RF Generation Message Board

I was wondering how many people here have actually started watching Blu-rays and how many of you are still watching DVDs.

Me personally, I still watch and buy DVDs. Blu-rays are still too expensive for my taste ;)

I am using a 13 inch tv for my games, do you really think it can accommodate high def?  :laugh:

I still watch DVDs and am going to do so as long as I can.
I'm looking to buy a house, so HDTV and Blu-rays are at the bottom of my want list. I believe DVD's still look great on standard def TV.      

I'm still buying DVDs. Blu-ray is just too expensive for me at the moment.

And frankly, I'm not too fussed about BR at all. While I *love* movies, the jump in quality from DVD to HD isn't great enough in most cases for me to care (it's not like the massive leap from VHS to DVD, for example).  While BR is great for new films, most older films being released on BR can't take full advantage of the format.  I'm not about to pay mroe than double the cost for something that doesn't even look much better. Also, most of the films I like aren't going to get BR releases any time soon.

I still buy and watch DVDs, I have no intent of ever buying Blue-Ray as long as DVDs are still being made. Hell, I still watch and buy VHS movies.

Same here. :)

When I'm looking for movies at my usual store, cheap DVDs (=those that have been released for over a year) are like €7. On the other hand, Blu-rays cost about €25 or even a bit more! That's 3 times as much than the average DVD I buy!

However, after I get my record player (a Technics, only a couple € away from what I need) I will start saving up for a Full-HD TV. I'm guessing I'll have it in about a year (or maybe even longer) and I'm thinking of spending €800-900 on it. For that I expect I'll be able to get a 32" Full HD Sony TV. (since prices are dropping constantly) which would be a dream to have in my bedroom.

So if I get that TV (which should have like 3 HDMI ports) and eventually a PS3 too, I might buy a Blu-ray once to see what it's like. But that won't be for atleast 1,5 years ;)

The TV in the living room (my mom's TV, basically) is an HD Ready TV (she bought it because our old TV died) and watching DVDs on that with even SCART RGB is fantastic.

In my opinion, the whole "new media format" thing was rushed by a couple of years. Obviously I don't know for sure but I think there weren't that many people wanting something better than DVDs. (The poll indicates so, until now :))

I still watch DVDs.  I have no intention of buying anything that I have on dvd in blu-ray format. 

DVD's only for me. I have no interest in Blu-Ray.

My anime collection consist largely of DVD's so I don't want to make the switch for that reason among the others already stated above. Although if they finally bring sailormoon over from vhs to blue-ray than they might have my attention. (As a collector, you can not sleight me for wanting that. Go watch Twelve Kingdoms or Louie the Rune soldier before you pass judgment!) :)

DVDs for as long as I can.

While I foresaw the death of HD-DVD I haven't thought much about the death of DVDs...and I don't see it happening for another 5-6 years.

I'm strongly considering getting a Blu-Ray player in the next few months, but I'll only get a couple movies.

Since I have a PS3, I've decided to make the switch to Blu-ray in most cases. However, if the movie is something that wouldn't benefit from hi-def or the price is a lot more on Blu-ray, I'll go for the DVD. I also won't upgrade my current DVD collection to Blu-ray unless it's a movie that I totally love like Tron, Serenity, or Back to the Future.

For those of you just brushing off Blu-ray and saying it isn't necessary, you obviously haven't seen a movie in the format. The picture quality is just so much better than DVD. And since there's more space on the disc, there's less compression of both the sound and picture than on DVD. On an HD display, an upscaled DVD does look good, but the Blu-ray image is just far more vivid and detailed. The difference is hard to put into words since it isn't really a huge jump like from VHS to DVD, but Blu-ray is really the refinement of what DVD SHOULD have been in the first place. Ever since getting into Blu-ray, the more I've realized that DVD was just a stopgap measure to bring us to HD storage.

I'm a very late adopter.

So, I don't care for either, not for another few years anyway.

I agree.

Only problem is this industry is going faster and faster. By the time people really get into Blu-ray (and outselling DVDs aswell) there'll be another "new generation" format on the horizon. I expect this to already happen in 8-10 years. Everything to keep the consumer buying new stuff, right? ;)

I'm sticking with DVD's for now. I'm sure I'll want to upgrade someday but at the moment there's so much great stuff to be had real cheap. Especially anime and other cartoons.

Same here, dvd's are cheaper and fall in price faster than they used to. Anime's are still pretty expensive here though. :(

DVD prices here are pretty strange at the moment. Two years back a brand new release would cost about £10, yet recently the prices have jumped to £15+ which is what they used to cost when DVD was a new format!

Personally I think the price hike is probably to get more people to buy BR. If there isn't much difference between the cost of a new chart DVD and the same film on BR, everyone will buy the BR... I know I would!

Thankfully older DVDs (as in more than a few months old) are cheaper than they have ever been and usually easy to find second-hand for next-to-nothing. Which is why I'm sticking with DVD for the time being.  I also watch a lot of lesser-known European and Asian films which are unlikely to see a BR release any time soon :(

I never buy new releases. Ever. Don't see the point of giving €19.99 for a dvd when I'm 100% certain I can get it for €6.99 a year later ;)

I very rarely buy brand new releases either. But sometimes there's a film that I just *have* to have. Same with games. I can be quite impatient sometimes :P

Until I get a 1080p TV (which probably won't be for a lonnnnnnng time since mine is 720p/1080i), I have no use for Blu-Ray. And by the time I'm ready for a 1080p TV, there will likely be something else that's taken over or competing with Blu-Ray...something that would provide a "download & keep" service.

I'm going to try to get a 32" 1080p TV by this time next year. (Should be doable) I can't wait!

Awesome! Hope you save up for a PS3 or a 360 in the meantime.

The PS3 or 360 are supposed to follow after I get the TV. I'll get them both eventually but hopefully (by this time next year) they'll have had another price drop :nod:

I'm also going to buy a new dvd player with HDMI output for 1080p upscaling. Shouldn't cost more than €100.

I'm eyeing a Sony TV (this one (http://www.sony.be/lang/nl/product/t32-w-series/kdl-32w4000#pageType=TechnicalSpecs)) right now.
I like the fact it has a lot of connection possibilities (important for hooking up as many consoles as possible ;))

It has:

• 3x HDMI
• 2x SCART (RGB)
• 1x component
• 1x composite
• USB 2.0
• VGA
• Digital Out
• RF (obviously)

That's already alot of connectors. Only thing it doesn't have is S-video. Doesn't matter that much because the S-video and composite usually are the same connector so you can only use one or the other.

Anyway, who knows what new TV's might be out a year from now :)

^Did you ever get the TV? Planning on getting one soon?

As I said in the post above I will be getting one "this time next year" so in other words around july-august '09. ;)

But yes, I'm still very much planning on getting such a TV. In fact, I was at the mall today and saw some Full-HD 32" TV's priced around €750-850.

I think that's a great price, and by august '09 they'll probably be dropped another €100-150 so I'll "only" have to spend like €600-700 which is awesome for such a TV. :D

Debating the switch to bluray. It is still to expensive though and then i have to figure out if i want to repurchase movies or just hold onto all the DVDs and only buy new bluray movies i don't already own on DVD.

What I would do is just keep your current DVDs and buy mostly Blu-ray movies from here on out. That's what I've been doing. Just be sure to get a Blu-ray player that does a great job at upscaling. I'm not saying this because I'm a "fanboy", but the PS3 is still the best Blu-ray player out there because it supports all the features and has an ethernet port for easy firmware updating and BD Live connectivity. Not to mention the awesome game lineup. :D

If you want to know how a certain title is on Blu-ray, check out High-Def Digest's Blu-ray reviews: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews.html

I was wondering: is it worth spending €100-150 on a DVD player with a HDMI output (besides the usual composite/S-video/component) or is the difference between a regular DVD and an "upscaled one" minimal? It would be used on a 1080p TV.

I'm considering to buy one after I get the TV, since I don't have a standalone DVD player myself.

^PS3

It's a HUUUUUUUUGE difference. If you can't afford or don't feel the need for Blu-ray, that's your next best option.

If you're gong to buy an upscaling DVD player with HDMI, be sure you have the applicable HDMI cable. Some DVD players come with the cable, some don't.

Alright, thanks!! :)

Yup, that's the plan. Otherwise the 1080p upscaling would be probably lost which would make the device useless (since I can play a DVD in my PS2 if I wanted to)

^
I'd wait until you can get the BR player.   The upscaling DVD player will be worthless if you plan on getting a BR player or PS3 in the future.


I recently made the switch because I bought a new projector, receiver and a PS3.  The projector makes for a very large TV, and therefore the differences in quality are very obvious.  The difference between BR and upscaled DVDs is huge, there is just no comparison.  If you have the TV to take full advantage of a Blu-Ray movie, it is equal to the switch from VHS to DVD.  (HDMI is a must!!!)

I'll see what happens (i.e. how much money I'll have left after buying the TV)

I'm not going to force myself to buy a PS3 just to watch upscaled DVD's, even though I'll get one, eventually.

Besides, I like standalone devices, they're usually more quiet too. :)

^And prices will likely go down after the holidays on either BR or Upscaling DVD players.

If going the PS3 route, I'd still wait until the console drops to under $200 but that's just my opinion.

Yeah, I still want to wait a little longer with buying a PS3. At €250 I'd start thinking about it though.

So I'll probably buy the Upscaling DVD Player first to go along with the TV. €100 isn't the end of the world anyway. Should be fun! :D

^Sounds good. That way you get the most of your current collection of DVDs and don't have to buy any BR discs. Good way to same money. 8)

Indeed. Plus, upscaling DVD players are getting cheaper all the time.

We don't buy too many DVDs any more. Mostly BluRay or even HD-DVD if they are cheap enough. 1080p is 1080p. Animation looks sweet in High Def.

We have been waiting more for movies to go on sale or cheaper on eBay unless it is something like The Dark Knight.

I am still impressed with the PS3s upscaler though. Monsters Inc. DVD looks pretty nice upscaled.

And if you don't have the proper cable, http://www.monoprice.com is your friend.

The more I watch Blu Rays the more I like DVD's. Blu Ray is too clear IMO. Makes everything look fake.

That's a good point. Kind of like when you listen to music on vinyl, it sounds more "real" than a digitized version of a song.

I've seen quite a few Blu-Ray movies with absolute shit transfers as well. It's hard to imagine why anyone would pay $30 for a movie with no special features and dubious quality. Mind you not every BD is crap, but the percentage of them that are is way too high for my tastes.

It's bad when you have to read a review of the disc before you buy it to see if they cared enough to put the effort into making a good version. Otherwise you go and buy the 2-disc special edition DVD with extra footage and bonus features for half the price or less that looks better upconverted.

it depends on the movie. if it's an epic or an animation, I prefer blu-ray. but with comedies and horrors, I prefer DVD

Holy BUMP! A 6(?) year gap!

In 2040, I'll tell you if I like 4k more than 1080p

(hint: I own a 4K TV but I don't have anything to play)

I am to the point now where I am trying to only buy movies on BluRay, but for stuff that doesn't call for high definition, I still get the odd DVD here and there. Honestly, I rip everything to my PC anyway and watch it all via my Plex Media Server. Anything sci-fi, action, effects-laden type stuff, I try to get on BR. I don't buy that many movies, though. I have been buying TV shows on DVD, though I started getting a couple final seasons on BR, like "Chuck".

same boat here, i don't mind dvd but if it's effects-heavy i actively avoid dvd and go for blu-ray. whenever i'm given the choice between blu-ray and dvd i always go BR though.