Will Hi-Def transfers evolve like DVD has?

[ironrefault]

In other words, the early years of DVD (97-00) had a lot of shoddy transfers, but as the format progressed, the level of transfers became better across the board for major releases.

I'm always irked at people who say movies in HD is slightly better than upconverted DVDs. Maybe if you watch a DVD from 06-07, but the jump in quality is immediately evident compared to older DVDs.

Is is it technically possible for transfers on blu-ray to evolve, and become "better" as the format matures? Is it just a question of restoration for catalog?

[HDJK]

Since we have people confirming that a properly encoded BD is indistinguishable to a side by side 2k (or even 4k) projection (it was reported by some people attending a FOX demo), I think what we will be seing are more efficient codecs, meaning compression artifacts on difficult scenes (Planet Earth comes to mind) will be gone and there will be more space available for additional content and maybe even 3D. But the picture per se will probaly not get any better until we move to 2160P.

[NutsAboutPS3]

I think we have already seen a leap in quality of HD releases. To some extent it depends how much effort the studio is willing to go to with older titles. As the HD market becomes bigger, it will be worth spending more money. Blade Runner is a good example of what can be achieved with a big budget restoration. For new releases, it's hard to see how things can get much better than the best new Disney and Fox releases.

[WickyWoo]

I think Warner has room for improvement on their HD DVD limited compressions. I don't think most of the Disney/Fox lineup will, and probably not Sony either

[JJ]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

I think Warner has room for improvement on their HD DVD limited compressions. I don't think most of the Disney/Fox lineup will, and probably not Sony either

I fully agree on that one, as well - Warner is limited by 20 GB. Well, that's a fact we all already know anyway.

[Whytewash]

I know that we had superbit dvd back in the day and those looked great. I think that in time, we will see better picture quality overall. Not a whole lot better (as superbit was MERELY better than standard dvd) but I see it happening... Like a SuperBLUbit! haha

[monkyman]

I believe it is evolving while we speak, which is the reason for firmware upgrades. I believe Java still has a long way to go to reach it's potental, unlike HDi, which I think has reached it's peak.

[m6bigdog]

The electronics industry has yet to remain stagnant with any technology that is introduced. In the last 40 years I have lived through film, slide projectors, records, real to real tape, cassette tape, Elcette tape (sp), CD, MD, Laser Disc, VHS/Beta, SVHS, etc,

As the equipment design engineers have more time with the standard they develop optimized circuits and equipment that exploits the capability and minimize the limitations.
Video and audio compression coding and decoding schemes are an example, i.e. HD Lossless audio.

Chip design and manufacturing also give the product engineers better suite of circuit components to not only design better systems but the cost of the equipment drops.

The first DVD players were $1K remember? I paid $3.5k for the first 35" tube TV (in 1980 $'s). The SVHS recorder was $1.5k (in 1980 $'s).

Also with any consumer AV product there is the fidelity issue (your point of DVD quality) that can be optimized (better AV Digital Signal Processing recording and playback schemes) and hence the PQ and SQ gets better as the product develops while the cost decreases.

Actually, I don't think it will be that many years before the next generation of consumer AV equipment is introduced.

The technology for a Super HD format (kinda like SVHS) is already in the works, i.e, deep color and 2160p.

The cycle time on technology developments has been getting shorter.

I anticipate it will also be a backward compatible technology implementation, i.e. CD/DVD/HD vs the end of an era such as the vinyl record, audio tape, VHS tape, Laser Disc.

The best is yet to come.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by m6bigdog

...
Actually, I don't think it will be that many years before the next generation of consumer AV equipment is introduced.

...
The cycle time on technology developments has been getting shorter.

...
The best is yet to come.

So we do agree on something after all
But that wasn't the question of the OP

[bageleaterkkjji]

Originally Posted by ironrefault

In other words, the early years of DVD (97-00) had a lot of shoddy transfers, but as the format progressed, the level of transfers became better across the board for major releases.

I'm always irked at people who say movies in HD is slightly better than upconverted DVDs. Maybe if you watch a DVD from 06-07, but the jump in quality is immediately evident compared to older DVDs.

Is is it technically possible for transfers on blu-ray to evolve, and become "better" as the format matures? Is it just a question of restoration for catalog?

they also had 10 years worth of better cameras

[ironrefault]

Great replies, guys. Thanks.