Which HD disc format do you prefer?

[mqywaaah]

Just want to know..

[MavsX]

Dude, HD DVD is so gone. Blu-ray is the winner.

[mqywaaah]

I think the future of bluray has yet to be determined.. It will prevail, no doubt. But not for long. Anti-bluray, sorry.

[Flacolaco]

I will wait. I will keep waiting.

The players are too expensive, and once you get those, the discs are ridiculous. I think I saw Season 3 of LOST on Blu Ray for like $80.00???

I have the greatness that is a Philips HD Upconverter player. It upconverts to 1080p, and most of my discs look fantastic on it, and it upconverts mp4/avi/divx files as well.

It is a very suitable alternative, and it will keep me very patient.

[mqywaaah]

Good for you Flac!

[thereaper]

PS3 FTW

[Dr.Zoidberg]

The industry has already decided, what we want to have. Probably.

There is no variation of quality concerning movies. The difference is, that you can store more data (PC) on Blue Ray discs. Microsoft has a HD drive in their Xbox360 and Sony a Blue Ray in their PS. So it´s a little war between two major corporations. And because Warner decided not to support HD DVD, I think it´s settled. The consumer has nothing to say about it.

Furthermore, how sure can you be, that the industry won´t change the format again in the future?

So, who cares?

It´s like with the video recorder in the past. Despite Beta and Video2000 being the better system the industry decides for VHS.

[mqywaaah]

360 will prevail..

[MavsX]

Originally Posted by mqywaaah

360 will prevail..

well it comes down to sales of dvds, and in this case blue ray dvds. With the major production companies like warner and paramount, which own at least 75% of the market. They are the real players. Once they stop shipping HD Dvds..you wont be able to even buy HD dvds..and because of that HD will die. And blue ray will be the ultimate winner. I have already seen commercials for new dvds that are coming out. The commercials say "Now available on DVD and Blue ray", there is a reason why they don't say or show an HD dvd...because the aren't making them. Which is why blue ray has already won. HD Dvd is a goner..sorry bro. Also, haven't you read like the bazillion articles about different companies that are making/distributing blue ray exclusively. Best buy and Circuit city and wal-mart have slashed prices of HD players to get ride of the stock. simple economics.

Plus....blue ray sounds cooler anyway...

[u2sarajevo]

Originally Posted by MavsX

well it comes down to sales of dvds, and in this case blue ray dvds. With the major production companies like warner and paramount, which own at least 75% of the market. They are the real players. Once they stop shipping HD Dvds..you wont be able to even buy HD dvds..and because of that HD will die. And blue ray will be the ultimate winner. I have already seen commercials for new dvds that are coming out. The commercials say "Now available on DVD and Blue ray", there is a reason why they don't say or show an HD dvd...because the aren't making them. Which is why blue ray has already won. HD Dvd is a goner..sorry bro. Also, haven't you read like the bazillion articles about different companies that are making/distributing blue ray exclusively. Best buy and Circuit city and wal-mart have slashed prices of HD players to get ride of the stock. simple economics.

Plus....blue ray sounds cooler anyway...

Exactly. The only possible thing that could save HD-DVD would be a consumer backlash to not purchase Blu-Ray and stick with standard DVD. But that's not going to happen.

I wonder how long it will be until the blu-ray version of Xbox is released.

[jthig32]

I few weeks ago this discussion would have had merit.

When Warner went Blue Ray exclusive, any and all discussion on the matter became completely moot.

[adirktotheheart]

I have a player that plays both Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats:

ht_p://www.hometheatermag.com/discplayers/0307lgbdhd/

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

The players are too expensive, and once you get those, the discs are ridiculous. I think I saw Season 3 of LOST on Blu Ray for like $80.00???

been there...

....owned (and watched) that.....

...and it was fabulous.

[fluid.forty.one]

I'm getting a ps3 soon so blu ray.

[MavsX]

i will never buy one.

[mqywaaah]

I wish the 360 could come out with a blu-ray player.

[Dirkadirkastan]

I'm still in the poor house.

[dude1394]

The cheapest one. I'm not going to buy movies anyway, I'm going to rent 'em. Right now cheapest is HDDVD...so that's my vote.

[Flacolaco]

We don't even buy "movies" anymore hardly.

The majority of our DVD collection has slowly become TV series. I get crazy mileage out of The Office, Futurama, Scrubs, LOST, etc, etc... I never feel like I have time to sit down and watch an entire movie any more.

[FreshJive]

I have an HD DVD player, but I guess I'll have to eventually go bluray. I have a few HD DVD exclusives that I would want anyway like The Big Lebowski and Clerks 2. I wish the studios would just put out both formats.

[MavsX]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/11/n...n-hd-dvd-soon/


Netflix picks Blu-ray, good luck renting an HD DVD soon

Posted Feb 11th 2008 8:50AM by Evan Blass
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
In what can only be classified as yet another crushing blow to the embattled HD DVD camp, rent-by-mail giant Netflix has just announced its intention to only stock Blu-ray titles in the future. Netflix justified its decision by pointing out the fact that most Hollywood studios seem to be converging solely around the Sony-backed format -- a fact that's all too familiar to Toshiba and friends. With both Blockbuster and now the 'Flix having eschewed HD DVD for BD, it's gonna get harder and harder to even find a place to rent those former discs in the first place, let alone one that has a decent selection.

Update: It looks like all hope is not lost for HD DVD renters. Not only does Blockbuster Online still carry titles in the endangered format, but Netflix should continue offering a limited selection of discs until current stock is phased out around the end of the year.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

It´s all over:

Toshiba to stop making HD DVD and end format war



"Toshiba Corp is planning to stop production of equipment compatible with the HD DVD format for high-definition video, allowing the competing Blu-Ray camp a free run, public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday.

Toshiba is expected to suffer losses amounting to tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to exit the business, Japan's NHK said on its website.

No one at Toshiba could be reached for comment".

More in the link.

Link

[dude1394]

So I haven't followed this very much. So does this mean that Sony controls who does/does not manufacture these things? Or is it an open-standard that toshiba for example can manufacture..

I don't think this is a good one for the consumer, Sony's usually not a good steward of low-cost products.

[bernardos70]

They'll have to pay royalties to Sony, I believe.

And hey, Sony and Phillips came out with the original CD standard. We should be OK, except Sony will be very rich.

But as to the original question: Blu-ray FTW. I was actually glad, because when there was that whole DVD+RW and DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM, nobody could settle on a format. We end up with these crazy drives that support everything, but it takes a while. Blu-ray beat HD-DVD to the market, it was conceptualized earlier. I was actually pretty mad when HD-DVD came out. Somebody already made an hi-def format, Toshiba, give it up.

[mqywaaah]

So... what happens to the Xbox360 and it's HdDvd playing capabilities?

[jthig32]

I would have to think at some point XBox360's will ship with Blu Ray devices.

[bernardos70]

Originally Posted by mqywaaah

So... what happens to the Xbox360 and it's HdDvd playing capabilities?

There's lots of content still out, but going forward, HD-DVD will be phased out like betamax.

[mqywaaah]

So, is there a possibility that when the 360 hops on to the bluray bandwagon, they'll be having their games on bluray format too?

[bigox71]

X360 doesn't actually use HD technology or discs. You have to buy an external HD drive that costs about $120. To use BLURay, they would just add a different external drive

[Flacolaco]

Hmm....I had hoped that the competition would drive prices down further before the winner was declared.

I won't be buying a Blu Ray player anytime soon.The player is one thing, the added cost of the discs themselves is just too much for some stupid DVDs.

[MavsX]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Hmm....I had hoped that the competition would drive prices down further before the winner was declared.

I won't be buying a Blu Ray player anytime soon.The player is one thing, the added cost of the discs themselves is just too much for some stupid DVDs.

and the thing is..dvds are still great!?

why would i want to buy my entire library over again in blue ray... F that.

[twistaeffect2004]

Just got a my first Blu Ray Player today, along with American Gangster, and Full Metal Jacket. I personally can't live without HD, so this was a must for me. Once I heard Toshiba was dropping HD DVD, my decision was made for me. The great thing about both players though, is most models upconvert normal DVD's. So while it's no exactly "true" HD, it's still light years better than your normal picture quality.

Overall, Blu Ray is a must for all HD fans.

[Janett_Reno]

Toshiba made the best machines(hd dvd) upconvert regular dvd's to 720 or 1080 in some of the players they make. It is over, hd/dvd is out and it will be blow out prices. Do you have regular dvd's? The Toshiba is one of the best to scale it up to beautiful percet video. Planet Earth and so many of the best movies will be blown out now with hd/dvd's. It is no difference between what you see in blu ray comparred to hd dvd machines. Both are simply great. The bad is they will stop making any releases for hd dvd format. If you want a great machine to play and upscale your dvd's and even what is out in hd dvd, hd dvd is good and catch a blow out on a 400 machine at about 75.00.

Blu Ray, wait untill the price comes down and the very best machine made is called a Play Station 3. Not for games but for playing blu ray. It is the best. It is better than 1,000 machines. Some will say it rivals Toshiba as the best up scale regular dvd's also. You also get to stream jpg's, mp3's, movies wireless from your computer harddrive to your tv with the ps3. For future proof, ps3 is the best and when Sony makes updates, the ps3 can make updates thru its ethernet connection as where most stand alones can't. Toshiba could also. Panasonic makes a good stand alone blu ray machine. Not as good as ps3 but very good.

Just try to watch and catch a ps3 cheap. They are pretty high now. In about 5 years or so it won't be blu ray or hd dvd. Everything is going to be watched from your computer internet connection to dvd for movies you rent or buy. Japan just launched a satellite for internet that is 5 times faster than our internet now. This was the only hold back, when we watch small games on soapcast or video you notice sometimes it isn't clear and is small. The bandwidth isn't up to snuff yet. It is on the new internet where they can bring video the way it should be.

It is night and day from watching a game on hd 1080i or 1080p vs old analog tv. Like twist says, blu ray is a must for hd fans. I am waiting a blow out or big special on ps3 and i do not play games and won't. Most Toshiba's have crashed down to about 90.00 now and the full 1080p machine is 120.00 or so. I am going to wait untill they blow the remaining ones out between 50 and 75 and pick one of those up also for it's upconvert ability.

[GuerillaBlack]

Blu-Ray. HD DVD looked like it had a chance, but Warner killed it when they made that announcement of being Blu Ray exclusive.

[ShaggyDirk]

If I were to buy a blue ray DVD (No Country for Old Men), can I still play it on my regular DVD player?

[ShaggyDirk]

nevermind.

[bernardos70]

No. Blu-ray is in no way backwards compatible with old DVD players. HD-DVD....... actually I am not sure, but I think it is backwards compatible. Either that or I'm just confusing it with SACD's (which are in fact backwards compatible with old CD players).

Actually, I just looked it up. Some HD-DVD titles have both formats, but not all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD#Compatibility