Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[seabterry]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse75

Buy less. Rent more. Skip one purchase and that's 20 trips to the red box.

That is only 20 trips if the Blu-ray in question is $30.

[BuckNaked2k]

Originally Posted by jbat31

I think when I said limited income, you guys assumed I was poor, just meant my movie budget is smaller compared to some of you

We all have limited incomes to one extent or another. $200K per year just doesn't go as far as it used to.

[chip75]

I still buy clothes that don't fit me, why would you stop buying Blu-rays? The next format will have expiration dates on them but our BDs are still good...

Just get what you can and enjoy them.

[mdonovan]

This is definitely NOT a dumb question ... I a just about caught up on my Blu conversion from DVD ... My next medium will be streaming from the cloud once you can stream 4K

For the record I ONLY buy blu on sale. With few exceptions like JAWS and SPR.

[prozacnation1978]

Yeah right. Death of bluray when DVD are alive and kicking

[Petra_Kalbrain]

I believe that I just witnessed the quintessential "most awesome" thread merger in my long tenure here at Blu-ray.com!

Whoever the MOD is who is responsible for this, I salute you Oh Captain My Captain!

[RedIsNotBlue]

Originally Posted by starman15317

I have a limited income too so I know what it's like, but I wouldn't give up on Blu-Ray. It could be the last physical format for movies.

Yeah it probably will be the last disc format at the very least. But that's not to say it is gonna die anytime soon it will be around for a good while.

[GamerBoy14]

Originally Posted by GaragePoet

hey, it's the internet. what else did you expect?

Fixed.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse75

Take a hard look at your collection.

What do you rewatch and what don't you? You should be able to know your own tastes by now. DVD is when I really discovered myself in movies. I was buying just to explore stuff I hadn't seen. Going through what was considered classic, favorite director's and actor's filmographies.

Now I'm pretty refined. I know what to rent and what demands a purchase.

Buy less. Rent more. Skip one purchase and that's 20 trips to the red box.

I did the same with my DVD collection, and I have been considerably more discriminating with my Blu-ray purchases.

I don't even visit the Redbox booth as often. Most of the movies that are released these days are ones that I dismiss altogether.

[Arkadin]

maybe someone should make a thread entitled "When will Redbox be a Deadbox?"

[Movie Nut]

Originally Posted by Konrad

I think that Blu-ray did take off well enough but that, regrettably, DVD is not dying fast enough. This is unfortunate...

This reasoning still boggles my mind. Why would you want DVD to die? Are you worried Blu-ray production will be discontinued? I'm not. If you do a search on Amazon right now there are roughly 39,000 Blu-rays available for purchase versus 694,000 DVDs. That's approximately an 18:1 ratio of more DVD titles available than Blu-ray. Do you really want 655,000 available movies to just disappear? Really??? I don't.

The simple fact is there are thousands of DVDs available that will NEVER get released on Blu-ray. Now if you are only interested in the latest blockbuster movies that always get a Blu-ray release maybe you don't care. But there are those of us who truly love movies that also enjoy documentaries, foreign films, cult classics, independent films, and thousands of other titles that wont ever see a Blu-ray release. I still want to be able to watch/collect these movies as well. And don't even get me started on streaming to a small computer screen. I wont do it, not when I have a 53" HDTV upstairs with a very nice 5.1 surround sound system attached to it.

Originally Posted by Konrad

As long as DVD is still around there is always the risk that movies that do not attract mass audiences are relegated to the inferior format with no chance of being released anytime soon on Blu.

I would much rather have these movies relegated to your so called "inferior format" than not be available at all. Look do you guys love MOVIES or do you only love Blu-ray? Think about it.

Originally Posted by Konrad

I do not go to brick and mortar stores too often but it always surprises me how people are still walking out with tons of DVDs. It is beyond me.

Finally we agree on something. Given the choice between DVD & Blu-ray for new purchases when a movie is available in both formats I will always choose Blu-ray. I'm sure we would all prefer the better picture and sound quality.

However, to this day I still frequent pawn shops and purchase DVDs of classic, cult, even Criterion titles for $1 - $1.50 each. You know how many of these I can get for the price of a single new Blu-ray on it's release day? That's right...a lot.

Just offering one man's opinion and something for you to think about.

Peace...(and keep watching great movies)

[Tok]

Blu is doing fine. Didn't you see even Microsoft is not dumb enough to ignore it on their next console?

Movie Nut I understand your view point but in reality how many of those DVDs are really available let alone worth watching.

I bet a high number of those DVD titles are not even pressed DVDs but DVD-Rs that are burned on an 'as needed basis.'

It's ironic that people have to have HDTV but then they are too stupid to feed it a true HD source.

[Canada]

A lot of people think DVD's good enough.

[baghdadlion]

Originally Posted by Tok

Blu is doing fine. Didn't you see even Microsoft is not dumb enough to ignore it on their next console?

Movie Nut I understand your view point but in reality how many of those DVDs are really available let alone worth watching.

I bet a high number of those DVD titles are not even pressed DVDs but DVD-Rs that are burned on an 'as needed basis.'

It's ironic that people have to have HDTV but then they are too stupid to feed it a true HD source.

Many films are available only on DVD e.g. foreign films, independent films, documentaries.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Movie Nut

This reasoning still boggles my mind. Why would you want DVD to die? Are you worried Blu-ray production will be discontinued? I'm not. If you do a search on Amazon right now there are roughly 39,000 Blu-rays available for purchase versus 694,000 DVDs. That's approximately an 18:1 ratio of more DVD titles available than Blu-ray. Do you really want 655,000 available movies to just disappear? Really??? I don't.

The simple fact is there are thousands of DVDs available that will NEVER get released on Blu-ray. Now if you are only interested in the latest blockbuster movies that always get a Blu-ray release maybe you don't care. But there are those of us who truly love movies that also enjoy documentaries, foreign films, cult classics, independent films, and thousands of other titles that wont ever see a Blu-ray release. I still want to be able to watch/collect these movies as well. And don't even get me started on streaming to a small computer screen. I wont do it, not when I have a 53" HDTV upstairs with a very nice 5.1 surround sound system attached to it.



I would much rather have these movies relegated to your so called "inferior format" than not be available at all. Look do you guys love MOVIES or do you only love Blu-ray? Think about it.



Finally we agree on something. Given the choice between DVD & Blu-ray for new purchases when a movie is available in both formats I will always choose Blu-ray. I'm sure we would all prefer the better picture and sound quality.

However, to this day I still frequent pawn shops and purchase DVDs of classic, cult, even Criterion titles for $1 - $1.50 each. You know how many of these I can get for the price of a single new Blu-ray on it's release day? That's right...a lot.

Just offering one man's opinion and something for you to think about.

Peace...(and keep watching great movies)

The collecting side of things is vital. This will be the last generation for collecting films as younger gen don't seem bothered with large screen tv etc.. Disposable smartphone entertainment is slowly replacing big screen film experiences for that age group. This is tragic and is the end really for serious film fans. This could happen in ten years or slightly longer if these people don't buy a tv when they settle down and get married. The tv market will shrink and struggle and we may not have the option of even buying a tv in the future.
I have had this debate many times and have been criticised for my views. Some seem to think streaming and downloading represents more options and a new golden age for movies. It doesn't. It is actually its death knell in my opinion. Now, some may think that we can all adapt to smartphones and still enjoy movies on a phone. Indeed, some story driven movies may work ok on a four inch screen, but the vast majority of films simply won't be involving enough. After all, some people squint at ten inch screens on tablets. Even more worrying, the industry seems to be pushing for smartphones as our main computers which would rule out powerful tablets and laptop/convertibles for our movie tv watching. (As a last resort, movies are just about watchable on a laptop). At the moment, we have netflix, amazon, iTunes etc.. All these companies, in my opinion are probably planning for smartphone only futures.
We will need tv for our consoles for the next gen but after that, I am worried that big tv will eventually be obsolete. Lets not forget, smartwatches are on the way, so even if we get used to 4-5 inch screens in future, the goalposts will be moved again with 2.5 inch screens (if that) . So there you have it. Investing in streaming now condemns movie lovers to a future of living rooms with married couples watching different shows on their smartphones whilst damaging their eyes by squinting at the screen. No more getting engrossed in cinematography in movies, we will have disposable junk in its place. Oh, and smartwatches on the go, so we can enjoy gladiator or jaws on a screen the size of a pencil sharpener. Yipeeeeeeeeeee, as a certain movie character would say.

[Jack9909090]

When they went VHS to DVD the difference was huge. Dvd were smaller. They didn't degrade over time like VHS. And the picture quality was good. Frankly the only Blu-Ray player i have is my PS3 and about 10 Blu-Ray of over a 150+ Movie collection. And usually i don't bother buying Blu-Ray unless they come with the DVD. I have more DVD players in my house then Blu ray players. I'll make an exception for movies with great scenery (aka Last of the Mohicans). Sure the picture is somewhat better. But most of my upconverted DVD looks good enough on my 32" 1080p LCD TV. And Really i would be a HUGE Pain in the Ass to replace every single one of my DVDs. Frankly I'm not interested in going up another higher resolution TV (aka 4k or 8k) and buying Ultra-Blu-Rays and buying another Upconverter DVD/Blu-Ray Player. Hell lot of Movies haven't even been on Blu-Ray Yet. Hell there still a good amount of old movies that have never made it to DVD. I really don't care if Blu-Ray ever over takes DVD. I think there is room for both.

[time_shift]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

The general public can make you want to bang your head against the wall sometimes.

My mom and step-dad, whom I love very much, drive me nuts sometimes with this stuff... both with zooming and (what I can't wrap my mind around) watching things window boxed!

Here's what I mean. They have AT&T Uverse for their TV service. They have their main, big HDTV in their finished basement. The main Uverse box, which is HD, is located there. They also have a PS3 for watching Blu-Rays and DVDs on (and for my much younger sister to play games on).

In several other rooms of the house (including my mom and step-dad's bedroom, my sister's bedroom, and the main floor living room) they have additional Uverse boxes for their other TVs. These additional boxes are only standard def, which isn't the issue in and of itself (the TVs there are smaller and they didn't want to pay the extra fees for more HD... so that I understand).

Originally they had an old standard CRT TV in the living room which they weren't in a hurry to replace until is started having problems. Then to replace it they got a relatively small HDTV since they just wanted to have something to watch and something that would fit in their existing entertainment center (which was designed to fit older CRT TVs).... all of which I can understand since they already have a main viewing area downstairs.

But here's what drives me nuts...

Originally their Uverse box that is hooked up to that main floor smaller HDTV had it's settings adjusted for an older 4:3 TV (similar to how a DVD player has menu settings to adjust the aspect ratio and type of signal for the type of TV being used).

Of note is that even though these standard def boxes only ultimately deliver a standard def picture, they still allow the option to watch the HD versions of that stations since the programming was still more properly formatted for an HDTV (sort of similar to the difference between an anamorphic and non-anamorphic DVD), the end resolution just isn't technically any better. The stations are set up so that the standard def version of NBC for example is Channel 5, and the HD version is channel 1005.

So when watching a standard def channel, everything was stretched out. When watching a hi-def channel, things were stretched out and cut off at the sides.



At one point they all went on vacation and my wife and I stayed at their house to watch their dogs while they were out of town. So while I was there, I fixed the settings so that the box was properly formatted for the HDTV. This resulted, for example, in any shows that are formatted 4:3 for the SD broadcast to have black bars going up and down the sides instead of being stretched out to fill the screen (in some cases these same shows have a 16:9 format for the HD broadcast).

After they got back my step-dad sat down to watch TV, put on the SD broadcast of some news show, and noticed the black bars and asked what happened. He wasn't super angry or anything, but just a little put off by it. I explained that their box wasn't formatted right, and I showed him the HD channel broadcast which was in 16:9 and filled the whole screen without stretching everything out. I explained that this is how it's supposed to be set up, but if he didn't like it I can change it back. He said just to leave it but clearly wasn't 'thrilled' about it and indicated that he was fine with how he was used to it.


Then a couple of weeks ago or so I was over there. The box was still set up correctly from when my wife and I stayed there several months back, but I noticed my mom was watching one of the standard def channels. The particular show that she was watching was formatted in 16:9, but because she was watching the SD channel broadcast of it on a widescreen HDTV, it was like watching a non-anamorphic DVD and the whole picture was window-boxed (black bars on all four sides). I asked her why she doesn't put on the hi-def version of the channel, and she said, "but this box isn't HD", and I replied, "I know, but you would still get a better picture that properly fills the screen." And she said something like, "Oh, this is fine the way it is."

:FACEPALM!!!!: One minute they don't like black bars being there, then they are watching something with unnecessary black bars that shouldn't and don't need to be there.

There's also been several occasions where I've had to fix the settings on the PS3 in their basement because they must have held the power button down too long when trying to turn it on or off and they accidentally reset the resolution settings and it's putting out an SD 4:3 signal that is stretched out (and when it defaults to the HD signal and asks if they would like to keep these settings, they choose "no" because they are scared that they are agreeing to change settings that they shouldn't change despite me repeatedly explaining that they should click "yes" when that happens).

The irony of this is that they initially got the HDTV and PS3 for Blu-Ray in the basement because my mom was impressed with how Blu-Ray looked when she saw it set up in a store (to which my step dad agreed) and more often than not if they buy movies they pick the DVD version because it's "cheaper" (which in some cases is true, but I've tried to explain to my step dad how to check for sales, which he doesn't, then get's put off when he walks into a store and sees a Blu-Ray for $30).

But if I get them movies as gifts, I'll almost always get them the Blu-Ray versions if there is a Blu-Ray version so that they have some HD content. Amongst other gifts, this past Christmas I got my mom the Santa Clause trilogy on Blu-Ray because she's a fan of the series (mainly the first one, but the trilogy set was only about $30) and she had never upgraded her VHS tape of the first movie. I got my step-dad the Amazing Spider-Man on Blu-Ray (and I think another movie that I can't recall offhand) for Christmas both on Blu-Ray. And actually even though his b-day is in February, I actually bought his gift for his last b-day back around the black Friday sales when the box set of all of the Rocky movies was on sale for something like $20.

Well, that's always going to be a problem until standard definition is phased out.

With that being said, composite being phased out in electronics (e.g. PS4, X1, BD players, Roku, etc.). is a step in the right direction. At the very least, it will force people to use the right connection.

Also, with the advent of 4K ultra HD, it should help speed up the process of phasing out SD channels.

Granted, none of that will probably solve the problem of people using the size/zoom button, or networks stretching content (e.g. Fresh Prince on TBS).

Oh, and at least on Dish Network, there is a option to filter out any SD channels that have HD counterparts.

[time_shift]

By the way, I do not get this sentiment some have in this thread of wanting to see DVD format die.

One of the reasons DVD is still around is that has aged relatively well, especially in comparison to how VHS aged. In particular, a unconverted DVD can still look really good. Obviously not as good as BD, but good nonetheless.

[beadelf]

Originally Posted by time_shift

By the way, I do not get this sentiment some have in this thread of wanting to see DVD format die.

One of the reasons DVD is still around is that has aged relatively well, especially in comparison to how VHS aged. In particular, a unconverted DVD can still look really good. Obviously not as good as BD, but good nonetheless.

Death to DVD

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Jack9909090

When they went VHS to DVD the difference was huge. Dvd were smaller. They didn't degrade over time like VHS. And the picture quality was good. Frankly the only Blu-Ray player i have is my PS3 and about 10 Blu-Ray of over a 150+ Movie collection. And usually i don't bother buying Blu-Ray unless they come with the DVD. I have more DVD players in my house then Blu ray players. I'll make an exception for movies with great scenery (aka Last of the Mohicans). Sure the picture is somewhat better. But most of my upconverted DVD looks good enough on my 32" 1080p LCD TV. And Really i would be a HUGE Pain in the Ass to replace every single one of my DVDs. Frankly I'm not interested in going up another higher resolution TV (aka 4k or 8k) and buying Ultra-Blu-Rays and buying another Upconverter DVD/Blu-Ray Player. Hell lot of Movies haven't even been on Blu-Ray Yet. Hell there still a good amount of old movies that have never made it to DVD. I really don't care if Blu-Ray ever over takes DVD. I think there is room for both.

Not trying to be a jerk... but the 32-in TV is why DVD is good enough for you.
At that screen size and if you are viewing from typical distances you won't see a difference.

I have been watching screens in my home that range in size from 46 inches to 100 inches. My first projector setup was a 576p Matterhorn-based DLP unit on a 92-in screen. DVD was fine initially. Then I started buying BDs and upgraded to 1080p projector with a 100-in screen. I was primarily watching HD feeds (cable broadcast and BD from the PS3) for the first few months of ownership. Then I put a DVD in one day and I couldn't watch it. After getting accustomed to quality 1080p for several months, DVD/SD shortcomings were very apparent. DVD was never meant to be blown up to 100 inches.

In retrospect, 1080p is very close digital cinema 2K and I am very happy with BD at the current screen size. Now I might sing a different tune similar to yours regarding 4K with my 100-in screen. BD is more than adequate for the job. I strongly feel 4K should be left to the commercial cinemas where the screens are measured in feet, not inches.