Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

I don't remember seeing this discussed here so...

http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Universal ... u-ray/6283" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think it's crap if their not including all the features from the most recent DVD release. My apologies if I missed this in another thread.

Another opportunity missed. The only reason I'd get one of these re-cashcow-issues is if it had a attractive list of extras.

I don't do 1st generation technology.

I still prefer VHS to DVD in most instances, so it'll be awhile before I transition to anything new. Especially a technology that seems kind of unnecessary. But a new release is pretty cool, even if it indicates they think they'll be getting money soon.

Redstar wrote:I still prefer VHS to DVD in most instances ...

Okay, I'll play the sucker here.

You're honestly saying that you prefer the muddy audio and video of freaking videotape to the crispness of a digital production? You prefer having to fast-forward and rewind for 10 minutes in order to find something? You like not having any extras at all?

Or ... are you just being contrary?

I remember when compact disks came out, they said they would last 100 years.

Whoever said that obviously didn't have children.

But tape? That's just crazy talk.

Okay, I meant I prefer them in some instances. I do like the quick scene-finding for DVDs, but VHS can't get scratched. I've become annoyed with how easily DVDs become damaged compared to VHS.

I've got no argument with that. I re-sell a lot of my DVDs, and I've learned the hard way to just always treat the silly things like they are fragile bird eggs. I swear, some of them get little scratches on the surface if you glance at them the wrong way.

Redstar wrote:, but VHS can't get scratched.

Wanna bet?

TheDukester wrote:

Redstar wrote:I still prefer VHS to DVD in most instances ...

Okay, I'll play the sucker here.

You're honestly saying that you prefer the muddy audio and video of freaking videotape to the crispness of a digital production? You prefer having to fast-forward and rewind for 10 minutes in order to find something? You like not having any extras at all?

Or ... are you just being contrary?

Stop egging him on. He can do stupid shit like this all day long.

Roll your eyes all you want, boy, but come in outta nowhere and say dumb ass shit like that about DVDs and VCRs and everybody else is doing the same shit to you. I actually saw that post hours before and said to myself, "now there's some more dumb shit from a kid I can count on to provide an inordinate amount dumb shit. No surprise at all."

And I bet I wasn't alone.

I essentially said the same thing as Freak. I hated DVDs when they first came out because they were hardly a step up (remember when the backs touted static menus and scene selection as "special features"?) and I dislike them now because companies don't bother anymore. DVDs are churned out with "Red Stapler Edition" or "Panty Raid Edition" which are exactly the same as the ten previous editions. It's too much hassle for just wanting to watch a movie, and I honestly don't want to go through that again with Blu-Ray.

Omphalos wrote:And I bet I wasn't alone.

No you weren't

Special Edition disks are a cheap marketing trick that you should be used to by now. It's not brain surgery. ..

If you like a film you buy it. Who cares about special features - even the good ones barely get watched. The thing that counts is picture and sound quality - ie: the film you liked enough to buy in the first place. My £5 bargain bucket, no-feature Dune DVD is stupidly better than my old VHS, and I dare say this blu-ray is better again.

I agree with anyone who thinks it's stupid to buy expensive disks for a more expensive player at a time when HD streaming/downloads are just becoming available and practical. But to say you prefer VHS is just... incredibly dumb.

I havn't switched to Blu-Ray and probably won't for a long time....but VHS v/s DVD. I have to go w/everyone else and say that I can't see the appeal of a VCR tape over a DVD disc. The tapes do get scratched, they get stretched, and warpped, and torn, and broken. Scratches in a disc and be fixed a lot easier than a wrinkle in a tape.

Now the only advantage I see to VCR is like recording a tv show to watch later. I might be mistaken here but isn't it easier to re-record a VCR compared to a DVR? Once an image/code is burned into a disc isnt' it there forever? (at least until the disc is scratch beyond repair)

Eyes High wrote:I might be mistaken here but isn't it easier to re-record a VCR compared to a DVR? Once an image/code is burned into a disc isnt' it there forever? (at least until the disc is scratch beyond repair)

I think we're seeing a shift to hard-drive recording, anyway. People are skipping physical discs altogether and just recording right to their TiVo's and similar devices. There's also more and more watching via computer (through iTunes, streaming shows through Netflix, etc.).

We're getting close to a point where "watching TV" is really becoming an inaccurate way of stating things.

DuneFishUK wrote:If you like a film you buy it. Who cares about special features - even the good ones barely get watched. The thing that counts is picture and sound quality - ie: the film you liked enough to buy in the first place. My £5 bargain bucket, no-feature Dune DVD is stupidly better than my old VHS, and I dare say this blu-ray is better again.

I didn't say I don't like special features. I was saying that when DVDs first came out they didn't really have special features, so there was no real upgrade from VHS (picture and video quality wasn't yet as good as DVD would provide). Now, towards the end of DVDs, the market has become saturated with "editions" that contain no more special features than the edition they released a few years before, and is only an attempt to trick you into spending more money because you think it's the good special edition they're really going to release a few months later.

I said I prefer VHS in some instances; those being, they're cheaper, typically more reliable, and sometimes I just want to watch a movie. In other instances I prefer DVD because I do like jumping ahead to specific points and special features can be fun.

My point is Blu-Ray is a new technology in much the same stage as the final DVD market: saturated with crap trying to get in on the money. I'm not going to waste time on a Dune release that doesn't have any more than the previous seven releases. I'll wait until Blu-Ray is actually a step-up from DVD, like I waited until DVD was actually a step-up from VHS.

Blah, blah, blah. Ever wonder why it is you - in particular you - have to do so much back-peddling and explaning of what your "intent" in saying something is? Why you have to do it so much of the time? Im pretty sure I've got that figured out, anyway. Just wondering if you have.

Redstar wrote:

DuneFishUK wrote:I'll wait until Blu-Ray is actually a step-up from DVD, like I waited until DVD was actually a step-up from VHS.

Care to explain how BR isn't a step up from DVD?

Omphalos wrote:Blah, blah, blah. Ever wonder why it is you - in particular you - have to do so much back-peddling and explaning of what your "intent" in saying something is? Why you have to do it so much of the time? Im pretty sure I've got that figured out, anyway. Just wondering if you have.

Because you feel the need to antagonize me over trivial things... So I prefer VHS to DVD in some instances, who cares. You, apparently.

Freakzilla wrote:Care to explain how BR isn't a step up from DVD?

The library is currently very limited, special features are underwhelming (per my above point on the "special edition" craze), load-times are often slow, and, most importantly, the cost is too high for both the player and the individual releases. Considering the first three reasons, I don't believe the "benefits" are sufficient enough to outweigh the cost.

I can agree with our resident contrarian about the Blu-Ray thing ... provided we're talking about someone who already owns a DVD player and at least a few discs. For that person — me, for instance — shelling out right now for a Blu-Ray player just seems like buying digital tech all over again. I'll wait a bit ... or else keep hinting at the in-laws.

But I'm still not sure why VHS is even in this conversation ...

Yes it is trivial... but.. eh?

VHS is shite, Blu-Ray is new and the film producers have worked out that most people buy films so they can watch the films.

If you like special features. Subscribe to Cinefex.

TheDukester wrote:But I'm still not sure why VHS is even in this conversation ...

I brought it up because I stuck with VHS until DVD's benefits were definitely worth the cost as well as more convenient, and I'll do the same with DVD until Blu-Ray is worth the cost and more convenient.

TheDukester wrote:

Redstar wrote:I still prefer VHS to DVD in most instances ...

Okay, I'll play the sucker here.

You're honestly saying that you prefer the muddy audio and video of freaking videotape to the crispness of a digital production? You prefer having to fast-forward and rewind for 10 minutes in order to find something? You like not having any extras at all?

Or ... are you just being contrary?

Actually Hi-Fi VHS tapes have extremely high quality audio quality for a consumer product, a lot of people actually record music digitally, then send it out to be recorded on their VHS, then back into their computer (or just send the VHS to the mastering studio). This is a cheap and effective way to get tape-compression and tone in the home digital recording age.

There is some loss of high frequencies, that's just the nature of tape, but the quality is very good. If there's an issue with quality of audio it's probably an old tape, bad system, or not Hi-Fi.

The video is shit though. And the operation. The only thing I like VHS for when it comes to video is that I can watch the StarWars movies before they were wrecked with ridiculous changes.

A Thing of Eternity wrote:The only thing I like VHS for when it comes to video is that I can watch the StarWars movies before they were wrecked with ridiculous changes.

The boxed set? From like 1996 or 1997? I own that one, too. It's a gem — and you're right, it's from an era before every goddamn thing got spoiled by Lucas playing God.