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

[AcuDefTechGuy]

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

F O R E V E R.

 

[gmichael]

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

Until it ends. Ta daaaaaaaaa... What do I win?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Until it ends. Ta daaaaaaaaa... What do I win?

That's a good one.
Think I'll use this on my 5 yr old daughter. Teach her to think she's so smart.

 

[solomr2]

While the outcome was predictable, what I find interesting is that people here actually place some value in what CR has to say about audiophile products.

While I read multiple sources for research and recommendations on audiophile products, CR is not one of them. I turn to CR when I need a washer and dryer, or a vacuum cleaner.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

While the outcome was predictable, what I find interesting is that people here actually place some value in what CR has to say about audiophile products.

While I read multiple sources for research and recommendations on audiophile products, CR is not one of them. I turn to CR when I need a washer and dryer, or a vacuum cleaner.

Well, CR did say that all amps sound alike. Gotta give them some credit for that.

But I laugh out loud when I see a CR magazine talk about Home Theater. Please.

 

[gmichael]

That's a good one.
Think I'll use this on my 5 yr old daughter. Teach her to think she's so smart.

Doh! It hurts so bad.

 

[nick1000000]

This whole idea of a format war does not bother me. What does bother me is the fact teh movie companies are taking sides. Why is it that I own a blue-ray player (PS3) but have to buy a HD-DVD player to watch Transformers in Hi Def? Its the same damn format and the same damn picture quality! I hope they both lose and end up losing a lot of money over trying to start a war.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I hope they both lose and end up losing a lot of money over trying to start a war.

Don't do that to me SD DVD doesn't look as good on a 114" screen

 

[mtrycrafts]

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.

You remember the war between VHS and Beta? Beta only had a 10-20 line resolution advantage
At least with this, a universal player is available and doable, unlike the two above with different size of cartridges so it would not fit in the same slot.

 

[mtrycrafts]

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.

Yes, but I think there was some extra stuff on disc one besides the movie content. Maybe that was enough to add the hidef audio?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well, CR did say that all amps sound alike. Gotta give them some credit for that.

But I laugh out loud when I see a CR magazine talk about Home Theater. Please.

Why do you think this? I bet they do have qualified engineers on staff to do a proper evaluation that is what their readership want. They do run fair testing practices.
Besides, they do offer frequency of repair on products that can be very valuable to consumers.

 

[mtrycrafts]

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.

Yes, but that is still too expensive at $800 or a bit less for most consumers that will determine the viability of one or the other, or both.
You must have seen the frenzy when Tosh sold the $99 A2.
Prices has to come down a lot on that player to make a dent.

 

[mtrycrafts]

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

Yep, in the end, it will the the cost of players, how low, that will get folks to buy one over the other in great enough numbers for the movie makers to come around to neutrality or supporting an ultimate winner.

 

[jjeffeory]

Something to think about

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

We keep hearing about how streaming HD will eventually replace both Blu-Ray and HD DVD... I am a regular over at dslreports, and if you read all the negative articles about internet services from Comcast, Cox, Verizon Fios, AT&T Uverse, et all either not not having enough bandwidth to do this or throttling speeds for heavy user such as those who would stream HD content ( or even having monthly "secret" downloading caps)... I think we will see that the ISPs are going to be fighting HD streaming tooth and nail. They want to milk us for as much money as they can and most of them don't want to invest in the necessary infrastructure as quickly as they could. I'm not really sure how soon we will be ready for streaming to replace quality media. Only Fios is capable, bandwidth wise, enough to deliver streaming HD. Soooo, I think these two formats have some life in them until we can force ISPs to actually deliver the capacity for HD.

Another consideration is, if you pay to stream a HD movie, and then your HD crashes, do you have to buy the movie again? That doesn't seem right.

At the end of the day, we still need these two formats to do well.

 

[pepar]

While the outcome was predictable, what I find interesting is that people here actually place some value in what CR has to say about audiophile products.

While I read multiple sources for research and recommendations on audiophile products, CR is not one of them. I turn to CR when I need a washer and dryer, or a vacuum cleaner.

Ditto.

And if the formats are equal, isn't there some significance with "On average, the Blu-ray players scored an 87 while HD DVD players scored an 81?"

 

[mtrycrafts]

Ditto.

And if the formats are equal, isn't there some significance with "On average, the Blu-ray players scored an 87 while HD DVD players scored an 81?"

Perhaps reading the whole article would explain what and how they rated the products?
Hi def video quality was all rated equally.
The next category was film DVDs at 480p. Only the LG 100 was average on this aspect and the others rated equally well.
Then the Video DVDs at 480p. Now this had a different outcome with the players.
As to bluray and hd overall scores, that too needs examining closely; Pioneer BDP94hd scored 91, $1000, and the HD XA2 scored 91 and had a price of $660.
So, yes, the top models did score equally well. And yes, the lowest bluray scored 84 and HD scored 74. So what? Doesn't say anything about the two top models scoring equally well at 91.

Maybe we should add the dual player LG in the mix and average them again.

 

[henk53]

Yes, there is some variation to how the containers work, but bits are bits. The same video data bits come out of a VC-1 encoded video file, irrespective of if it is stored on Blu-ray or HD DVD.

This is what early adopters arguing for the superiority of one side or the other don’t seem to get.

On the other hand, not necessarily the same bits come out of a 50GB VC-1 encoded video file than come out of a 30GB one. Actually, it's highly unlikely that those two would yield exactly the same bits

Common sense says that the 50GB one may quite well be of a higher quality, due to the higher bit-rate. This especially plays a role in difficult scenes, like fast action scenes, or scenes with fire in them.

This is what early reviewers arguing for the equality of both sides don’t seem to get.

 

[pepar]

I should have taken more time to explain my point. I am not surprised that they judged PQ equal. But there is a lot more to it than that even if it is true that all BDs and all HD-DVD's are equal in PQ. My personal reason for tipping toward BD is in my sig. One of the hats I wear at my company is IT and I loathe the idea of Microsoft getting a bigger foothold in A/V.

Perhaps reading the whole article would explain what and how they rated the products?
Hi def video quality was all rated equally.
The next category was film DVDs at 480p. Only the LG 100 was average on this aspect and the others rated equally well.
Then the Video DVDs at 480p. Now this had a different outcome with the players.
As to bluray and hd overall scores, that too needs examining closely; Pioneer BDP94hd scored 91, $1000, and the HD XA2 scored 91 and had a price of $660.
So, yes, the top models did score equally well. And yes, the lowest bluray scored 84 and HD scored 74. So what? Doesn't say anything about the two top models scoring equally well at 91.

Maybe we should add the dual player LG in the mix and average them again.

 

[no. 5]

Common sense says that the 50GB one may quite well be of a higher quality, due to the higher bit-rate. This especially plays a role in difficult scenes, like fast action scenes, or scenes with fire in them.

I agree that more space means less compression, and therefor a better picture, but how much storage space is needed to make those scenes visually stunning (or even just good)?

 

[mtrycrafts]

On the other hand, not necessarily the same bits come out of a 50GB VC-1 encoded video file than come out of a 30GB one. Actually, it's highly unlikely that those two would yield exactly the same bits

Common sense says that the 50GB one may quite well be of a higher quality, due to the higher bit-rate. This especially plays a role in difficult scenes, like fast action scenes, or scenes with fire in them.

This is what early reviewers arguing for the equality of both sides don’t seem to get.

Well, that may be the common sense but just because one has more storage doesn't mean the encoded file on one has a higher bit rate than the other, right? It would be interesting to test each or a representative numbers of frames for bit rates. Without such credible evidence, it is really just speculation.