The War - Blu vs Hi

[Scaremonger]

The Blue-ray vs. Hi-def war is kind of entertaining to watch from the sidelines. As most of you have probably heard, Hi-def's latest upper hand came from the announcement that Paramount and Dreamworks cancelled Blue-ray release plans, and are now going Hi-def exclusive.

From what I'm hearing now, this was a preemptive strike, because supposedly Blu-ray has a major announcement coming within the next two days that's gonna be the "war ender". While I don't see it as a war ender necessarily, my only guess is that it's a price drop. I have no idea, but we'll see.

I don't mind all this, because currently I 'm getting DVDs at rock bottom prices. I'm going projector shopping, and I'll be ok. :nod:

[toxicangel19]

i font care for blue ray :dsp:

[Freddy316]

I don't think they'll be any "war ender" anytime soon, there may be battles won here and there by each side but the war will continue to rage on for a while. I am routing for Blu-ray however since that's what I have. :D

[Driden]

This thing is getting big Spielberg is thinking about leaving with his work to another because they wont support Blu-ray. Michael Bay is also threatening not to make Transformers 2 if they don't release the movie on a blu-ray

[FrighT MasteR]

Although I've been buying more blu-ray discs recently (mostly due to my PS3 having HDMI, while my 360 still has component) HD-DVD still has a couple things up on Blu-ray -- picture-in-picture and HD-DVD and DVD combos :nod:

[GruesomeDuece]

I'm not going to either side anytime soon, I have too many standard format DVDs and the HiDef and Bluray discs are still too expensive. I plan on getting a PS3 if they keep up the good marketing and game announcements, so if it is a price drop blu ray has in its arsenal, it might definately be a decision maker for me. $40 per movie is way too much for a regular edition blu ray movie, no matter what anybody says. If they were decreased, though, I gotta say it's a swayer.

[FrighT MasteR]

I haven't seen any HD or Blu-ray discs go for more than $35 bucks around here. Usually they're just at $25 or $30.

[KING]

I can get both formats so it doesn't bother me how movies are released, I get normal DVD's anyway.

[Snuggle]

I'm rooting for Blu Ray because I have a PS3 and I'm going to be fucking pissed if Blu Ray fell through, which it won't. I'll probably be picking up Blu Ray movies when I see them cheap but mainly I still do regular DVDs.

[Toxic Voorhees]

I'm a bigger fan of HD

[GruesomeDuece]

I haven't seen any HD or Blu-ray discs go for more than $35 bucks around here. Usually they're just at $25 or $30.

Well than I need to do some DVD shopping in TX, Best Buy in Hattiesburg, MS has em for about $39.99 last time I checked. They may have lowered the price point to meet demand since then though, that was a couple of months ago. I don't regularly check them.

[FrighT MasteR]

:ah:

[Driden]

Looking at the news articles flooding the gaming sites Blu-ray is killing HD DVD every week. sure the $50 drop on HD DVD players helped sales but its still being killed by Blu-ray. These studios switching sides makes no sense at all and will not impact the leader imo

[Revenant]

Frankly DVD is good enough for me, not to mention how low some of them are going for. It's a beautiful thing.

Besides do we really need all movies in High Definition? I can recall a scene from
"About Schmidt" that really, really, does not need to be brought into the HD era.:shakes:

[FrighT MasteR]

Agreed, there are some flicks that don't belong on any form of HD. :dsp:

[KING]

Besides do we really need all movies in High Definition? I can recall a scene from
"About Schmidt" that really, really, does not need to be brought into the HD era.:shakes:

You mean the naked Kathy Bates? :lol:

[Scaremonger]

From The Economist -


The industry has been abuzz all week over the back-door incentives used to induce the studios in question to abandon Blu-ray. Paramount was rumoured to have received $50m and DreamWorks $100m for making the switch. Other incentives were said to have included exclusive promotion and marketing support for the studios’ new releases.

But that’s business as usual in Tinseltown. And Sony has been a master at pulling off such deals. If both sides offer similar bribes, what was the clincher that made DreamWorks and Paramount favour HD DVD?

For a start, HD DVD is a cheaper system all around. Unlike Blu-ray, which has a much shallower (and therefore a more delicate) data layer, an HD DVD has its digital information etched deeper beneath the surface just like a conventional DVD—and can therefore be stamped out on much the same sort of equipment as a DVD. That translates into a larger profit margin for the studios.

Meanwhile, because of the robustness of the disc, HD DVD players have proved to be much cheaper to build. Models now start at $299, and are expected to fall to $199 by the coming holiday season. By contrast, basic Blu-ray players start at $449.

As far as stand-alone players are concerned, the price advantage has allowed Toshiba to outsell the Sony camp by a wide margin. More than 400,000 American households are expected to have HD DVD players by the end of the year, compared with less than 300,000 with Blu-ray players.

Why, then, have Blu-ray discs lately been outselling HD DVD versions by two to one? Because Sony cannily included a Blu-ray player in its latest video-game console, PlayStation 3. And while PS3 has not met expectations of selling 6m consoles in America, some 1.4m have nevertheless been snapped up since their launch last November. Market researchers reckon that most—90% by some reckoning—of Blu-ray discs are played on PS3 consoles. But Hollywood’s studios now realise they can’t pin the future of their precious video sales (today one of their main sources of revenue) on a game console that has failed to ignite widespread interest outside a dedicated circle of hard-core gamers.

That’s not all. Engineers who’ve worked with both formats say Blu-ray is a pig to program. While extremely flexible, its programming language, BD-Java, requires lots of low-level code for even the simplest of instructions. The highly skilled programmers needed to do the job don’t exactly grow on trees. And because of the program’s complexity, even the best produce their share of bug-ridden software.

By comparison, writing software for HD DVD using Microsoft’s HDi interactive technology is a doddle—with one simple command doing the task of scores of lines of BD-Java. More importantly, HDi is the key to HD DVD’s better navigation around menus, and its instinctive ability to interact with the outside world.

Thanks to the internet connection built into all HD DVD players, Toshiba machines allow users to do all sorts of nifty things—like re-edit films, participate in online polls and download trailers. Increasingly, it’s beginning to look as though, after the initial attraction of high-definition’s much sharper picture, interactivity is going to be the deciding factor that determines the outcome of the current format war.

DreamWorks, Paramount and Universal are betting that HD DVD’s powerful tools for interactivity will let them make a tonne of money out of selling all manner of online services to customers who buy their discs. That’s why, ultimately, Toshiba’s David could yet topple Sony’s Goliath in the current video wars.

http://www.economist.com/index.html

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Interesting article, and while I don't have a particular interest in who wins, though one format will be to my liking, things aren't looking so good for Blue ray. How far can you go when your format's success depends on a game console.

[Scaremonger]

And we have a potential 3rd format entering the fray...

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=8019

http://tv-shows-on-dvd.blogspot.com/

Technology is already a bit dated, so having much of any impact could be slim. A little time will tell. Blue-ray discs are 'supposedly' worse built in terms of longevity vs. HD discs, but this new format may be even worse, with more layers than the DVD -18s which are just terrible. They cause all sorts of problems for various players, most notibly freezing up and just not playing. Universal used these quite a bit for tv shows, and when they throw on 2 movies per side of a flipper. They quietly have stopped using them. Soooo many returns.

[FrighT MasteR]

Sounds like a waste of time :zzz:

[Scaremonger]

I'm pretty sure you're right. It's kind of late in the game now. If they came out around the same time as the others, they'd probably be right in the mix.

[FrighT MasteR]

But had it been released the same time then one of'em probably would have fallen by now. I'm still slightly more in favor of HD myself.

[Freddy316]

If this VMD format was launched at the same time as Blu-ray and HD-DVD I think it would have had a very good chance considering the significantly lower price of VMD players in comparison to Blu-ray and HD-DVD players. I think a lot of the people who paid $400-$1000 for their HD-DVD or Blu-ray player would have easily chosen the $200 VMD player instead had it been available at the time. But I agree with Scare, I think it's a little too late for VMD to make any serious impact in the format war at this time. But who knows, VMD might end up being the David that takes out the two Goliaths. Unlikely, but I guess anything is possible.

[steelba]

The price point will give them an enourmous edge.

[Scaremonger]

Good point. Price, I think, is a very important factor for most people, particularely since they are all the exact same, in terms of picture quality.

HD player prices will be dropping this year, especially for the holidays. 150- 200 dollar no-name players, with Toshibas to follow soon. That would make for competition at that price point.

What kind of library this new format can scrounge together is important as well. I don't know that price will be exactly enough.

[Freddy316]

Yeah, library is just as important as price. You can have a format and sell the players for 50 bucks, but if no major movie studios are backing your format you won't be able to build a library and your format will fail.

[Scaremonger]

Of course, this slows down even further the potential sales of those waiting for one format.

[dr_foreverclear]

I prefer hd, but which ever ends up getting porn first will win the battle.

[Il Duce]

Some of the adult film companies have already started to bring out HD and regular version's together when you buy it for one price.

[FrighT MasteR]

Ashvamp = frequent visitor at local porn shop :nod:

[Driden]

Is porn still a major factor? I thought these days people just downloaded porn. I thought the days of old where perverts would go to video stores and rent/buy were gone

[Luris Blear]

The porn store I go to is pretty full of creepy losers if you go straight after work on Monday through Thursday.

Last time I went on a Friday night there were more women there than dudes. College girls. Lots of couples, too.

So it all depends on when you go.

I also noticed that porn is still willing to be the first into any new form of entertainment technology. One day I'm going to pick up the 3D movie they have that claims to work without glasses.

For the record, my wife sent me every time. :D

Hmph, and now an edit to write the post I originally came here to write. I just got a cheap replacement for my ancient GPX dvd player. Just a basic one, not for the living room. The guy at Circuit City told me the best thing to do for the big entertainment system is wait for a winner in the Blu/HD fight and buy a cheaper dvd player that will upsample to HD for the time being.

[Scaremonger]

Well it looks as though the Hi-Def format will be going the way of the Dodo since Warner announced they're going Blu-ray exclusive. That is way too huge a bombshell to overcome. I guess we'll all have to bob on Sony now. Glad I sat it out at least. Didn't take long really.

[opterasis]

Although I've been buying more blu-ray discs recently (mostly due to my PS3 having HDMI, while my 360 still has component) HD-DVD still has a couple things up on Blu-ray -- picture-in-picture and HD-DVD and DVD combos :nod:

The ps3 got a firmware update for profile1.1 or something like that wich I believe makes bluray capable of PiP, I could be wrong though.

[steelba]

Sony is awesome.

[Driden]

copy/paste from elsewhere


http://wesleytech.com/ces-hd-dvd-eve...ouncement/483/

Quote:
Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Looks like HD-DVD is dead!

Edit - Toshiba responds to Warner

"We were particularly disappointed that this decision was made in spite of the significant momentum HD DVD has gained in the US market as well as other regions in 2007. HD DVD players and PCs have outsold Blu-ray in the US market in 2007.

We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer."

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=66678

Edit - New Line Goes Blu-ray now

http://kotaku.com/341033/new-line-goes-blu+ray

[FrighT MasteR]

In a desperate attempt to save its asses, Toshiba has announced that it's slashing prices on all its HD-DVD players, from upwards of 50% off their regular price. Prices are now as low as $150 to the highest supposedly being $300, effective immediately.

With major studios going Blu, and now this, it's becoming more and more clear that HD-DVD is indeed dead. Although I always favored HD-DVD, because it offered a few perks that Blu-ray didn't, I always knew inside that due to Blu-ray's extra disc space that it would eventually be the winner. Once Blu-ray can master the picture-in-picture technology and finally make use of that extra space, I will have no complaints.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080115/tc_nm/media_toshiba_dc;_ylt=AhybGGl_WTnIXlA7iMSzfxYjtBAF