Posted by Kimba W. Lion on 12/24/93 11:28

karlpov <karldotpov@deletethisverizon.net> wrote:

>The remasterings are, of course, not high-def. Is it likely that we
>will see triple-dipping in the future with high-def editions, or would
>high-def be likely to enhance movies this old?

Triple-dipping is the point of the push for a new format. The DVD market is
no longer expanding at 100% per year, and the companies think they can
re-create that.

Any movie, no matter how old, can benefit from a proper transfer to a
higher-resolution format, but the main questions are, how much of a
difference will it make on a standard home screen, and how many people will
actually notice the difference? I'm not talking about DVD geeks who already
know what the formats are, I'm talking the average person who still has an
SD TV, thinks VHS looked pretty good at the SLP speed, and wishes that DVD
movies didn't have those black bars on the top and bottom of the picture.
This is the market where the majority of sales are made. Re-buying stuff
that's been out on DVD ain't gonna have much appeal to them. Whatver hi-def
format survives the format war is probably going to be merely a niche
format, like LD was during the heyday of VHS, so expect sustained high
prices and limited releases.

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