So, is D-Theater already dead?  

Check the Digital Software forum.

As far as recordability, the D-Theater equiped JVCs are the only option for 5C content Cable HD, so even though D-Theater itself extends 5C, it's useful for pre-recorded & now recording.

I want to support it. But when you find the tape you want "out of stock" more than just a few times, it is difficult to remain a fan.

Mikey, did you try www.dvdboxoffice.com ? They stock (as far as I know), all the D-VHS released movies.

I have a JVC 40k and a Mits 1100u. Both can record off of the SA3250HD cable box via firewire, in fact the Mits can even record the stations with the EPN bit set incorrectly (the local HD stations). The JVC will not record these (which is the correct behavior), the EPN problem is supposed to get fixed next week. But as for HBO-HD/Showtime-HD/INHD/HDnet etc they both record equally well.

I know the 40K has more issues than the 30K and didn't mean to mix HDTV recording into a discussion in the HDTV recording forum :) Stand corrected on the non-D theater machines taping cable, just haven't heard as much WRT 62xx.

That said I enkjoy both D-Theater prerecords (Master & Commander really shows value of format) and recordability from my unit.

This a thread on D-Theater, not recording. If you want to talk about recording then please start another thread and not pollute this one with a lot of off topic chatter.

Thanks.

--Jerome

I haven't heard anything in quite a while. I wonder how sales of Master & Commander are...

They have two new players coming out soon which will put them at four consumer and two pro models. You'd think they'd ramp up movie releases/production.

I'd love to see features from just the last year and current releases coming up...

Troy

Well, there is a thread over in the Software forum and Universal just announced a handfull of titles (none of which interests me).

For me it's mostly dead. Without Fox it would be tits up. Maybe Fox will surprise us again with another (relatively) big day/date release. Does anyone know what big DVD releases they have on the burner?

Fox and Universal don't understand that you cannot wait for a format to have market share before shipping your content in that format. You have to create the conditions for the customer to conclude it is a winner first and then maybe you will get the market share. (Disney is equally clueless on this issue in general.)

Warners understood this principle with their release of DVD. The first week of DVD releases from Warners in 1997 was more impressive than the entire D-Theatre catalog to date.

I have a JVC 30K machine and have only a few tapes, really for demonstration purposes. I cannot take the format any more seriously than the studios do.

The D-Theater releases of movies are going at a steady pace. First year was 24 titles, last year was 39 titles and this year 20 in half a year - go figure.

Of course as far as quality of the releases is concerned opinions will differ and there is also a consensus that day and date releases from other studios than Fox and of course more day-and-date from Fox are most welcome.

I intend to buy whatever released title may please me, just as with DVD's, after all I already have the VCR and the occasional D-Theater title is a nice bonus :)

Oliver Klohs

My feelings exactly, Oliver.

"So, is D-Theater already dead?"

I'm not sure it was ever alive!

Thanks for the heads up. Seems to be a question of supply and demand.

MASTER and COMMANDER is $42.95 at your site versus $26.09 at Best Prices. Pretty large difference.

Those are Canadian prices, you would have to convert them to US currency.
It's still $33 though.

These titles were announced for a 29/6 release, courtesy of thedigitalbits.com:

2 Fast 2 Furious, Biker Boyz, The Last Castle, The Life of David Gale, Meet the Parents, Out of Sight, Red Dragon and The Scorpion King.

Mark

ptrubey,
I don't think that anybody from one of the supporting studios ever has said something about how they will continue to support D-Theater on AVS, so this forum is not necessarily worse than the digital software and review forum.

You cannot find them for sale at DVDempire or even the place from hell, BestPrices.com. :(

Not that it means much Matt, but all of the titles mentioned are listed on the the Universal Home Video website, along with a reissue date of 7/13 for The Bourne Identity (and you can bet your left n*t that I will not miss out on it this time around--there may not be a third!!).

--Jerome

DTheater might limp along another couple of years with a few new titles every quarter. I bought 3 titles and like them really well but have no plans to buy more. I have decided DVD picture quality is acceptable on my 30" monitor and just don't think the extra cost for DTheater can be justified for me. As an interim format for those that want the best possible picture and sound, DTheater will be just barely adequate but even if thousands of titles were available, I don't think many of us would be building a library.

Chris

I have a 30K, Mits 1100U and 6200 Moto for recording. I bought X-men D-Theater when I got the 30K so I could have one. It was a real treat to pre-order Master and Commander and have it the week the DVD came out. I'd buy more D-Theater titles if they had big name titles like M&C released day for day with the DVD. The Last Samurai would have been great on D-Theater also.
I'd say that D-Theater won't be dead until HD-DVD comes out. On larger TV's DVD is almost unwatchable compared to DVHS.

I bought the JVC D VHS for nothing and have bought 3 titles. They are great, but lets be honest, this D VHS has Betamax and Laser disc all over it. Nobody knows anything about it and the content is essentially UNAVAILABLE. No stores sell it or plan to and 99.9% of internet sites specialising in movie sales don't sell it or don't plan to sell it. So as someone else pointed out; was it ever even alive?

Sure. As several have already pointed out, D-Theater was always intended to be a niche format. I suspect it will survive for many years, filling it's niche, providing those with compatible hardware an enjoyable viewing experience over and above DVD. Works for me.

survive for many years? How many is *many*, archiguy? I have some inside knoweledge about this, but blueray is NOT that far away...Only serious infighting would stop it before 2006 at the latest.

Shah8
So it has about a year and a half before blue ray comes out (at worst). Now, how much longer on top of that before the blue-ray box is around $250 - $300? (A lot of people on here have the JVC 30k for that price. even though it's a referb.) Now on top of that, How much longer before 2 hours worth of recordings on a blue-ray disk is about $3.50?

I'm not trying to bash blue-ray, as I will probably be an early adapter of it. It just seems that this is the only alternative right now. And for $250 for the 30k, and $3.50 for 2 hours of media (recording) it's a great "stop gap"/niche product.

As for the D-Theater, I think it's a very niche product, But I'm going to enjoy the HD content, and view it as a bonus to DVHS.

Dave

well, how about this. It's pretty danged hard to get content, even from the places that are supposed to have it from producer to retail and from retail to consumer. Ya really think D-Theater even *makes* it to niche status? If so, awfully tiny niche...What's more, isn't one of the biggest reasons for JVC 30ks to be that cheap because of it's essential pray if you've got a good one/have to send it in for the fix kind of thing...I.E. a lemon?

Darius

I also am glad I have it since it is my VCR that also plays HD. But I am very reluctant to buy any more DVHS tapes, that is if I can find any anywhere.

Yes the 30k has issues. However, I think that you tend to hear more about the ones with issues on the internet then the ones that don't. I haven't had any problems with mine yet. (Knock on wood...)

Yes it is a tiny niche...

I will still buy D-Theater tapes, at least the major release's. I.E. Master and Commander, Moulon Rouge, etc.... and enjoy the Hi-Def.

Dave

Darius,

If I didn't know you any better I'd say you were suffering from D-Theater envy. But I do know you better than that and I know the sort of movies that interest you, so that can't be it. ;)

It is a tiny niche, but probably not as tiny as you think. One of the reasons we are seeing shortages of certain D-Theater titles is those very same $300 JVC 30Ks. People are snapping them up when they wouldn't give it the time of day for $1,199 (the price I paid for my first 30K). More 30K owners means few D-Theater titles to go around. With the advent of cable boxes with IEEE1394, I'm sure a lot of these folks are getting the 30K to record with, but for them D-Theater is icing on the cake.

There are, however, places that maintain fairly good stocks of D-Theater titles: Widescreen Review and DVDEmpire are first places I try when ordering tapes. There are several others such as Buy.com, but they are less well stocked. WSR is a bit more expensive, but when others are out of stock they seem to have supplies still available.

Those 30Ks are cheap because they are refurbs or open box returns. I am not aware of any retailer or etailer selling them for prices below $300 for NIB product. The going price for a new 30K is still about $460.

I do think the 30K (and probably all JVC D-VHS VCRs) are ticking time bombs. I went through bloody hell, as did many, over a year ago with JVC trying to get the thing fixed. JVC replaced my deck with a new one with all the fixes and that deck has been working perfectly for over a year under heavy use. I hope it and my other 30Ks and the 40K I have keep going strong, but you never know with this stuff.

--Jerome