2006 DVD Releases Thread

[ruiner]

Ughh, I loathe the thought of replacing my obsolete DVD's with Blu-Ray....

[Matt]

Will BluRay be packaged like DVDs? I sure hope so... I don't want a bunch of midget cases mixed in with my DVD's.

Slightly smaller than the existing cases.

[Matt]

Some more:



And, to be fair, HD-DVD:



Check out the following link for more, as well as pics of some of the various hardware that will be available for both formats:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ces2006/gallery01.html

[JesseVader08]

OK, I've heard of HD-DVD, but clearly I have some reading to do about BluRay.  I hate being out of touch with technology. 

[ruiner]

That makes two of us.

Here's a quick synopsis:

http://www.hddvd.org/hddvd/difformatsblueray.php

Sounds like Blu-Ray has the most potential.

[Rob]

I'm definitely not looking forward to this.

[Brian]

Me neither.  We've really started buying DVDs more frequently the past couple of years, including a number of TV on DVD sets, and I'd hate to think about having to replace everything again.  We're nowhere near the collections of many people on here, but I think we're around 100 DVDs now, and I couldn't afford to re-buy all of these things on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.  Like Jesse mentioned, I hate being out of date or out of it period with new technology, but I really don't know a whole lot about Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.  What are the differences between the DVD releases now, aside from clarity, etc.?

[Rob]

I'm up around 650 now and quite frankly, I don't plan on replacing them.  DVD's look freaking great.  I'm sure once I've had a taste of Blue Ray that will be it (that sounded dirty...) and I'll want the better stuff but I certainly don't plan on dropping fifteen or twenty thousand dollars to upgrade what's already a pretty freaking good looking digital format. 

Is the difference in quality that big?  Certainly it's not as big as the jump from VHS to DVD.

Any word on prices for your 'average' Blue Ray disc when they first come out?  I've been guessing at least $30 but really have no idea.

[Jeff]

I don't plan on replacing them. 

This is my thought too.

Sure, there will be a few titles that I will drop the cash on upgrading with Blu-Ray/HD-DVD (like, say a Prequel SE Trilogy set or UBER-hexology SW box set), but as long as the newer players can still play the older DVDs, they are fine with me.

I mean, I love new technology and everything, but the current DVD quality of "Legally Blonde" or "Sweet Home Alabama" is enough for me - no need to go re-buying a higher res/quality disc for every DVD in the house... 

[Brian]

That's kind of what I was thinking as well....maybe buying newer versions of our absolute favorites (Star Wars, Indy Jones, etc.), but not the whole shebang.  I'm pretty satisfied with the quality of our DVDs as well, particularly the newer releases, so hopefully we can do without.  But, as mentioned, once I see some of the new technology in person, the difference will probably seem more significant.

[Matt]

I believe, differences in clarity aside, that the new formats will have significantly larger storage capabilites than that of existing DVD.  One Blu-Ray or HD-DVD disc will be able to hold several times the amount of data that a current DVD can. 

Where this will be nice is in the TV-on-DVD area.  Instead of having 24 episodes of say, The Simpsons, spread out over four discs, now you'll have them all on one or two discs.  Not only is that more user-friendly, but it's also better for storage, as they won't take up nearly as much room as the current sets.  And storage space is really becoming a problem for a lot of us--at least, I know it is for me. 

So that's one aspect of the new format(s) that I'm really looking forward to.

[JesseVader08]

If the difference between DVD and HD-DVD is as obvious as the difference between Dolby and DTS, then I think I'll be making a number of replacements.  However, like has been said, it'll likely only be my favourites (like Legally Blonde  ).

And storage space is really becoming a problem for a lot of us--at least, I know it is for me.

Good point.  We've got around 100 DVDs or so, which doesn't take up a huge amount of room, but certainly those TV box sets are the most obvious offenders.

[SilverZ]

Being that there's somewhat of a format war (though 90% of folks are behind BD as the winner, and rightly so) I can actually imagine prices on discs being competitive with DVD to get people buying. But there’s no real word on pricing yet.

From my own experience with HD movies off of satellite and cable that I’ve stored on DVHS (and slowly being archived back to hard disk) I've noticed that it's very hard to go back to DVD. It's not a night and day thing like from VHS to DVD, or even LD to DVD, but the differences in color reproduction and detail are undeniable. Once you’re used to a certain image, and are presented with something that doesn’t fit with those expectations, it becomes a major distraction. In the next few years, as 1080p displays become more widespread, the gap will continue to grow, and the HD disc formats are going to become important for the sets.

When BD hits, it will also support hi resolution lossless audio formats. That will be a huge advance over lossy Dolby Digital and DTS. It’s good enough that it will actually force a revolution in audio quality coming from the studios and supported in the theater. Home devices will actually be able to support playback at quality levels mixers aren’t even working at for masters. Pretty cool.

Aside from audio and video, there is the storage capacity element and what will surely be a crapload more interactive garbage thrown into the mix. It not something I’ve ever liked much so I’ll continue to ignore, but it will be there.

I’m going to probably be a lot more selective in my purchases this time around. I repurchased just about everything I owned on LD with DVDs. But I don’t see a need to do the same again for a lot of the catalog titles I own. If I glance at my collection, there are literally dozens of discs I haven’t opened, including such pure uselessness as Spy Kids, The Smokers, Ruthless People, Solaris, and on and on. It will be new releases and titles I actually value this time around, instead of every single movie I ever expressed a remote interest in seeing at some point in time.

[JesseVader08]

Now that you mention the 1080p TV's, I've been meaning to hit an electronics store to see what they really look like.  Isn't there just one or two companies that are producing these so far?  I'm assuming it would be useless to have an HD-DVD player without also having a 1080p TV to truly show off that quality video.

[SilverZ]

Most of the 1080p sets out there don't accept a 1080p signal, but instead upconvert 1080i. There was a lot of good rear projection and flatscreen stuff at CES. Give it 3-6 months and there should be a fair amount of choices.

The best thing on the market as far as rear projecti0n in 1080p right now is a Sony SXRD model, imo.