Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD: The On-Going Battle

The Bond franchise isn't impressed it went out on Blu-Ray exclusively either. Lost sales are lost sales.

davidfig wrote in post #4616887
Can someone tell me if you hd-dvd has ethernet. The spec says they it has to have it. I'm thinking big brother here.

They all do, part of the HD specs, and something missing from early BluRay specs and hence the early players. It allows easy updates and access to additional content. Pretty neat.

Owners of version 1.0 blue rays are having to jump through hoops if they want to watch anything like Pirates, as 1.0 specs don't support the BluRay+ copy protection that Sony rolled out. At least HD DVD is a finalized spec.

Lord_Malone wrote in post #4616922
Well if that isn't a punch in the nuts...

Oh well. The movie looks good on regular DVD too.

I agree. Technically Blu-ray is better. But so was Beta-Max.

So like a co-worker says, it will go the way of the porn industry. Which to this point is going HD, because of lower cost to transform a automated line.

BTW - Lm - I just bought Transformers on DVD. which is all I have at this point. Now its time for a HiDef TV and unconverter.

Sony and DRM (rootkit anyone?), Sony and un-updateable firmware. You can see where thread like this can head.

davidfig wrote in post #4616901
Read an online article last week, the director was complaining that it did not go on both. Since Microsoft paid to get it on HD only.

Seems like an odd thing for MS to be doing. Any idea what the source was?

I think that the whole debate will overtaken by technology. iTunes is killing the music CD market and I am sure that the same will happen with movies. My 20MB broadband pipe can D/L an HD movie in just over an hour and appleTV plays it in HD. With Broad Band / DSL speeds increasing and with the falling price in storage media I am sure that this will be the way of the future. Also I was talking with some of the Techy geeks at work who tell me that there is a huge amount of interest in very high capacity HD cards as these will be a very cost effective way of distributing movies and the film companies will be able to incorporate anti copying technology.

I went with HD-DVD because I hated the blu-ray attitude. Players that are so much more expensive, with unfinished and incomplete specs. They might have the potential when they get their implementation together but for now I consider it overpriced inferior product with superior marketing.

Even now, reportedly, the Harry Potter movies have a bigger list of interactive features on HD-DVD than on Blu-Ray. Dunno how many people actually use those features.

The only blu-ray thing I wish HD-DVD had is the scratch-proof layer. There is some rumor of some other HD-DVD only studio declaring their new found love for Blu-Ray and finally killing HD-DVD once and for all. I am hoping it is the other way around but I really wouldn't be hurt much. They are in the business of making money and money only and I just want them to finish their fight and put and end to this. Will be interesting to see the final stand-alone player sales figures this CES.

-vamsi

davidfig wrote in post #4616959
I agree. Technically Blu-ray is better.

Both are in 1080p and dolby digital 5.1. HD-DVD has a higher framerate. Really, what one is better then?

The only real disc difference is in storage capacity. And we all know that blu-ray's capacity has already been superceded. So why not go with the player that has a standardized, backwards compatible format delivery? HD-DVD.

Plus Toshiba isn't a movie studio that wants to control me. The HD-DVD consortium is pretty fair.

davidfig wrote in post #4616959
Now its time for a HiDef TV and unconverter.

That's actually why I went HD, I was planning on waiting originally. Thing is if you are going to sink $75+ on a decent 1080i upconverter, spending $200 on an HD DVD player that also nets you 5 to 10 HD movies (depending on which deals you get) isn't that big a hit.

neil_r wrote in post #4616968
I think that the whole debate will overtaken by technology. iTunes is killing the music CD market and I am sure that the same will happen with movies. My 20MB broadband pipe can D/L an HD movie in just over an hour and appleTV plays it in HD. With Broad Band / DSL speeds increasing and with the falling price in storage media I am sure that this will be the way of the future. Also I was talking with some of the Techy geeks at work who tell me that there is a huge amount of interest in very high capacity HD cards as these will be a very cost effective way of distributing movies and the film companies will be able to incorporate anti copying technology.

You mean no more pirated bootlegs of movies weeks before they're released?

joove wrote in post #4616982
The only blu-ray thing I wish HD-DVD had is the scratch-proof layer. There is some rumor of some other HD-DVD only studio declaring their new found love for Blu-Ray and finally killing HD-DVD once and for all. I am hoping it is the other way around but I really wouldn't be hurt much. They are in the business of making money and money only and I just want them to finish their fight and put and end to this. Will be interesting to see the final stand-alone player sales figures this CES.

-vamsi

Paramount is HD-DVD exclusive and announced that recently.

Quite the opposite. The scratch proof layer isn't scratch proof. Scratch resistant. Both discs have it with Blu-Ray being the weaker coating. "Lacquer Layer".

http://www.hardwaresec​rets.com/article/415/2

Lord_Malone wrote in post #4617003
You mean no more pirated bootlegs of movies weeks before they're released?

No I really am a member of the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and this is a legitimate preview copy:o

Citizensmith wrote in post #4616995
That's actually why I went HD, I was planning on waiting originally. Thing is if you are going to sink $75+ on a decent 1080i upconverter, spending $200 on an HD DVD player that also nets you 5 to 10 HD movies (depending on which deals you get) isn't that big a hit.

Upconvert DVD is $40 at walmart

neil_r wrote in post #4616968
I think that the whole debate will overtaken by technology. iTunes is killing the music CD market and I am sure that the same will happen with movies.

there is a huge amount of interest in very high capacity HD cards as these will be a very cost effective way of distributing movies and the film companies will be able to incorporate anti copying technology.

Agreed, with the exception of the psychological desire to hold a physical product in your hands. Now that all the music houses (with the exception of Sony - no surprise) have gone DRM free, it'll be interesting to see what that does to itunes. Why pay for the premium itunes stuff when everyone else has it for standard. Why deal with fairplay and ipods when you can throw an MP3 on a cheaper, better player from someone else? itunes will have to make some changes to remain competitive in the long run.

As for copy protection, BluRay+ took about 2 weeks to break. Why do they think anything is ever going to give them protection that actually works. Just because its on a flash card and not a disc, it'll still get opened.

davidfig wrote in post #4617043
Upconvert DVD is $40 at walmart

But you note my use of the word decent. If you want something that will give a smooth, ghost free 1080i upconvert you'll be spending around $100.

If you would be happy with a $40 walmart player then HD or Bluray is a complete waste of your money.