25 replies to this topic

[IanD]

Alfred Smith, on Nov 10 2006, 06:10 AM, said:

Considering the number of customers that will utilise HD that is not even remotely economically feasible for a DVD library. How many local suburban Video stores had Laserdiscs available for rental despite the thousands of LD players in use? I would suggest nearly none.
DVD is not and never was a niche product. Everybody I know wanted a DVD player and now everyone has a DVD player. Everybody! Only one person I know is interested in HD DVD and he has said that he will wait. He is not interested in paying $1500 for another Beta machine and neither am I.
I don't think Blockbuster is interested in spending $millions to make you and a few thousand HD DVD player owners happy.
This is a valid point but more important is how may people will be able to take advantage of this higher resolution. You have to sit awful close to a 42" plasma to appreciate HD.
I have a hi-res widescreen monitor and watching DVDs from a couple of feet away from a 22"screen is not comparable to watching a couple of metres from a 132cm screen. 1080i TV on my "little" PC monitor is nowhere near as good or as much fun as watching upscaled 720p on my "big" screen.I know which one I'd rather watch.

I'm sorry that I used the term "niche" in a different context:  my recollection is that DVD rental started experimentally as a small "niche" shelf in the store full of VHS tapes.  There weren't many titles initially placed on display and it was not particularly well advertised, but seemed to be more for those who already knew about the format.

I don't think any video library will spend millions to make owners happy, but I do think some will test the waters to determine the popularity of what could become a mainstream product.  The introductory cost is not that great for a video library.

The big advantage of blu-laser is that it is an extension of the DVD format the public is now comfortable with and being backward compatible means it can be adopted and will not become a boat anchor if the new format fails (unlike laserdisc or D-VHS), as HD-DVD is by all accounts an excellent DVD player too.

Viewing distance is an interesting subject.  I read an article by Sony related to the introduction of their Kirara Basso widescreen fine pitch TV many years ago.  It suggested that the best immersive impact of widescreen TV was obtained at a viewing distance of 3 times the screen height:  no wonder they needed a fine pitch TV.

To quote from the brochure: "Research has determined that the 16:9 screen ratio is closest to the natural way people see.  When the field of vision is over 25 degrees wide, the viewer gets the impression of actually being in the picture.  Viewing a 16:9 screen from a distance 3 times its height, creates a full 30-degree field of vision, giving the viewer the sensation of being drawn into the picture.  This is called the Wide View Effect and it creates incredible visual impact for a more powerful emotional effect on the viewer."

Personally, I don't think widescreen TV has been introduced to the public in the way it was originally intended:  as a fully immersive experience different from conventional TV.  The majority of the viewing public will probably still view a widescreen TV in the same way they did with their 4:3 TV.  Consequently, a huge TV is not necessary:  you just have to sit closer and this is where high resolution becomes essential.  Of course the larger the audience, the larger the screen required.  I think the video industry has failed to progress the immersive experience by simply going for larger and larger screens, when they also should have been advancing miniaturised personal immersive headgear.

I use a 19" monitor as my HDTV and sitting 50cm from the screen gives me a much more immersive experience than with my conventional 80cm TV, so I can begin to understand what Sony was on about.  It takes some getting used to though, because we have been conditioned for so long to the large screen but smaller field of view.  I think we will have to agree to disagree over our subjective experiences.

SDL, on Nov 10 2006, 06:37 AM, said:

The problem is people will borrow them and not have a HD player, then wonder why they don't work. I haven't been in a video rental library for about 10 years, but as I recall the staff weren't really the sharpest tools and wouldn't likely warn people.

This is why a cartridge system, obviously different from a DVD, would have been a good idea to differentiate between the products, as well as helping preserve the integrity of the disc from wear and tear.  At least the customer would quickly realise that it won't even fit in the DVD player.