Will older films be produced on blu-ray or HD?

Some older films have already had hi-def transfers to HD DVD. I already watched the HD DVD version of Spartacus from Netflix. And one of the free HD DVDs available from Toshiba with the purchase of a player is Casablanca.

If there's one company that seems really committed to high-def digital, it's Universal. They have a really nice HD station, Universal HD, which shows really nice 1080 digital transfers of movies going back 15-20 years, plus the Northern Exposure series. Anything they show on that network means they've already done a high-rez digital transfer, and many if not all the films they show there are--or probably will be--available on HD DVD.

Universal has 129 HD DVDs available to date, and many of them are from 10-20 years ago, some vintage. To see them all, click here and click the [Next] button to flip through their offerings. So far everything from them that I've seen on the UHD channel or on HD DVD has looked really good. In the case of Spartacus, the limiting factor was the film grain itself, not the digital resolution.

08-23-07: Freemand
I concur with Elizabeth that hd dvd is not necessary to main stream. Hd dvd will have a nitch market like laser disc, sacd, dvd audio and s-vhs.

That may be true for now, but I don't think it will stay that way.

For one thing, people are getting hip to better image quality in the home. DVD showed the public they could get a better picture than broadcast or cable. Look how DVD caught on and replaced VHS in a few years.

Second, the FCC intends to make HD the broadcast standard in a few years.

Third, if you want a cheap, std. def CRT-based TV these days, you almost have to go to a pawnshop to get it. Anywhere you go--Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Sears, or Best Buy, you are bombarded with the look of 42" to 65" 1080p displays. The prices of hi-def are falling precipitously.

I bought my first new TV in 1982--it was a 19" mono Sylvania color TV for $479. Adjusted for inflation, that's $1050 in today's money, which will buy you any number of LCD, plasma, and RP DLP displays up to 50" or more.

Once people buy these and up their cable subscription for HD programming, they will be disappointed with what their DVDs look like. Where before DVD offered the best picture in the house, now it will be the worst.

By then, they'll be able to remedy the situation with a $250 Toshiba HD DVD player, or a sub $199 player from Wal-mart, (or they could choose Blu-ray) which will not only play hi-def DVDs that exceed the visual quality of cable HD, they'll also upconvert their present DVDs to make them watchable.

If they join Netflix, they'll be able to rent HD DVD or Blu-ray titles as soon as they're produced, at no additional cost to their membership.

Once they're hooked on the higher image quality (and really, who wouldn't be, once you get it in the house), how long do you think they'll choose to buy std. def DVDs over the hi-def versions just to save a few bucks? Historically, the buying public has embraced spending a little more to get better image or sound quality (assuming it's on a convenient, readily available format).

They did this with LP over 78, CD over LP, and DVD over VHS. Why not HD DVD or Blu-ray once they have the hardware in the house?

08-26-07: Freemand
Johnny, Its inevitable that the future format will be HD. It has to change at some point, but I think that change will be a very long time. I think it will be 5 plus years before anything out sells dvd.

That's basically what I was saying. The issue was whether HD DVD and/or Blu-Ray would ever get beyond the marginal status of SACD & DVD-A in audio. After 7 years of availability, the hi-res digital MUSIC formats are still marginal in the market.

I *do* think a hi-def format will eventually replace std-def DVD, because it is so much easier to distinguish a large-screen hi-def display in the market place from a garden-variety CRT. And the difference is desirable and affordable. So if everybody ends up adopting the hardware, won't they follow with the software?

Actually, a 5-year transition sounds about right.