to push us into high def audio CDs - but with this, I don't think people are going to go for it.