Question for people with huge DVD collections

[mercanucaribe]

I never really thought about DVD resolutions, etc, until the past year, with the explosion of HD. Last night, for the first time since I started watching 720p and 1080i/p content on my 24" monitor, I watched a DVD on my friend's HDTV. I noticed all the pixelation and blurriness from upscaling. It occurred to me that a lot of people have spent boatloads of money on DVD collections that are now outdated, or will be soon when HDDVD/Blu-Ray prices drop. One of the reasons people give for buying DVDs instead of renting is that they'll have the movies to watch forever (although how many times do you watch?). Well, having 10,000 DVDs in 720x480 resolution seems to put a big damper on that.
My friends and I have watched just as many movies in the past few years, but spent about 1/5 by renting. Now we can rent them in new formats if we desire, and in 10 years, do it again with 3840x2160 64 bit color, and 20 years later on our fuzzy logic artificial intelligence quantum computing holodecks--- and we'll still have spent less than we would have if we had bought all those 720x480 DVDs.

 

[jpeyton]

It will take a decade (at least) for HD-DVD and Blu Ray to build the same catalog of titles available on DVD.

The problem is simple: HD-DVD and Blu Ray are putting the cart before the horse. Before DVD took off, the standard definition sets that populated homes across the world were capable of resolving 480 lines of resolution. When DVD launched, people could easily see the difference between VHS and DVD on their standard definition sets.

HD-DVD and Blu Ray, on the other hand, require a high definition TV to see a notable difference. While the number of HDTV owners is rising daily, it's still a small slice of the total pie. That small slice is big enough for releases of new blockbusters, but it will be years before studios will see potential for releasing other titles.

I for one, don't want to wait that long to enjoy my favorite movies and TV shows in the highest resolution available to me.

 

[dug777]

Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

 

[OREOSpeedwagon]

Nope. Honestly I don't have a problem with regular DVDs. The quality is good (though not great, like HD formats) and they don't wear out, two problems I had with VHS.

 

[Looney]

No, because with a good upconversion player (like the Toshiba HD-DVD players), it's still fantastic. The older DVDs may look like crap though (like my Superbit Dracula and Raiders of the Lost Ark... even Superbit, they're crappier than more recent DVDs).

But it's just the fact of life. Things will progress, and other things will eventually become obsolete.

 

[Rike]

No, I don't regret it. They are what they are. And I can watch them when ever I feel like it.

IMHO, buyer's remorse is for people who like to torture themselves.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

Also, I've watched plenty of DVDs of course, and they look fine when you haven't seen better. I'd rather have my $17 and the memory than a disc that I can watch 10 times and go insane in the process.

 

[RallyMaster]

Doesn't matter honestly. Don't really care for HD formats at the mo...

 

[Viper GTS]

While they certainly aren't going to have the detail of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray SD DVD's still look fine. If you're seeing excessive pixelation & blurriness you need to use a better player or calibrate your TV better.

Yes, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray look better. But DVD's can look better today than they ever have thanks to modern upscalers & displays.

That said I quit buying movies a long time ago. I've long since realized that it's ridiculous to have money tied up in discs that I so rarely watch.

Viper GTS

 

[pontifex]

technology changes. its a fact. if you regret it, then why buy anything?

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Yes, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray look better. But DVD's can look better today than they ever have thanks to modern upscalers & displays.

Some are just fantastic quality, and could pass for low quality Blu-Ray movies. The Unit DVDs comes to mind. When i first played it for others on my LCD TV, they thought it was HD.

 

[mugs]

I regret buying a lot of the movies I have, but not the TV shows. The movies I don't re-watch often enough to make them worthwhile. The TV shows I re-watch all the time. WTF, no matter how wide I made my window the quick reply is 200 pixels wider.

With most movies I don't think it's worth upgrading to HD formats. It's the content I care about, not the resolution. I'd only upgrade to HD formats with war movies, epics, etc, where the visuals are a major part of the movie.

Many TV shows were shot on videotape, not film, so it's not really possible to make them high-def.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

I have no beef with that, but personally i've found that if it's an awesome movie, it's almost certainly not the IQ that made it awesome, i've watched many fantastic movies on VHS and i don't honestly see how watching those movies in 1080p and 22.2 surround would have made them any better, other than adding a gloss...

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

I have no beef with that, but personally i've found that if it's an awesome movie, it's almost certainly not the IQ that made it awesome, i've watched many fantastic movies on VHS and i don't honestly see how watching those movies in 1080p would have made them any better, other than adding a gloss...

Have you watched 1080p movies before? On a big screen TV, not your computer monitor.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

I have no beef with that, but personally i've found that if it's an awesome movie, it's almost certainly not the IQ that made it awesome, i've watched many fantastic movies on VHS and i don't honestly see how watching those movies in 1080p would have made them any better, other than adding a gloss...

Have you watched 1080p movies before? On a big screen TV, not your computer monitor.

No. I've watched 1080i on a Sony LCD and it looked great.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

I have no beef with that, but personally i've found that if it's an awesome movie, it's almost certainly not the IQ that made it awesome, i've watched many fantastic movies on VHS and i don't honestly see how watching those movies in 1080p and 22.2 surround would have made them any better, other than adding a gloss...

Exactly :thumbsup:

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

I have no beef with that, but personally i've found that if it's an awesome movie, it's almost certainly not the IQ that made it awesome, i've watched many fantastic movies on VHS and i don't honestly see how watching those movies in 1080p would have made them any better, other than adding a gloss...

Have you watched 1080p movies before? On a big screen TV, not your computer monitor.

Certainly, both true 1080p, and 1366 or whatever they are screens, as well as my own 21" CRT @ 1600x1200, and i won't deny that they look fscking awesome. Even enjoyed 1080p with some serious surround setups.

That doesn't mean they'll make 'Casablanca' any better than the first time i watched it, on a large but normal res rear projection TV, with fat stereo sound 😉

 

[BrokenVisage]

There are some movies I just don't "need" in HD. My plan is to slowly replace the ones I actually DO watch (heh) with their HD-DVD/Bluray versions.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

I have no beef with that, but personally i've found that if it's an awesome movie, it's almost certainly not the IQ that made it awesome, i've watched many fantastic movies on VHS and i don't honestly see how watching those movies in 1080p would have made them any better, other than adding a gloss...

Have you watched 1080p movies before? On a big screen TV, not your computer monitor.

Certainly, both true 1080p, and 1366 or whatever they are screens, as well as my own 21" CRT @ 1600x1200, and i won't deny that they look fscking awesome. Even enjoyed 1080p with some serious surround setups.

That doesn't mean they'll make 'Casablanca' any better than the first time i watched it, on a large but normal res rear projection TV, with fat stereo sound 😉

Um yeah, on a black and white movie, it probably won't help much

 

[sandorski]

Regret is a waste of time. 10-15 years from now we'll all be doing it again.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

I have no beef with that, but personally i've found that if it's an awesome movie, it's almost certainly not the IQ that made it awesome, i've watched many fantastic movies on VHS and i don't honestly see how watching those movies in 1080p and 22.2 surround would have made them any better, other than adding a gloss...

Exactly :thumbsup:

Which is why I value the experience of watching those movies but not the plastic disc. You can watch the content without buying the DVD, so I don't understand the obsession with owning a piece of plastic, and then saying that it's the content you care about when it's outdated by a much much better format.

The content matters. That's why I'll always rent!

 

[MagicConch]

I mainly regret buying any DVDs when I could have just rented them and saved the money or put it towards better electronics.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: dug777
Unless you're more obsessed with IQ than is entirely healthy, most people can quite happily enjoy DVDs on even pretty big screens...

I don't know about you, but when i watch a movie i don't spend my time looking for compression artifacts, and giggling like a naughty schoolgirl when i find them 😉

That's just me, however...

IMO, for spending as much money as people spent on movies, I'd want them to be the best quality possible. 1920x1080 will be eclipsed, but I'm not sure you'd be able to tell the difference from TV watching distance anyway- so for all intents and purposes it may be considered the end-all for consumer video.

I have no beef with that, but personally i've found that if it's an awesome movie, it's almost certainly not the IQ that made it awesome, i've watched many fantastic movies on VHS and i don't honestly see how watching those movies in 1080p and 22.2 surround would have made them any better, other than adding a gloss...

Exactly :thumbsup:

Which is why I value the experience of watching those movies but not the plastic disc. You can watch the content without buying the DVD, so I don't understand the obsession with owning a piece of plastic, and then saying that it's the content you care about when it's outdated by a much much better format.

The content matters. That's why I'll always rent!

You buy the disc if you'll rewatch it frequently enough to justify it.

You don't seem to understand that many people don't enjoy something more just because it's high definition.

 

[alkemyst]

not enough titles today to warrant worrying about it if you have built your collection over the past.

It makes sense to get the HD title now if you are shopping for a particular movie that is made in it and you have the player (the HD-A1 or A2 is amazingly cheap right now ~300 and you get 5 HD DVD picks (limited) with it).

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Which is why I value the experience of watching those movies but not the plastic disc. You can watch the content without buying the DVD, so I don't understand the obsession with owning a piece of plastic, and then saying that it's the content you care about when it's outdated by a much much better format.

The content matters. That's why I'll always rent!

Renting is great until the movie you love is no longer carried because you're the only one that loves that movie. If the only movies you like are whatever pop schlock Hollywood instructs you to watch, then you won't have a problem. Those will always have a million copies available. Personally, I like to make sure movies I enjoy will always be available to me.