What are your thoughts on DVD/Blu-Ray?

[toef]

Originally Posted by brettallica

So if you take the absolute best pixel count of VHS (Super VHS has 158400) and compare it with the same in DVD (345600 pixels), DVD has about twice the number of pixels as VHS. Factor in Blu-ray's pixel count (2073600) and compare it to DVD, Blu-ray has six times the pixels!!! That's a huge difference, and it's why gigantic TVs can play movies now at super-clarity. This will never happen when using a DVD, even on the best upscaling players. DVDs simply can't compete when it comes to the picture. The same can be said of audio, but I'll leave that to someone else.

The flip side of the VHS to DVD to Blu-ray argument is that VHS tapes degrade, so the chances are pretty great that when you first watched a DVD after being used to VHS, you were watching a worn-out VHS on a VCR with dirty heads, while comparing that to a DVD that relies on a laser and is digital. The difference will be "more apparent" in that situation, but in reality you're not comparing apples to apples. A clean/new VHS tape and the best VCR can match-up quite well with DVD, if the equipment is right.

Then you have the computer side of things. Currently, Blu-ray discs are commonly found in 50GB capacity — commonly. The max capacity at this point for DVDs is 17GB if I'm not mistaken. So right off the bat, you've got a capacity difference of three times in favor of Blu. In the coming years, you're going to see wallet-friendly 10-layer Blu-ray discs that have 250GB storage. This is going to do wonders for backing-up data; I mean you could quite possibly back up an entire system with only a few discs. Try that with a DVD; it won't happen.

Granted, this will take some time, as many people do not have TVs that truly show the greatness of the Blu format, among other factors. At this point, DVD players can be had for under $100, and they boast "near-HD" quality picture. This is very confusing to customers. The customers think "oh, well it's pretty much HD, so I don't need to buy a Blu-ray player." Then time goes on, and these people think "I just bought a DVD player, so I don't need to buy another player." It's kind of a vicious cycle. Then you've got the fact that since Blu-ray is the new, hot format, DVDs can be purchased for pennies, much like was the case during the VHS-to-DVD transition. But when you think about what I mentioned above in that many VHS/DVD comparisons weren't fairly set up, you're going to see people who still buy DVDs. I have a friend who actually has a huge HDTV, who just bought an upscaling DVD player, and is hell-bent on buying tons of DVDs now because "they're just so cheap, and they're good enough for [me]." Then why in the heck did you buy an HDTV if standard definition was "good enough"? It just doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, the cost of Blu-ray players will come down (they already are — I saw one at Radio Shack for $139 the other day), and when they do you're going to see more people making the switch. Combine that with the fact that computers will *eventually* come standard with Blu-ray drives, and the format will be forced on us...which if you ask me is for the better.

After reading the beginning of your post, I was going to play the devil's advocate and just argue the other side of everything you said, but then I saw you pretty much showed both sides. I think the biggest things holding BDs back are the price, and the perceived value.

There's nothing wrong with the resolution math up there, but you get to a point where you wonder when/if it matters anymore. If I upgrade from a bicycle to a dirt bike, I go from about 15mph to 60mph or something. But if I upgrade from a dirt bike to a McLaren, I go from 60mph to 250mph. Technically a huge jump, but it doesn't mean I'll ever get to take advantage of driving 250mph on a sidewalk.

So until people have TVs that REALLY benefit from HD, as in anything 46" up, I don't really see a sudden urge to upgrade. I'm not saying you don't notice it on smaller screens, I just think it's not as noticeable, especially if you sit 8 feet away, and/or don't have the greatest vision.

DVD brought a lot of user-friendly upgrades over VHS, which is why I think it killed VHS quicker.

BD seems to bring more tech-ier upgrades, that AV nerds wet their pants about, or some amateur movie watchers, like me, pretend they really understand. But it doesn't offer much for more normal people than "wow, it does look a little better".

The greatest thing about DVD was the idea of never having to rewind movies anymore. Kids being born today will grow up without ever knowing what "Be Kind, Rewind" refers to. I still remember getting my first DVD, and being amazed at how I could skip around to my favorite parts of the movie (well, it was Pee-wee's Big Adventure, so the whole thing was my favorite part), and then when I was done watching it, just put it back in the case, and it was ready to go for next time.

Even though people on this site will throw a fit about it, I think for most people DVD is "good enough", and they see no reason to pay $30 for a BD if they can get the "good enough" DVD for $5-10.

I used to careless buy DVDs because they were so cheap. If there was a good movie I hadn't seen, I'd just go buy it if it was on sale, since it was just as cheap as renting it. For a while during college I think I was buying a new DVD or two every week. I looked forward to Sunday mornings to check what movies were in the $5 bins at Best Buy and Circuit City.

Now with BD I'm much more selective, and of the ~32 BDs I own, there are only 7 or so that I hadn't seen until I got them on BD. Of those 7, I got 4 as part of a free special offer (the four Die Hard movies), and 3 were gifts (Casino, Chronicles of Narnia: LWWd, and Baraka).