Are HD-DVDs Worth Anything (Collectible)?

[JamesG.]

I know that some collect defunct formats for collectible purposes, and I was wondering if HD-DVDs are (or will be) anything of value?

Do people collect this short-lived format?

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=156636

Some Blu-rays are actually inferior to their HD DVD counterparts.

[Hello ChoCho]

I agree, I have many HD DVD's & some look way better. I always wondered if HD DVD failed because the big studios wanted it to fail. Blue Ray combo packs come with an extra dvd while HD DVD had it on the same disc.

[Tok]

HD DVD failed because it was inferior. Sure some discs looked better but some of that was due to the studios cheaping out for BD25 on titles. Also Universal's backlot fire may have destroyed some of the newer transfers that were used for HD DVD.

IMHO, it's not worth keeping a HD DVD player for the handful of titles that might have been better.

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by Tok

HD DVD failed because it was inferior. Sure some discs looked better but some of that was due to the studios cheaping out for BD25 on titles. Also Universal's backlot fire may have destroyed some of the newer transfers that were used for HD DVD.

IMHO, it's not worth keeping a HD DVD player for the handful of titles that might have been better.

There are BD 50s with inferior video, audio, or Bonus Features.

[Canada]

HD-DVD failed due to the fact that more studios supported Blu ray, Blu ray has more capacity and therefore it had better audio than a lot of it's HD-DVD counterparts.

[MasterChief3624]

Originally Posted by Canada

HD-DVD failed due to the fact that more studios supported Blu ray, Blu ray has more capacity and therefore it had better audio than a lot of it's HD-DVD counterparts.

As far as I know, lossless 7.1 audio was a mainstay in most HD DVDs, and the audio was among the biggest reasons for HD DVD being superior to Blu-ray at the time.

Unless you meant video?

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by MasterChief3624

[Show spoiler]

As far as I know, lossless 7.1 audio was a mainstay in most HD DVDs, and the audio was among the biggest reasons for HD DVD being superior to Blu-ray at the time.

Unless you meant video?

Well, HD DVD was almost 100% complete at launch. I think the major problem was HD DVD players not being able to bitstream lossless audio, but that was fixed with a firmware update.

Meanwhile, at launch, Blu-ray had to go through various "profiles" before it had the same capabilities as HD DVD. For example, the earliest players couldn't decode lossless audio or handle PiP video commentaries. BD Live came later as well, whereas all first-gen HD DVD players could hook up to the Internet.

With regards to lossless vs. advanced lossy codecs (such as Dolby Digital Plus), the merits are a bit tricky to debate. Many audio engineers feel that the average person can't hear the difference between lossy and lossless, even with awesome equipment. This is due to either a lack of technical training (people simply don't understand what they should be listening to when comparing lossless and lossy) or physical capacity (most people simply have too narrow of a hearing range to hear certain frequencies anyway). There will always be people jumping on their couches about how great lossless audio is, but usually, they're just people who have their subwoofers turned up too loud.

[MasterChief3624]

Originally Posted by blu-ray_girl_fan

Well, HD DVD was almost 100% complete at launch. I think the major problem was HD DVD players not being able to bitstream lossless audio, but that was fixed with a firmware update.

Meanwhile, at launch, Blu-ray had to go through various "profiles" before it had the same capabilities as HD DVD. For example, the earliest players couldn't decode lossless audio or handle PiP video commentaries. BD Live came later as well, whereas all first-gen HD DVD players could hook up to the Internet.

With regards to lossless vs. advanced lossy codecs (such as Dolby Digital Plus), the merits are a bit tricky to debate. Many audio engineers feel that the average person can't hear the difference between lossy and lossless, even with awesome equipment. This is due to either a lack of technical training (people simply don't understand what they should be listening to when comparing lossless and lossy) or physical capacity (most people simply have too narrow of a hearing range to hear certain frequencies anyway). There will always be people jumping on their couches about how great lossless audio is, but usually, they're just people who have their subwoofers turned up too loud.

Yes, it's been so long I actually forgot about that! HD DVDs used to be the only ones capable of Picture-in-Picture, and I think they were also the only ones capable of connecting online for certain features (that I could be wrong on, though).

Thanks for reminding me of that!

Edit: Totally too tired to realize I basically just repeated what you said, verbatim. Sorry! :P

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by MasterChief3624

Yes, it's been so long I actually forgot about that! HD DVDs used to be the only ones capable of Picture-in-Picture, and I think they were also the only ones capable of connecting online for certain features (that I could be wrong on, though).

Thanks for reminding me of that!

Edit: Totally too tired to realize I basically just repeated what you said, verbatim. Sorry! :P

You should be studying for your German class.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by JamesG.

I know that some collect defunct formats for collectible purposes, and I was wondering if HD-DVDs are (or will be) anything of value?

Do people collect this short-lived format?

Are Betamax or VHS tapes "worth anything of value?"

I'm guessing that there will be some people who will pay big money at some point. However, the market will be infintessimally small and randomly timed if you wish to make money from it.

[Last Starfighter]

Originally Posted by JamesG.

I know that some collect defunct formats for collectible purposes, and I was wondering if HD-DVDs are (or will be) anything of value?

Do people collect this short-lived format?

To be honest...i don't think collecting HD-DVDs will ever be big...i won't speak for all movie collectors, but if a certain film was really special to me, i would always want to own it in it's very best format...chances are that's going to be on Blu. Reason why old video games are worth $ is because that's the best that that one game will ever be....that Castlevania 4 for the SNES won't be showing up anywhere else, that's it! SNES ONLY! Where as the Last Starfighter (pardon the plug) i own on Vhs, LD, Dvd x 2, and Bluray....but i would not pay exorbitant $ to buy the hd-dvd cause i already got the Blu. (yah...sue me, i quad dipped that movie )

Personally, all tech reasons aside, i think the Blu really hit its stride when more and more homes owned a PS3. People didn't need to run and shell out another $300 for a BD player. I still respect Toshiba though for trying something new

[Last Starfighter]

Originally Posted by petra_kalbrain

are betamax or vhs tapes "worth anything of value?"

exactamondo!

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by JamesG.

I know that some collect defunct formats for collectible purposes, and I was wondering if HD-DVDs are (or will be) anything of value?

Do people collect this short-lived format?

HD-DVDs are practically worthless. I've got rid of most of my HD-DVD collection a couple of months ago, except the titles that are not available on blu-ray yet. Our local used media stores will not even accept them because, they are not in great demand for movie collectors, and will never sell.

[Far Out]

Originally Posted by Tok

HD DVD failed because it was inferior.

Incorrect.

[Far Out]

Originally Posted by Canada

HD-DVD failed due to the fact that more studios supported Blu ray

Correct. There was a pivotal gathering where a bunch of studios flipped/committed at once which tipped the battle.

It was a bit surprising, since HD-DVD was humming along and had fewer proprietary and technical glitches.

Originally Posted by Canada

Blu ray has more capacity and therefore it had better audio than a lot of it's HD-DVD counterparts.

I'm not sure that's accurate.

[GenPion]

There are only a couple of really special HD DVD's I have left. The two big ones are the releases of Lady in the Water (only lossless audio edition available) and The Thing (the transfer has no DNR).

I also consider a few other releases better, such as the Ocean Trilogy. The red box is better packaging wise as it goes with the poker-chip image better and it has slightly better audio, but nothing close to HD.

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by Far Out

I'm not sure that's accurate.

HD DVD had less storage capacity than Blu-ray. 25 GB and 30 GB discs. Blu-ray has 25 GB and 50 GB discs. So it does have a higher capacity for high quality, which is part of the reason it won the format war in the end (as more studios may have backed it in part for this reason).

HD DVD also lacked extra coating to protect from scratches. This is another major difference between the formats.

[blu-ray_girl_fan]

Originally Posted by GenPion

There are only a couple of really special HD DVD's I have left. The two big ones are the releases of Lady in the Water (only lossless audio edition available) and The Thing (the transfer has no DNR).

I also consider a few other releases better, such as the Ocean Trilogy. The red box is better packaging wise as it goes with the poker-chip image better and it has slightly better audio, but nothing close to HD.

Warner still hasn't added the PiP video commentaries for movies like Blood Diamond and Poseidon. Troy is missing the PiP video commentary, too, though it's a different cut of the movie.

Universal needs to re-do movies like Jarhead, U-571, and The Thing so that the featurettes are available outside of the U-Control presentation. Plus, Notting Hill needs to be fixed.

[RyanPom]

I always love it when some desperate Star Wars fan tells me his VHS Star Wars tapes are worth big bucks. Uh, no.