Why are they removing all the extras?

Yep, I'm getting annoyed with studios removing extras or not bothering to release "Director's/Extended Cuts" on Blu Ray.  It seems studios are not taking the "high definition" format seriously.

I hope Toshiba's new "super upscaler" DVD player will be released this year - as this will save me having to upgrade my old dvds to Blu Ray.

somehow this is probablt better than the remake... i have not seen the original (this)...

Makman wrote: I hope Toshiba's new "super upscaler" DVD player will be released this year - as this will save me having to upgrade my old dvds to Blu Ray.
It's just an Upscaling DVD Player, no more, no less. Don't be fooled by the marketing hype :-).

As Chris says a decent Upscaling chip definitely improves DVDs but it's still not close to even a cheap HD-DVD/BD Player.

@thedaz: My 2 cents here:

"An NTSC DVD image can only innately consist of 720 x 480 pixels."

The posts you're responding to are from people in the UK. PAL has a better native resolution than NTSC. Therefore, the upscaled image will be closer to an HD image than an upscaled NTSC image.

From there, it's down to the individual and their TV equipment as to whether the difference between an upscaled SD image and a native HD image is worth the additional cost to not only buy a Blu-Ray player but also to replace their existing DVDs. If you haven't already invested in a 36"+ screen capable of high HD resolutions, the visible differences between the two can be almost negligible.

For a lot of people, it's not worth the expense, especially when the extras are being left off the Blu Rays. So, they'd prefer to invest in a decent upscaling DVD player rather than a full Blu-Ray system, especially if their old player's on its way out. Get it?

I agree with what you're saying (I made the point myself above), but the trouble is the masses just aren't concerned with quality. In the UK, most people want 'flatscreen' TVs because they take up less space and are the next 'big thing', or so they've been led to believe. Most people don't even have an HD source to take advantage of their sets, so they end up watching compressed cable TV channels scaled to fit their display - but I've not heard anyone complain because they don't know what they're looking at.

Of course there's the cost as well. For many it's just not feasible or cost-effective to upgrade to BD. Upscaling players offer a slight increase in quality by way of interpolation and, as you rightly pointed out, decent ones usually do a better job of scaling and deinterlacing than the TVs themselves. Watching DVDs on my 42" 1080p set through my Oppo Digital, I can clearly see that they have been scaled. They're just not sharp enough and the compression artefacts really show. Of course, I work in IT and have spent years looking at progressive 720p and above resolutions, so I know what I'm looking for. My Mrs. can just about tell the difference now I've educated her, but she doesn't really care...

So, while I agree with you wholeheartedly on the technical side of things, I think we just have to accept that a lot of people either can't tell the difference, can't afford to buy into the technology, or just don't care. If I'm being honest, if I hadn't received my TV through my affiliation with this site I'd probably still be on DVD now. The prices still haven't dropped to a level where it's economical to replace most of your AV set-up for increased resolution and fidelity. Give it a bit more time though...

Toshiba might well sell a few players to regular punters on the promise of near-HD quality, but those in the know will always go for the true HD kit where possible.

is the original scarier? im gonna look for it