The price for Blu-Ray discs looks to match those of early DVD releases. I remember paying about $30 a disc for new, single disc titles, early on in the DVD life. So I am pleasantly surprised to see these won't likely cost $40+ a disc. This was a nice suprise though. I had always refused to buy UMD movies. The price for a single movie is just too outrageous. But if they come with the DVD for just a tad more than regular retail price, I might be more inclined to pick that up. That's a nice idea. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060208/tc_nm/bluray_dc
Unless Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are Mindblowing above and beyond what I get with Progreassive scan DVD and 1080i on HDTV they can keep it
I'll be holding off until the software producers get the hang of the format before I start picking up discs, but i'm already sold on BR and i'm not buying anymore films on DVD. Still buying TV shows thougth, stuff shot or mastered on tape is never going to look much better then it already does on DVD and I don't have much thats done entirely on film.
New formats of media disc. Think of them like DVD 2.0; both have more space, and therefore can store more materials, as well as a higher res video. The difference between the two is capacity, and production. BluRay requires all new plants, whereas HD-DVDs can be made from pre-existing DVD plants.
Yup, they'll require new players. It's going to be an ugly format war. I, personally, will just wait it out, see what happens.
I'm doing the same. I don't want to spend a ton of cash on what could be the next Beta-Max tape deck.
I will wait for the price of new format DVD player to go down before getting into it. I am pulling for Blu Ray since I plan to get PS3 which uses the same format being that its from Sony. I hope the new DVD will reduce the number of DVDs you have to buy for a TV show series and allow for just one disc to hold both movie and special features. Saves time switching the discs.
I may fork out a little extra green to get some UMD/DVD combos if it is a movie i love, otherwise i will still pass on them.
Though I like the prospects of Blu-Ray and all, I think it's too soon after the craze of DVD catching on to be introducing a new media format. I mean, how many people own dozens upon dozens of DVDs, box sets, etc on DVD, only to have a better format introduced so relatively quickly? I'm not surprised, though, this reminds me of the old Beta vs VHS wars , if very many here can remember that. There for about 2 or 3 years Beta and VHS were widely available right next to each other on store shelves, and all of a sudden Beta vanished completely. So much so and so quickly, it's not uncommon to see people who have never even heard of it. I just hope DVD doesn't do the same thing. I hope it turns out to be like a cassette tape and CDs; you can still get cassettes, even though a better format (CD) has been out for years and years now.
Since I'm getting a PS3 anyway I'll be going with Blu-Ray. Personally I'm more interested in the UMD/DVD bundles since I don't have half of those movies on either format yet.
I'll be waiting it out with you. It'd be my fear to invest money in a new player, and some discs and have the other format kick my format's ass.
...and that people is the most likely result for the next round in the format wars. The PS2 helped make the DVD player a standard household item, history is likely to repeat itself. So long as Sony actually release the blasted thing that is.
I won't even consider spending more money on a new device and format until TV prices come down more and Blue-Ray has shown me that it can last. As it stands, I think it would be kind of stupid to spend all that money when my TV won't make it look much better. They're moving too fast with all this new stuff. Figure out how to make Blue-ray has cheap as DVDs and I'll start to get really interested. As it is, I usually spend $15 max on DVDs, either by buying the movie right when it comes out usually on a new release sale or wait until a year passes and the price drops again so I'm not interested in re-buying the 60+ DVDs I already own for more than I originally paid for them.
Fuck all that. I still have a shitload of stuff on VHS that I haven't gotten on DVD yet. Hell, there's still a nagging 1% or so of music that I still only have on LP/tape and not on CD yet. I'm not spending a dime on a new video format until one comes out on top and one joins Beta in the dustbin. Personally, I think it's too soon for any next generation home video. DVD only supplanted VHS about 5 years ago; brisk DVD sales of recent years mostly attributable to people replacing VHS, just like they did with CDs>LPs ~15 years ago. Asking consumers to do so again already is asking too much, for either format, no matter how good they might be. What if it's not VHS v. Beta 2? What if they both wind up being like Laserdisc? Too soon for most people to replace all their '80s VHS (not to mention, smack in the middle of upgrading their LPs to CD), appealing only to techjunkies and not the general public and rendered little more than collectibles when DVD came along and the general public was willing to upgrade.
Oh noes, how dare the evil electronics companies release better formats when the masses have only just caught onto one thats almost 10 years old. Aside from the format war, which will probably end in a co-existence stalemate if HD-DVD can use its headstart and lower cost to carve out a market between DVD and BR, there is not real issue here. DVD is going to stay as the mainstream format for the far forseeable future, its too heavily entrenched among the masses not to and the studios would be blowing thier entire leg off by ceasing support for it. Nobody is forcing you to upgrade and there really is no need to unless you actually give a shit about what you are watching and are prepared to pay a premium to get it at the best quality possible. It doesent even matter if the afforemention masses don't buy into any of it, theres more then enougth market among movie fiends and home thearte enthusiasts to support premium high-quality formats. Laserdisc ruled that market for over 15 years with next to no mainstream interest.
My turn to ask a question: what is a "UMD"? I've heard that term before, but it was in passing so I don't remember.
I have a bunch of VHS tapes that I really like that I haven't bought on DVD yet, but I don't ever watch the VHS tapes because I can't stand the poor quality. But I don't see anything wrong with DVDs. If the resolution gets too sharp people will start looking ugly when you see their skin so clearly. Universal Media Disc. It's the format of discs that the PSP plays.
I don't think consumers are ready for Blu Ray. In ten years time? Sure, maybe, but to start a collection AGAIN on another format because it's "better"? GTFO.