Blu Ray

[9050Michael]

Any Blu-Ray fans out there? And is there that much of a difference?

 

[avaserfi]

In reality right now there isn't much of a difference quality wise between the two formats. The real thing to look at is who you think will win the war if either and which studios are more important to you since different studios are backing different/both formats.

 

[9050Michael]

I can't understand how they can justify that kind of price.

 

[j_garcia]

He means there isn't much of a difference between BD and HD-DVD, there is a noticeable difference between both of those and DVD though. Prices have quickly come down already, so the average player is between $300 and $500 now, vs $500 and $1K a year ago.

 

[avaserfi]

I can't understand how they can justify that kind of price.

Its expensive to manufacture. There was a recent price drop and given time there will be more drops, just like with dvds, technology will change allowing for cheaper production methods and then the HD formats will be more accessible to all.

 

[Seth=L]

I can't understand how they can justify that kind of price.

If you remember back to the days of early DVD (1998) all DVD players where expensive as was the software. Any new format is going to have added costs when they start. A perfect example would be the PS3, at launch and some time after each unit was costing Sony more to sell them.

 

[j_garcia]

Sony is STILL losing money on every unit sold. As production levels ramp and the holiday season hits, I'm sure that will change though.

 

[Warpdrv]

If you remember back to the days of early DVD (1998) all DVD players where expensive as was the software. Any new format is going to have added costs when they start. A perfect example would be the PS3, at launch and some time after each unit was costing Sony more to sell them.

The only difference between then and now, is technology is so much more advanced, that prices drop much faster now that new products hit the markets so much faster and competition is rampant, hopefully to the benefit of consumers. Unfortunately the problem comes about with competing formats, and theres no quick end in site as to which format will prevail.

 

[fmw]

I can't understand how they can justify that kind of price.

As with any technology, they are trying to recoup some of the money they invested in development. So far, so bad. They haven't recouped very much of it. They are billions in the hole so far. It may not justify it to you but it certainly justifies it to them.

 

[j_garcia]

My first DVD player was $500 and it didn't even do DTS, so forking over $600 for the PS3 didn't bother me at all considering I was getting about 15X the capabilities of that first DVD player

Blue laser diodes were in short supply during initial production of both HD-DVD and Blu-ray players (as well as the PS3), and the manufacturers and suppliers were in their first ramp for the product. As things progress, they will find where they can improve and reduce cost as well as the fact that their manufacturing and suppliers will come up to speed.

They also tested the consumer to gauge acceptance and found that in a market of $100 DVD players, there was little interest in $1000 players or really even many $500 players, regardless of the benefit, by the general public.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I'm a big Blu-ray fan, and I personally stopped buying DVDs a couple of years ago and started saving up for HD discs - whatever was coming along.

Since both HD DVD and Blu-ray are on the table, I made a choice based upon which format I thought would be most likely to win. Since HD DVD has the more limited studio and consumer electronics support, I picked Blu-ray.

But, technically, when it just comes to playback, the two formats are virtually identical. They both support VC-1, AVC, and MPEG2 playback, they both support HD audio codecs. Blu-ray has more storage capacity per layer, and HD DVD has some interactive features that Blu-ray can't match at this time.

Since Toshiba is pretty much driving HD DVD, they have been willing to subsidize players - which they may or may not still be doing. This has really helped them land quite a few customers which might have otherwise held off on a purchase.

The flip side is that Blu-ray pricing has remained fairly high for all manufacturers, but Blu-ray has a far greater selection of players from difference CE manufacturers - and as prices fall, this will still greatly impact exposure to the product.

Of course, the PS3 is still the 10,000 pound gorilla in all of this and has significantly affected the format war when released. It isn't a long term fix, but does expose a lot of people to the Blu-ray name... and all reviews indicate it to be one of the best Blu-ray players on the market. Kind of a safer bet considering it does both the gaming and playback - and a great job with playback.

At the end of the day, there are fans of both technologies, and a lot of questions about whether or not either format will make it. The more things go on, the more it seems like Blu-ray does have the upper hand, but it doesn't necessarily exclude HD DVD. If we do end up with dual formats, we may be forced into two players - and buying discs on the right format.

 

[j_garcia]

The Toshiba rebate is now over, but the 5 free discs deal is still available until July 31. Sony just rolled out the 5 free discs deal on the 1st of July.

I stopped buying DVDs for the most part myself. There are a few releases that didn't make it to hig def yet that I did pick up on DVD, but 99% of my purchases have been Blu-ray this year.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

One huge difference I noticed is that Blu-ray has anti-scratch resistant coating, and HD DVD does not.
When I rent both Blu-ray and HD DVD from Netflix, I noticed that 100% of the HD DVD movies are scratched, and 0% of the Blu-ray movies are scratched.
Some of the scratches were so bad, that play-back was impossible with my Toshiba HD-XA1.

 

[avaserfi]

One huge difference I noticed is that Blu-ray has anti-scratch resistant coating, and HD DVD does not.
When I rent both Blu-ray and HD DVD from Netflix, I noticed that 100% of the HD DVD movies are scratched, and 0% of the Blu-ray movies are scratched.
Some of the scratches were so bad, that play-back was impossible with my Toshiba HD-XA1.

Thats odd because regular DVDs have no coating just like HD DVDs and I have rented hundreds of DVDs from Netflix without any scratches...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Thats odd because regular DVDs have no coating just like HD DVDs and I have rented hundreds of DVDs from Netflix without any scratches...

Well, rent a hundred HD DVDs and let us know if it's the same.