Blu-Ray

Cathal01 · 15-01-2009 03:44AM #1

Do I stop buying DVD's now and only buy Blu Ray? Like when DVD took over from VHS?......

Ruu_Old · 15-01-2009 03:47AM

Your blu ray player can still play DVDs, I wouldn't be stopping anytime soon.

Cathal01 · 15-01-2009 03:49AM

But will they stop making DVD's, and just make Blu Ray discs in the future?

Thanks

Kiith · 15-01-2009 04:41AM

They are still making VHS (arent they?), so your not going to have to worry about it anytime soon.

Pigman II · 15-01-2009 10:11AM

DVD still has lots of legs as far as I'm concerned. From a functionality pov Blu-ray doesn't really offer anything that DVD doesn't already have so it's not really the same as the jump from VHS to DVD that occurred around the turn of the millenium. Plus as has been pointed out you can get Blu-ray players to play DVD so you can still enjoy the best of both worlds.

But to answer your question, I can see them eventually stopping production of DVD as the price of Blu-Ray drops to more reasonable levels.

Basq · 15-01-2009 11:05AM

Kiith wrote: »

They are still making VHS (arent they?)

Not sure actually... I was listening to a tech podcast in the last week or two that mentioned an article revealed one of the last major VHS suppliers in the US has closed down.

...

Actually, just found the story: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-vhs-tapes22-2008dec22,0,5852342.story

Interesting to read too:

The last major Hollywood movie to be released on VHS was "A History of Violence" in 2006

To the OP.. keep buying DVD's. Blu-ray will not become the "norm" for at least another (rough estimate on this) 3 - 5 years.

15-01-2009 11:43AM

Theres millions of DVD players around ,loads of money for distributors to make still.

Dvd's will probably get cheaper aswell.

robby^5 · 15-01-2009 03:02PM

I think the big factors that gave DVD the push to becoming the new format was a) the leap in quality and b) the playstation 2 brought a dvd player into millions of houses and cheap too.

With blu ray right now you're looking at shelling out €200+ for a player, several hundred for a high def tv (or else what's the point of switching?) and around €10-20 more per dvd you buy.

I also don't think the leap in quality is as much of an incentive as with vhs to dvd, because while blu ray does look lovely so does regular dvd (some of my latest regular dvd buys such as Pineapple Express and Dark Knight look fantastic on a high def telly, even when compared to seeing them on bluray)

I can possibly see it becoming the standard format, but I also have a feeling that dvd wont be going away anytime soon and could possibly stay alongside bluray as a cheaper alternative in these times of economic strife, which have probably set back bluray market penetration by a few years.

User45701 · 15-01-2009 03:04PM

i wouldnt buy bluray its a load of **** because they "won" the hd war by marketing that they had larger disc capacity (it was a lie because a month after bluray anouced 50GB discs tosh anounced 51GB discs)

**** bluway - the 50GB discs cost more than say 15 or 20GB (or whatever they are)
So buying box sets and movies dont expect everyhting on one or two dics.

I bought firefly (my 1st bluray purchase) and 13 episodes on 3 ****ing discs? Even at 1080 they would not be 150GB to download the bluray of firelfy. I must actually check it out to see how big the combined file size is. Still sony lied thorugh their teeth about the size of their discs so dont buy their product.

Either just buy a Toshiba XDE500 http://www.home-entertainment.toshiba.co.uk/DVD-Players-Recorders-Upscaling/Upscaling-DVD-Range/Upscaling-DVD-XD-E500/?showBy=size (its a DVD player that upscales std DVD's to 1080 so why pay the extra for bluray?)

or else just wait a year or so for TV/movie downloads to spread - it will be cheaper because no packaging or retail markup (although i must admit i do like the look of a nice box set)

Ay Cee · 15-01-2009 03:12PM

With Bluray "starting" to take off the price of normal DVD's is falling. Some real bargains to be picked up. It'll be a while before the high price of Bluray drops. I'd get a Bluray or a PS3 but keep buying the normal DVD's.

CivilServant · 15-01-2009 06:09PM

Blu Ray for triple A films like The Dark Knight, Wall-E and Transformers. Planet Earth is amazing in Bluray and HDDVD. Those titles really show off what Blu Ray is capable of. Regular DVD for everything else.

User45701 wrote: »

I bought firefly (my 1st bluray purchase) and 13 episodes on 3 ****ing discs? Even at 1080 they would not be 150GB to download the bluray of firelfy. I must actually check it out to see how big the combined file size is. Still sony lied thorugh their teeth about the size of their discs so dont buy their product.

Either just buy a Toshiba XDE500 http://www.home-entertainment.toshiba.co.uk/DVD-Players-Recorders-Upscaling/Upscaling-DVD-Range/Upscaling-DVD-XD-E500/?showBy=size (its a DVD player that upscales std DVD's to 1080 so why pay the extra for bluray?)

40 mins of uncompressed HD would be around 8 gigs, (not talking about those 1.2 mkvs that are becoming more prevalent) so 8 x13 = 104 gigs. Plus whatever extras are included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_high_definition_optical_disc_formats

Lets see Bluray/HDDVD is 1920×1080 = 2 Megapixel, DVD is 720×576 = 0.4 Megapixel. So the viewer is seeing 5 times as much detail in Bluray vs DVD. I don't think an upscaling DVD player is going to create 5 times more detail out of nothing.

Here are a few screenshots to prove the point.

http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=804

DVD isn't too bad, but I would compare it to watching TV through an unfocused lense.

More samples http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=617171&postcount=5

This one is a good example

http://www.zonadvd.com/imagenes/articulos/compa_300/300.html

Ay Cee · 15-01-2009 06:52PM

CivilServant wrote: »

Blu Ray for triple A films like The Dark Knight, Wall-E and Transformers. Planet Earth is amazing in Bluray and HDDVD. Those titles really show off what Blu Ray is capable of. Regular DVD for everything else.

Couldn't agree more.

DanGlee · 15-01-2009 07:02PM

What I don't understand is that BD is around 50GB in storage and I'm sure a Blu-Ray movie isn't 50GB in size. So you can fit an awful lot more, but why haven't movie companies started releasing single discs of movies like Die Hard, or LOTR all on one disc? Surly its possible?

And apparently there is a new one which is 100GB from pioneer / panasonic (can't remember) that is Blu-Ray compatible... sweet!!!

BlitzKrieg · 15-01-2009 07:04PM

CivilServant wrote: »

Blu Ray for triple A films like The Dark Knight, Wall-E and Transformers. Planet Earth is amazing in Bluray and HDDVD. Those titles really show off what Blu Ray is capable of. Regular DVD for everything else.

As a buisness model though thats kinda sucky for blu ray. I agree with you pretty much. When I had my PS3 the only films I'd buy on blu ray are the ones that would really show it off, everything else DVD was fine.

If blu ray fails to break into the market beyond new releases, it'll never have the same success as DVD.

Blisterman · 15-01-2009 07:45PM

Well, I can see Blu Rays dropping to the same price as DVDs in a couple of years, so, when buying new movies, there'll be little reason to choose DVD over Blu Ray.
So, slowly but surely, DVD will phase out.

On the other hand, digital video could take over from it, before that ever happens.

Mossy Monk · 15-01-2009 09:01PM

User45701 wrote: »

i wouldnt buy bluray its a load of **** because they "won" the hd war by marketing that they had larger disc capacity (it was a lie because a month after bluray anouced 50GB discs tosh anounced 51GB discs)

**** bluway - the 50GB discs cost more than say 15 or 20GB (or whatever they are)
So buying box sets and movies dont expect everyhting on one or two dics.

I bought firefly (my 1st bluray purchase) and 13 episodes on 3 ****ing discs? Even at 1080 they would not be 150GB to download the bluray of firelfy. I must actually check it out to see how big the combined file size is. Still sony lied thorugh their teeth about the size of their discs so dont buy their product.

Either just buy a Toshiba XDE500 http://www.home-entertainment.toshiba.co.uk/DVD-Players-Recorders-Upscaling/Upscaling-DVD-Range/Upscaling-DVD-XD-E500/?showBy=size (its a DVD player that upscales std DVD's to 1080 so why pay the extra for bluray?)

or else just wait a year or so for TV/movie downloads to spread - it will be cheaper because no packaging or retail markup (although i must admit i do like the look of a nice box set)

Yawn. You lost out with HDDVD. Time to get over it.

iMax · 15-01-2009 10:30PM

BD is going to drop in price greatly in the next year & anyone buying a DVD player will most probably be up-sold a BD player.

BD players can upscale your DVDs to a better quality but not 1080 i or p.

I agree with the poster above mentioning films that will really show off the format, however I have a policy of not double dipping (getting something again that I already have) on movies, primarily because I rarely watch what I have. I did make an exception the other day when I picked up Die Hard 2 because it was in zavvi. I compared the DVD (upscaled) & the BD & the BD is amazing. I've bought a bunch of movies that I'd held out on DVD - dark knight, Iron man & animations such as the pixars. I'm also going to buy the disney range that will be released as they're going to be limited to 100,000 copies in each region. I already have the complete disney range on DVD & I'll probably sell these on after.

Another advantage of BD is uncompressed sound. If you have a decent amp (not your TV speakers or an all in one kit), and good speakers then there's no comparison in sound on BD Vs DVD.

It's here to stay but the life span is greatly reduced, VHS was 20 years, DVD was 10 years, they're expecting something bigger & better in the next 5/6 years that will blow BD out of the water. Unless it's 3d full immersion holographic projection for €100 it's probably gonna be a while before people take up on it.

Download in HD would be next I suppose, but I like having the artwork & a physical product.

User45701 · 16-01-2009 10:52AM

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Yawn. You lost out with HDDVD. Time to get over it.

I won with HD DVD....

I bought my HD DVD player at cost the day they announced Toshiba was withdrawing from the format war and i picked up several HDDVD titles very cheap. Including BSG SEason 1 HD DVD, and star trek season 1 HD DVD and heroes season 1 HD DVD - not to mention a few good movies as well.

ongarite · 16-01-2009 11:10AM

DanGlee wrote: »

What I don't understand is that BD is around 50GB in storage and I'm sure a Blu-Ray movie isn't 50GB in size. So you can fit an awful lot more, but why haven't movie companies started releasing single discs of movies like Die Hard, or LOTR all on one disc? Surly its possible?

Because the big thing with Blu-Ray is the ability of the director, film studio to get the best possible quality release possible to the consumer with highest bit-rate for video and uncompressed LPCM audio or Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD.

I have the Godfather Collection on Blu-Ray and its stunning looking. Each film is on its own 50GB disc, with no extras at all so the whole 50GB is taken up with the highest video bit-rate and audio quality possible.

Basq · 16-01-2009 11:23AM

User45701 wrote: »

I won with HD DVD....

You're right, you won!

While we're on the topic - d'ya know what would great in HD-DVD? The Dark Knight..

.. why don't ya pick that up? Oh wait...

Mossy Monk · 16-01-2009 12:27PM

iMax wrote: »

Download in HD would be next I suppose, but I like having the artwork & a physical product.

That is true. It is also important to remember that HDD space, download speed and download limits come into play also so downloads wont be suitable for everyone.

User45701 · 16-01-2009 02:32PM

basquille wrote: »

You're right, you won!

While we're on the topic - d'ya know what would great in HD-DVD? The Dark Knight..

.. why don't ya pick that up? Oh wait...

i didnt actually like it that much, i might give it another shot but i won a ps3 so i have a bluray player as well and as this thread says i have picked up a bluray title. Dark night would probally not be on my to buy list though.

Some great acting at parts but the story and some of the things in the movie didnt hold my interest. Although the Joker was funny as i remember

Dont be at yourself · 16-01-2009 02:49PM

i didnt actually like it that much, i might give it another shot but i won a ps3 so i have a bluray player as well and as this thread says i have picked up a bluray title. Dark night would probally not be on my to buy list though.

Some great acting at parts but the story and some of the things in the movie didnt hold my interest. Although the Joker was funny as i remember

So while you 'won' by backing HD-DVD, you only did so because you also won a blu-ray playing PS3? Fantastic.

User45701 · 16-01-2009 03:15PM

i won the ps3 after i bought the HD DVD player at cost. HD was the right way to go so many titles that arnt out on bluray yet that where well worth getting

Basq · 16-01-2009 03:28PM

I'm sorry but no-one can convince me that HD-DVD was a "winner" in any respect.. a HD-DVD player is now as obselete as a VHS Player.

Yes, it can play HD quality but essentially what you have is outdated in terms of any releases and production of new titles. In the next few months, you won't find any more of those HD-DVD titles apart from EBay. It's utterly utterly pointless!

robby^5 · 16-01-2009 03:45PM

basquille wrote: »

Yes, it can play HD quality but essentially what you have is outdated in terms of any releases and production of new titles. In the next few months, you won't find any more of those HD-DVD titles apart from EBay. It's utterly utterly pointless!

When HD-DVD went under, you could have bought a HD-DVD player and HD-DVDs at extremely reduced prices and regardless of whether any more HD-DVD's will be made, you still own a high definition copy of that film, the format doesn't really mean much as long as you have the film and are able to play it.

I know a guy who did this and has around 30 or so films on HD-DVD and a HD-DVD player for his 360 which cost like €50. He now buys any new releases on Blu-Ray, but he saved a LOT of money buying all those films on HD-DVD at the time of its death. The only drawback? He cant loan them out to me

So it wasn't pointless for User45701 to go out and buy those HD-DVD's, it's called being a smart consumer.

Dont be at yourself · 16-01-2009 03:47PM

User45701 wrote:

HD was the right way to go so many titles that arnt out on bluray yet that where well worth getting

Yes, but what of all those titles that will be out on Blu Ray, but never on HD-DVD?

It's nonsense to suggest HD-DVD was the right way to go. It's a dead format. You're stuck with a player that will only ever play a tiny catalogue of films. Do you also have a collection of minidisc albums at home?

Basq · 16-01-2009 03:52PM

robby^5 wrote: »

When HD-DVD went under, you could have bought a HD-DVD player and HD-DVDs at extremely reduced prices and regardless of whether any more HD-DVD's will be made, you still own a high definition copy of that film, the format doesn't really mean much as long as you have the film and are able to play it.

Very good point.. but what's the point in having hardware that's obselete - regardless of picture quality? For example, VHS or Laserdisc is fine and dandy - I could go out and find a player and buying a load of cheap discs but it's gonna sit gathering dust among thriving formats like DVD and Blu-ray - same as HD-DVD - regardless of high-def.

robby^5 wrote: »

So it wasn't pointless for User45701 to go out and buy those HD-DVD's, it's called being a smart consumer.

It may be called being a smart consumer because it's so cheap for a HD format.. but it's not necessarily everyone would have thought of.

Like I said, myself included just thought of it as obselete un-necessary hardware.

delly · 16-01-2009 04:05PM

Regarding the OP's question;

Think of VHS as a 1930's bi-plane, with DVD being a 747 Jumbo Jet. Now look at Blu-ray as being like Concorde, it does all the 747 does, but does so while looking jaw droppingly awesome.

Also, Blu-ray players can play DVD's, whereas DVD players couldn't play VHS. So its a tottally different comparison really.

I'm still buying loads of bargain priced DVD's, while getting specific titles in Blu-ray as others have said above. In fact my Blu-ray collection is so small i'll name 'em all; I Am Legend, Black Hawk Down, WALL-E and Band Of Brothers.

User45701 · 16-01-2009 04:43PM

basquille wrote: »

I'm sorry but no-one can convince me that HD-DVD was a "winner" in any respect.. a HD-DVD player is now as obselete as a VHS Player.

Yes, it can play HD quality but essentially what you have is outdated in terms of any releases and production of new titles. In the next few months, you won't find any more of those HD-DVD titles apart from EBay. It's utterly utterly pointless!

ah!

i see whats going on i didnt explain myself well.

im not saying HD DVD won, Im saying that i won/did well/ made a good choice in buying a HD DVD player and several shows and movies i love.

I dont see BSG anywhere in Bluray and i dont have a skybox so how else would i be ablwe to watch the show i love in HD DVD?

BlitzKrieg · 16-01-2009 05:46PM

Think of VHS as a 1930's bi-plane, with DVD being a 747 Jumbo Jet. Now look at Blu-ray as being like Concorde, it does all the 747 does, but does so while looking jaw droppingly awesome.

That makes sense.

except for the whole Concorde being turned into scrap metal or put in museums while 747's are still actively used today in great numbers

Blu-Ray

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