Movies coming slowly

[wallendo]

Originally Posted by trey

I understand this argument to an extent, but I don't really like it, cause that was a transition from tape to a disc (read can play previous VHS catalog, but you can still watch DVD catalog). This is disc to a better disc, it should adopt much faster!

I think this transition will be SLOWER for several reasons:

1) The move from VHS to DVD was not a quality issue alone. Most early DVD adopters were watching DVD's on SD CRT TV's with composite connections. The "experts" at the time pointed out that the quality differences between VHS and DVD would only be apparent on larget TV's. In fact, even now, VHS video looks very good on a 12" or smaller screen.

2) DVD added random access. You no longer needed to rewind the tapes, you could jump directly to a scene (or skip over a boring scene)

3) DVD brought extras to the forefront (on VHS, extras would typically be added to the end of the movie)

4) DVD added Dolby Digital and DTS true surround sound.

5) DVD also brought widescreen to the forefront. There had been widescreen video on VHS, but DVD became poplular among many movie lovers because most DVD's preserved the OAR.

Blu-rays differences are more subtle:
1) Higher quality video, but not a lot of difference with smaller screens.
2) Pop-up menus. This is neat but doesn't add a lot of functionality
3) Blu-ray will, with Profile 2, support web access (but this wasn't enough to save HD-DVD)
4) Uncompressed audio - probably only of benefit to owners of high end audio equipment
5) Blu-ray is designed for wide-screen TV's (but the "full screen" vs. OAR argument is back).

The transition from DVD to Blu-ray is going to be slow, and may never be complete (especially as long as blu-ray players remain backward-compatible.)

It is therefore important for the studios to release films judiciously, with optimal image quality, in order to maintain blu-rays "high quality" perception.