[Model Citizen]

Just been reading an interisting article in this months DVD Review.
It seems that there are'nt many people so far that have been impressed with the quality of the next gen discs.
The article highlights the companies involved trying to outdo each other with new releases, more interested in getting titles on shelves than producing a film that has quality deserving of it's release, or even extras that outdo it's DVD counterpart.
Also, if this is what the companies are doing, the question is also asked, why are we not seeing whole TV series on one disc, where we have DVD quality, but a lot less packaging.

I have to say it's a really good read, and asks a lot of questions as well as making me glad I've still not invested in the new technology yet.

Obviously there's going to be exceptions to the rule, but is the review right in saying there is a rule?

[TheReverend]

Now I know my Oppo is only an upconverting player, but seeing as alot of the filmss o far on HD-DVD and Bluray are not going to have any time and care taken to them, or come from HD sources to begin with, it probably has as good quality on my old dvd's as 90% of available HD films have at the moment. Obviously this will be trounced once they have some proper releases out, but at the moment there's no reason upgrading, vertainly not to get all the old films in better quality, as it largely won't be

[homerpovey]

You got the Oppo then? Great isn't it?  :grin:

For now my upscaled pictures are excellent. Until HD-DVD and Blu-Ray sort themselves out and the prices drop I wont be upgrading any time soon. Good article, cheers.

[TheReverend]

I've not actually checked it against my old player directly and having played much on it to test bad of me I know. I do notice what I think is mosquito noise as opposed to macroblocking, but I think thats just the dvd's I've been watching, and there seems to be a slight colour bleed that u can notice around edges and on the menu's, but I bet thats my TV as I have the Thomson rebadge that was in the bargain forum ages back ;) I'll have to try take it to a friends and test it on his Bravia just to make sure. Also testing finding nemo there's some banding in the nice blue sea backgrounds, but I bet thats my tv too lol

Other than that though it's lovely things do look very nice. I need to find out which of my dvd's are meant to be great quality though as opposed to one's that'll have noise so I can give it al a proper look over

[michael blunty]

I've not bought into the high definition dvd wars...and I think people who do must have more money than sense.
£25 in gamestation for talladega nights on blu-ray...firstly £25 for such a bad film is a joke, secondly I don't think it's the type of film where you need high definition imagery etc...
Long live DVD

[KevD]

I now own over 100 HDs or Blurays, and have seen over 150, most of which I have upgraded from a standard DVD release. I would say on the majority of the discs there is a marked improvement (maybe 7/10 titles).

The Riddick films, The Mummy films, Batman, Serenity, Hulk, King Kong, Equilibrium, Harry Potter, Swordfish Departed and Lucky No Slevin are the best example on HD of releases that are far superior to the DVD release

Xmen 3, Black Hawk Down, Ice Age 2, Crank, MI3, Underworld 2, Flyboys, Casino Royale, Into The Blue, Prestige, Rocky Balboa, Fantastic Four are the Bluray examples.

These examples are only the ones where I have owned both relases and can notice a significant difference.

There are of course titles I have sold or traded right away based on me thinking the DVD was better overall (maybe PQ wasnt quite the same, but better extras or uncut)

Spartacus, Traffic, The Fog, American Werewolf (all HD-DVD) & Flying Daggers, Full Metal Jacket, Fifth Element (Blu Ray) are all very average and are not worth the upgrade.

Overall, I think if you can afford to get a player (360 add-on, PS3 or stand alone) its worth it and you wont be dissapointed. They are not actually that expensive - The most I remember spening is £14 on a couple of occassions but for the most part discs have cost me between 10-11 quid.

[wilko]

To be honest, I bought the XBOX360 HD-DVD drive, and it's hardly been used. I only have 3 movies - King Kong, Serenity and Lethal Weapon.

There just aren't any HD films currently that a) I want or b) I don't already have on standard DVD.

I won't upgrade my DVD collection to HD, I just don't see the point. However I will buy all new movies on HD if they are available.

I don't think I would have paid £400-£1000 for a next gen player, however I am quite satisfied with what I got for the £130 I paid.

[michael blunty]

Originally Posted by KevD

The Riddick films, The Mummy films, Batman, Serenity, Hulk, King Kong, Equilibrium, Harry Potter, Swordfish Departed and Lucky No Slevin are the best example on HD of releases that are far superior to the DVD release

yeah but you actually have to own the crapfest's that are swordfish/riddick films.

[lambyUK]

Until a combo hd/blu ray player comes out, and an affordable one at that, then i wont be investing in HD dvd or blu ray. Either that or all companies start releasing films on both format then i wont be bothering.

I have to admit i was really tempted with the xbox 360 add on, but i resisted temptation for reasons above.

However HD DVD players are now coming down in price. You can now get an HD player for £270 from play.com.

I really dont see the formats trully taking off until something is done about the mentioned above.

[KevD]

Originally Posted by michael blunty

yeah but you actually have to own the crapfest's that are swordfish/riddick films.

I love Crapfest even more in HD :P