Most of Joe Public seem happy to watch 4:3 pictures stretched to widescreen.... or watch fuzzy YouTube videos on laptops, so upgrades to high definition over DVD is always going to be a harder sell than DVD was over VHS. For most folks the increase in quality isn't obvious.
As for the cases - just as in the early days of DVD they're all over the place. MOST are about an inch shorter than DVD but in the UK instead of taking the States lead of making them MUCH slimmer (so you can actually stash a lot more of them into limited shelf width) they've kept the same width as the old DVD. That's what happens when European marketing decide to do their own thing :( (apparently someone decided the thinner cases made the new, more expensive format look cheaper than the old format so changed it for Europe) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Barber Sent: 19 February 2008 16:35 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] HD-DVD / Blu Ray On Feb 19, 2008 3:51 PM, Sean DALY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The deck makers don't mind giving you control, but the disc sellers > do. That spam bit of FBI warning (means a lot in France) is Hollywood, > terrified that they will suffer by not offering consumers what they > want (cf.: the music industry). In both cases the basic model has been > to upgrade physical record formats every few years then laugh all the > way to the bank. They should have taken a clue from the failure of > Super Audio CD. Consumers readily understand the advantages in > investing in a new widescreen telly to better view their 80 or 100 > DVDs, but the idea of replacing all those films yet again, after VHS > (or Beta)?? > True that replacing all those films would be annoying - but the blu-ray/HD players are backwards compatible to DVD. That's the good thing about this particular evolution in format, is that the form factor has remained the same. I'm not sure about the cases however, they look like they might be a different shape? But anyway, it's a nicer transition than, say, to BETA, where we had a completely different tape etc. > > > On Feb 19, 2008 4:26 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > What I /heart/ about the pre-2K bit of plastic is the way it takes control > > over your TV/DVD and insists that you watch the copyright notices and it > > tries to thrust the 'don't copy videos' advert on to you. Why should any > > company have the right to stop you using your own DVD controls and force you > > to watch the messages it demands that you watch. It 'steals' your > > electricity and screen time to display its messages and if you tot up all > > the hours people waste waiting to have control over their DVDs then you > > realise that it wastes a lot of energy and is anything but green. Wonder why > > this imposition hasn't been challenged in the courts. It is a small but very > > annoying thing. > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Ian Smith (Irascian > > Ltd) > > Sent: 19 February 2008 14:17 > > To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk > > > > Subject: RE: [backstage] HD-DVD / Blu Ray > > > > > > > > > > > > Yup. Presumably, in this ridiculous "Must buy into the latest hype even if > > the technology really isn't up to the job and it's totally impractical" > > world we live in people will happily wait several hours after deciding they > > want to watch a movie for their movie to download instead of just inserting > > that "pre-2K bit of plastic" that starts up immediately. > > > > > > > > Michael Bay famously declared that HD-DVD was introduced by Microsoft as a > > deliberate spoiler to Blu-Ray to ensure failure of that format and eventual > > success of the download high def format they were really after. Clearly the > > ravings of a lunatic who hasn't enjoyed the "picture quality" of a broadcast > > on a stuttering iPlayer on an 8MB broadband connection! > > > > > > > > Ian > > > > (happy to be fighting over a comb if the alternative is either watching > > postage stamp sized movies on a phone or enjoying artefacting and poor > > quality that is the Sky HD service). > > > > > > > > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Butterworth > > Sent: 19 February 2008 13:55 > > To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk > > Subject: Re: [backstage] HD-DVD / Blu Ray > > > > > > > > > > > > On 19/02/2008, Matt Barber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Toshiba drops out of HD DVD war - > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7252172.stm > > > > What does everyone think? I thought they would keep this going for longer. > > > > > > > > Bald men fighting over a comb. Now one one them can scrape their scalp to > > their heart's content. > > > > > > > > Putting data onto bits of plastic is so pre-2K... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - > > Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please > > visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. > > Unofficial list archive: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/ > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Please email me back if you need any more help. > > > > Brian Butterworth > > http://www.ukfree.tv > - > Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/ > - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/ - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
