Why is SD content still around when there's HD content?

[RCBH928]

I don't understand why Apple still offers a cheaper SD version of any movie/show, I don't think any SD screens are even manufactured any more. 1080 HD has been around for 14 years which makes it an old tech itself.

[marurun]

Some stuff doesn’t matter if it is SD, and offering a cheaper version in SD means you may ultimately sell more

[RCBH928]

Some stuff doesn’t matter if it is SD, and offering a cheaper version in SD means you may ultimately sell more

Why not just offer the HD version for the SD price

[Ziggy]

Some stuff doesn’t matter if it is SD, and offering a cheaper version in SD means you may ultimately sell more

Why not just offer the HD version for the SD price

Bandwidth?

[marurun]

Some people are sticklers for HD and would never buy SD content. Some people care less and are willing to accept some content in SD. They are offered in both SD and HD at different prices to maximize profit on the same content. Pretty simple information economics, here.

[Ziggy]

SD can look pretty darn good, at least on my 1080p TV. I don't know how SD looks on a 4K, and I'm not in a hurry to find out.

But you know what really sucks? There's a lot of old TV shows on Hulu that are SD, which is fine, but also present telltale signs of composite video like they were transferred from tape.

[Michi]

But you know what really sucks? There's a lot of old TV shows on Hulu that are SD, which is fine, but also present telltale signs of composite video like they were transferred from tape.

It ain't just Hulu. Amazon has some programming like that, too. Hell, I was watching an old tv special on there once and watched in horror and amusement as one of those white lines slowly scrolled up the screen and the audio got all garbled. I clearly remember thinking, 'huh, I guess they couldn't spring for the DVD copy when they needed a source to transfer the file from.'

[RCBH928]

Some stuff doesn’t matter if it is SD, and offering a cheaper version in SD means you may ultimately sell more

Why not just offer the HD version for the SD price

Bandwidth?

I was thinking about that but when I downloaded some TV shows off Netflix it was only 300MB or so, so I figured HD bandwidth not an issue because I thought an episode would be close to 1-1.5GB . Then again, maybe they are tricking me into downloading an SD version on my iphone that looks good enough on the small screen.

SD can look pretty darn good, at least on my 1080p TV. I don't know how SD looks on a 4K, and I'm not in a hurry to find out.

But you know what really sucks? There's a lot of old TV shows on Hulu that are SD, which is fine, but also present telltale signs of composite video like they were transferred from tape.

of all places, I noticed this on WWE wrestling shows. If they play older footage, it looks pretty good! I have never encountered video that looks like a VHS transfer then again, how old are we talking? I probably never see something older than the 80s.

[Ziggy]

Not all TV shows were shot on film, but that doesn't mean consumer quality VHS either. And I'm sure there's some cases where Hulu (I was just using them for example - I'm sure others do this too) will get the rights to an old TV show but know one wants to pay for an HD remaster from the original film so they just use the studio's tapes which might be VHS or S-VHS.

[prfsnl_gmr]

For some public domain films and a lot of HTF movies (e.g., Flight of Dragons), the DVD version was created from a consumer VHS tape. These are the versions Amazon sometimes has available for streaming, and it’s usually pretty obvious when you’re watching them.

It’s not something you see where there is still good source material, such as original film stock, and an incentive for a company to create a better transfer. This is likely the case for classic wrestling films, the WWE owns the rights to them and there’s a paying audience for remastered footage. Not so much for aging, esoteric horror, noir, or western films with no clear ownership and that only Ack, Michi, and me care about watching...and, even then, only if we can stream them for free.

Not all TV shows were shot on film, but that doesn't mean consumer quality VHS either. And I'm sure there's some cases where Hulu (I was just using them for example - I'm sure others do this too) will get the rights to an old TV show but know one wants to pay for an HD remaster from the original film so they just use the studio's tapes which might be VHS or S-VHS.

Ziggy said it better and sooner!