The Format War & My Collection

December 10, 2007 2:37 PM

Should I continue to purchase titles on standard DVD and wait out the format war or switch immediately to a new (Blu/HDDVD) format?

I am about to purchase an HDTV (slow adopter in this area) and over the past few years I have built up a rather large collection of movies and television shows on DVD.

I am wondering if it's still a smart idea to purchase titles on "standard" DVD format as opposed to one of the competing formats of "Blu" or "HDDVD".

I really don't want to re-purchase/upgrade my entire collection on a "better format". I am particularly concerned about TV show runs & the inevitable reissuing factor - for instance, will Gracie Films/Fox re-release The Simpsons on Blu-Ray (Fox's HD choice) - causing my current collection to pretty much go the way of 8-tracks, cassettes, and mini-disc?. So I guess my basic questions would be...

1. Do standard DVD's look discernibly different from Blu/HDDVD or will they look alright on an HDTV (1080p 50+")?

2. Should I continue to purchase titles on standard DVD and wait out the format war or switch immediately to a new (Blu/HDDVD) format?

posted by TetrisKid to technology (18 comments total)

DVDs will be the major format for a while. I'd invest in a good upscaling DVD player. I've had great results with the Oppo line, and in some cases can't tell the difference between HD and upscaled DVD.
posted by mphuie at 2:44 PM on December 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

The play station 3 plays blu-ray discs, on the off chance you didnt know that already or wanted an excuse to buy one.

There is a difference, but the new hi-def players will all play regular dvds, so it's not like the tapes or mini-disc where you would need to keep the old player to enjoy your old collection.
posted by itheearl at 2:47 PM on December 10, 2007

Personally I don't think either format will win, digital distribution will likely take over and there will be no more formats. Just my .02
posted by Cosine at 2:48 PM on December 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

I have pondered the same question and my plan at the moment is to keep buying standard DVDs until I have a PS3, a HD-DVD player (or a hybrid of both). This will only happen when either a) one of the formats wins the war or b) a hybrid player becomes cheap enough for me to buy.

The reason I plan to keep buying standard DVDs in the meantime is, obviously, because I don't own any of the machines required to play Blu-ray or HD-DVD discs. But I won't lose any sleep over the fact that when I do own such a player that the majority of my discs will be standard def discs. This is because most good next gen players will artificially up-scale the picture on your standard definition DVDs when you play them (here's a handy article for you to read on up-scaling).

So basically, my advice is to keep buying standard DVDs until you own a next gen player becuase once you do own one, they will upscale your standard DVDs to look almost as good as Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs. The upside is in the meantime you still get to buy all those DVDs you want without having to wait!
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:49 PM on December 10, 2007

Also, Bluray and HDDVD players upscale DVDs fairly well too, if you decide to buy a next gen player. (you may have to read some reviews on upscaling performance though)
posted by mphuie at 2:49 PM on December 10, 2007

Digital Versatile Discs is probably the best-supported physical data storage format we've seen since the Compact Disc. It's not going away any time soon, but the same can't be said for HD-DVD or BluRay (depending on which one "wins"). I wouldn't waste any money on HD-DVD or BluRay disks at this point. Honestly, by the time this format war is over, we'll almost certainly be getting most of our media by download anyway.

If you're concerned with quality, get an upscaling DVD player with an HDMI or component connection.

The only exception to this might be if you already have a BluRay player (i.e. a PS3). If that's the case, really flashy movies/shows might be worth getting, but it's taking a chance if HD-DVD comes out on top.
posted by Nelsormensch at 2:52 PM on December 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

The last 10 years of simpsons were filmed in regular-D, even if they ever did make HD/Blu-Ray versions, there'd be no point in upgrading, from a quality-of-program standpoint. They might stick a bunch of extras on, but probably not enough to justify repurchase. Newer TV shows being broadcast in 1080i HD are the ones you shouldn't buy now, but should wait until the dust settles.
posted by nomisxid at 2:57 PM on December 10, 2007

I think everyone has pondered this lately. If I were to buy, I'd by HD-DVD. Their players are cheaper and they usually include the regular DVD format on the other side, something Blu-Ray can't do.

As far as the format wars go, everyone seems to agree HD-DVD is easier to design for and much easier to put to disc than Blu-Ray. They also have regular updates from a phone jack in the back, which Blue Ray can't do. I have to think back to the VHS-Betamax wars. It seems HD-DVD really has their shit together.
posted by sanka at 3:03 PM on December 10, 2007

nomisxid nailed it for TV shows. If the master is in SD, then an HD product isn't much use.

Personally, I've reduced my DVD purchasing substantially. I'm still buying some obscure stuff and some old stuff, but mostly I'm renting if I want to see something. I have purchased one HD movie even though I don't have a player because I suspect it will be had to get hold of in however many years it takes me to upgrade to HD.
posted by krisjohn at 3:12 PM on December 10, 2007

DVD vs HD (comparison of Lord of the Rings on DVD vs. broadcast quality 1080i). Can you tell the difference?
posted by blue_beetle at 3:50 PM on December 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Also, if you wait a few months there's a possibility you might be able to get a HD-DVD/BluRay combo player.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:51 PM on December 10, 2007

I have been wondering the same thing, eventually I decided that it wasn't worth upgrading at the moment since neither BluRay or HDDVD are setting the world on fire.
Your example of The Simpsons was a bad choice - animated stuff doesn't really look any different in HD since there really isn't that much detail there to begin with. A lot of live-action TV shows are shot in HD these days, so they will look better, and older shows were shot on 35mm film so a proper HD release is going to look great. But to my mind, the extra sharpness does not outweigh the risk of choosing the wrong format.
posted by AndrewStephens at 4:14 PM on December 10, 2007

1. Do standard DVD's look discernibly different from Blu/HDDVD or will they look alright on an HDTV (1080p 50+")?

We have both Blu and HD-DVD movies, in addition to standard DVDs, that we watch on our HDTV. Yes, there is a discernible difference between Blu/HD DVDs and standard DVDs, but also yes, your standard DVDs wil look alright on an HDTV.
posted by geeky at 4:29 PM on December 10, 2007

Also, there are combo HD/Blu-ray players out right now.
posted by geeky at 4:31 PM on December 10, 2007

Taking things in the order in which they were appeared in the question:

(1)
I would reduce purchases of standard DVDs, especially of movies that you really like. Why buy them now, and then want to buy them again in a couple-three years? Just get them from netflix and rip them -- any bad karma will be restored to you when you buy the HDDVD or BD version.

Exception: tv shows that were never in HD to start with, for the reasons that others have given. Even for the shows that were shot on film and could be scanned at 1080p, I would bet that most just don't have the production values to hold up at HD resolutions.

That doesn't mean start buying movies on BD or HDDVD. Just not buying them on dvd.

(2)
You don't need to worry about having your dvds turn into 8-tracks. BD and HDDVD players will both read regular dvds long into the future. And, even if that weren't true, even very good plain dvd players are dirt cheap.

(3)
Regular DVDs will look fine on most HDTVs. HDTVs in general are less forgiving of flaws in the content, though.

We do not have a BD or HDDVD player. 1080i broadcasts look, to me, dramatically, hugely, overwhelmingly better than upscaled dvd.

Some of this is taste and what you're critical of. Take blue_beetle's LotR link -- my sense from the tone is that blue_beetle meant in part "Look, any differences are hard to see," but to me the HD version is instantly, dramatically better, like putting glasses on and suddenly there are details everywhere.

(4)
I would just lay off the buying of discs, period, until I was comfortable getting either a ps3 or an hddvd deck.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:41 PM on December 10, 2007

I get a lot of use out of cassette tapes still, and you're worried about Blu Ray? Yikes.

Just upgrade your computer to a disc burner of whichever type you need when the moment arrives, and burn your DVDs to whatever format. I never really understood the need for better-than-real-life clarity. It's about the story, not the effects. Try reading a few books =)
posted by Quarter Pincher at 11:32 AM on December 11, 2007

I never really understood the need for better-than-real-life clarity.

It's a visual medium, and is about the visuals. Details matter. The extent to which there are details in the background matters, and is/can be an active choice made by the director and director of photography.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:54 AM on December 11, 2007

If you don't follow tech news:
Blu-ray is starting to show strong signs as the winner over HD-DVD. Warner Bros. recently said they are going to start releasing films only in Blu-Ray format, instead of both, which they have been doing. Here's a link showing in what format each major studios is releasing. I'd say that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are still only being purchased by early adopters. I'd say the early majority won't even start buying until there's a clear winner, and not until then will prices really be affordable. By holding out a little longer you won't get trapped with the wrong format, and you'll save a lot of money. But if you can't stand to wait any longer, some of the tech-news pundits are calling Blu-Ray as the near-future winner.
posted by metacort at 5:55 PM on January 17, 2008