Poll: Be honest with yourself, are you still happy with DVD?
by Ryan Block 
posted Feb 6th 2008 at 9:57PM
According to a recent NPD Group study, apparently seven out of ten HDTV owners don't see the need to go Blu-ray or HD DVD, because, well, DVD suits their needs well enough. We've yet to dig up the original report, but the point still begs the question -- and be honest with yourself now, this is an anonymous poll, after all -- are you still happy enough with the humble DVD?[Thanks, Sean]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
jonthemiller @ Feb 6th 2008 10:04PM
It would be "A Daily Show" now...
Ryan Worrell @ Feb 6th 2008 11:58PM
LOL. +1
This is what my TV is for. you mean people use it for other things?
I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Feb 7th 2008 6:24AM
The Daily Show is lies, trash talk, propaganda, with reality or truth twisted to meet a certan agenda. Not worth watching.
Serengeti @ Feb 7th 2008 8:18AM
No, the Daily Show airs on Comedy Central. You're thinking of Fox News. They're both pretty funny, so I'll forgive you for the mistake.
:P
Andrew @ Feb 7th 2008 8:20AM
I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY: Although I agree, I feel for you, as you are going to get negatively ranked. You forget that the show's demographic (12-25 year old men, sometimes older when lacking education) overlaps some of the readers on this site.
Andrew @ Feb 7th 2008 8:21AM
I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY: Although I agree, I feel for you, as you are going to get negatively ranked. You forget that the show's demographic (12-25 year old men, sometimes older when lacking education) overlaps some of the readers on this site.
Jeff @ Feb 7th 2008 10:25AM
@ Andrew: I'm sure you've seen thins:
"a recent study by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey [...] said young viewers of "The Daily Show" were more likely to answer questions about politics correctly than those who don't."
"Viewers of Jon Stewart's show are more likely to have completed four years of college than people who watch "The O'Reilly Factor," according to Nielsen Media Research."
- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6117722/
@ "I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY" - It's political satire. It's probably the LEAST guilty of "lies, trash talk, and propaganda" because it never purported to be factual news. It's on Comedy Central for crap's sake.
Dave @ Feb 7th 2008 12:23PM
I was NEVER EVER happy with it. It was so little above CD that i just felt robbed when i got 1000$ DVD burner.
Ty @ Feb 7th 2008 2:04PM
Jeff. I love you.
Mike @ Feb 8th 2008 12:41PM
Jeff, there are problems with your statistics.
First off, watching any show that discusses current event and politics is going to give you a better grasp of what is going in comparison to the average citizen because the average Joe doesn't watch the news, read the newspaper, etc.
Secondly, of course the younger demographic of the Daily Show is more likely to have a 4 year degree. Going to college these days is expected... it is the norm. 20-40 years ago it was simply not an option for most people. Baby-boomers and older (who are going to be the ones watching general news programming) are far less likely to have a college degree regardless of what channel/program they watch. Its more about a change in our society and education system than it is intelligence levels choosing certain programs.
Skorpius @ Feb 6th 2008 10:06PM
I find the difference between DVD and Blu Ray to be quite stunning and noticeable. Once the Profile 2.0 players come out, I will get one. While I'll not worry about converting ALL of my DVD collection to Blu Ray, anything going forward will definitely be Blu, if available.
Gremlin @ Feb 6th 2008 11:14PM
You know, not only that, but I feel like people aren't realizing that the prices of Blu-ray are going to drop. Fast. Currently, Blu-ray discs carry about a 20-50% price premium over DVD with expensive players being the main barrier to entry.
All I'm really saying is, if you gotta spend $20 to get a DVD, why not spend a couple extra dollars to get it in HD since you spent so much on that HDTV. So, the problem is getting the Blu-ray players in peoples' households? I think I hear a slimmed down $300 PS3 coming this holiday season...
Christopher Bibbs @ Feb 7th 2008 7:39AM
Will Blu-Ray continue to drop in price? With the death of HD-DVD, what will drive Sony to lower the cost of components?
After paying Sony $300 for a DVD player a decade ago, I'm waiting until the prices on Blu-Ray to sink to $100.
TjL @ Feb 7th 2008 10:32AM
1) Blu-Ray prices SHOULD drop, but will they? Am I the only one who remembers spending $8-10 on a cassette tape but when CDs came out they were $12-15 "because it's better and new technology". What happened? People got used to spending $12-15, so the prices never came down. I expect to see Blu-Ray prices to drop a LITTLE but not much. If they do drop more it will be because of #2
2) The movie studios would LOVE everyone to drop DVD and move to HD/Blu-Ray, since it has tougher encryption. Going to be a lot harder getting YOUR movies to play on YOUR devices unless you want to buy a Blu-ray AND then another copy that will play on your other equipment.
Make no mistake, if they could charge you full price for every copy, they would (compare the # of DVDs that used to come with both full-screen and wide-screen in the same package). I expect we'll see some doing like Fox has done with putting a "digital copy" in there, but it will be locked down (i.e. the Harry Potter DVD has a digital copy that only works on Windows devices).
James Bowe @ Feb 7th 2008 11:24AM
Bluray looks amazing. There are a few HD channels that come close, but most don't even compare. And HD-DVD will probably fall soon. That being said, Bluray can be annoying. Every now and then (up to 5 or 6 times during a 2 hour movie) the audio will pause or pop, then come back out of sych with the video. You can get it back by rewinding to before the initial flub, then pressing play, but it's pretty irritating to have to sit remote-in-hand watching a movie you just paid $30 for on a player you just paid $300 for. Is this caused by the excessive encryption? I mean comon, how many of us bother to rip DVD's, let alone 50GB bluray discs. It's not even worth the hassle for 98% of the public. How big is your hard drive? I've got 750GB of space, and I still don't have enough to be stealin all the movies netflix is sendin my way. Nor could I fit even half of my DVD collection on there. Take a deep breath hollywood, you'll be in business a while methinks....
amnigo @ Feb 6th 2008 10:05PM
Using a standard definition TV to watch the Daily Show is a poor life decision, let alone using an HDTV to watch that fud.
austin @ Feb 6th 2008 10:07PM
the daily show would actually look worse on an HDTV. it would be stretched and bad-looking since there is no comedy central HD
Das @ Feb 6th 2008 10:09PM
FUD?
Good god man, it's a comedy show! It's satire!
If you're taking it seriously you're doing something wrong.
amnigo @ Feb 6th 2008 10:15PM
Austin:
Thank you, captain obvious. That was the point of my comment.
Das:
It's satire?
But really, I suppose I used fud in the wrong context. I should have used crap. Jon Stewart just doesn't seem funny to me. Has he ever done a bit without laughing?
I definitely prefer Colbert Report.
TrevynPaige @ Feb 6th 2008 10:29PM
There is more truth in 22 minutes of DS, than there is in 24 hours of "news" on Fox.
amnigo @ Feb 6th 2008 10:35PM
Not true. I'd bet the 12 hours per day they cover Britney Spears is true.
Chebwa @ Feb 6th 2008 10:42PM
"Jon Stewart just doesn't seem funny to me. Has he ever done a bit without laughing?"
Jon Stewart is more in love with himself than Tyra Banks. The only person who loves themself more than those two is Colbert. I hate those shitty interviews he does where he basically acts like an immature jackass to everyone he has on the show.
Reader @ Feb 6th 2008 10:48PM
Colbert over Stewart??? How could you... I suppose it's a difference in sense of humor, but I prefer Stewart's satire versus Colbert's jokes that are akin to Family Guy. Albeit I love both of them, don't get me wrong, just that Stewart wins in my book on all levels (I don't care that he laughs at his own jokes).
Kamokazi @ Feb 6th 2008 11:07PM
For those of you laughing at Colbert, just remember that I'll be the one laughing at you when the bears attack and you are unprepared.
Joey Geraci @ Feb 6th 2008 11:58PM
One of the main appeals of A Daily Show is the complete lack of an ego on the part of Stewart (and behind his character I am sure Colbert has a similar opinion of himself). They don't take what they are doing nearly as seriously as those of us who love them. That is why they succeed.
austin @ Feb 6th 2008 10:06PM
alot of people read this site.
the number of people that voted went up really fast.
Das @ Feb 6th 2008 10:07PM
Most of the media I consume is in the form of downloadable content and streaming video and I only got an HDTV for my 360 anyway so I don't even care about the format war. Seems like an enormous amount of money to pay for something I'd hardly ever use.
Carbonize @ Feb 7th 2008 12:24AM
Agreed. Only way I could get a 360 was to convince my better half that her soap operas would look better on a nice 42" HD TV. As to high def content I just download it and stream it through the 360.
Mike @ Feb 6th 2008 10:19PM
Remember, digital downloads have zero resale value and you waive a lot of fair use rights. Oh yeah, the "HD" downloads right now look like crap. I'm sticking with DVD and Blu-ray.
MEAT! @ Feb 7th 2008 12:01AM
My HD downloads (and I'm not talking from some subscription service) allow me a lot more "fair use" than anything the MPAA can come up with, or even anything they came up with for DVDs. I can play HD in Linux or any other OS. I can play HD without worrying about DRM overhead or intentional signal crippling because some mutilated driver doesn't like my monitor. I can transfer it to any number of backup devices without wondering if some restrictive copy protection scheme is going to stop me.
In short, you are treated more like a criminal if you purchase the movie than you are if you download it. I'll buy a Sony or Microsoft player when I can do what I want with the movie I purchased. If that means waiting five years for the hackers to develop some clever way to get around the various modes of control, so be it.
Mike @ Feb 7th 2008 12:19AM
So, where are you getting these DRM-free HD downloads from? --INSERT SARCASM HERE-- :)
fhyageu @ Feb 7th 2008 12:27AM
When was the last time you resold your video collection? How much did you get per disc?
Carbonize @ Feb 7th 2008 12:27AM
"So, where are you getting these DRM-free HD downloads from?"
The interweb of course.
Sheesh.
MEAT! @ Feb 7th 2008 12:29AM
Why, directly from MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Universal, and Columbia's websites, of course! They finally discarded their antiquated notions of movie distribution and embraced the glory that is internets.
--HANDS BACK SARCASM.-- (Sorry, it's slightly used.)
Spyvie @ Feb 7th 2008 2:28AM
@fhyageu: A few years ago I was short of cash, I found a used record store in Phoenix that paid me $6 each for most popular titles. It was either $6, or they didn't want them at all.
Mike @ Feb 7th 2008 9:19AM
I can sell my used DVDs for anywhere between $2 and $10 each depending on the title. Your digital downloads (legal, of course) don't have any value and don't look anywhere near as good as physical media.
Downloading movies and tv shows illegally doesn't count as part of this discussion.
Pete @ Feb 7th 2008 10:14AM
Please tell me where you are selling DVDs for that much money. They are practically worthless once you buy them. And $30 for BD movies is completely insane. How many times do you watch a movie? I much prefer the digital rental scheme for $5 a pop.
Mike @ Feb 7th 2008 12:32PM
Blockbuster and MovieStop. I get $10-12 for HD DVD and Blu-ray discs.
Blu-ray discs aren't always $30. I love MovieStop since they have used Blu-ray discs from $14.99. Oh, and there's this thing called eBay, too. :)
I like buying movies because I can watch them any time I want, lend them to friends and family, or resell them if I choose.
Cheap digital rentals are another matter, though you are still trading quality for convenience. If you are the type of person who only watches a movie once, digital rentals are a great idea. I just wish the quality was better.
Balam Herrera @ Feb 6th 2008 10:08PM
Whats humble about DVD? Its a great format!
Jeff @ Feb 6th 2008 10:59PM
Agreed. Actually, the main reason I don't regret buying an HD-DVD player is that it's been the best upconverting DVD player I've ever owned.
Mike @ Feb 6th 2008 11:16PM
I've never understood this upconverting nonsense. How is this player going to make my DVD disc (which doesn't change) any better?
thatbox @ Feb 6th 2008 11:55PM
Mike - Good upscalers use better algorithms to enlarge the image. It's similar to choosing the best method for the particular image you're working on when you need to make something bigger in Photoshop. I've never seen the algorithms they use, but I like to think that they're very complicated! Obviously, they can't create new information from nothing, but they can do a better job at resizing it than most built-in scalers.
w00t @ Feb 7th 2008 12:13AM
It's the same kind of technology that's in play when you enlarge the window or fullscreen a movie file on your computer.
The graphics card is filtering the image to prevent as much aliasing and artefacts as possible, and there will always be some!
Enlarge an image in MS Paint and then do it in Photoshop, filtering makes a huge difference :)
timmy @ Feb 6th 2008 10:17PM
Don't have the category I would vote in: DVD was good, Blu-ray/HD-DVD is better.
I've got a Blu-ray player now, and will buy Blu-ray over DVD, but I'll still be happy watching the hundreds of DVDs I've collected over the years. I will only re-buy on Blu in exceptional circumstances (ie. Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc.)
Anthony @ Feb 6th 2008 10:18PM
I've yet to feel the need to buy an overpriced player and media when DVD and upconverting looks just fine to me.
Chris W @ Feb 6th 2008 10:19PM
I think that standard DVD plus a nice upconverting player looks perfectly respectable on my HDTV. That being said, if my player ever dies, I'll likely buy blu-ray.
rektide @ Feb 6th 2008 10:20PM
http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/02/27/1080i-vs-480p-hdtv-smackdown-on-lord-of-the-rings/
NO COMPARISON
EJ @ Feb 7th 2008 8:37AM
Great link. Yeah, DVD is acceptable with a good upconverting player, but hi-def video (I'm doing the Blu Ray thing) is like putting on glasses after years of living with hazy vision. Details like blades of grass in landscapes, the iridescent patterns in the irises of people's eyes, folds in fabric, wisps of hair... there's no comparing DVD and HD/Blu when it comes to those minutia, and they DO contribute to a convincing sense of "being there".
wrabbit @ Feb 6th 2008 10:23PM
To me personally, while the increase in quality when watching BR or HD is noticeable, it doesn't increase my enjoyment of the movie significantly. And even after watching BR/HD it's not like watching regular DVD makes me wanna say "what a crap quality". So while my next DVD player will be HD or BR (the latter seems more likely now) I'm not in a rush to get it.
You know what I would like to see when it comes to DVD movies - normal menus with good response time. Where do these menus' designers get off on making menus that half the time you can't tell which item you selected or not, it takes 2 seconds for it to respond to a selection and those stupid footage loops in the background - don't get me started on those! Is it really too much to ask to make a decent loop that doesn't skip when comes to the end?!?
Tiptup300 @ Feb 6th 2008 10:45PM
The menu systems for dvd's seem to be all the same. With the only abillities to display video, images, and play sound. With choices being a gif like display.