2010 home entertainment preview: not what you will be watching but how

Robert Greenberger

Robert Greenberger is best known to comics fans as the editor of Who's Who In The DC Universe, Suicide Squad, and Doom Patrol. He's written and edited several Star Trek novels and is the author of The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. He's known for his work as an editor for Comics Scene, Starlog, and Weekly World News, as well as holding executive positions at both Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

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5 Responses

  1. Susan O says:

    I'm not sold on any of it. I find Blu-Ray disks an expensive, unnecessary gimmick. First, not all players will play regular, so your huge library of VHS tapes that you spent a fortune converting to DVD is now obsolete once again. Second, unless you have a hi-def TV, you will not notice any difference with Blu-Ray, so unless you're prepared to invest a hefty chunk of money, it's a waste. Third, Blu-ray disks scratch easier than a regular DVD – part of the reason the technology took so long to come to market. They cannot be cleaned/resurfaced like a regular disk – we cannot even clean them at work, and we have commercial cleaners that cost thousands of dollars. For me, temporary downloads are also a ripoff – If I pay $5 for a temporary movie, I'm paying $5 a viewing on someone else's time. If I pay $5 for a Walmart DVD, I can watch it 5x, or $1 a viewing – less, when you hit a movie like POTC or Star Wars that we'll watch 20+ times, and I can pause and resume whenever on my schedule. Also, if I can store it on my computer, I'm out a library if my hard drive crashes (which recently happened). What I don't understand is why we're not applying movies to SD memory cards or USB portable drives, which now readily have enough memory for it, and the data will never scratch, crack in the center, or shatter when knelt on, let alone the space requirements. To me, this is a more logical wave of the future. But then, I'm probably becoming a dinosaur, too. :)

  2. Grandpa R says:

    Started my collection in VHS many years ago, and now am discouraged as many of the VHS tapes have deteriorated and I've lost films not available on any of these new media. DVD, BLUE-Ray, and whatever, I do enjoy the pleasure that comes from having the library and seeing the film I want when I want to. There is another media that you did not hit on that I find of great interest. The DVR. While the ones that are part of packages that require monthly funding are out of my reach, I keep seeing the cost of GIGs going down. So I hope to place my favorite onto Teri-byte external drive(s) that I can play on my TV or PC.

    • mike weber says:

      There are Linux packages that you can use to build your own TiVO style DVR using an inexpensive computer; it'll work with a cable setup – you do have to pay a small monthly fee for programming info if you want full TiVO-like function, but it'll work a treat as a full-function DVR otherwise.External drives might not be the way to go, no matter what, because they're bandwidth-limited by their connection (usually USB), and for truly high-quality video that might not be enough, especially if your processor would be marginal anyway.On the gripping hand, USB 3, which has a bandwidth equivalent to a cable internet connection, is coming. But for that you need either e new computer or an adaptor card…

      • Grandpa R says:

        Thanks, USB-3 sounds like what I'm looking for, and a little patience is many time a valuable asset. Lots less expensive than even a small monthly fee.