a review of X-MEN DVHS is up

[George McFly]

right here on our wonderful DVD site?

[Lo Pan]

I ain't going back to **ugh** tape.

No way, no how.

I'm quite happy with the X-Men DVD...and even happier that the SE is coming soon.

[George McFly]

me too , no tape no way, I'd go to divx before I'd go back to a tape based format
an SE is coming? , isn't the current DVd loaded with extra stuff?

[Wirehed]

I haven't read the review yet. I will though.

anyway.


Tape? I just can't go back, I don't care how much better the quality is, get it together people, tape is just not that answer. I can't see this format living for long at all.

[Marty McFly]

I noticed the review said the tape had Interactive Menus and Scene Access, but how is that even possible with a tape?

[winter_crow]

At age 30 I am afraid I have become to complacent and set in my ways to abandon the DVD player I bought 2 BLOODY YEARS AGO!!!

While it is true that my Wega/Component set up renders the picture incredibly blurry, I simply refuse to switch.

Seriously though, they just spent several years convincing the average consumer to fork over more cash because DVD was standardized and superior to tape...now they are going to try to pitch tape to these people again?

I can't really afford to get into the HD stuff yet anyways.

[LeonardShelby]

Since this thread seems to be more about the discussion of a new format rather than the review of the DVHS X-Men, I'll chime in with my .02.

There is no way I'm going back to tape...

A small list of reasons:

1. No automatic scene access
2. Rewinding and Fast Forwarding
3. Have you seen the price of these Digital VCRs?
4. Did you happen to notice the price of this movie on DVHS? $34.99 - I could buy a Criterion DVD and have some change left over for that kind of scratch!
5. Not too many features on this DVHS release.
6. I'm glad that my video tapes are slowly going away...I can store 2.5 times as many DVD's in the same space!
7. This format will not catch on. People are FINALLY accustomed to watching their movies on a little silver disc. (It only took a decade and a half of listening to their music this way to realize that we could watch movies this way as well! Used to burn me up when I was one of the LaserDisc consumers that used to try to preach to the masses about that format!)

I just wanted to get a little list going...feel free to add your reasons to the list!

[Daniel Shock]

While I agree that this format won't catch on with the masses, some people don't want to wait 5-10 years before they can record high-def programing OR get the most out of their high-def TV's that they've (I've) paid for. It's not likely, though, that my wife is gonna let me buy this anytime soon...

[herald miffkin]

DVHS is an expensive dead end.

The dvd format is already set to evolve again in the coming years.

Only rich technophiles will drop cash for this...and therefore it will fail.

[gachamann]

I guarantee you Lucas will screw us all and release the OT on D-VHS!

Oh God, I don't know what I would do then. Kill Lucas, probably

"Didn't have TIME to put OT out on DVD to your quality standards until 2006, eh?" *WACK WACK WACK!!!*

[thaggas]

Let's not forget shelf life. If you take care of DVDs they can last 150 years. What format aside from LD can say that? VHS shelf life is 15 years, if you don't watch it. Film as we know can't make it through opening weekend. And now they want us to switch back. Here's a tip, sell all your stock in the bozos pushing this format, and put into Pioneer's DVD-R. It'll be below $300 by Christmas 2003.

Heck, I have one and I'm not even a tech-head.

[gachamann]

Very good point. Since it's still tape, will the quality not decrease after every viewing? It may still be twice the resolution of DVD, but it's still vulnerable, over time, due to being an inferior format. How would you notice the degradation in quality; would it perhaps soften? Haven't watched a tape in so long I couldn't say myself.

[thaggas]

Actually what I think happens is you get digital blocking, and high pitch squeals on the audio. Very simliar to a digital cable or satellite signal break-up. This is just from my experience working with other digital tape formats, and let me tell you the shelf life of those is not great.

Although, when it does break-up, those blocks are crystal clear and the audio hiss, whoo baby, never heard anything finer.

"If you couldn't tell I was being saracastic."
"Well, duh."

[Damian]

Originally posted by Marty McFly
I noticed the review said the tape had Interactive Menus and Scene Access, but how is that even possible with a tape?

Marty, where did it say that? Unless I'm really low on caffiene this morning, I didn't see that. I can't see how that would work either. Anybody know if that's possible?

[Marty McFly]

It's to the right of the page (written in the section with the light blue background):

DISC FEATURES

Specifications
- DVHS
- D-Theater Encoded


Aspect Ratio(s):
- 2.35:1 Widescreen


Dolby Digital Formats:
- English 5.1 Surround

DTS Formats:
- None

PCM Formats:
- None

Subtitles/Captions:
- English Closed Captions

Standard Features:
- Interactive Menus
- Scene Access

Supplements:
- None

InterActual DVD-ROM Features:
- None

List Price:
- $34.95

[Damian]

Ahhhh...okay. Sorry....I did need more caffiene thanks.

I don't understand how this would work. Maybe there is some sort of ROM chip inside the tape that the onboard computer can read from.
Anybody?
Anybody?
Bueller?
Bueller?

[DVDriven]

Originally posted by gachamann
I guarantee you Lucas will screw us all and release the OT on D-VHS!

It is the 'better' format, so you know Lucas is already sold.

[aintnosin]

All of the "early adopters" who embraced DVD now have 600-disc collections. Are they going to embrace a tape format with HD-DVD just a few years away?

It is to laugh!

[1138]

It won't deteriorate like analog tapes because it's digital. It'll just start to get obvious pops and dropouts. Sort of like watching sat TV when it has errors I'd imagine.

"I had never developed much of a taste for the Marvel stable of superheroes."

It seems that Peter doesn't like the simplistic "Fight evil because it's right." type of super hero. But then says he never really caught on with Marvel. Seems unfortunate in that Marvel tended to have the flawed and complicated heroes he seems to like. The hated X-Men. The monster Hulk. The lesson-learned-the-hard-way Spiderman. The their-own-fault Fanstatic Four. Some good, complicated stuff there that brings a lot of baggage to the whole super hero job.

[1138]

Some good follow up stuff on the industry apsect of the launch.

http://www.dvdfile.com/news/viewpoin...002/06_28.html

[SeanL]

Marty, I think that interactive menu and scene access is a leftover from their dvd reviews. He probably just used the dvd review template and didn't remove the scene access and interactive menus.

[Donkey]

I'll stick with my DVDs. I am find with them. I can't wait for the X-Men Special Edition!

[Prancer]

The quality of it does sound impressive from the review. Right now, I have no enthusiasm for it. I am still thrilled that I can play a movie from a CD.:p .....teeheehee.

I think the improvements in the DVD format will surpass the DVHS. Well I hope it does.

Poor Lucas.

[1138]

Screw DVHS. I just look at it as a nice little demo of what's to come in the future on a disc format.

[Wirehed]

Originally posted by 1138
Screw DVHS. I just look at it as a nice little demo of what's to come in the future on a disc format.

agreed.

I'm sure as heck not going to invest in a format that's not going to last a year.

[Taxi]

Especially when that investment has 3 zeroes after it.

That, coupled with their "Un-Launch" means that D-VHS has jumped the shark at day one! What a feat.

[thaggas]

I think this hilarious. Here we are a mish-mash cross-section of America and beyond, and in one week we have determined that this format will likely fail. No focus groups, no marketing strategy. Just an honest look at what they're trying to do, and we know it won't last.

On the other side, there's some billionaire pumping money into this thing, doing years and years of research. I can guarantee you, in a board room somewhere, a phrase similiar to, "Market research indicates that there is a niche for DVHS. People want this format and it's going to be the next big thing," has been uttered. I want to meet these researchers. Of course, it would be hard to say hello to someone who has their head so far up their ass.

My only thought is that Beta lasted. Beta is still around. Just pop into a TV Studio somewhere. I know BetaMax was a punchline, but it's cousin BetaSP is alive and well in this nation's newsrooms and production houses. So maybe, that's the intent.

Who knows?

[Damian]

What frightens me about this is there are enough VHS die hards who don't want to convert to DVD because they are either afraid of a new format or simply don't want to have to buy movies again that they may already have on VHS. (These are the same people that hate the black bars mind you.)
So they will see DVHS as their saving grace from the invasion of the evil DVD. Probably enough people to make this format a standard.
Agree? Disagree?

[aintnosin]

Originally posted by Damian
What frightens me about this is there are enough VHS die hards who don't want to convert to DVD because they are either afraid of a new format or simply don't want to have to buy movies again that they may already have on VHS. (These are the same people that hate the black bars mind you.)
So they will see DVHS as their saving grace from the invasion of the evil DVD. Probably enough people to make this format a standard.
Agree? Disagree?

Disagree. What are the chances that such diehard luddites are going to spring for the new HD set they'll need to watch DVHS?

Besides, VHS holdouts can't have that much of a share of the market or CC wouldn't feel safe in dropping pre-recorded VHS like a hot rock.