Consumer Reports Gets It Right - Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are Equal

[admin]

In what is no stunner to anyone at Audioholics, Consumer Reports reviewed nine HD optical disc players and guess what they concluded? There are no significant performance differences. The top Blu-ray performer was the Pioneer DBP-94HD and the top HD-DVD player was the Toshiba HD-AX2 and guess what they concluded? Both players received a score of 91% for picture quality.

Discuss "Consumer Reports Gets It Right - Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are Equal" here. Read the article.

 

[j_garcia]

Yep, been saying this for a while, even before I owned both, they look and sound identical, which is why I don't really care which one wins.... Just get it over with!

 

[bigbangtheory]

Once again *drumroll* the winner of the physical HD media format war IS.......*cymbal crashes* a NON PHYSICAL medium (aka the internet)! *marching band begins to play*

-brought to you by the dept of redundant redundancy

 

[GlocksRock]

Yep, been saying this for a while, even before I owned both, they look and sound identical, which is why I don't really care which one wins.... Just get it over with!

Well unless HD DVD starts using higher capacity discs, I hope Bluray wins since movies like Transformers doesn't have enough room for a True HD or PCM soundtrack and that bothers me. But I too have both and found that they look and sound the same, but bluray discs are also less expensive so that's another reason to pull for them.

 

[patnshan]

Yep, been saying this for a while, even before I owned both, they look and sound identical, which is why I don't really care which one wins.... Just get it over with!

I agree as I've now seen both multiple times. Buy what is cheaper as it seems many people are doing these days. $200 with 10 movies is hard to resist! My Blu Ray supporting friend just switched because of that deal.

Pat

 

[patnshan]

Well unless HD DVD starts using higher capacity discs, I hope Bluray wins since movies like Transformers doesn't have enough room for a True HD or PCM soundtrack and that bothers me. But I too have both and found that they look and sound the same, but bluray discs are also less expensive so that's another reason to pull for them.

I think they are less expensive now because that is the tactic that BR is using to try and counter HD DVD's hardware discounts. In the long run, I am quite sure that will equal out. I agree, $28 is ridiculous for a disc! We all know that it is cheaper to manufacture an HD DVD, so why do they cost more? Easy, BR has lowered the price to try and compete.

I hope TL51 spec 2.0 will be used in the near future so capacity will be a non-issue.

Pat

 

[Alamar]

While I'm more of an HD supporter I would think that a well mastered Blu-Ray disc SHOULD look a tad better than an equally better mastered HD-DVD disc.

Simply put the Blu-Ray should theoretically allow for both a higher max bitrate and higher average bitrates which should theoretically increase the quality of the picture .... If nothing else higher capacities of what has been shipping may allow for loseless audio tracks ...

Therefore Blu & HD could be a little more than simply container issues ...

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As for the costs of the media itself it's a real shame that both sides are so short sighted that they don't realize that the artificially high costs of the hi def discs are killing sales.

 

[jake5717]

Since I rent about 99% of the movies I watch I really don't care what format wins. I don't like 1 movie so much that I'm willing to follow that format and abandon another. I think with the low low prices of the Toshiba everyone really should just treat themselves to some HD-DVD while they wait out the format war.

 

[MDS]

-brought to you by the dept of redundant redundancy

I thought it was the deparment of redundancy department.

 

[no. 5]

What?! Two formats that store video the same way have the same picture quality?? No way!

Sorry, but I've read enough flaming back and forth between fanboys that Consumer Reports decree that Blu-ray and HD DVD are equal makes me giddy.

 

[The Dukester]

Once again *drumroll* the winner of the physical HD media format war IS.......*cymbal crashes* a NON PHYSICAL medium (aka the internet)! *marching band begins to play*

-brought to you by the dept of redundant redundancy

You probaly are correct in this for the future, but personally, I hope it's the more distant future than the immediate. I'm an old fart, for sure, but the thought of not having physical media makes me ill. No, a big hard drive doesn't cut it for me Neither would a bunch of thumb drives.

The only thing I can think of that would satisfy me other than physical media would be instant on demand of anything I could get now. Call, text or flip through an on screen menu to pick what I want. Pay for it once and view all I want, when I want from where I want.

Long live HD discs

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well unless HD DVD starts using higher capacity discs, I hope Bluray wins since movies like Transformers doesn't have enough room for a True HD or PCM soundtrack and that bothers me. But I too have both and found that they look and sound the same, but bluray discs are also less expensive so that's another reason to pull for them.

I think if they would have placed all their extra stuff on disc 2, perhaps they would have had enough room?

 

[stratman]

You probaly are correct in this for the future, but personally, I hope it's the more distant future than the immediate. I'm an old fart, for sure, but the thought of not having physical media makes me ill. No, a big hard drive doesn't cut it for me Neither would a bunch of thumb drives.

The only thing I can think of that would satisfy me other than physical media would be instant on demand of anything I could get now. Call, text or flip through an on screen menu to pick what I want. Pay for it once and view all I want, when I want from where I want.

Long live HD discs

Yeah, leave me with my physical media that I can rip as many times as I want and have copies for my car and my home system, keep the original as a master in case the copies get trashed.

 

[Devin79]

the best bet for the format war is a Multi HD player.

Although I have a PS3 and the HD-DVD add-on for the XBOX 360, I still think the best idea is to wait untill January when the much touted Samsung BD-UP5000 will be out. The player has gotten rave early reviews and plays both HD DVD and BD discs, and unlike first generation multi HD players... this one supports all the interactive features of both HD DVD and BD (HDI and BD-Java). Plus it has the Silicon Optix Reon chip which is supposed to be one of the best solutions for upconverting regular DVD's.

The truth is with half the studios supporting HD DVD, and half supporting BD...this idiotic format war is going to go on for a long time.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Yep, been saying this for a while, even before I owned both, they look and sound identical, which is why I don't really care which one wins.... Just get it over with!

I am confused. Are there actually people who imagined that there was a difference?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Well unless HD DVD starts using higher capacity discs, I hope Bluray wins since movies like Transformers doesn't have enough room for a True HD or PCM soundtrack and that bothers me. But I too have both and found that they look and sound the same, but bluray discs are also less expensive so that's another reason to pull for them.

I agree.
This has to be the biggest reason why Michael Bay was so upset w/ his Transformers on HD DVD.

Had it been on blu-ray, Transformers would have gotten the usual blu-ray Uncompressed PCM and/or TrueHD treatment.
Then the soundtrack would have sounded U N C O M P R E S S E D.

With my particular system, I find that HD DVD & blu-ray are equal in picture quality, but blu-ray is SUPERIOR in sound quality.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I am confused. Are there actually people who imagined that there was a difference?

I think most people don't even know what blu-ray is.

When they hear "HD DVD", they think, "Oh, it's High-Definition like HDTV. But What's blu-ray?" The name "blu-ray" doesn't mean anything to most people.
So to most people's logic, there must be a difference. That's what I think.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Although I have a PS3 and the HD-DVD add-on for the XBOX 360, I still think the best idea is to wait untill January when the much touted Samsung BD-UP5000 will be out. The player has gotten rave early reviews and plays both HD DVD and BD discs, and unlike first generation multi HD players... this one supports all the interactive features of both HD DVD and BD (HDI and BD-Java). Plus it has the Silicon Optix Reon chip which is supposed to be one of the best solutions for upconverting regular DVD's.

The truth is with half the studios supporting HD DVD, and half supporting BD...this idiotic format war is going to go on for a long time.

Yeah, as soon as I get the official confirmation that the BD-UP5000 can in FACT Internally Decode both TrueHD + DTS-MA (not DTS-HR), I will buy this baby!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think if they would have placed all their extra stuff on disc 2, perhaps they would have had enough room?

Transformers did come in a 2-disc set. Disc One was for the movie, and disc Two was for the extras. Still Not Enough Room for TrueHD on Disc One. Pathetic.

 

[GlocksRock]

Anyone want to speculate on how long the format war will go on?