Blu-RAY or HD DVD?

[Noema]

Meh. In less year or so players for either format will likely be available for less than $50. Then I'll buy both, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
PS3 IS THE INFERIOR product if you bother to even try it. All games are output in 720p ONLY and the PS3 will downsample it to 480p if your TV can't support 720p. How's that for a kick in the nuts?

what is it suppose to do if your tv can't handle 720p? what if your tv can't handle 480p? will it downsample it to 480i? how is this a kick in the nuts?

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
Even after the PS3 release HD-DVD is outselling Blue-Ray 3 to 1

if you want to call that a release with ~200K units....quite a sad release imho

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
I am sure the one that costs the cheapest will win. Americans ALWAYS choose cheap over quality. Beta is much better than VHS but VHS has more time per tape so Americans chose that format even though Beta was and still is much better. MD was a great format (still is actually) but Americans were too stupid to figure out how to use it. We wanted to pop in a cassette or cd and hit "play". If it involves too many steps, Americans will shun it.

Just what I always wanted, 4 tapes to watch some movies, and 3 for all of the rest.:roll: And the reason Americans chose the CD over the MD was that 1) the CD had better sound quality and 2) hardly any of the record companies were producing pre-recorded albums on MD.

 

[Twinpeaksr]

Having Owned and MD, the sound quality was equal to CD, and the cost of the disks was higher, but not by much when it first came out. The downfall of MD was due to two things: 1, no support from any label except Sony (even that was poor), and 2, a little after they came out, CDR prices plummeted, and the small price premium for the MD media became a multiple time price premium over CDR. It was a format that lacked backing, and any sizable push, I still would prefer it over CD, had many good features, and was great for creating custom mixes.

As for the rest of the mud slinging, have at it, always find it amusing (I was no fan of beta, and the American Public is not a scape goat for loss of some good formats, just because the format was technically good does not mean it should be mainstream, good example is DAT).

So Far HD DVD is ahead in the pole by a 2:1 ratio over neither followed by Blu-ray and Both (ah the optimist).

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
I am sure the one that costs the cheapest will win. Americans ALWAYS choose cheap over quality. Beta is much better than VHS but VHS has more time per tape so Americans chose that format even though Beta was and still is much better. MD was a great format (still is actually) but Americans were too stupid to figure out how to use it. We wanted to pop in a cassette or cd and hit "play". If it involves too many steps, Americans will shun it. Look at all the American Ipod sheep. Ipods suck quality wise but being that it is so easy to use Americans buy it by the boat load even tho there are so many better mp3/video devices out there. Im sure HD-DVD will win not because it is superior to Blue-ray, but because pissed off americans who couldnt get a PS3 will get an inferior product just to spite Sony. Actually, I hope both formats crap out. There is always something better on the way.

Holy crap, talk about a tirade of retarded bullsh!t. That post was 100% pure bullsh!t.

Look at all the American Ipod sheep. Ipods suck quality wise but being that it is so easy to use Americans buy it by the boat load even tho there are so many better mp3/video devices out there.

This line ALONE screams, "hey look at me, I have no fvcking idea what I'm talking about."

 

[n7]

Actually he makes some good points.

I cannot believe i am the only one who voted for both.

I like to see competition in the market, & there will be players capable of playing both soon, & i'm sure burners will follow.

Less competition is always a bad thing IMHO...

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

The Beta was better than VHS but it didn't come out ahead. Same thing could happen here.

 

[konakona]

well, the truth is, you cant always have the quality.

While I am not in a full agreement as to why MDs failed, he brings up a very well established point in marketting; America allows more flexibility to retailers to price adjustments, so the public is sensitive to price indicators. In other countries where more rigid government control is in effect, the manufacturers and distributors are forced to come up with creative ways to make their product stand out, having lost their ability to work with the pricing.

I would just rephrase the wording from [cheap] to [high performance/cost ratio with acceptable to good core features[. Come on, isnt that what you do when you buy your vid card or whatnot? Back when canopus was still around (i think they still might be, but oh well) in the business, anyone would have agreed they were top notch, but they were no where near bestselling. In the land where everyone pushes you to be more involved in the market as a consumer, people are naturally inclined to be more price-conscientious.

I bought my first DVDwriter back in early 2004, and it cost me about $200 back then. It was great for first half year or so, then I came to a realization that they are still hampered by the inherent limitation of small storage, slow acces, and most importantly, the chore of having to swap in the media. With the hdd becoming so cheap, I dont see much need for these things other than for pure backup purposes. Too lazy to do religeous backups anyway. Until something like HVD comes along that could truly replace HDD for the storage amount, ease of access, I am rather indfferent.

My dvdwriter now resides at my parents place. Burning DVDs became so infrequent that I just ask my roomates if a need ever arises.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the likelihood of getting the disks scratched up? Another reason to stick with HDDs. Based on that merit alone, I would bet on HD-DVDs though. For one, I cannot fully trust sony for claiming "special coating" will be a magical fix. For the other, that would mean BD disks will always incur extra cost in manufacturing (assuming that coating actually works anyway)

 

[socketman1]

I am officially the second vote for both

Let the standards fight it out, because that should drive the cost of the players down. However I think HD-DVD will win, why? Because americans are suckers for a good product name. HD-DVD just "sounds" more official than blu-ray. If your average Joe is staring at 2 players and one is labeled Blu-ray and the other HD_DVD.... the HD one sounds more official. I'd like to think purchasing decisions are made on better criteria, but after seeing some of the computers people buy, I've lost faith.

 

[gsellis]

I just remember that the DVD Forum, which 'owns' the HD-DVD spec, has much broader representation across the interested parties (hardware, software, movie groups, audio). Blu-Ray is owned by Sony and has its own consortium, but with a movie house owner, expect more draconian DRM implementations sooner on Blu-Ray. I just cannot trust Sony. They wish they were Apple and want to dictate consumer choice (yep, that is an oxymoron).

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
I would never, ever, never buy a Blu-Ray drive, because of who's behind it (Sony) and because of the grotesque anti-piracy features. Did I say NEVER? DVD forever. I want to be able to make copies of my precious disks.

BluRay shrink works awesome.

It's so good as a matter of fact that my BluRay recorder needs an X-Ray warning. :laugh:

 

[natto fire]

Anyone remember Divx?

And no, I am not talking about the codec...

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Captain Howdy
Anyone remember Divx?

And no, I am not talking about the codec...

That silly rental thing touted by Circuit City? That was back in '94 or so? Yes I remember that.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: Oyeve
I am sure the one that costs the cheapest will win. Americans ALWAYS choose cheap over quality. Beta is much better than VHS but VHS has more time per tape so Americans chose that format even though Beta was and still is much better. MD was a great format (still is actually) but Americans were too stupid to figure out how to use it. We wanted to pop in a cassette or cd and hit "play". If it involves too many steps, Americans will shun it. Look at all the American Ipod sheep. Ipods suck quality wise but being that it is so easy to use Americans buy it by the boat load even tho there are so many better mp3/video devices out there. Im sure HD-DVD will win not because it is superior to Blue-ray, but because pissed off americans who couldnt get a PS3 will get an inferior product just to spite Sony. Actually, I hope both formats crap out. There is always something better on the way.

You're full of s***. Don't blame americans for everything you don't like. Minidisk was garbage...you could buy a spindel of CDs for the cost of only a few of them.

PS3 IS THE INFERIOR product if you bother to even try it. All games are output in 720p ONLY and the PS3 will downsample it to 480p if your TV can't support 720p. How's that for a kick in the nuts?

It's also quite obvious you have never owned an iPod so I'll ignore you and just say that you're using the american public as an excuse for every failed garbage device out there and it's not exactly fair.

Um, I have 2 ipods, the first gen one and a 4th gen 40gb. And other than its simplicity, it sounds like crap. Still has no proper EQ after 6 generations. I ride the bus and subway and see all the white ipod earbuds sticking in everyones ears and all I can think is 1.) These idiots spend so much money on gear and use crappy packaged ear-buds 2.) Oh, wait, they want everyone to know "hey! I have an ipod! Am I cool or what?". Anyway, I can go on and on and on about my post but i'm too mature to say "You're full of (insert expletive here) to bother. So, whatever man.

 

[judasmachine]

[groan] call me when one has beaten the other senseless, and they've pretty much standardized things.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: judasmachine
[groan] call me when one has beaten the other senseless, and they've pretty much standardized things.

Amen.

 

[Twinpeaksr]

I fear there will be a 3rd format concocted of the 2 together, but poorly implemented.

Let them ply Russian Roulette, but for good measure, use a flint lock.

 

[sparks]

While BD may have more capacity, until recently, manufacturers have had a hard time pressing dual layered disc, thus all the inferior BD movies vs their HD-DVD counterparts. Even today they are inferior. Take Superman Returns, picture quality for both are identical but the HD-DVD version includes a Dolby True HD and Dolby Digital Plus track while the BD version only has DTS and Dolby Digital. We are still at the bleeding edge with these products and as a early adopter, I chose HD-DVD (it was an easy choice since I have an XBOX360).

Just go down the list of HD-DVD benefits and any rational person would chose it over Blu-Ray: more movies, cheaper players, higher quality movies. Higher capacity means nothing if the studios don't take advantage of it.

 

[RebateMonger]

The whole Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD thing is going to be crazy. It's much different than DVD-R versus DVD+R, since, at least, both systems could play the same commercial DVDs. This battle is like the VHS vs. BetaMax war, but on a MUCH larger scale because of the quantities involved. When VHS and BetaMax battled it out, there were, maybe a million or so VCRs in the world, and a limited number of movies on tape. Now we are talking about hundreds of millions of players and thousands of potential movie releases.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: sparks
While BD may have more capacity, until recently, manufacturers have had a hard time pressing dual layered disc, thus all the inferior BD movies vs their HD-DVD counterparts. Even today they are inferior. Take Superman Returns, picture quality for both are identical but the HD-DVD version includes a Dolby True HD and Dolby Digital Plus track while the BD version only has DTS and Dolby Digital. We are still at the bleeding edge with these products and as a early adopter, I chose HD-DVD (it was an easy choice since I have an XBOX360).

Just go down the list of HD-DVD benefits and any rational person would chose it over Blu-Ray: more movies, cheaper players, higher quality movies. Higher capacity means nothing if the studios don't take advantage of it.

I thought I read somewhere that eventually BD will have something like 8 layers or some BS like that. Anyway, being I have no HDTV for my main viewing (waiting for a standard on that as well, maybe the new laser HDTV thats coming soon). So DVD is fine with me.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn
That silly rental thing touted by Circuit City? That was back in '94 or so? Yes I remember that.

I remember it tanking .

Oh and I don't really care which one wins, although since I have an XBOX 360, an HD-DVD addon is cheaper than buying a PS3 or a set-top Blu-Ray player, so I guess I have a bit of a bias in that direction. I mostly watch videos from my file/media server on my HDTV anyway and they look purdy darn excellent.

 

[zephyrprime]

Sony is shooting themselves in the foot with BluRay using only mpeg2. It negates any capacity advantage bluray might have. Who is going to buy bluray if the picture is worse than hddvd?

I have a hdtv wonder card. An hour of HD 1080i is only about 5.25GB. Since tv is 60fps interlaced but movies are 30fps progressive, 2 hours of video on both formats would be about the same size if both formats used mpeg2. A movie would probably use less compression than a tv feed so that would increase the size of the movie by ~33%?

This all means that hddvd's capacity of 15GB is more than enough. What's more, since hddvd is recorded with a mpeg4 variant and not mpeg2, the video size would be even less.

 

[Twinpeaksr]

HD DVD over Blu-ray 3:1, but only 2:1 over neither!

I think my money is still on HD DVD, support, lower cost, and so far better performance. Right now Blu-ray is the "Theoretical Performance" leader, yet to be proven...

 

[Rubycon]

Didn't take them long to figure out how to copy bluray discs.

Of course the PS3 is made of unobtanium and blanks are $$$.