DVD Priced For Rental

[gonar]

Does anyone think the time is going to come when DVDs will go the route of first run videos and cost over $100 to buy and then go down to sell-through? Or do you think the studios will continue to keep it at the buyer's level? I worked in a video store for over 12 years and know how much we had to shell out even for the worst movies just to keep competitive in the rental market - will the studios try and recoup their losses by jacking up the price on bad movies that people won't really buy by the thousands, but might rent?

[57U]

DVDs cost almost nothing to produce. They are giving them away on cereal boxes (seriously, I've got one on my kitchen table right now). I don't think they will increase in price.

They charge rental stores the amount they do, because the rental stores make money off the rental of the DVD. Individuals are not "allowed" to make money off DVD purchases, so the price can be lower.

Studios are not hurting from DVD sales (losses - ha!!!).

The studios are not making much money from me, I've got about 25 DVDs, most of which were purchased used. I rent all my movies - there are few movies I watch more than once. The DVDs I've bought are mostly music videos which I do watch over and over, or a couple of movie DVDs for "demonstration purposes".

[mikehbkwm]

57U was just wondering what DVD's do you use for demonstration purposes. do you use them to show off the HDTV to people who dont know much about it or what.........

[57U]

If I had to choose an audio demo, I'd go with the "chariot race" in Star Wars 1, some of the scenes from SW2 were also excellent for audio. SW2 also has some of the best DVD video quality I've seen. Unfortunately I hated, absolutely hated, both movies, so they are not in my collection.

I therefore use Shrek for video and T2 for video and audio for DVDs, because I like both movies and can watch them several times.

To show off the HDTV, there is a demo loop that runs on Rogers that has excellent video quality - much better than DVD. They also have some DD5.1 as part of that loop now. PBS is also usually excellent for video.

[cpaesq]

To Demo my system to people:

Audio:

Airforce One : The scene when they take over the plane, and they scramble the jets (awesome - The jest fly around the room - I still get the chills every time I hear it).


Matrix : Lobby Shooting Spree - Lot's of action to keep people interested, nice mix of music, low freq sound, and the sound of the shells hitting the floor is awesome.

Dragon Heart (DTS): I put on the scene when the dragon is flying around and you can hear his voice from the front and then move around the room as he is talking. (I love watching people's head turn to see where the sound is coming from)

For Video:

Blade II - well for one it is a great transfer of the movie - fills up the screen (I hate when people are like "you still have the black bars").

Shreck - I like to point out how you can see the weave on his shirt, whiskers on his face, and the hair on the donkey.

Star Wars Ep II - Nice transfer, lots of action


HDTV:

HDNET: The best is if there is a Hockey Game on. I like people to see the previews of other HDNET programs - It blows them away.

[gonar]

The production costs of DVDs and videos really isn't the issue. The studios release new VHS "priced for rental" so they can make a lot more money for videos that people won't buy but would rent and probably films that bombed in the theaters. I think that's the reason. So when you say you don't buy and give the studios your money, that is more of an incentive for them to start jacking up the price.