HD DVD/Blu-Ray

[Mik 0]

Has it been decided which is going to be the next format?

 

I saw on Engadget this morning that the price of PS3s might be coming down to $400 and if it looks like the Blu Ray isn't going to obsolete in a few months it might be worth buying.

 

Can someone with more information on this let me know? Thanks.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

It hasn't been decided yet. There are still studios that are exclusive to one format or the other.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Not enough people have switched over to one format or another, so they can't really say which one will be the dominant brand once the vasty majority switch over. When standard def DVD's start getting phased out (ala VHS) then we will see who will live and who will die (or if both can survive)

[haws bah gawd 0]

I'm just PISSED that Transformers is going to be HD-DVD / Standard DVD exclusive, and won't be hitting Blu-Ray. Thanks a lot Michael Bay.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

get the new combo samsung combo player

[bobobrazil1984 0]

The real problem is that both have been out for a fair amount of time and only tiny amount of people have jumped on EITHER bandwagon. This isn't like VHS/Beta where the world needed one format to win... there were no mass market home video formats back then. Now we have DVD, the last stragglers of VHS, not to mention all manner of digital video. HD-DVD/BR are luxuries in a luxury industry. There isn't even some industry standard time switch like the eventual air-switch-to-digital on TV.

 

FIRST you need more people to get HDTVs before even thinking about BR/HDDVD - which is a whole big switchover in of itself

 

The adoption is happening too slowly for either to be a real winner in the near future imo. At this rate it'll be 2009 or 2010.

[Craig Th 0]

Whoever J6P picks will win. Simple as that.

[ZGangsta 0]

Has anyone heard about this yet. Personally this is why I wouldn't buy a Blu Ray player. Bullshit DRM and copy protection that the pirates get around with no trouble anyways. Now that they're starting to encrypt with BD+ expect more of these problems. Firmware updates on a DVD player for god's sake.

Also, most of the comparisons that I read put HD-DVD at higher image quality due to a better video codec (just Google "hd dvd blu ray image quality"). Although things may have changed more recently than since I cared to look into it.

 

If I were a betting man, I'd put it down on both of these formats failing. By the time high def TVs get enough market penetration to make them potentially successful then Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) may have hit. Or downloading (possibly high def) movies to a media PC type device will be viable.

I think the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray tech may just be the next laser disk.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Downloading HD movies will never be popular. Even on todays fastest connections it would still take several hours to download a 2 hour movie in HD. On my connection (1.5 mbps) it would take about 10 hours. And thats for an encoded movie that will at best be 720p..not full 1080p like BR/HD-DVD, and probably not in 7.1 HD surround sound either.

 

 

 

 

[ZGangsta 0]

Downloading HD movies will never be popular. Even on todays fastest connections it would still take several hours to download a 2 hour movie in HD. On my connection (1.5 mbps) it would take about 10 hours. And thats for an encoded movie that will at best be 720p..not full 1080p like BR/HD-DVD, and probably not in 7.1 HD surround sound either.

Yeah but people order stuff off of Netflix and that comes through the mail right? Something that could just sit and download over night or over a couple days and let you know when it's ready would be viable.

Of course there's thechnical hurdles there, like bandwidth costs for the provider and such, but I think it may be closer than people think.

[dubq 0]

FYI - apparently Samsung's combo player will be released within a month (MSRP $799):

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1240

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Downloading HD movies will never be popular. Even on todays fastest connections it would still take several hours to download a 2 hour movie in HD. On my connection (1.5 mbps) it would take about 10 hours. And thats for an encoded movie that will at best be 720p..not full 1080p like BR/HD-DVD, and probably not in 7.1 HD surround sound either.

Yeah but people order stuff off of Netflix and that comes through the mail right? Something that could just sit and download over night or over a couple days and let you know when it's ready would be viable.

Of course there's thechnical hurdles there, like bandwidth costs for the provider and such, but I think it may be closer than people think.

The big issue is that most ISPs have a cap on the ammount of GB you can download in a month, even if they advertise UNLIMITED. Most people dont even come close to that cap now which is why they can advertise it as unlimited because 99.9% of their customers will never hit that number doing legal (and even some illegal stuff), but they would if they started regularly downloading large files for HD Movies. And if more people start downloading larger files and clogging up bandwith, ISPs will probably institute a 2nd tier for higher bandwith amounts (with little to no speed increase) that cost way more than what people are paying for now. Not to mention how slow people are on the uptake of HD TVs, but to have to get people to upgrade their computers with either HD monitors or HD outputs to get the video to their HD TVs..

[tominator89 0]

This is true. I got a letter from my ISP over my levels of downloading. They even cited the 99.9% statistic.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

I don't see the need to update, I'm happy with my DVDs, hell, they've only really been mainstream for the last 10 years if that - why the need for change? If you had to pick one, it'd probably be Blu-Ray since they can hold the most information, but, when was the last time you saw a standard DVD fully filled up on a movie or a game for that matter?

Also, what's this talk of a triple layer DVD coming out soon?

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

HD DVD does have a 3 layer 51 GB disc but at a cost of compatibility issues because they have it portioned out to be 1 layer (17 GB) for regular DVD that can be read by a standard DVD player. Thats 1 more GB than a double layer BR disc.

 

 

[Thoth 0]

I hate this war.

 

The war exists, in my opinion, because Sony is still annoyed with the whole BetaMax deal.

 

If you read "Sony" by John Nathan, I think it's clear they want to win a format war and control software (BluRay), to show off their hardware (BluRay players).

 

Then again, it can't be war unless the other side are jerks, too. I think Microsoft/Intel/Toshiba desperately want tougher DRM's, and the ability to control those DRM's.

[MrRant 0]

Depends. Some think it's MS bankrolling the split because they want downloadable content to be the king.

 

Edit: I have both BTW.

[dubq 0]

Question.

 

On Samsung's site for their new combo player, they say..

 

Viewing truly becomes an emotional experience with this powerful Blu-Ray/HD DVD player. Experience the most advanced viewing sensations available. All of your senses are more deeply engaged with this technology. The BD-UP5000 offers Blu-ray Disc™ playback at an amazing 1080p resolution, superb HD-DVD playback, full interactivity from HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. With HQV and Full HD+1080p you'll enjoy the truest image reproduction possible.

 

Should I interpret this as HD-DVD not being able to play back at 1080p? Is it normally able to do so, or is this the reason why so many say that BRD is much clearer than HDDVD?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'd been meaning to ask that as well. Is every Blu Ray to be 1080p as well?

 

Also, to carry on from the 360 add-on convo frome earlier: Is there such thing as a component-to-HDMI cable? I suppose I could just get the VGA cable, but, weighing my options at this point.

 

By the way, Future Shop has a Boxing Day doorcrasher: HD-DVD with two free movies, and a send-away for five more for 100 dollars.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

1080p is supported by 2nd gen and later HD-DVD players although every movie that has been made on HD-DVD was encoded at 1080p from the start. The catch on that Combo Samsung player is that Samsung was originally in the Blu Ray camp (and still makes stand alone blu ray players), so I dont think Sony and the Blu Ray people would be too thrilled with the combo player if it put HD-DVD on the same level with Blu Ray in the combo player. Theres probably a technical reason why the combo player doesnt support HD-DVD at 1080p, but I honestly figure its not the main reason why 1080p for HD-DVD isn't supported.

 

[The Buzz 0]

I just hope that when the switch does happen in the future, I don't have to go out and replace hundreds of dvds I've bought, if I have to I'll just buy a new dvd player in a few years before they stop making them and store it so I don't have to replace the standard dvds.

[Cartman 0]

Can't Blu Ray and HD-DVD players also play DVD's upscaled? I know the PS3 does.

[Craig Th 0]

Yes, they all do. Though some do it better than others.

[MrRant 0]

They both upscale via HDMI.

[Cartman 0]

HD DVD takes a huge hit.

[Craig Th 0]

FUCK YA!

 

There is this guy at DVDFile's forum who is IN LOVE with HD-DVD. Think of him as MikeSC/Damu (Oklahoma College Football bad) mixed. He has yet to say anything.

[AndrewTS 0]

Depends. Some think it's MS bankrolling the split because they want downloadable content to be the king.

 

Edit: I have both BTW.

 

 

MrRant is Michael Bay!

 

I honestly don't care much, because I have no HD TV so I'm not going to see any improvement. The only thing I'd get from HD-DVD or Blu Ray is more expensive movies.

 

It annoys me that some movies are going exclusive to one or the other formats, or DVD gets "bare bones" releases. Save that stuff for when one or the other format is highly dominant, or when hybrids are commonplace and cheap.

[Craig Th 0]

Well that's how it always works. The same thing happened with Betamax/VHS and DivX/DVD. Certain studios go with certain formats.

 

And you don't only get better picture, but you get PiP 1.1 or pop-up menus. But yes, the best part about it is video and audio quality.

[Cartman 0]

I dunno thanks to Amazon and Best Buy I tend to get Blu Rays pretty cheap. This week alone I got all 4 Harry Potter movies in Blu for 40 bucks total from Amazon. If you are patient enough to wait for the sales it's well woeth it.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Is there a list available of which studios are behind which formats? Aren't there a few using both?

 

Off the top of my head, Disney/Columbia Tristar are behind BluRay.....I'm beginning to rethink saving up for the 360 HD DVD add on. My biggest concern in all of this was that I already had the 360 universal remote, and this way I could have the same amount of remotes and not have to build another shelf for a new unit.