Is Trek only gonna be on HD-DVD?

[Spookshow]

I kinda want to get a Blu Ray player since Starz (formerly Anchor Bay) only releases their films on Blu Ray. They pretty much release all the good horror films and I'm a big horror fan.

I would like to get Trek in the next format as well, but having two different players would be costly, and I'd have to unhook one to play the other.

 

[23skidoo]

Paramount is supporting the HD-DVD format so no they won't be releasing it to Blu-Ray.

Your best bet -- and the path I intend to take -- is to look for a hybrid player that plays both formats. They're supposed to be out there though I've yet to see one. I also hear rumor that there may be some major releases coming up being released on hybrid discs (BR one side, HD-DVD the other) but I've yet to see such a thing.

Your quandry is exactly what is keeping people like me from investing in the new formats. I refuse to put myself into a position of having to buy 2 players so that I can buy the movies I want to see. I'll download the damn things first (and that's saying a lot as I'm an opponent of downloading in lieu of purchasing actual items that will remain viewable in 5 years).

Cheers

Alex

 

[Peak]

Or, you could watch the DVD-side on your Blu-Ray-player.

Don't know if there's much Trek coming out on HD DVD in the near future, though. Season 1 of the remastered TOS bombed pretty good. Too expensive, is my guess. (I bought it, though. I'm a sad, sad person).

 

[23skidoo]

Peak said:
Or, you could watch the DVD-side on your Blu-Ray-player.

Don't know if there's much Trek coming out on HD DVD in the near future, though. Season 1 of the remastered TOS bombed pretty good. Too expensive, is my guess. (I bought it, though. I'm a sad, sad person).

The sad part about this is that the price being so high it really made TOS-R's HD release unsuitable for measuring a) public acceptance of the remastering and b) public acceptance of HD-DVD as a format.

And it doesn't matter whether you're on the BR side, the HD-DVD side, or what, I think it's generally accepted that despite the hype from the manufacturers, the two formats are hardly setting the world on fire. I was at a Best Buy and saw a full rack of BR and HD-DVDs next to nearly empty racks of the DVD versions of the same films and heard a guy saying something about they couldn't pay people to buy the HD versions.

Whether that's due to uncertainty over which format to buy, or the possibly that the public is starting to say "ENOUGH!" to the introduction of yet another entertainment replacement format (or rather, 2) only a few years after the phasing out of VHS ... I really can't say. For me, I am happy that both new formats are backwards compatible -- that's a positive thing -- but to be honest I watched the Blu-Ray version of Day After Tomorrow on my brother's $5,000 widescreen HD set the other day and he kept telling me how better it looked. And to be honest it didn't look any different than my standard DVD viewed on my 24-inch set... hype hype hype hype ...

Cheers!

Alex

 

[trevanian]

I'm wondering if all of these HD sets are miscalibrated or something. At a lot of stores I walk into, the sharpness is turned up so much that everybody and everything vibrate like a dr katz cartoon. Plus I've seen several where when the scene cuts, there is a moment where huge pixel like shapes are visible before the scene settles back down. I've seen that kind of image defect on bad cable systems, but why would it be happening with much-vaunted HD?

I think it may be quite awhile before I fork out for HD.

 

[Kegek]

The only way I can see Star Trek on Blu-ray is if Blu-ray wins the format war. But unless that happens and Paramount concedes defeat, it's on HD-DVD.

 

[Noname Given]

trevanian said:
I'm wondering if all of these HD sets are miscalibrated or something. At a lot of stores I walk into, the sharpness is turned up so much that everybody and everything vibrate like a dr katz cartoon. Plus I've seen several where when the scene cuts, there is a moment where huge pixel like shapes are visible before the scene settles back down. I've seen that kind of image defect on bad cable systems, but why would it be happening with much-vaunted HD?

I think it may be quite awhile before I fork out for HD.

The problem is - A lot of stores DO NOT tune the set to an HD source (and there wasn't a lot of HD channels availabl until the last month or two on either cable or sattelite). So, many times, what you're seeing is a standard definition signal (480i) being displayed on the large HD screen; and it looks like crap.

Hell, after buying my 73" Mitsubushi DLP; I can't watch standard def content - and until the middle of November DirectTV only had 23 HD channels - locals included, (not counting the PPV sports or 'special sports' channels); but now; it's up to 65 or so (they say 85 - but that's by counting some of the East and West Feeds as 2 seperate channels - but hell Showtime East and Showtime West are the SAME cannel IMO - who cares about a 3 hoiur timeshift when you have a DVR?)

But honestly, a lot of the problem is that the stores (and don't ask me why) don't bother to display the TV using an actual HD source signal.

 

[Outpost4]

Peak said:
Season 1 of the remastered TOS bombed pretty good.

Evidence? I haven't seen anything to this effect. In fact, I know deepdiscount at least sold out their first order in a matter of days.

 

[Gojirob]

It kinda throws me, format aside, to see TOS-R S1 alone for the same price as the DVD version of all 3 bundled. Maybe they are trying to recoup the expense of -R, which is their own damn fault.

Get rid of the strings? Absolutely. Replace the most obvious models with CGI scaled dupes? You betcha. Maybe tweak the most overused background mattes? Sounds good. New 1701 approach/orbit shots? Understandable. Replace the hand-drawn phaser fire? It just so happens that that, along with weapons fire never striking the monsters in Godzilla films (at least til 2000) was one of my pet peeves. I'll even throw in shading out Shatner's stunt-doubles (Remember Janet DuBois's punching out a guy in 'I'm Gonna Get You Sucka'? That and the Spaceballs one tie with me for best stunt double humor).

But guys, you went too far and now you want some of your money back. One way to save money is by not laying it out when you don't need to.

 

[AviTrek]

Noname Given said:

trevanian said:
I'm wondering if all of these HD sets are miscalibrated or something. At a lot of stores I walk into, the sharpness is turned up so much that everybody and everything vibrate like a dr katz cartoon. Plus I've seen several where when the scene cuts, there is a moment where huge pixel like shapes are visible before the scene settles back down. I've seen that kind of image defect on bad cable systems, but why would it be happening with much-vaunted HD?

I think it may be quite awhile before I fork out for HD.

The problem is - A lot of stores DO NOT tune the set to an HD source (and there wasn't a lot of HD channels availabl until the last month or two on either cable or sattelite). So, many times, what you're seeing is a standard definition signal (480i) being displayed on the large HD screen; and it looks like crap.

Hell, after buying my 73" Mitsubushi DLP; I can't watch standard def content - and until the middle of November DirectTV only had 23 HD channels - locals included, (not counting the PPV sports or 'special sports' channels); but now; it's up to 65 or so (they say 85 - but that's by counting some of the East and West Feeds as 2 seperate channels - but hell Showtime East and Showtime West are the SAME cannel IMO - who cares about a 3 hoiur timeshift when you have a DVR?)

But honestly, a lot of the problem is that the stores (and don't ask me why) don't bother to display the TV using an actual HD source signal.

Agreed. I've looked at HDTVs at circuit city and I couldn't believe that they were being fed a DVD. At least Sony required that they're TVs have a Blu-Ray source. I then went to a small camera store and was able to change the channel to whatever HD the local cable company was transmitting, a much better experience(and they matched circuit city's price too).

 

[ChristopherPike]

Peak said: Don't know if there's much Trek coming out on HD DVD in the near future, though. Season 1 of the remastered TOS bombed pretty good. Too expensive, is my guess. (I bought it, though. I'm a sad, sad person).

I've been sent 3 sets so far and had to return each one. The packaging is total and utter crap. Every single one was broken, scratched or with a mutilated inner section. CBS have a serious problem with their quality control. I never received a less than perfect boxset under Paramount, even at a third this price. In the end I chose to be refunded. I'll hold onto my cash until they get their act together. I usually don't feel the need to complain but these HD/DVD combos are a real headache. Not very well thought out at all.

 

[Saxman1]

Peak said:
Or, you could watch the DVD-side on your Blu-Ray-player.

Don't know if there's much Trek coming out on HD DVD in the near future, though. Season 1 of the remastered TOS bombed pretty good. Too expensive, is my guess. (I bought it, though. I'm a sad, sad person).

Mortgage defaults are at record levels and people don't have the $ to start over once again format-wise, especially for something so ridiculously overpriced. ENOUGH says the public! About damned time!

I have seen a few eps of TOS-R on an HD set at my mom's. The dated elements (hammy acting, music) are still in place and everything looks REALLY dark. Not impressed enough to dump my Holy Chicklet TOS DVDs.

 

[Matt]

23skidoo said:
Paramount is supporting the HD-DVD format so no they won't be releasing it to Blu-Ray.

That's a stupid thing to say. Paramount also supported the DivX disc format in the late 90s. We all know what happened to them.

BluRay is winning the war. There will eventually be two formats. BluRay and downloads (which includes streaming media.)

 

[Outpost4]

Matt said:

23skidoo said:
Paramount is supporting the HD-DVD format so no they won't be releasing it to Blu-Ray.

That's a stupid thing to say. Paramount also supported the DivX disc format in the late 90s. We all know what happened to them.

BluRay is winning the war. There will eventually be two formats. BluRay and downloads (which includes streaming media.)

Since when is a statement of fact - that Paramount has signed an exclusive with HD-DVD - a stupid thing to say?

The OP asked if Star Trek was coming out only on HD-DVD. The answer is yes, for the foreseeable future (isn't the exclusivity contract 18 months? I'd read that somewhere).

Matt, you may not like that. You may not agree. You may think Paramount is stupid. But you know what? It's still a statement of fact. How is that a stupid thing to say?

 

[Matt]

Because he said it WON'T be on BluRay.

This all happened before with DivX vs. DVD.

Research BluRay. It has clear dominance. That is NOT an opinion. I don't even intend on buying a player for either format any time soon. I'm just stating facts.

Paramount will make the move to BluRay soon enough.

 

[22 Stars]

The Paramount HD DVD deal isn't eternal, I think it lasts 18 months or something. After that all bets are off, and Paramount/CBS Home Entertainment can put anything it wants on BluRay or any other format it wants.

 

[Outpost4]

^ Now there is a statement of fact.

Matt, you may be right. Who knows? I have certainly been on the losing end of a lot of format wars. Fuck, I still buy vinyl (both the new Foo Fighters and the Alison Krause/Robert Plant records sound excellent). Any time you want to come over and watch a Beta tape or a LaserDisc, Matt, I'm your guy.

And BTW, I have researched this. This is my industry and has been for 30 years. My opinion is that it is way too early to tell who will win. In the past, I was quicker to make a win/lose call. I thought for sure Betamax would win. Ever since then, I've lost the cocky attitude you display. The market has a way of kicking a guy in the balls.

 

[Brolan]

I think both formats will co-exist for the next few years. Unlike the VHS/Betamax war both formats can be played on a dual format player. Plus there is no pressing reason to upgrade from DVD since the HD formats are not the huge leap in quality tape to DVD was. Most people are still quite happy watching their DVDs regardless if they have an HD TV or not.

 

[igrokbok]

It's all about who will break the magic under $75 pricepoint first. IF they are hell bent on breaking into the mainstream, whoever ultimately lands a place on the CHEAP shelf, in both HD hardware AND movies, at Walmarts will be the winner of the war. For either to propser beyond the home theater enthusiasts, HD, both in delivery and presentation, has to come down from being equipment of the elitist home theater enthusiast and become the chosen format of the every day Joe. With the current contentment of the public with DVD's, that may never happen and HD discs may stick around only as the preferred format for the home theater hobbysists. Hell, laserdiscs survived for over 20 years and most of the public never heard of it.

Analog broadcasting, here in the states, will be extinct by 2009, Flat panel TV's are dropping dramatically in price, and we've already seen HD players for $99 during holiday sales. We're getting there...but whether or not a winning HD DVD format will ever come to pass is hard to say.

 

[ACE]

Actually, I find the Blu-ray Disc high definition format to be significantly sharper than standard DVDs. The difference is staggering when viewed on a 14-foot screen. I have over 70 titles in my collection now and the picture quality is amazing.

I would love to have the original Star Trek on Blu-ray. Perhaps when Paramount's 18-month payoff exclusive is up, they may then offer the series on this format. Possibly even allowing viewing of either the untouched 1960's version or the "remastered" version via seamless branching. With Blu-ray having 20GB more data space per disc, that should be easily achievable.

I hate the idea of combo discs. I would never buy something for twice the price that I would only use half of.