HD recorded movies...deal or dud

[mas]

While each camp wants to claim victory, the fact is that neither camp is gaining much ground, especially when compared with the folks who are satisfied with upconverted DVDs.

In an interesting article, this is explored in more detail: HD DVD and Blu-ray: Toward an Endgame

http://www.betanews.com/article/HD_DVD_and_Bluray_Toward_an_Endgame/1190836560

And I for one understand the issue. While I am anxious to find a larger capacity medium for data and music storage in particular (or even higher definition audio), enhanced video for regular viewing is not a compelling need.

And go figure...the local news is now in HD and I haven't been able to leave my seat. Granted, my chair is in the other room and I haven't found a reason to put the channel on the news, but the addition of HD doesn't mean squat to me. The content hasn't improved, and the ability to see if the anchor woman has shaved recently or the anchor man has trimmed his nasal hair. Heck, I don't even care if athletes' sweat really is green or orange or blue like in the commercials.

For general shows and movies, it just isn't worth the additional expense. And judging from the market response, neither do most folks.

[JTYoung]

The vast majority of HD movies have lossless sound. It is much better than your standard DD or DTS you get on SD DVDs

[mas]

Maybe, but I do not buy a movie for the background music, FX or dialog. And if the soundtrack is significant enough to purchase, it is still released on a regular CD.

Ironic, isn't it?....[]

[jimmy4300]

Yep this whole war thing is ridicules, I have my Denon 2910 and upconvert and this works for me.

 

Lou 

[rcarlton]

Saw my first HD-DVD Sunday and was blown away. Saw Cream, the picture was so clear I could see liver spots on Ginger Baker's hands.

Also saw the Eagles...sound blew me away...5 Heresy's.

[LiveFreeAndRoam]

Yep, turf-wars get no respect from me either. BD and HD-DVD will be here for a long time yet, thanks largely to the PS3 and XBox (IMHO). Here are some other interesting bookmarks (I kinda like the 1st one below 'cause it's apparently live sales data from one vendor):

http://www.dvdempire.com/Content/Features/hidef_wars.asp

http://www.engadget.com/2005/09/19/blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-state-of-the-s-union-s-division/

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9740033-1.html

Though, before getting overly excited about higher def video, I feel there is still more fundamental issues to resolve.

E.g. I have a PS3 and have enjoyed several BluRay movies, WOW - truly breathtaking! But, and this is a big BUT in my opinion; the PS3 seems to be incapable of displaying the movies Original Aspect Ratio (OAR), eg the OAR might be 2.40:1, but the PS3 zooms it to a fullscreen 16:9 image.

Some forums suggest that you can view the OAR via component outputs. In my case, I'm using HDMI to a 1080p LCD, (via an Onkyo 805). No matter what I do, I cannot view the movie in its OAR, as it was intended. This is true for DVD as well as BD.

Bottom line, I still prefer to watch my DVDs on my old player so I can enjoy the image as the director originally intended it to be. Unfortunatley, I don't have anywhere else to play my BD (other than the PS3). As much as I enjoy the high-def, I peg the OAR at a higher priority.

LFaR.