Blu-Ray just not "catching on"
- Thread starter PKerr
- Start date
I find it especially hilarious when people who spend a couple grand on their set up, and rant extensively on how much better HD is than SD, and how DVDs look like crap go and stretch their 4:3s out to look like crap.
I don't know why people keep saying stretched 4:3 looks like crap. You get used to it after awhile. And many of us do that for a reason - to prevent burn-in.
It looks like crap because the image has been distorted to fill larger than original dimensions. While I understand that you're worried about burn in, I find it hard to believe it doesn't look awful (I've seen it on my parents' TV and it looks awful), and, also, I was under the impression that burn in is not a big issue on newer television sets.
Honestly, I can hardly tell. And I have good eyesight. Even in the most crude method of stretching the image, the people only look *slightly* more squat. And most stretching isn't like that anyway; current TVs usually use a more adaptive method that only stretches the image at the edges.
If by 'newer' you mean 'LCD', then yeah. But plasmas, which AFAIK are still sold, are susceptible to burn-in.
Some TVs avoid the necessity of stretching by substituting *gray* sidebars for black ones. The only time this doesn't work is when you're watching a 4:3 program on a High Definition channel - in that case, the black sidebars are a permanent part of the image, and the only way to avoid them is by stretching. An example of this would be TOS-Remastered.
I am not reading 13 pages of back and forth so I don't know if this was addressed but claiming that Blu-Ray is the next generation format is like saying Laser Disc is the next generation format. It's extremely premature to make this claim and even though there are a lot of fanboy Blu-Ray fans willing to find any and every bit of proof to back up their purchase, it doesn't change the fact Blu-Ray can still end up as another dead-end in the format wars.
I also find it ludicrous to claim that downloadable or online movie viewing/purchasing is the future. While it will certainly play a role in the future of movie collecting, it's not going to replace the physical copy that most people prefer. What happens if your harddrive crashes or has to be formatted? Oops, there go all those movies you paid for. Do you think the studios are just going to let you download them again for free? Do they let you replace physical copies for free when they are damaged or destroyed?
Not to mention the already posted fact that ISP's are already trying to restrict downloading as it is, legal or otherwise. If you think they'll just relent and let people start downloading 4-8gig movies whenever they please, you're going to be in for a rude surprise come down the line. It's already a battle to keep them from restricting downloads as it is without factoring in the legal download of huge movie files.
I also find it ludicrous to claim that downloadable or online movie viewing/purchasing is the future. While it will certainly play a role in the future of movie collecting, it's not going to replace the physical copy that most people prefer. What happens if your harddrive crashes or has to be formatted? Oops, there go all those movies you paid for. Do you think the studios are just going to let you download them again for free? Do they let you replace physical copies for free when they are damaged or destroyed?
Not to mention the already posted fact that ISP's are already trying to restrict downloading as it is, legal or otherwise. If you think they'll just relent and let people start downloading 4-8gig movies whenever they please, you're going to be in for a rude surprise come down the line. It's already a battle to keep them from restricting downloads as it is without factoring in the legal download of huge movie files.
Look on the shelves. You see any *other* next generation format? No? Blu-Ray is it, right now. It might not be in the future, true, but you or I might win the lottery in the future - doesn't mean you should start hoping for *that*.
It *can*, yes. But until it actually does, what's the point in griping about it? Just makes us all look like Luddites.
Also, Laser Disc players were/are not backward-compatible with the previous format.
You previously owned DVDs play just fine (and can look better) on a Blu-Ray player.
Actually, yes. That's how it would work. Every online delivery system works along that principle. You make an account, buy something, and you're allow to download it as many times as you like as long as you're logged into that account. You would also have to be logged into that account to watch the movie to prevent you from downloading it for your friends.
I also doubt it will be so simple as letting you redownload a movie. Worse, they'll probably limit you to three downloads or some other limited number. They are so paranoid about pirating that you'll be given more restrictions for a digital copy than for a physical one. Digital downloads are of limited use, you can't take them to a friend's house or watch them on a "non-approved" computer or entertainment center and there are a lot of other limitations still unaddressed besides those.
Anyhow, my original point was claiming Blu-Ray is the future are not guaranteed and far from secure even if it is the current next generation format. As others have stated there are already more advanced formats in testing and can be out in only a few years, well before Blu-Ray has the chance to catch on mainstream like DVD has.
Anyhow, my original point was claiming Blu-Ray is the future are not guaranteed and far from secure even if it is the current next generation format. As others have stated there are already more advanced formats in testing and can be out in only a few years, well before Blu-Ray has the chance to catch on mainstream like DVD has.
Good Will Riker
Admiral
Question:
Can region 3 DVD discs play on current (or future) region 1 Blu-ray disc players?
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Can be? Until those formats *are* out, they are irrelevant.
Just as Blu-Ray so far has been barely relevant. It's made an impact but a small one and by now we were told to expect a huge crater of an impact, what we've got instead is a small dent. If Blu-Ray can pull itself up to be the next format then we'll see it happen within a few years but I still find it a long ways from being a success at this stage.
At least Blu-Ray is a real product that is being sold on the shelves at this minute. That means more than any pie-in-the-sky replacement that may or may not ever see the light of day.
If you want to buy blue-ray that's fine. But for me the movie or tv show alway's end the same way. So what does it matter if the picture is better or the sound is way superior. Unless your going blind or deaf. (it doesn't change the outcome of the movie.)I'm not going to waste my money not yet anyway.
By that logic, we should still be making little flippy books with stick men. Shit, I should just go back to an old 14" B&W tube
BTW, i would have posted a much fancier animation up top, but we have board rules that limit the amount of bandwidth I can eat up..... so what was everyone saying about digital HD downloads making a huge surge in the next few years? This one's 86kb... Try streaming 20 gigabytes.
Yes, if you have a player such as the LG Super Blu BH200 that is multiregion. It also plays HD-DVDs as well as Blu-ray discs.