Posts from Dooley in thread „question about blue ray“

Quote from Paula

In the interests of perpetuating a "my gun is bigger than your gun discussion" -- if you add up all the movies and television I have on VHS (yes, still have some VHS -- you'd be surprised how many titles came out on VHS and never on DVD), laser disc, DVD and Blu-ray, it probably runs into the several thousands. And no, I don't have time to watch everything and I'm pretty sure I'll end up in Boot Hill with many of them unwatched. (Though most of them I saw at some point, if not actually via the actual video in my collection.)

That's how it is with us obsessive collectors. We keep collecting.

And I haven't even mentioned the CDs and books!

My husband has switched to the Kindle for all his reading so we've been able to go through his shelves and give away quite a few of his books. He had a lot of mass market paperbacks he'd never read again as a physical book.

Display More

Hi Paula,
Reading your posts I'm hardly surprised you have such a collection.
I have been wading through my VHS tapes and putting them on DVD before the tapes fall apart. Actually now I've started converting the files to mkvs or mpegs to save more room.
It's amazing how collections grow, it's only when you stop and take a look you see how big they're getting!

Quote from Stumpy

Thanks, Gorch. I'll sure look where you suggested.

Welcome to the Blu ray club!
Once you're in you won't want to go back DVD!

Quote from wtrayah

Hi Gorch! Hi Dooley! see what your saying about Blue Ray. I say, hats off to you if you want to make the change! My question, what if something comes out in a few years better then Blue Ray? Are you going to update your movies again? See my point? Where does it stop?

Hi Wtrayah,
We're not trying to convert you, honestly! But things do change.

VHS had a consumer lifespan of approx 16 years, 1980 for mainstream availability until 2006 when the last studio released on the format.

DVD has actually lasted longer, having started properly in the mainstream in 92 and still going.

Blu ray kicked off in approx 03 so is already 9 years in and may well not last as long as DVD as technology is moving so, so quickly.

I suppose what I'm saying is, bear in mind they will eventually phase out all these systems; anyone tried buying a cassette recently!

Some of the old movies I filmed off the TV years ago I transferred onto DVD, and more recently onto a hard drive, if I hadn't they'd be lost. Some titles get rarer each time formats change. I'm sure we'll find a few Duke titles won't get upgraded to hi def Blu ray.

If DVDs go the same way CDs, for the first time ever this week, downloads make up a larger share of the music industry than physical cd sales, then it'll be difficult to get the hardware to play the older formats.

I'll get off my soapbox box now! I suppose I'm on a one man quest to make sure some of the old films I love, some of which never even made it onto DVD, survive through the ever changing formats.

Quote from Gorch

I've been through VHS, laser discs, DVDs and now Blu Rays. Managed to miss Beta anyway. I have a 50 inch Pioneer 1080 plasma set in the family room and have converted our basement into a home theater with a liquid crystal projector, five speaker surround sound with a sub-woofer, stadium seating complete with cup holders and a popcorn machine.
The Blu Rays have jaw dropping quality but I don't plan to replace all my other formats. If you monitor Amazon you can find some very cheap Blu Rays. "The Comancheros", for example, is only $10.00 and boasts one of the sharpest transfers I've ever seen. It also has lots of extras unavailable on the other formats. Blu Rays are the closest experience to actually going to the theater.
I figure life is short, and my wife and I are movie fans, so this is our big indulgence.

We deal in lead, friend.

Hi Gorch,
I'm with you there. I've been through all the formats and wouldn't have made the change to Blu Ray had the quality not been a big step up.
In reality, the improvement in picture quality is similar from the change from VHS to DVD.
I think the misconception re Blu ray is many systems you are watching on aren't really set up to show the full potential on the discs.
Any tv that isn't 1080p, the resolution, 100mhz, the flicker rate, just won't do the discs justice.
Also, you can get multi region Blu ray players now which means you can chop and change without worrying where the Blu rays originate from, pretty handy for me as most of the Duke's films are only out in the US and not in the UK yet.

Quote from nordy

I'm generally behind the curve when it comes to technology. I manage to get by without a smartphone, a tablet computer and killer apps. My TV is a Sony, which means it will never wear out. Hate to retire my faithful friend, but I just have to see Duke in HD!

Hi Nordy, I'm a self confessed techno geek so probably right at the other end of the spectrum so thought I'd give you a quick heads up!
There's no point in buying a Blu ray player if your tv isn't up to showing the higher definition, a common mistake some of my friens have made, so you'd need the player and tv to kick things off.
On the plus side, most of the Duke transfers onto Blu ray have been exceptional and a noticeable step up from the DVDs. The other bonus is your old DVDs will be upscaled to the higher definition of the new tv so they'll look better than ever too!
The big trail is amazing on blu ray, Just thought I'd try and make it easier for you to justify making the jump!