Topic: DVD quality in the Philippines have gone downhill

[keating]

Just browse on astro to kill time, wrath. And yeah the prices of R1 dvds are getting cheaper and cheaper. Was it the effect of the coming Blu-Ray dvds and other format in the future?

I can't imagine Criterion dvds replaced by Blu-Ray dvds.

[av_phile1]

I can't imagine Criterion dvds replaced by Blu-Ray dvds.

Why not?  Seems everything is replaceable. Except ofcourse your loved ones. 

[slowhand]

Criterion used to be a premier laserdisc label. I don't think they're tied to any particular format. In fact I think Criterion fans would benefit most from the high-def formats, just like they do now with dvd.

keating, I do know what you mean -- it's hard to think about spending again for our beloved Criterions. Come to think of it, maybe I should stop buying them...

...back to topic...I'm an R3 newbie myself, and only recently started buying R3s, at mall "sales." Maybe one in four that I got is of acceptable quality. Maybe I should stop buying at these "sales" too...

[keating]

That's what I mean, slowhand. After spending your blood, sweat and tears on those criterion labels, I don't buy the idea of changing to another format and making your collection obsolete.

[av_phile1]

Criterion used to be a premier laserdisc label. I don't think they're tied to any particular format. In fact I think Criterion fans would benefit most from the high-def formats, just like they do now with dvd.

keating, I do know what you mean -- it's hard to think about spending again for our beloved Criterions. Come to think of it, maybe I should stop buying them...

Sadly but surely, obsolescense is the only thing certain about current video formats.  Just a matter of time before they go the way of laser discs and VHS. Ofcourse that won't prevent collectors from sticking it out with their collection. 

...back to topic...I'm an R3 newbie myself, and only recently started buying R3s, at mall "sales." Maybe one in four that I got is of acceptable quality. Maybe I should stop buying at these "sales" too...

The thought has also occured to me, suspecting further that those distributors are really just clearing out their inventories to give way to the new formats.   

[av_phile1]

Looking at those titles I got on sale, I tend to concur that at least the DVD packaging of most titles here has gone down over the last year.  And with the trend towards shrinking DVD9s to DVD5s, the disc quality itself has suffered.  I think this is more in line with many industrial developments like value engineering - keeping production cost at its lowest possible point so they can retail lower to get more market shares, while maintaining profit margins in total.  Disc quality suffers.  But that is often obvious only with large high definition screens which only a fraction of the market has.  Most households with TVs below 29" wouldn't show much of the degradation. These are the intended market of these watered-down titles.   I think market realities here dictate water-down qualities.