Why is SD content still around when there's HD content?

[RCBH928]

maybe the studios charge less for licensing fees if the streamers opt for the lower quality transfers, keeping the higher quality stuff for paid Bluray/digital downloads.

[Ziggy]

maybe the studios charge less for licensing fees if the streamers opt for the lower quality transfers, keeping the higher quality stuff for paid Bluray/digital downloads.

I feel like this would be a bad idea though. I can see people thinking, "Don't waste your money on the DVD/BD, I saw it on Hulu and it looked terrible!"

[RCBH928]

Well it could be the other way around too "I only opt for the higher quality Bluray releases, never watch those terrible transfers on streaming sites"...
This could be the mentality for die-hard fans of any show/movie like say Gilligan's Island

[Michi]

...Not so much for aging, esoteric horror, noir, or western films with no clear ownership and that only Ack, Michi, and me care about watching...and, even then, only if we can stream them for free.

Give us our crappy cinema!

But give it to us for free!

[Ack]

Hey, I pay...when it supports the last rare video rental place in Atlanta...

Go Videodrome!
http://www.videodromeatl.com/

[RCBH928]

I tried out a DVD movie to check its quality, and I could hardly tell the difference between it and Netflix HD stream. Either Netflix is fooling me with SD streams, or my PS is doing upscaling magic. The quality is amazing for something released in 1997.

[Ziggy]

I tried out a DVD movie to check its quality, and I could hardly tell the difference between it and Netflix HD stream. Either Netflix is fooling me with SD streams, or my PS is doing upscaling magic. The quality is amazing for something released in 1997.

The release is from 1997, or the movie is from 1997? Makes a big difference. DVD masters got a lot better as time went on, especially after dual layer discs were common. I remember when I first got the James Bond DVD set. The "Ultimate Edition," not the earlier DVD releases. The Ultimate Edition DVDs look AMAZING, and those are movies from the 60's an onward.

[RCBH928]

I tried out a DVD movie to check its quality, and I could hardly tell the difference between it and Netflix HD stream. Either Netflix is fooling me with SD streams, or my PS is doing upscaling magic. The quality is amazing for something released in 1997.

The release is from 1997, or the movie is from 1997? Makes a big difference. DVD masters got a lot better as time went on, especially after dual layer discs were common. I remember when I first got the James Bond DVD set. The "Ultimate Edition," not the earlier DVD releases. The Ultimate Edition DVDs look AMAZING, and those are movies from the 60's an onward.

no, meant the dvd technology is from '97. The movie was Ant-man.

DVD players can read dual-layers? How does this help bring better picture as I am sure stuff like resolution and bitrate is locked to a specific standard.

[marurun]

DVDs have a large variety of bitrate options. When you pump the quality all the way up for video and 5.1 audio you can barely fit a 2 hour movie on a disc without any extras. Dual layer allows them to include extras and also pump up the quality. This is before special mastering of the video stream.

[Ziggy]

DVD players can read dual-layers? How does this help bring better picture as I am sure stuff like resolution and bitrate is locked to a specific standard.

DVDs have a large variety of bitrate options. When you pump the quality all the way up for video and 5.1 audio you can barely fit a 2 hour movie on a disc without any extras. Dual layer allows them to include extras and also pump up the quality. This is before special mastering of the video stream.

Just to add to this... Basically, it's the same resolution but doesn't have to be compressed as much (the bitrate). A single layer DVD is 4.7 GB and a dual layer is 8.5 GB, that's a huge difference in terms of how much storage space you have to fit a movie.

The James Bond DVDs I referenced, the trailer for that release bragged about a new DVD mastering technique that really improved the quality. I forget the details of it and can't look it up right now, but I was very impressed with it. At that time I had a DVD player and a 720p HDTV, and it was noticeably better quality than what I was use to. It was the best I've ever seen a DVD look at that point.

It wasn't uncommon at all to find early releases that had the movie on one disc and bonus material on a second disc. And it wasn't uncommon for longer movies to be split between two discs. I have an original release of Gangs of New York on DVD and the movie is spread across two discs (this movie is almost 3 hours long). This was especially annoying.

Earlier DVD players might not be able to read dual layer discs. I think it has to do more with the firmware than the hardware. The Wii needed a firmware update to read DL when the first DL game disc was released. Some people have trouble with their PS2 not being able to read DL discs, and this might be do to wear.