D-VHS® D-Theater™ Pre-Recorded Movies Are Great
Dear Gary:
After purchasing a 2 million pixel 1920 X 1080p display I am now enjoying watching 1080i HDTV D-VHS® movies. D-VHS 1080i D-Theater™ is awesome compared to 480p DVD. Movies in D-VHS have a very good quality color depth and images appear to be three-dimensional even though the display, of course, is only 2D. I understand that D-VHS is a niche format like LaserDisc. As soon as HD DVD comes out, the D-VHS format will die like LaserDisc did when standard DVD was released. I just wish D-VHS would start releasing more titles. Of course I can always use the VCR to make perfect bit to bit recordings of HDTV programming with the built in HDTV tuner.
shonmccallum@juno.com
Editor-In-Chief and Publisher Gary Reber Comments:
I’m with you both! After spending nearly 100 pages of coverage on the high-definition D-VHS D-Theater tape format, sadly both JVC, the developer, and the four studios who initially released titles on the format––Artisan Entertainment (Lions Gate), DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and Universal Studios Home Entertainment––have apparently abandoned the format. No new player introductions or movie releases have been forthcoming for many months. I believe that the anticipation of an HD optical disc format that records HD and plays pre-recorded HD content was imminent. Of course, the truth is that a format war is raging with no certain outcome.
I supported the D-VHS D-Theater format because it offered serious home theatre enthusiasts an opportunity to begin to experience real HD resolution and picture quality, and to begin to appreciate how dramatic this quality adds to the experience. Display manufacturers also benefited, as they now had 1080i pre-recorded movies to demonstrate their technologies. And retailers benefited because they now had the same movies to entice customers to purchase new HDTV displays. The studios benefited because they had a format to evaluate their mastering capabilities and to have yet another revenue stream that didn’t threaten their DVD business. It was a win-win scenario.
But something happened. I don’t know what. JVC stopped supporting the marketing of the format. And the studios, without such support found movie releases in D-Theater not at the volume levels they had hoped for.
Hopefully, manufacturers and studios will be encouraged by your letters. I know there are thousands of enthusiasts out there who have players who would be thrilled with new releases, especially those day-and-date with DVD.
Let’s hope that apathy won’t be the result of the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc format war, resulting in a similar scenario.
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