Ten reasons you NEED to be an early adopter of a high-def movie format
By Matt Burns 
posted Jun 14th 2006 3:54PM
posted Jun 14th 2006 3:54PM
Modern Home Theater has a Top Ten list up on why you should be an early adopter of ether Blu-ray or HD DVD. A few deal with the obvious picture quality increase but they do have great points on studio support and the industry in general. Sure, it is a good chunk of change to drop down ether $500 bucks for a HD DVD player or $999 for a Blu-ray player, but you just might have to take one for the team buddy. If someone doesn't buy these things but rather take the "sit back and wait role," then how are the prices going to drop and why would the studios release their libraries?
Interesting read.
[via digg]
My opinion is ?#$% the studios and the manufacturers. If they lose money because they were too narrow minded and greedy to make a smart decision, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. The studios should have forced a single format in the first place. Now everyone has to muddle through years of competing formats and partial library releases on different formats. I love HD and gadgets as much as the next guy but I'm not going to spend a dime until something big happens.
The electronic and studio industries brought this upon themselves and I'm sure as hell not going to give them my $$ in hopes that one format wins over the other. Sure, I'd like that kick-ass picture asap - but I'd also like to keep my cash and not flush it down on a system that will be useless in the next 2 years. If the companies _really_ wanted to make serious cash, they should have settled on one standard, cheap prices, and a serious launch with tons of titles and value added features.
Big into HDTV - had it for 4 years. Have two HD Tivos too. Love DVDs and movies. But...picture quality is not why I moved to DVD. Ease of use and content (alternate commentaries, no rewinding, long lasting) were my DVD motivators. HD and BR only offer a better picture. Big f-ing deal. I watch movies for story and dialogue, not pretty pictures. Yes a nicely shot film can be cool but in the end it means nothing if the story is worthless.
My feeling is that HD-DVD makes more sense on the video side, and Blu-Ray on the PC/computer side. There is more reason to have the greater physical capacity on the PC side, than on the video side. The 30GB DL HD-DVD discs are quite sufficient for movie titles, especially if they use mpeg4, h.264, VC-1 etc. And it costs less to manufacturer the HD-DVD media.
I am very tempted to by the Toshiba or RCA HD-DVD player, especially now that the bugs are fixed. What stops me is the fact that i already invested in a high end upscaling DVD player, and that hybrid players that play both standards could hit the shelves inside of a year.
I still say that both formats will coexist in the market and hybrid players will make it seemless to the consumer, much like DVD-R vs. DVD+R. So long as it works, no one will care which format the movie is, myself included.
Man what a bunch of negative nabobs. You go ahead and put pieces of your life on hold until you reach utopia. I'll continue to enjoy my movies and live my life to the fullest and not sweat the small stuff.
Jim...nice post as always. Bring on the HD!!
You've got to be kidding. Why should anyone invest in this new hardware until the "format war" is settled? Much as I love HD I'm not going to throw away my money until this is settled. It's not like the current DVD SD picture is terrible. It's pretty damn good. Give me a break here.
I'm guessing hmurchison has tons of cash lying around.
Seriously, this whole HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war is annoying. What's the use of spending $500 on an HD-DVD player when tons of movies aren't coming out on HD-DVD? And what about TV shows? Which format is Deadwood going to come out on?
Not tons but $500 is hardly a big expenditure. You don't have to buy discs even you can rent them from Netflix or Blockbuster so your overall investement is lower when compared to the options that the early DVD users had.
Sure it's annoying but hardly as annoying as people make it seem. If you have a HDTV you spent good money on it and you're not seeing the full quality with broadcast "macroblock infested" HD.
If we had one format I doubt we'd be seeing $499 players and $20 media honestly. You can make the difference if you buy the format that has value to you then studios will come to support your player.
Bah! I'm with #1-3; it's just not a big enough jump in functionality (for me, at least). Yes, picture quality is better for HDTVs (how much of the general population has those?), and so is sound, but how much better can people hear?
The porn industry is going with Blu-ray, and if that's the way the winds are blowing, then let it not be said that I don't also blow!
You guys wait until you get used to macroblock free HD. You won't look at those SD-DVDs the same way. You'll see the softness of the picture the reduced color fidelity and wonder how you got so acclimated to its weaknesses. That's what great HD does to you.
Both formats blow DVD out of the water. I mean come'on you can't even change the audio track or other vital settings without the movie pausing. Or how about subtitles that can't be moved or color changed? With HD DVD and Blu-Ray you get control of how you want your movie displayed. Have a favorite scene in the movie? Bookmark it and come back to it later. Want to watch the extras and the movie simulataneously..you can do it with the PiP functions that are sync'd with the movie.
While people are fretting over dollars and sense they're missing out on and opportunity to improve their movie watching experience. If you don't have nor plant to have an HDTV you shouldn't even be commenting. IMO
In my opinion I think waiting to see who is
going to win the HD battle is the best solution.
Sony, I feel will become victorious. Considering
that they are launching the PS3 this year with a
built in Blu-ray player, I cannot foresee them
charging much more then $600 to our kids for this
years greatest gaming system.
Other comparable gaming systems that are
launching this year are all
Uh, I can too change my audio on the fly with DVD. As for PIP extras...no interest. Audio commentaries interest me. The rest of the extras are garbage to me.
Watching movies with greater clarity is nice...save for the fact I don't much care. I have HD tv and love it for football (where the action on the screen matters). In movies, the visuals are about as low on my list of moviegoing priorities as I can go. Clarity of image...not the reason to see a movie. Especially when my favorite films are way before the advent of 5.1 sound, let alone 1080p or even color!
I'm sorry but what a load of shit. The industry got themselves into this mess. And I'm supposed to give them money to support such poor decision making? Maybe if they weren't so greedy, they would have agreed upon a single format, and everyone would be happy. I would actually possibly buying one or the other if it was the only option. But I'm not taking one for the team, when it could cost me over a thousand bucks. F that.
Let me clarify. In HD DVD and Blu-Ray there are no changes you can't make without suspending the playback of the disc to my knowledge.
I'm mean sure if I set the bar low enough even VHS would suffice but waiting for some mythical war to suddenly end before jumping in is a bit penny wise pound foolish.
If you enjoy high quality movies then enjoying them today for an affordable price is an option.
There was no way to avoid a format war. They have tried over and over again but the sad fact is that companies need new revenue streams and that means being the top dog pushing that next format.
DVD didn't have unfettered access to our homes it had to beat out Divx. The real question is whether or not you can enjoy a format right here and now and if it's worth it. If not then don't buy but some people will live for today and not tomorrow.
Is this guy getting paid by HD-DVD or what? I see this thing turning out like the so called format war between SACD and DVD-Audio. In the end when it mattered nobody cared anymore. I personally am not crazy enough to buy a $500 or a $1000 player period. Its not fair to the consumers and #1 was right the studios should had the power to say we're not releasing anything until one format exists. As it stands now if one does come out on top what do the other studios do ? Go back and now redo all the DVD they made in the other format? How stupid is this?
HD-DVD makes more sense on the video side, and Blu-Ray on the PC/computer side.
Neal Saferstein
Here are five reasons I don't care:
1. If the big, bad, super-wealthy corporations can't act like adults and settle their differences, I don't see why my broke ass should throw money in either direction.
2. I don't plan to throw away $500 OR $1000 on a player for what may become a dead format.
3. The price of both formats' players will go down within a year or two--and the new players released at that time will include more features.
4. If I like a movie, I don't want to rent it--I want to own it; and that would mean starting a library in my format of choice--which is far too risky right now.
5. I'm not wealthy.
Whichever format offers a player for $200 first is the winner in my book. Until then, it's not worth the risk.
"If someone doesn't buy these things but rather take the "sit back and wait role," then how are the prices going to drop and why would the studios release their libraries?"
If the studios don't release their libraries (enough), why would we why it?
I like being an early adopter. I guess I am considered one for having a 42 in plasma. I bought it about a year ago. I am probably an early adopter with tw cable's HD service. Im probably an early adopter too with my MacBook Pro. However - with HD-DVD, you are going to get killed all around - there is no reason to be an early adopter. Expensive player + Lack of Selection + More expensive titles + crappy resale value (in 2 years) = no reason to buy.
I don't see the $500 price tag for HD-DVD being a negative consideration for its mass appeal. If you recall back when DVD players first came out, they were in the same price range even before factoring in inflation. I recall paying around $400 in 1997 for a Sony DVD player. If you take a conservative estimate of 2.5% inflation over 8 years of a $400 dvd player, you're not too far from $500.
The main thing keeping me out of high-def disks is the lack of a leader between the two formats. This wasn't as much of an issue with DVD. Anyone with a brain could tell that the Div-X format pushed by Circuit City wasn't going to last. This time around it isn't quite as simple.
I plan on staying on the sidelines for at least a year to let some of the dust settle before plunging into high-def disks.
I will definitely be buying an high def player at some point (I'm assuming that Blu-ray will win), but I will not buy a first generation player. My current player (a high-end Denon) plays almost every disc format including DVD-A and SACD. Why would I pay $1k for a video-only player? I'll wait for the second generation models.
my upscaler works just fine for now.
Colin,
You're NOT considered an early adapter if you bought your plasma a year ago. Now, if you'd said that you bought your 42in EDTV in '97/'98 for $10k then I'd believe you...
Did you pay $1200 for you TW HD box? (Like people did for the HDTivo from DirecTV)
Macbook Pro? I don't know you, so you could really need the benefits of that for your job etc., but if you bought it to say 'I'm an early adapter' so you can surf the net.. get a life.
Sony is a Liar! Who cares anymore? If they continual to bring out the HD DVD's that look more like Superbit DVD's then I am sticking with my Toshiba HD. I mean really? How dare they brag about 1080P and bring out substandard DVD’s that are of obviously less quality than Toshiba 1080i's. Yes I know all about the Mpeg vs. VC1 compression. But I don’t accept excuses for an inferior product. Sony has lied about the date of PS3, the lied about the having one single price they lied about 1080p(499 model), they lied about Blue Ray 1080P being the best looking. Hell I guess they are just liars.