Format Wars: Feel the Angst

[Tom Andry]

<P><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/FormatWars.php"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><IMG style="WIDTH: 124px; HEIGHT: 100px" alt=[hdvsblu1] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/hdvsblu1_th.jpg" align=left border=0></FONT></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>Angst. A feeling of anxiety that may or may not be accompanied by depression. We’ve all felt it at one time or another. Many of us during our formative years… high school, early college, day after our wedding. Many of you are feeling angst, or you soon will, over the new high definition DVD format. Why? Read the editorial to find out.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>[Read the Editorial]</FONT></P>

 

[corey]

Right on, Tom

The answer is simple: JUST SAY NO.

I was an early adopter of DVD's, and have had a HD TV for 3 years. I'm going to sit this one out until there's a 1080p player that will play all movie releases. And, since low def DVD's are now obsolete, I won't be spending much on them either.

 

[markw]

Been there, done that.

I survived the quad wars. I learned to let competing formats battle it out before jumping in.

..anybody want to buy some SQ/QS/CD-4 discs? (just kidding)

Likewise, do you remember the big AM Stereo debate some some ago? Get my point?

 

[10010011]

My biggest fear is ending up with another Betamax.

I won't get fooled again, and will sit this one out until there is a clear winner.

 

[Geno]

I'm old enough to have witnessed quite a few of these format/equipment wars, and have just spend a tidy bundle (for me) on a nice new setup. I like the image quality of DVDs just fine, and my HD satellite package is to die for. I'm sitting this one out.
Anyone want to buy an Elcaset?

 

[Audioholics]

I'll trade you for my DCC deck.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

I'd trade my 3Do, but its keeping my CD-i company next to the NEC TurboDuo.

 

[mustang_steve]

I'll trade you for my DCC deck.

How about a DAT player?

Heh, remember when GM cars had one of those as an option? Talk about a flop.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I would sit it out... but PS3 seems like a no brainer when you want HD disc playback.

Throw in a little Netflix and I don't even have to buy a disc to get the most out of the player. Regardless of the wars, PS3 will be supported for the next 7-10 years likely. I can live with that.

 

[Audioholics]

I KNEW it. You are a TOOL for the MAN! lol

 

[fredejo]

too bad 95% of people are dumb & will walk into bestbuy, etc & let the kid behind the counter sell them a "high definition" player, i doubt most will even know which one they bought.... people these days are too interested in star magazine to pay attention, we might get stuck with one over the other because HD or blueray had a better marketing campaign & had a pretty picture in their advertisement...

 

[markw]

too bad 95% of people are dumb & will walk into bestbuy, etc & let the kid behind the counter sell them a "high definition" player, i doubt most will even know which one they bought.... people these days are too interested in star magazine to pay attention, we might get stuck with one over the other because HD or blueray had a better marketing campaign & had a pretty picture in their advertisement...

...and I wonder how many of them will run it vi composite video and be perfectly satisfied knowing they own the latest technology?

 

[ironlung]

Blu-Ray for me!

My betamax and elcassette have been solid performers in my HT for years no trouble finding the latest content. All my favorite bands new releases are on minidisc like clockwork. Zero% chance Sony can fail with Blu-ray.

 

[cam]

My betamax and elcassette have been solid performers in my HT for years no trouble finding the latest content. All my favorite bands new releases are on minidisc like clockwork. Zero% chance Sony can fail with Blu-ray.

Zero chance you say. Blu-ray players will being coming in at about a grand and HD-DVD will be in at about half. Both are Hi-def players. Me thinks the market will gravitate towards the lesser priced player. I'm not saying one is better PQ then the other , but I can say one format is less expensive. DVD-Audio and SACD are better formats then regular CD and downloaded MP3's, but where are they now.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Woosh! right over the head.

 

[mtrycrafts]

My biggest fear is ending up with another Betamax.
.

Don't think we have to worry about such a battle. We are in the age of universal players
That is what I am waiting for, bugs worked out and software.

 

[Tomorrow]

HEY! I'm just gettin' used to 33 rpm lp's. Dang shame you can't play 45's anymore. Oh wait...you meant something else.....

 

[jeffsg4mac]

My wife calls me at work yesterday, she was on her way home and stopped at best buy. She asks(and I am glad she called) if she should get the HD DVD of Phantom of the opera so she can watch it with her friend on Friday. Mind you, she already has the standard DVD of it. She did not get it, she did not realize that you needed a new player. How many other consumers are going to have the same thing happen to them or be lied to by the young punk behind the counter?

 

[10010011]

Zero chance you say. Blu-ray players will being coming in at about a grand and HD-DVD will be in at about half. Both are Hi-def players. Me thinks the market will gravitate towards the lesser priced player. I'm not saying one is better PQ then the other , but I can say one format is less expensive. DVD-Audio and SACD are better formats then regular CD and downloaded MP3's, but where are they now.

I think you nailed it here. Remember VHS won out over Beta because of low cost players while Beta had a better picture quality. Same for the PC market. Back in the day MAC had the better technology and a GUI. But at the same time you could by an IBM PC clone running DOS for half the price.

 

[mpompey]

I was just listening to the AV Forums Podcast in which they gave some of the responses of some of the early adopters of HD-DVD. It looks like software and encoding needs to improve before everyone jumps ship. My current DVD/projector setup is fantastic.

I'm not moving until there is a universal player that will do both formats.