Bluray or high def?

[PatKlipsch1]

Bluray and HD DVD were in a format war. Recently I've only noticed Bluray disc. Has bluray won the war? I remember when I was a kid we had a beta. We woild go to the video store and we would and only have a small shelf of movies to choose from.

 

[Biggiesized]

Toshiba conceded HD DVD defeat in February 2008.

So, yes, Blu-ray is the winner and the only form of high definition media in an optical disc format.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Bluray and HD DVD were in a format war. Recently I've only noticed Bluray disc. Has bluray won the war? I remember when I was a kid we had a beta. We woild go to the video store and we would and only have a small shelf of movies to choose from.

Some places still have left over stock and certainly in the rest of the world, HD may still be produced, not sure though, and is expensive to get here.
Yes, one side had a bigger pocket to buy the bragging rights

 

[BMXTRIX]

Some places still have left over stock and certainly in the rest of the world, HD may still be produced, not sure though, and is expensive to get here.

HD DVD is really cheap actually since it is now 'obsolete'. No, it's not produced anywhere in the world that I am aware of anymore. China had some version it was going to use, but I believe they are using Blu-ray as well.

Yes, one side had a bigger pocket to buy the bragging rights

When you have the might of the largest CEMs in the world backing the product, it's pretty darn typical for that product to be the one to win in a format war against a single company.

Nothing wrong with Blu-ray though, looks every bit as good as HD DVD ever did, and a new Panasonic can be had for $200 (Amazon) or a cheap (not recommended) Magnavox can be had at Wal-Mart for about $100.

 

[griffinconst]

I read somewhere; as goes porn, so goes the media format.

 

[j_garcia]

I read somewhere; as goes porn, so goes the media format.

That wouldn't be the case here, because the major PRON companies chose HD DVD and it still died.

 

[MatthewB.]

I own both formats and I think both do a fantastic job. When HD-DVD died, I couldnt understand why everyone was in such a hurry to dump their players. I also own an Oppo 970 and the upconversion on the HD-DVD did just as good a job as the Oppo. Only the HD-DVD also played HD-DVD's which you can get now for pennies to the dollar. I can go to any Fry's and pick up most HD-DVD's for under 5.00/ea and the Bluray version is still 25.00 or higher. I have four HD-DVD players (two new in box in storage) for when my main two players give up the ghost. I also have three Bluray players as well and I use both regularly. They released over 1,000 HD-DVD movies, so it's not like there is a shortage.

In fact both Bluray and HD-DVD's use the same encoding so there is no difference in picture quality, only difference is in audio quality and I doubt most would be able to determine any difference.

Granted no new releases in HD-DVD, but for those who want a very cheap inexpensive player that does a first rate job of upconverting regular DVD's I would highly recommend an HD-DVD player. I figure video formats last about 10 years before the next great thing comes out, so even in 10 years Bluray will be outdated, might as well keep the HD-DVD player and movies and use them for the next decade alongside my Blurays and since buying the movies is cheaper than renting, I figure why not.

 

[j_garcia]

Why not just support the format that is around so that it can grow instead of supporting one that is not going to benefit anyone because it is dead already? You said it yourself: no new releases.

 

[MatthewB.]

Because if given the choice between spending 5.00 or 30.00 for a HD movie, I gotta go with the 5.00 version. I had already invested some money in the format before it went belly up, now that it has and I have over 150 movies, I figure why not. I don't see Bluray paying me all the money I spent on HD-DVD players and movies because they wanted to get into a format war.

I liked the idea of the Red4Blu program but they still want you to spend more money to get the Bluray equivelant. So I have about as many movies in Bluray and also HD-DVD, I figure as long as I can buy em for cheap, I will continue to do so. But heck I still have an almost new Pioneer Laserdisc player (used only 3 times in 20 years) but I keep it for 3 reasons and 3 reasons only. Star Wars, SW The Empire Strikes Back and SW Return of the Jedi all unmolested and in their original aspect ratio (something not ever done on DVD).

That and I figure in 10-15 years when the new video format comes out I will not have spent a fortune again to re-buy movies and can enjoy what I currently have.

God I feel like my grandfather lamenting about when they listened to an old tube radio to listen to the old serials that came out. Now if you'll excuse me I have to trek five miles through snow with old shoes uphill both ways.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Because if given the choice between spending 5.00 or 30.00 for a HD movie, I gotta go with the 5.00 version. I had already invested some money in the format before it went belly up, now that it has and I have over 150 movies, I figure why not.

Nothing wrong with that if you own HD DVD stuff already - use the player, enjoy it.

But, for new purchases you gotta have the Blu-ray player (you do) and anyone buying new, right now, would do best with a Blu-ray player unless there are a fair number of titles on HD DVD they really want to get and don't already own.

I actually bought a bunch of HD DVD covers from other people and did the Red2Blu Warner trade in on them and picked up 15+ titles for about $10 each.

While some new releases are tough to find for cheap, Amazon is a great resource, and with over 80 titles I have on Blu-ray, I've averaged UNDER $15 per movie. No reason to overpay if you don't have the money.

Heck, BB Online doesn't cost extra to rent your Blu-rays either. Netflix costs what? A buck more a month for BDs? Who needs to buy movies at all?

 

[j_garcia]

I average about $15 a BD as well, and I am right around 160 discs right now. Here and there I pay more, but I also wait for some things to hit that $9.99 price point before I pull the trigger, so it all evens out.

Yes, there's no reason why you shouldn't keep on with HD DVD if you've already invested that much into it, but if more people buy BD then prices will start to come down on gear and discs. Strong demand will help these companies bring prices down sooner rather than later just like VHS and DVD over time.

 

[tyreal78]

I have a PS3 and a few BR's, but 1080p streaming or downloadable content will eventually be the standard. Just a matter of time. I'm sure some will still want the actual discs for various reasons, but it won't really be all that necessary.

 

[Pyrrho]

I have a PS3 and a few BR's, but 1080p streaming or downloadable content will eventually be the standard. Just a matter of time. I'm sure some will still want the actual discs for various reasons, but it won't really be all that necessary.

It will be a long time before everyone (or nearly everyone) has a good enough internet connection to get downloads like that, and even longer before they reliably can get downloads like that.

Right now, I have Netflix and can get 720p streaming video. Too bad Netflix and the internet are not always reliable. If Netflix is too busy, or any of many other possibilities, the movie gets interrupted. BD and DVD are much, much more reliable.

 

[tyreal78]

It will be a long time before everyone (or nearly everyone) has a good enough internet connection to get downloads like that, and even longer before they reliably can get downloads like that.

Right now, I have Netflix and can get 720p streaming video. Too bad Netflix and the internet are not always reliable. If Netflix is too busy, or any of many other possibilities, the movie gets interrupted. BD and DVD are much, much more reliable.

A "long time" as in this fall? Microsoft announced at this year's E3 conference 1080p video streaming by this fall. All that's required is an 8mb internet connection.

Here's the Gizmodo article.

It's only going to cascade from there.

I understand what you're saying though. That's a lot of bandwidth required to get stable viewing.

 

[jostenmeat]

A "long time" as in this fall? Microsoft announced at this year's E3 conference 1080p video streaming by this fall. All that's required is an 8mb internet connection.

I understand what you're saying though. That's a lot of bandwidth required to get stable viewing.

Stable viewing is a concern, because if it's not stable, NOBODY will join in.

My main concern is just how much they'll overcompress everything, both video and audio. Just because it's 1080p doesn't mean it will look good.

There's a reason why DVDs look better than SDTV, and why Blurays look better than HDTV.

Granted, most folks are not discerning with AV, obviously. They do not own displays with fine PQ, nor have it calibrated, leave alone having a large enough viewing angle to even begin enjoying greater resolutions. Forget fine quality audio reproduction systems.

But, we at this forum are not those people!

 

[tyreal78]

My main concern is just how much they'll overcompress everything, both video and audio. Just because it's 1080p doesn't mean it will look good.

There's a reason why DVDs look better than SDTV, and why Blurays look better than HDTV.

Good point.

 

[BMXTRIX]

A "long time" as in this fall? Microsoft announced at this year's E3 conference 1080p video streaming by this fall. All that's required is an 8mb internet connection.

Don't confuse a gold colored turd with actually being gold.

VC-1 has some people questioning the quality compared to AVC at the transfer rates which BD offers for video, which is often in the 30MBs range. 8mbs is simply not going to be delivering anywhere near the quality which Blu-ray has. They could call it 1,000,000p and it would still be extremely heavily compressed video, without HD audio, and not at the level which people already can enjoy.

I mean, people then talk about price and stuff, but really, how much more does it cost you a month to get BDs from Netflix or BB Online? Compare that with 5 or 6 HD rentals from iTunes (for example)... No real advantage, and a lot of limitations to the DD process right now.

It's only going to cascade from there.

Actually, according to a recent article, digital downloads have basically stalled, while BD has seen over a 200% jump, to a market which is already larger than DD.

(recent article: http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6668382.html )

There is a LONG way for DD to go, and I do agree that it will happen, but not this Fall, and not likely in the next five years... By which time BD may be the dominant format.

 

[poni02]

As somebody mentioned, an hd-dvd player does a great job upconverting your standard dvds, similar to oppo quality. I got mine after it has lost the war with bluray for about $30, when combined with a faroudja from my onkyo receiver, the picture quality is amazing. Even straight through, It is definitely worth the money, if you want to wait for bluray to come down in price.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have four HD-DVD players (two new in box in storage) for when my main two players give up the ghost. I also have three Bluray players as well and I use both regularly.

I rip all my HD DVDs into my hard drives. Each movie is about 20GB. I can play back the HD DVDs with TMT3 software without the need for a physical player.