For those who have takin the plunge does it suck when you try to watch a regular dvd? I'm debating on waiting for an HD player when prices come down and more combo players hit the market.

Part of me kinda thinks if I watched an HD movie and then the next night had to watch a sd movie that it might be hard to sit through.

I especially have a hard time watching SD versions of movies I know a HD version is out there. But, I can manage.

Not for me. I'm buying both HD DVD & BD discs now, but I still often watch SD DVDs, and also still buy them when there's no HD version available.

HD is a big plus, but the content is alot more important. SD DVD also still looks pretty good to me, not HD quality for sure, but still pretty good and very enjoyable when you're watching good content.

I agree, especially with new releases and SDDVD mastered in "HiDef". It's not like going from VHS to DVD.

Cheers,
TP.

Not for me. I'm buying both HD DVD & BD discs now, but I still often watch SD DVDs, and also still buy them when there's no HD version available.

HD is a big plus, but the content is alot more important. SD DVD also still looks pretty good to me, not HD quality for sure, but still pretty good and very enjoyable when you're watching good content.

Nope, I'm the opposite. If I haven't seen it, and I know it's coming on HD-DVD or Blu-ray, I won't even watch the cable HD version. I want the first experience to be the best.

I haven't bought any movie DVDs since HD-DVD came out in April '06. I cannot abide SD material any more...

At first I just couldn´t go back to SD at all. Where did the details go?? ;)

But I have gotten so used to HD now that I just don´t get that WOW feeling anymore. And lately I´ve been watching a whole lot more SD DVD:s as well.

DVD still look very good to me. Just saw "Crank" (region 2) upconverted through the PS3 last week and It ALMOST looked like HD. And I was not the only one who felt that.

If all SD-DVD:s looked THAT good, then I could have lived with DVD until the format war was over ;)

And come on folks. It´s better to watch a good movie on DVD than a mediocre one in HD ;)

I rarely watch SD DVDs now and when I do they are strictly rentals. I can't stomach SDTV either. I've been spoiled by BD and HDTV in general.

Very hard to watch SD movies now! What an amazing experience these HD movie formats are!

It has become more difficult to watch SD movies now. I can still enjoy watching the many DVD's that I own, but I haven't bought any since I started on the HD craze. I CAN NOT begin to watch a movie on regular TV anymore though. It is truly horrible. Upconverted DVD's are OK, but that is as low as I can tolerate. :p

I don't. It's either BD/HDDVD or the theater for me.

Forgot HD cable. I will watch some TV in SD however.

Whats bad in my case is that I can't seem to enjoy even a great film anymore unless it's HD. How sad is that.:( I blame Casa Blanca for that.:) If a film that old can look that good then they should all be 5 star.

It depends on the transfer. On DVDs with a good transfer, I don't really have a problem. DVDs with a subpar transfer are really hard to watch though.

The only movies that I buy these days on DVD is cult classics from Anchor Bay, Blue Underground etc. Most of those movies are soft and grainy low budget movies that probably won´t look THAT much better in HD anyway.

Take a look at "The Terminator" on Blu-Ray or "An American Werewolf in London" on HD-DVD for an example.

When it comes to lowbudget cult classics, I will rent them first to be sure it´s worth the upgrade.

I'd have to say its hard to go back. I've had a player for about a month, and I haven't bothered to buy any SD-DVD since. There are quite a few movies I want that aren't on HD yet, but there are enough to keep me occupied for a bit. On a really good DVD, I'd be willing to watch, but some SD-DVDs are really bad and I can't help being bothered. Its like going back and watching a 4:3 pan-and-scan after experiencing widescreen. After a point, you are just not going to want to go back.

Watching Tombstone now on SD. A good movie is still a good movie.

Well. I watch movies in SD DVD which converts very nicely on my A2, HD from HD CBL and HD DVD. No I can't watch a plain SD movie on CBL any more. But I do watch favorite TV programs in SD CBL from Discovery (Mythbusters) and The American Musclecar on SPEED just to name 2

For those who have takin the plunge does it suck when you try to watch a regular dvd

I struggle to go back to watching SD-DVD after experiencing HD-DVD for over 6 months now. Even superbit titles don't do it for me.

Ive only bought 2 SDs this year and they were Borat and Snakes on a Plane. I really dont like watching SDs anymore and have been selling them at a rapid pace. Before you know it every movie will be available on one format or the other.

For those who have takin the plunge does it suck when you try to watch a regular dvd? I'm debating on waiting for an HD player when prices come down and more combo players hit the market.

Part of me kinda thinks if I watched an HD movie and then the next night had to watch a sd movie that it might be hard to sit through.

Not for me.

I have no problems watching standard definition.

And to be honest, that's the kind of problem I think only Paris Hilton-like people would have.
:D
"Puh-leeease, take this horrendous image away from me! I can't even apprehend what's on... and it's flickering so bad... it's giving me a headache! take it away! Arrrgh! Arrrgh!!"

Not for me.

I have no problems watching standard definition.

And to be honest, that's the kind of problem I think only Paris Hilton-like people would have.
:D
"Puh-leeease, take this horrendous image away from me! I can't even apprehend what's on... and it's flickering so bad... it's giving me a headache! take it away! Arrrgh! Arrrgh!!"

Paris Hilton like? I just want the best for myself. The best way to watch movies and TV is in Hi Def. Everything just doesnt look even close to the same.

I still watch upscaled DVDs all the time, BD/HDDVD obviously looks better but the with a good upscaler the difference isn't that big and I'd rather watch a good movie in SD than crap in HD anyday.

I avoid watching SD if HD is available or likely soon will be. I don't buy SD anymore, but rent plenty, and complain to my gf when it's a DVD with poor PQ.

Cant watch them anymore. Sold all my DVD`s!

I am coming back around...content first, PQ second.

Still if there is any choice at all HD all the way. Some DVDs with good transfers are fully watchable however.

It all depends on the transfer of the DVD version. I was watching the 2 disc edition of Top Gun yesterday on DVD and it looked really good upscaled on my A2.

But when I stumble on a non-anamorphic DVD, I cringe. Thank god we don't have that problem anymore with HD discs.

Sometimes it is difficult but if you want to see a new film that is only available on the other format or watch an oldie that is unavailable on HD, you have no choice.

For example, my wife always wondered where I got the word "assface" from. So, we rented Fletch from Netflix and watched it this past weekend. She had never seen it and loved. I, of course, laughed my ass off..."Dr. Rosenpenis." :)

Yes.

I very rarely watch DVDs anymore, they just look out of focus to me now :/

Thankfully I have lots of HD DVDs and Blu-rays to fill my movie watching time! :D

Yes it is hard for me to watch SD movies. But it is probably for a different reason. From what i can tell SD movies look great on my old SD 36" TV but they look noticably worse on my 50" HD tv. Moving to HD has really made me appreciate how well my old SD tube displays SD programming. It really irks me that my expensive HDTV doesnt hold a candle to a 8 year old SD tube for 85% of the programming I watch. Now if i could just convince the wife that we need both tv's in the living room! lol

The bulk of my watching is still SD DVD. Content is king. If I have the choice, I'll get the HD version, but that's usually not an option.
J

I'm into HT because I've always been passionate about watching movies. So while I'm BIG into the technology, it's still "movies first." That is, if a movie isn't available in HD I'll still watch the SD.

I've borrowed a friend's projector for a while and I'm projecting very big (up to 114"wide/11 feet viewing distance) images, from my Tosh A1 HD-DVD player. To my amazement I'm still enjoying my SD DVDs at this size. There are obviously significant advantages for HD at this size to say the least. The flaws and lower res of the SD DVD certainly stand out more. And yet, it's still a very enjoyable, cinematic experience. I'm finding that a picture rich in contrast and other nice qualities goes a long way to maintaining a satisfying image, even in lieu of higher resolution.

I still watch many SD movies (but of course watch the HD if it's available).

There's too many good movies that are only on SD to not watch them. I feel for people are missing out on great movies simply because they're only available on SD.

I also find it depends on the transfer. I prefer to watch a good movie in SD rather than a poor one in HD. The Tosh HD player is a great upscaler so if the transfer is good and compression is done well, it can look nearly as good as some of the poorer HD transfers do. And this is watching on a Sony 1080p FP on a 109" screen.

I don't want to limit my choices to the best movies released in HD.

I still haven't bought a HDM player (though I'm itchin'....). The good news is that for me, DVD's are still perfectly watchable. I have a older HD widescreen rptv (Pioneer 58" CRT). It cost me a cool 4500 about 6-7 years ago... Coupled with a good upconverting player (limitation:has to do Component, so I use either the Zenith 318 or my htpc) it still looks very nice.

That said, I've seen some releatively ok configured setups at Bestbuy/CC (I don't think they are perfect by any means..) which look very sharp both BR and HDDVD - that handily outperforms my system.

[QUOTE=Vader424242] I am more interested in the movie than I am being able to pick out every dimple on that guy in the far background

This is by far the most enlightened comment I have heard on this topic, whatever happened to content?

90% of Hollywood movies maybe worth watching once, but do you really think anyone except the mentally challenged, would actually want to watch a movie like Snakes on Plane more than once? Let alone pay a premium price to own it... mo money than brains as the saying goes.

Yeah yeah the PQ is dazzling, but the movies still have poor acting, lame plots, predictable story lines etc.

I have no trouble with SD discs provided some care was taken in the transfer. To be honest, I have NOT been blown away by every HD release I have seen.

My favorite films are my favorite films. Period. Sure, I would love for the best HD releases ever to be available for all my favorites. Who wouldnt? The reality though is that this will NOT be the case for a very long time so in the meantime, upconverted SD DVD is 100% OK with me. I just watched The Patriot in Superbit the other night and it looked and sounded terrific. Never once id I say "Damn, I just cant enjoy this because it looks fuzzy" or whatever. Totally enjoyed it. Period!

Like others have said....Content is the whole point to this. Some people buy discs just because the transfer is good even though the movie is horrible. Thats just crazy..... :confused:

One thing I do see is that those with the wall-sized screens are the first to want everything in Full HD. This makes sense and I understand their position. But, fo us normal people ;) with 50" or under screens its not as much of an issue.

I still watch SD DVD's on my new 102" screen (HD1000u 720p DLP projector), but they look a bit too blurry for my tastes, upconverted and all. OTA HDTV looks substantially better. I imagine once I get an HD player, it will be a lot harder to watch anything in 480p.

I honestly never realized how low end DVD's were until I upgraded from a 36" CRT to my projector. I used to think DVD's were practically HD - how wrong I was.

Harder to watch DVD's and hard to listen to as well. Though I still watch them, I'd much rather they were all on blu-ray though as it is truly amazing :D

I have zero problem watching SD. I have more frustration watching HD that doesn't wow me enough. I prefer stunning HD.

It is, if I am watching source simply for its technical merits and I'm afraid I've too many of those so I've become a little more circumspect in my purchases.

If I'm looking for aesthetic value then I'm quite willing to watch scratched Super 8.

ted

I don't imagine I'll buy many new releases on SD DVD, but for older titles that I have yet to add to my collection, it's hard to deny the value equation.

Best Buy regularly has a selection of 10 to 20 DVDs for about $5. I don't buy Blu-Ray or HD-DVD discs from retail locations, but if I did, I'd be paying the full MSRP of between $25 and $40. That's utterly absurd to me when you're talking about movies that may be worth watching more than once, but aren't really showcase material.

When I see next-generation releases like "Coming to America", "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "Scooby-Doo", "Broken Arrow", "Rising Sun", "A Christmas Story", and "RV", I really have to plead ignorance about what target audience the studios were looking to capture. I'd buy almost all of the titles I mentioned for $5 because $5 is just a few nickels more than a Block Buster rental, but for high-definition prices, you have to be joking.

How could "Coming to America" possibly benefit subjectively from being on Blu-Ray? Sure, objectively you could quote the resolution and audio specs, but will you honestly find it any more or less hilarious in 1080i/p? Any reasonable person would have to say, "no."

I don't blame studios for putting the material out because I understand that their business model includes exploiting "completists" who need the latest version of their favorite flicks and early adopters who suffer from a dearth of quality releases. That really leaves the onus on the consumer to make some intelligent decisions about their purchases, and I'd frankly question that intelligence if it decided to pick up a $30 version of Caddyshack that only further emphasizes the ruptured capillaries in Rodney Dangerfield's nose.

For those who have takin the plunge does it suck when you try to watch a regular dvd?
No.
It's not as good, but the quality of the film -- subject, script, acting, cinematography, etc. -- is far more important than HD vs SD.

I once made the mistake of showing a buddy how well the HD-XA2 scaled DVDs using the Star Wars III DVD. Watching "Letters from Iwo Jima" afterwards on HD DVD was somewhat anticlimactic. It is more about content than technology..

That being said, watching the re-mastered Fifth Element on Blu-ray is a real treat -- the best of content and technology.

And come on folks. It´s better to watch a good movie on DVD than a mediocre one in HD ;)

I could not agree more! First and foremost give me a good movie.

The bigger the screen, the harder it is to watch SD. I do agree that the movie trumps PQ anyday though.

Harder to watch DVD's and hard to listen to as well. Though I still watch them, I'd much rather they were all on blu-ray though as it is truly amazing :D

I'm with you on this. There are way too many HiDef dvds out there that are just not better or not better enough than the SD of the same movie.

That could possibly explain why HDDVD is selling tons of boxes, but Blu Ray is selling more software.

Can I WATCH SD-DVDs? Well, yeah. Some DVDs have excellent transfers, and upconvert nicely through my PS3. There are some movies that I just plain enjoy, that aren't out on HD, yet. I have far more DVDs on my shelves than either HD-DVD or BD have released.

Will I BUY SD-DVDs? No. It's bland and lacking, compared to what I now know it could be (HD). Why would I spend money (even if just a percentage of the cost of an HD-DVD/BD), when I KNOW I am getting something subpar. I'll rent or DL, if I REALLY want to see something not available in HD and that I don't already have...

I try to buy 4 DVD's a month for $5.50 each - only widescreen enhanced. My A2 does a super job upconverting these on my 50" PDP. It is the movies that I love - not the technology - which only improves the presentation - not the movie.

I still have a dozen LD's - movies that still are not out on DVD.

To me it is the movie - the plot - the acting - the cinematography - the special effects. I have been a movie lover for over 40 years.

So there are over 80,000 movies on DVD and less than 600 on HDM - why limit yourself to just a handful of movies?

Well mastered DVD's don't bother me much but I can no longer tolerate analog TV or 480i cable, digital or otherwise on my projector.

- Tom

Well mastered DVD's don't bother me much but I can no longer tolerate analog TV or 480i cable, digital or otherwise on my projector.

- Tom
Actually, that is me too. Now it is only Blu-ray, HD-DVD, SD DVD and ATSC. My kids and wife are the only ones that still put up with the VCR and my TV is much better than the most with 480i over s-video.

Well mastered DVD's don't bother me much but I can no longer tolerate analog TV or 480i cable, digital or otherwise on my projector.
Agreed.
When there is content on TV or cable that I want to watch, it's time to turn on the 27" tube TV.

When I do get HDM, I will probably buy very few older movies, except some obvious favorites of mine that I think should look particularely well in HD. I have most older movies I would watch on DVD already ($5-10/piece mostly). Even for new movies, if I were to buy the HDM version, I would probably limit to anything that should look spectacular/gets very good audiovisual reviews. I think very few comedies would qualify in that category. As someone mentioned, for a few laughs, imagequality is very low on the list of priorities...

I was watching the Indiana Jones Trilogy and it was pretty hard to watch them. Just not the same. I want them on HD.

Yes!! Very hard.

I have a 110" screen and 1080P projector. We had all of the neighborhood kids over the other night to watch The Lion King in SD and it looked great. I think that the animated stuff on a good upscaling player looks very comparable to HD. Several of the parents even said the movie looks better in HD not realizing that it was only SD (upscaled to 1080P).

This is the problem I see for HD. If you have a great de-intelacing/upscaling DVD player, why buy a movie in HD knowing that it will not work on all of you other players. I have a portable player, one in our van, one in our kids play room and one in my bedroom. It is for that reason that, at least for a long while, I would not consider buying most movies in HD. This is especially true of Disney.

I forgot, I did get suckered in to buying 2 combo discs for this very reason.