If you have an older TV or HDTV or monitor you are screwed!

[drothgery]

But the allure of those second-gen DVDs is more capacity, meaning you could put the one of the extended edition LOTR film on one disc not the existing two.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd just like something that will hold movies at HDTV resolution (not just widescreen-format 480i, which DVD is). If you use really good compression and a double-sided, dual-layer standard DVD it almost works, but a higher-capacity media would be a Good Thing.

Meh, I'm waiting for the public to wise up and force retailers to make HDTV, plasma, LCD, flat-panel more affordable (i.e., 36-inch flat TVs for less than $600 standard price).

Err... large LCDs, plasma displays, and projection TVs are rapidly becoming less expensive; there are some 37" HDTV LCDs for $1500 today; last year you couldn't find one for $3000. Smaller widescreen, $500 26" widescreen HDTV CRTs are pretty common today (they couldn't be found last year at any price), with the 30" models that were $1200 last year settling in at $700-$800.

I suspect a 30" widescreen HDTV will settle in at $350-$400, and replace the 27" CRT as the standard family TV within 2-3 years.

 

[Desdichado]

Sky falling much?

 

[ThirdWizard]

Scientific American had an article about Blu-ray tech DVDs in its Feb 2005 issue; its quite interesting. Well, its interesting if you're into that kind of thing, anyway. But, this is way more than some copyright stuff. Blue-ray can theoretically hold 40 times the amount of information that a contemporary DVD can hold. That is a lot, easily a high def movie.

There's also talk of the next-next-gen tech in the article, but its way too soon to put much stock in that. I look forward to the Blu-ray thing. I already find DVD-Rs too small, myself.

 

[wingsandsword]

The thing is, I don't think the market is quite ready to move to an entirely new video format.

They're just now phasing out VHS (like Wal-Mart saying they are going to stop carrying them, before they stopped under protest), other major retailers only annnounced last year they were discontinuing VHS. We here at ENWorld are a fairly technologically savvy group overall, and probably fairly early adopters of new technologies.

I know people (like my parents) who just got their first DVD player last year, and just started to get new DVD's. They are still feeling a little burned about buying an Atari 5200 for me as a kid that was discontinued 6 months later, the idea of their DVDs being discontinued after a year or two would be enough to make them give up on electronics entirely probably.

VHS was the de-facto standard for almost 20 years, DVD has been that way for only about 5 years so far (sure it existed before that, but only around 2000/2001 did it really get big), and it's just getting firmly established as the real standard.

I don't think the masses are quite ready to go buy new DVD players and new TVs just to keep buying the same things. Yes, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray offer more resolution and fidelty, but honestly, do we really need it? DVD floored us with quality when it came out, but I still watch my old VHS sometimes, and I've got no real desire to sink a small fortune on a new HDTV set just to get better resolution. I've seen the demos, and sure the picture is nicer, but it isn't worth spending a small fortune nicer.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Personally, for me, the real pull is the thought of a season coming on one DVD. Sure, that one DVD will be $50-$100, but for me that's fine. I know most people wouldn't accept that, though. My boxed sets take up way too much room, though, and it gets unwieldy. I had to start picking and choosing which series are kept near the TV.

But, I have to agree. The world at large isn't ready for a new media format. It wouldn't take over as the hot new thing that everybody is buying. It would be that funny DVD that has more room than necessary and is way overpriced. My dreams will probably be washed away, at least for a while, and I'll be left with only wishes for ultra-compact storage.

Personally, though, I balk at watching a VHS tape. Oh, I've done it, of course. Before we got the TiVo, that's how we recorded shows to watch later, and we got the TiVo within the past month. I'm all for newest and shiniest technology. Even so, I don't have any plans to go HD or any strong desire to do so. I can buy much more important things to me with the money than a Television.

But, the thought of buying entire series on one DVD makes me drool.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

[off topic]
As good a thread as any to ask: Is there any validity to the story that DVDs have a lifespan of about 10 years, then they've degraded too far to be useful?
[/off topic]

Back on topic, a lot of stuff that I buy (Discovery-channel documentaries, for instance) barely come with anything more than closed captioning (if I'm lucky I've encountered a few that didn't even have that!). I can't imagine what would possibly be put into a DVD that would require even ten times the current limit, except maybe TV series (e.g., getting all of a season of a sitcom or drama on one disc).

 

[Spell]

Because the player and the TV works together to make sure the content cannot be copied, you need a TV that supports the tech. In short, future HD content such as movies and TV-shows will simply not play, or play at a reduced quality, on current TV's, computer monitors and HDTV's that doesn't support the technology.

Psionicist, is there a way to check if what i am buying does *not* conform to this new technology? i have a feeling that this is just the last idea to reduce the ability of the consumer without giving anything good to him. for example, somebody in the copyright thread that came up a couple of weeks ago, said that the his version of shark tale forced him to watch 10 minutes of trailers because of the scrolling limitations the film studio had put on the advertisments before the film (which contained the FBI notice about piracy).
now, i would not like to give a penny, even indirectly, to anybody enforcing this kind of technological "advance"... is there a way to be 100% sure of what i'm buying?
(this question should interest also those who are willing to buy this monstrousity...)

 

[Ranger REG]

Sky falling much?

Yeah, well, they're not falling fast enough. The sky, too.

 

[Spell]

I'm not the least bit worried - Erge

the thing that really pisses me off is that it seems that everybody is going out of their way to make fair use illegal... so, if i want to make a backup copy of my legally bought cd, or dvd, i am breaking the law.
even more allarming is that i might not even being breaking the law of MY country. back ups are perfectly legal in italy, or in uk (where i live), but the copy protected cds, for one, are preventing me to take advantage from the law.

now, if i am buying the right to see the film or watch the music (as some people claims), i should be able to have a new copy of the actual support by which i can enjoy what i paid for, should my copy become faulty. and i should be able to listen/watch it everywhere i want. if i go in australia for a holiday, i should be able to plug my laptop on internet and watch that film again, shouldn't i?

and if i buy the support, then why shouldn't i be able to make a copy of it, for my personal safety, like i can do with books, for example? if i distribute the property illegally, then the piracy police can have a point. if i keep the copy for myself, then they have no right to interfere.

it is true that time is all that it takes for screw the new protective technologies... but i don't want to do something illegal to do something that is perfectly fair!

 

[Spell]

Vote with your wallets, don't buy the new stuff.

Frankly, if people don't buy the new Blu-Ray or HD-DVD formats, and don't replace their TV's and DVD players to do so, then they won't make money off of them.

what if the new system is just implemented on every new tv set or dvd player? i can't see people stopping buying dvds just for that. if, as it is likely, the market should be in the slums, it will be there just for a short-ish time... just enough to make everybody buying the new equipment, happy or not with this new system.
sure enough, a couple of years of losses might prove too bitter for most film studios to just go on with the technology... and yet, there is a possibility of that happening.