Same Movie, Different format

[Crewman47]

Not really sure of the best place to put this but I think this will be okay as it covers all TV and film media.

Anyway if I get this right, up to now media formats have been available in VHS, Laser disk, DVD, the short lived (?) HD DVD and now Blu Ray and over the years we've bought movies and TV shows on at least VHS and DVD, double dipping so to speak or simply discarding the old and replacing with the new.

Now with the introduction of Blu-ray we're again having to (if you chose to do so) yet again replace old formats and with the new so I was wondering how many times others here have actually bought Movies and TV series the first time round on VHS and then again on DVD then onto HD DVD or Blu Ray. I was also wondering how much do you think we'll continue this trend of continually replacing new for old as I expect that in years to come I'd assume that there will eventually be a format where you can get lots of movies on one disk (depending on the format available) or even an entire TV series on one disk?

Any thoughts?

[Hermiod]

The difference this time around is that VHS tapes wouldn't play in a Laser Disc player and Laser Discs wouldn't play in a DVD player. DVDs on the other hand, will play in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players. You don't have to replace anything and there is very little benefit in doing so for a lot of movies.

With a few exceptions, I am generally not replacing anything I already own with Blu-Ray discs.

[Warp Coil]

Hermiod wrote:

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The difference this time around is that VHS tapes wouldn't play in a Laser Disc player and Laser Discs wouldn't play in a DVD player. DVDs on the other hand, will play in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players. You don't have to replace anything and there is very little benefit in doing so for a lot of movies.

With a few exceptions, I am generally not replacing anything I already own with Blu-Ray discs.

Quite true. I think plain 'ole standard-definition DVDs are in for the long haul. BluRay is nice and pretty, but I think the general public is pretty happy with DVD and they're cheaper than BluRay. I suspect that, over time, people will start buying new movies on BluRay but so long as they can play their DVDs on a BluRay player, there's no need to upgrade.

I didn't own too many movies on VHS (a lot of stuff I taped off of TV). Upgrading to DVD wasn't too difficult since I didn't have many titles to re-buy. And I won't replace any of my DVD copies with BluRay. Hell, I don't even own a BluRay player and I'm not in any hurry to get one.

[Starbreaker]

I think the only time I'll actually replace a DVD I already own is when they release the Blu-Ray discs of The Lord of the Rings. I actually expect the trilogy to be on single discs and have an even more outstanding picture quality (if possible ) I would probably do the same for Star Wars. There's no way I'm going to get a Blu-Ray of some drama with no special effects though. I really just don't see the point in an upgrade like that.

[Trekker4747]

I've a Blue-Ray player in my PS3 but have not yet bought a single Blue-Ray movie. I see no need. I still continue to "support" DVD.

[Harvey]

I've tremendously slowed my buying of movies on DVD in anticipation of Blu-Ray taking over, but I don't have a Blu-Ray player yet. I'm still waiting for the format to work itself out into something standardized and affordable. Add to that buying into HD-DVD (which I don't lose much sleep over, since my HD-DVD player is the best DVD player I've ever owned, besides the slow start up times), and my motivation is low.

I mostly buy TV series on DVD now, a good number of which will have to go through significant changes and remastering in order to be fit for HD anyway.

[Starbreaker]

Trekker4747 wrote:

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I've a Blue-Ray player in my PS3 but have not yet bought a single Blue-Ray movie. I see no need. I still continue to "support" DVD.

When my friend with a PS3 spent a month with me during the summer we rented Blu-Ray movies from Netflix. No extra charge and they were well worth it.

[Hermiod]

I buy most things new on Blu-Ray if I can find a decent deal. I started a thread a while ago about Blu-Ray prices being a bit too high right now. £17.99 for Aliens vs Predator 2 is a bit steep.

[Harvey]

$5.00 for Alien vs Predator 2 is a bit to steep.

[Hermiod]

Hirogen Alpha wrote:

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$5.00 for Alien vs Predator 2 is a bit to steep.

Well exactly. And the collector part of my brain won't let me rent it so I'll wait for it to be shown on Sky Movies.

[Aragorn]

I upgraded Batman Begins, Crimson Tide, The Rock, etc. to Blu-Ray, and am waiting for Interview with the Vampire, L.A. Confidential, etc. Stuff like Hitch and Rumor Has It, on the other hand, are not really crying to be upgraded.

[Daedalus12]

Hirogen Alpha wrote:

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I've tremendously slowed my buying of movies on DVD in anticipation of Blu-Ray taking over, but I don't have a Blu-Ray player yet. I'm still waiting for the format to work itself out into something standardized..

Ugh that has been worked out for awhile now.


As for replacing old movies that I already own on DVDs. Yes I'll do that for every release that has significant improved picture quality.

[Smiley]

The only movies I will definitely buy on any format are Star Wars movies. Any other upgrades are subject to the same questions I ask myself for DVD double dips.

[Harvey]

Daedalus12 wrote:

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Ugh that has been worked out for awhile now.


As for replacing old movies that I already own on DVDs. Yes I'll do that for every release that has significant improved picture quality.

(1) Then what's this babble I hear about Blu-Ray 2.0 all about (I'm not trying to destroy the format, I just honestly am undereducated about it)

(2) Picture quality won't get me onboard for a new DVD unless it was a SIGNIFICANT improvement (i.e. an upgrade from letterbox SD to anamorphic HD); I'd rather see more special features.

[Daedalus12]

Hirogen Alpha wrote:

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(1) Then what's this babble I hear about Blu-Ray 2.0 all about (I'm not trying to destroy the format, I just honestly am undereducated about it)

This babble was amplified and used in the format war. It was never a big deal from a home theater experience POV. All Blu-ray movies will playback just fine on any player whether its profile is 1.0,1.1 or 2.0. Now the war is long over it should be shoved into the garbage can where it belongs. If you are that concerned with the profile issue you can always ask to buy a 2.0 or BD-live player. Currently there are only two of those for sale: the PS3 and the Panasonic DMP-BD50. A few more 2.0 players are coming to the market this fall. Though the cheapest players you can find now are the 1.0 and 1.1 players. BTW the only difference between 2.0 and 1.1 is the interactive features through internet connectivity. A lot of people don't really care for this feature. This is a reason why a certain CE company is considering to offer the different profiles as different levels of players i.e. the OS analogy would be Vista home vs Vista Premium.