Here's one of my shelves of DVD's that has both movies and DVD-Audio and SACD-to-DTS HD Master BD-A's. We have four other shelves the same size - our local library participates in Inter-Library Loan at absolutely no cost to us, allowing US-wide searches of other libraries and to submit borrow requests. Via that, I've managed to find discs that I thought I'd never otherwise get a chance to see. We have our own criteria to decide if we will ultimately own a cloned DVD/CD/DVD-A or an actual retail copy - it's availability. If the desired disc is easily available, at a not-unfair price, I'll buy it every time. But if it hasn't been available for years, or was released then deleted from the catalog/recalled, I have no problems with owning a cloned copy - it's not like the original artist gets any of the money that changes hands when a disc is sold second-hand. And I don't try to sell copies on the net or anything, so no one is out any lost royalties.
I bought DVD X-Copy to make backup copies on my Sony Vaio tower back when X-Copy was legally available from Best Buy and other retailers, and it's been one of our most used computer programs - remember, the owner of DVD X-Copy sued the studios to try and force them to give their blessing to his program?
A few years earlier, in October 2000, we got the first DVD-R/RAM stand-alone consumer recorder offered in America, the Panasonic DMR-20 - I still use it to convert composite LaserDisc signals to Component for viewing on our HDTV because the DMR-20 has correct NTSC decoding with wide-band I/Q axis color decoding and an amazing 3D digital comb filter. It's weird to think back that we paid $6 per blank DVD-R in a 5-pack spindle from Apple (because only Apple DVD-R's were consistently reliable and didn't end up as coasters) and blank DVD-RAM's in a cartridge were almost 10 bucks each. But at least those could be re-recorded or used in a "Tivo-like" manner to watch/pause/rewind 'live' television. I think Panasonic has kept that capability in their home DVD-RAM units. A friend who is also a member of the QQ forum, Greg (Wunlow) repaired films to correct problems, like lack of a stereo soundtrack on the home video release, and in return, I made first generation DVD-R's for Greg of some super, super rare VHD VideoDisc's that my partner imported for me from Tokyo. It's amazing how the Japanese always managed to get huge numbers of titles (of American films, like JAWS 3D in true Field-Sequential 3D) that would never see the light of day here.
Anyway, here's the DVD movie + some DVD-Audio shelf:
At last count, about 2 years ago, we had over 6000 DVD's, most of them being retail purchased copies. Our MCA DiscoVision collection is just about complete - MCA released around 200 titles on the DiscoVision label before they shut down and so far, I've managed to collect around 180 of them, including one-off test pressings from 1975 that still play perfectly on a 'modern' LaserDisc player. Our main LD collection is around 1200 titles and about 500 RCA CED VideoDisc's - 50 JVC VHD Video Disc's from Japan (around 10 are 3D) and the 3D VHD player + LCD shutter glasses for them, perhaps 800 LP's and maybe 200 SQ albums - 100 or so DAT's, maybe 200 MiniDisc's with about 50 of those being pre-recorded. I have some prototype Philips DCC format digital tapes - oh, and a few prototype, pre-DVD format, Toshiba SD - Super Density disc pressings of films like Executive Decision as well as a Warner music video sampler on SD disc. I have no idea what is going to happen to all of this when I die. Maybe I can 'will' all of the stuff to the QQ forum - I'm not kidding, I really want it to go somewhere where it will be appreciated and others can get use out of it - I would HATE to know it was simply going to the highest bidder.
Here's two pages from that awful Warner Brothers "Rental" catalog I mentioned
