Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD

A projector is a projector. In what way does the projector rely on Blu-Ray or HD DVD? It's going to project anything you run through it. If it's a decision between wide screen and the regular TV format, I'd go wide screen.

 

I've been in the favor of HD-DVD from the beginning.

The manufacturing process alone puts it in a much better standing (since existing hardware can be reused). And we've seen with the DVD vs. DIVX battle 10 years ago, that studio support can change overnight. Currently, the rendering/playback quality comparisons have been won by HD-DVD. But catch up is obviously possible.

A major influence that seems to be getting ignored entirely (probably due to the current Xbox-360 vs. PS3 attention) is the upcoming flood of new PCs due to Vista. The computer industry will be swayed by the recording ability... which is currently a huge mystery. Price will be far more of a big deal for that as opposed to capacity. (Remember, the rest of the world prefers recording television to DVD as opposed to devices like Tivo.)

It will be interesting to see what happens.

If nothing else, make sure your new hardware supports 1080P. Because regardless of disc, the visual is what you'll care about in the end.

 

My theory is that Blu Ray and HD-DVD are ways to switch away from DVD and regain copy protection in their media. I would be surprised if you could see a difference in image quality at 50" between an upscaled DVD in an HTPC and a Blu ray of HD-DVD player. Consider that you can upscale a DVD using a PC and frame by frame process the image to very near-HD image quality.

There might be a difference with screen sizes higher than 100" but only using a 1080p projector. I bet image quality would be about the same with a 1080i projector with either upscaled DVDs or Blu Ray/HD-DVD.

If you are a gamer just get a PS3 which comes with blu ray or an Xbox 360 with an HD-DVD add on for $200. I would go PS3 only because the connection is digital (HDMI) as opposed to the xbox which is analog (component).

Cheers!

 

I wish that there would be an even competition out there between the two, but I'm afraid that Blu-Ray is gonna leave HD-DVD in the dust. Why?

1--Disc capacity. Blu-Ray holds more.
2--More studios are supporting Blu-Ray than HD-DVD
3--Sony. Still the four most powerful letter in consumer electronics today, no matter what you think of them.
4--Price.

I've worked in consumer electronics for a twelve years, but I could be wrong.

 

The chip makers that produce integrated circuits for DVD players are introducing new chips that work with either Blu-Ray or HD DVD. Industry sources say dual-format players should hit the market in 2007, but the electronics companies are being quiet about it because it will kill sales of current players.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(livelychick @ Nov 12 2006, 01:09 PM) [snapback]347908[/snapback]</div>

Remember Betamax and MiniDisc?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Nov 12 2006, 04:17 PM) [snapback]347911[/snapback]</div>

I thought I read that Blu-Ray has specific license instructions that prevent any player that plays their format from playing HD DVD, which makes a dual-format player impossible. Maybe they have softened up, but maybe not...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(livelychick @ Nov 12 2006, 04:09 PM) [snapback]347908[/snapback]</div>

Wasn't Betamax supposed to be superior in quality to VHS?

Seems the industry still hasn't learned anything. At least the music industry mutually agreed on CD format.

If Blu-Ray won't play my current DVDs they can forget it. I don't care how "superior" their system is.

I have no intention of replacing all of my current DVDs with a new format when I still have VHS tapes I still need to replace with DVDs. And....as I understand it not all movies will be available in all formats.

"On November 29, 2004 four Hollywood studios (New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Bros.) announced non-exclusive agreements to support HD DVD. Since that time, Paramount and Warner have chosen to release titles in both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, while Universal has since announced exclusive support for HD DVD."

Blu-Ray at Wikipedia

"HD DVD is promoted by Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Intel, among others. In terms of major studios, HD DVD is currently exclusively backed by Universal Studios and The Weinstein Company (through Genius Products) and is non-exclusively backed by Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., New Line, HBO, DreamWorks, Image Entertainment, Magnolia Pictures, Brentwood Home Video, Warner Music Group, Ryko, Goldhil Entertainment, and Studio Canal.

HD DVD is product of the DVD Forum which works to promote broad acceptance of DVD products on a worldwide basis, across entertainment, consumer electronics and IT industries. The primary 20 companies involved with the DVD Forum are: Hitachi, Ltd., IBM Corporation, Industrial and Technology Research Institute, Intel Corporation, LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd, Microsoft Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, NEC Corporation, PIONEER CORPORATION, Royal Philips Electronics, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., SHARP CORPORATION, Sony Corporation, THOMSON, Toshiba Corporation, Victor Company of Japan, Limited, Walt Disney Pictures and Television Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Some companies, such as NEC or VidaBox, have developed dual-format or hybrid technologies. NEC is developing a single chip that works with either HD standard[20] , while VidaBox has developed the world's first dual drive compatible player that accommodates both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs[21]."

HD DVD at Wikipedia

The entire thing is both stupid and sucks. I'd rather buy NOTHING and keep what I have. And I bet I'm not the only consumer to rebel with my checkbook. This will go the way of 4/8 track tapes probably. By the time they stop fighting, an entirely new technology will have take over.

 

i love watching movies, but i'm not hardcore enough to shell out that much for bluray, let alone hddvd. for a regular consumer, blu ray for just plain old movies is too pricey. what would studios put in a blu ray disc aside from the movie? hours of special features?

now if you're a gamer i guess blu ray has an advantage because more can be added to a game given the blu ray capacity...

i'd wait and see how it plays out...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mikepaul @ Nov 12 2006, 05:33 PM) [snapback]347917[/snapback]</div>

Could be. This information was from an electronics trade magazine, and the chip makers were not very forthcoming with details. I wouldn't put any money on any particular outcome.

Tom

 

Consumer Reports advises wait and see. Likely one or the other will win in the marketplace, and the other will disappear and become virtually useless as no more movies are released in the losing format.

Which one wins will have nothing to do with which one is best. It will be marketing and chance. Just like Betamax vs. VHS.

 

I have a Samsung upconverting DVD player connected via HDMI to a Hitachi 1080i plasma. The picture looks GREAT! Yes, true HDTV programming looks better but upconverted digital to digital <no analog cables> DVD looks much better then I expected. Since both Blue Ray and HDDVD are totally locked formats I am going to stick with 'open' DVD until someone cracks one of the newer formats. I like being able to store a movie on a hard disk or back it up onto another DVD or play it on a Linux computer.

I am not interested in any original disk that contains an 'image constrain token'.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/hdtv/idx/0/414/a...aint_Token.html

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hampdenwireless @ Nov 12 2006, 06:07 PM) [snapback]347959[/snapback]</div>

Try a 1080p LCD. It looks even better!

In other words, a great share of the population will be quite content with upconverting standard DVDs until the high-definition ones finally drop to the magic price-point. That's about $249 for a player. More than that simply won't appeal to the masses. In fact, it usually isn't until price is down to $199 that they typically take notice.

 

I just picked up the HD DVD add-on for my xbox 360 yesterday. It was $200 and included Kng Kong. I had it hooked up to an 1080p Westinghouse tv. Overall I ended up being slightly disappointed. The picture quality was super sharp, but that made every action sequence look unnatural. My wife and I felt that it looked like the actors were performing in front of screens, where normally things seem to blend more. I can watch the discovery channel in HD for hours and be impressed. I'm hoping that it was just that movie.

The special features also seemed disappointing. I forget what they call it but once I figured out how to turn it on, it put a little logo on the bottom right of the screen and that would change when there was extra content. Then you can hit a button to get the special feature to pop up in a picture-in-picture view over the movie.

I'm going to load up my Netflix queue with HD DVD movies and hope that I find something which shows off the 1080p.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Nov 12 2006, 04:20 PM) [snapback]347912[/snapback]</div>

Vividly. And I also remember the Walkman which created portable music and 8mm and Hi-8mm camcorders, which were largely driven by Sony.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Nov 12 2006, 05:14 PM) [snapback]347926[/snapback]</div>

I think they're backwards compatible.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(livelychick @ Nov 12 2006, 05:07 PM) [snapback]347982[/snapback]</div>

My point is that even Sony has hits and misses.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Nov 12 2006, 08:22 PM) [snapback]347990[/snapback]</div>

Sure--especially when they go out on a stupid proprietary limb and don't work with other manufacturers/studios to share the wealth and technology. Not so in this case. We'll see what happens! It's interesting, to say the least.

 

Before taking a few recommendations posted here spend some time at the following forums to help educate yourself. I think you will find a lot of worthwhile and accurate info.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.php?