HDTV: does (S)VCD have a future?

[correioelet2002]

Since I tested my new High Definition TV, I have been wondering if my MPEGs have any future whatsoever... They look disgusting on this TV, and since the future seems to be HDTVs, now what?

The thing is that not only the VCD look worse, but digital cable TV in general also look worse. The only thing that's REALLY much better here are the DVDs and Progressive Scan.

Ok, I understand that it's comprehensible since the HDTV is actually zooming in on a low definition video but what I question is what to do with older stuff like VHS, VCD and SVCD that are in actually pretty good shape! Keep using my old TV forever so I can watch it? Isn't new stuff supposed to get better AND be old-format-compatible?

Any ideas? Thanks!

[DeadLamb]

yes and no.. First I counter that a VCD disk is not going to look that great on a huge tv anyways. So with most new HDtv bought being bigger then the plain TV they are replacing. At least IMO that has to add to the issue some.

second I think SVCD will still be around, even with HDtv being in the end it's still a much smaller file size then some monster 8+ gig HDtv file. Sort of how MP3 are still all over even with bigger formats out there just because MP3 files are just not all that big.. Ya still see a lot of svcd version of tv shows out there on the net, just an easy way to spread them around I guess, even when they come from a widescreen HDtv version of the show.

Clearly IMO SVCD will die off for personal recording of a show if you can get it in HDtv.. If I record a TS stream of a HDtv show I'm not going to stomp it down to VCD, then throw it on a cd-r. Not with DVD-r so cheap and even bigger whatever-disk formats on the way..

I don't know how old you are but this format step up is nothing new really. I know my father had records, I don't even have a record player to play them. I have tapes of music I can't find the CD of being it's out of print and the tapes sound like crap now being they were played too much when I was younger.. Threw out a TON of vhs tapes, even movies I had bought being I have the films on DVD or I just can't stand to watch a grainy VHS tape of pan and scan version of some film.

It just happens.. years from now we might find some of the old DVD to be lame looking.. Heck some of them are lame looking now when you look at say the early version of a film on those first DVD that came out.

not much you can do about it.. Companies do not worry about making a record, 8 track, tape, dat, CD playing music box any more then they will make a tv that plays HDtv and vcd stuff really well.. Ya watch or play the old stuff and embrace the limits of that age tech for what is it..

We just have to happy it's getting better and better all the time.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Do vcr's have a future with hdtv???? YES! It's all a matter of convenience.

People still use audio cassettes even though CD's are superior. It's a matter of budget, nostalgia, and convenience.

Kevin

[Gurm]

While backwards compatibility will be maintained for a while, I don't see it happening.

The only reason VCD/SVCD has hung around THIS long is the same reason for the popularity of the DIVX codec - easier to ship a movie around over the Internet that way because it's smaller.

But in terms of practicality, blank DVD's are now 50 cents each at the outside, often going on sale for even cheaper. CD's are holding steady at $20 for a 50 pack, or $20 for a 100 pack on sale. That's 20 cents to 40 cents each. Since it takes at minimum two VCD's or SVCD's to hold the average movie... the price differential is now moot.

So if you have to ship it around on a network or store it on a hard drive, sure there's still a use for (S)VCD. But in terms of "a future" it hasn't got much of one.

VCR's and Casette decks are in use because of the MASSIVE backlog of existing tapes. Videotapes are currently FAR more expensive than blank DVD's... and less reliable. Casette tapes are MUCH more pricey than blank DVD's.

It's just a matter of time.