Blu-Ray/DVD Collections

[Someone Weird]

Back in the day of VHS, I collected quite a sizable amount of horror/exploitation films through mail order etc. (usually 2-on-1-tape) as well as the occasional high street sell thru title, and had a few hundred tapes filling my room before DVD came along.

With the advent of DVD, after a few purchases I decided to replace all my VHS collection with DVD (which I still regret as I got rid of some real rarities!), as it was clearly a better format, took up less space and it was quite a good leap going from VHS tape to disc, as tapes deteriorated quickly and you had to rewind them etc. etc.

Now that Blu-Ray is the next big thing, do all you who have collected DVD intend to replace your entire DVD collections? This time round I'm not so fussed and am in no hurry to upgrade to Blu-Ray, and even if I do I don't think I will replace much of what I already have as I am more than happy with the DVD releases. Are you quite excited about the prospects of Blu-Ray? Will a Blu-Ray disc of Cannibal Man or a cheesy Paul Naschy flick really be worth upgrading (enjoyable enough films, but still...)? To me the jump from VHS to DVD was obvious and a no brainer, and quite an exciting time for horror fans who were able to get their hands on nasties easily and in great condition. I'm not feeling anything about Blu-Ray, though its clearly picking up steam and some people here are rating it. Just curious to see to what extent you are going: Blu Ray for all non-DVD titles, re-buy some faves, or re-buy the entire DVD collection. Or not bothering with Blu-Ray (for now) at all?

[Vaughan]

I won't replace everything. But I have a core list of titles i would always upgrade - Universal horrors, the silent classics, Argento, Fulci etc.

However, I'm buying an awful lot of SD right now. I have Blu-Ray playback, but it's not been enough for me to jump in hardcore.

The main reason for this is my projector. I have a 42" Plasma, and of course hi-def content looks good on that - but the fact is, I rarely watch movies on it. Why watch on a 42" screen when I have an 84" screen with my projector?

But my projector is only 720p. So hi-def content isn't extraordinary on it. I need to upgrade my projector to a 1080p model to truly give me the WOW factor - and that's not happening any time soon. So I'm holding off.

For many people it'll still be the cost of the discs, the cost of the players, and region coding that locks them out of cheaper imports. I'd deal with all that - but my primary display just doesn't do a good enough job of upgrading - so I'm holding off for a bit.

[ForestFilmsUK]

I'm only planning on replacing sub-standrd DVDs, ie those with bard artifacting, sound, or my more watched non-anamorphic releases. The original r1 of THE THING is a must replace, falling into two of the above categories.

In all honesty, I'm still pretty mcuh happy with DVD, and have been since it started. Blu_Ray offers the 24p as the real advantage for me. I actually think that 1080 is too high a res in some respects. It's so sharp, when you consider that film looks a lot softer than that when proejected across a cinema, it isn;t really giving a true recreation of the image. DVD is actually closer.

I've already been using Blu-Ray cameras to film, so going Blu is very practical for me from the hardware format side.

Some DVDs are such good quality and sharp anyway, the only real disadvantage with them is the HD sets do bad jobs of showing them, and finding a genueinly good upscaling machine doesn't seem easy.

[Deranged]

Just curious to see to what extent you are going: Blu Ray for all non-DVD titles, re-buy some faves, or re-buy the entire DVD collection. Or not bothering with Blu-Ray (for now) at all?

Whilst I've taken the step up to Blu-ray there's absolutely no chance I'll be replacing my DVD collection (or even wanting to). Whilst I'm sure I'll double dip on some titles that I already own on DVD I'm only really intending to buy movies that are more recent or not already owned on SD. I'm certainly not as enthusiastic with BR as I was with DVD (and laserdisc before that) which is probably reflected in my (at present) small collection!

[Myersfan73]

I've been buying Blu-ray for the past 10 months & I'm really careful about what I upgrade. I think any disc that comes with wow factor has to be restored from the ground up or be a new movie.

Blade runner, Pan's Laybrinth, I am Legend & Batman Begins all have really good wow factor. Where as Dawn of the Dead, The Untouchables & Patriot Games for instance are not a million miles away from ther SD-DVD counter parts.

For me the upgrading of DVD's to Blu-ray all depends on what I'm getting for my money. The ABUS Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray can't compete with there 4 Disc box set IMHO. The Blu-ray's PQ is better, but the package it's self doesn't compete with the SD-counter part.

I personally think as we are use to outstanding SD-DVD releases, Releasing companies need to pick there game up & give us great packages at good prices. If they don't they'll have a really hard sale on there hands.