Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(syclone @ Nov 13 2006, 08:19 AM) [snapback]348133[/snapback]</div>

That means little to which format will actually be used. It just offers the choice.

HD-DVD is quite a bit less expensive to make, currently about a fifth that of Blu-Ray. That edge spells a higher profit some studios will definitely be drawn to, especially if stores price the discs the same.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigdaddy @ Nov 12 2006, 10:59 AM) [snapback]347867[/snapback]</div>

Make sure you check out DLP. I have one and they are spectacular in high definition.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Nov 13 2006, 12:21 PM) [snapback]348210[/snapback]</div>

Movies and videos at the iTS are not formatted just for iPods anymore. They have near DVD-quality and look OK to me up to a 36" LCD. Definitely not projector material. What I am hoping is that in the future some content would be available in HD format.

 

Heh. I've thought about this in reverse, starting from the idea that a standard DVD looks really good on my 15.4 inch powerbook in full screen mode. A 1920 x 1080 picture would have about the same resolution on a 38 inch monitor (15.4 x sqrt(6))

 

In talking about downloadable movies, don't forget that bandwidth has plenty of room to increase. I have no idea how long it will take, but fiber-optic cable to private homes will greatly increase download rates. In some places you can get it now if you're willing to pay, but sooner or later, phone and cable companies wanting to sell more services/content to subscribers will install fiber optic cable at their own expense. (We'll pay for it in the cost of the services, but we won't have to put up the investment capital up front.)

 

Hey, maybe we can talk Danny into having a HT section here on Prius Chat!!

I purchased the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player when it first came out in April and it has been an awesome machine!! I currently have a dedicated HT with a 8' 1.87 A/R screen using a NEC XG-135LC CRT projector and the image is unreal. MUCH better quality than the average HD programming currently available OTA or on satellite.

The Blueray is twice the money and I see no advantage in picture quality. In fact there are many that have done back to back tests and claim that HD DVD is currently superior to PQ vs the BR.

I really hope that HD DVD suceeds or they merge the 2 technologies because there are a large number of people that are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the dust to clear.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Nov 13 2006, 03:00 PM) [snapback]348470[/snapback]</div>

With fiber-optic into each home you would have no need to dl the movie to your home computer or need of cable into your home or phone lines.

Also to those who are asking about recording size I record "Lost" 60 min in HighDef each week at 1080i resolution and then transfer it to my desktop to write to DVD. The unconverted file.ts (transport stream) is 5.8Gb or less. Titanic was 20.4Gb.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Nov 18 2006, 02:42 AM) [snapback]351349[/snapback]</div>

You're kind of preaching to the choir.

As Prius supporters, we are well aware of the fact that bigger doesn't necessarily equate to better.

Extra capacity is only valuable if actually utilized. The newest JPG codec clearly shows that higher quality does not require more storage space, just more processing power.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigdaddy @ Jan 15 2007, 02:30 PM) [snapback]375956[/snapback]</div>

The porn industry also uses a lot of Macs because of the video editing software.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jan 15 2007, 12:06 PM) [snapback]375971[/snapback]</div>

Porn consumers on the other hand prefer Windows PCs because the two-button mouse allows one free hand to...oh, never mind. :lol:

 

Blu-ray will become yesterday's betamax. HD-dvd FTW!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BORNGEARHEAD @ Jan 15 2007, 04:48 PM) [snapback]376020[/snapback]</div>

Maybe I need to get a Blu-ray unit to keep next to my still working BetaHiFi/SuperBeta unit. It's too bad VHS beat out Betamax, but that's a lot of water over the dam.

Tom

 

Here's what I think.

Both formats offer new and better copy protection.
Both formats offer the ability to store HD video.
Both formats are moderately extensible so that they can be changed to include more efficient codecs if the desire to do so arises.

There are two differences. #1. Disk capacity, and #2 price.
Blu-ray is presently available in 25GB or 50GB disks. Prototypes have been made for 100GB and 200GB disks.
HD DVD is presently available in 15GB or 30GB disks, and Rewritable disks are available in 20GB (I gather). apparently there has been work on a 51GB disk as well, though that's some ways off.

Blu-ray media costs $15 for a write once, and about $17 for a rewritable 25GB disk, or $35 or $45 for the 50GB versions
HD-DVD media costs $17 for write once 15GB.

A blu-ray drive for a PC costs about $600, while the player costs as low as $500 (if you count the PS 3) or $650 (lowest other price I've seen)
An HDDVD player costs $400.

I wasn't able to find HD-DVDs in rewritable or 30GB capacity for sale, nor was I able to find a burner for HD-DVDs.

This puts Blu-ray at a clear advantage in my mind. Several things:
1. I spend about 3 times as long hunting for HD-DVD products today, and found less than half as many.
2. Blu-ray players/drives are at present only about $100 more expensive than HD-DVD, yet they bring the greatly added capacity
3. Blu-ray media (for home burning) is easier to come by, as are the burners. Plus, it appears that the blu-ray media that IS available may be cheaper than HD-DVD media.

Then, on top of that, consider these things:
Blu-ray is indeed a newer, therefore somewhat more expensive technology, but that also means its price will fall faster than HD-DVD's, since HD-DVD started with more mature, cheaper technology to start with. Already, Blu-ray players and drives have fallen about $400 in less than a year (by my reckoning), and the media has also fallen significantly in price.
Sony's PS3 plays Blu-ray out of the box. XBox 360 requires an add on.
Blu-ray has more room to expand content size. How many DVD's do you have in your library right now? Imagine being able to take a stack of 40 regular DVDs (or 20 dual-layer DVDs) and burning them to a SINGLE 200GB blu-ray disk. This may indeed become possible in the future, and, what's more, with Blu-ray's higher data rates, it won't take as long as burning to HD-DVD.
Also, blu-ray already has a fairly good hold (in my understanding) in Japan, something HD-DVD is missing.

Blu-Ray is more future proof because it allows for larger capacities. Let's assume for a minute that we DO all need to update to one format or the other at some point. would you rather update to HD-DVD which will become top out in capacity at maybe 60-75GB regardless of how they push it, meaning a new format is needed sooner, or would you rather upgrade to Blu-ray, which will expand up to 200GB?

Personally, I vote for Blu-ray.

 

Who else remembers what happened on June 17, 1999?

That was when the BetaMax equivalent for DVD vanished as if it never had been supported. Studios just abandoned it.

The losing hardward format was called "DIVX" (totally unrelated to the software codec) and disappeared from existance so fast it was absolutely amazing... quite literally overnight.

 

They never learn.

At least the CD format battle was resolved by the manufacturers before production of discs and machines.

The music industry learned from the VHS/Betamax wars.

The Movie industry apparently learned nothing.

It doesn't matter which is better. One format is going to win. Yes, they'll make some machines that will play multiformats and they'll be honkin' expensive. Eventually one format will triumph, those machines will go way down in price, more and more will be available on that one format and eventually you'll only play one format on that honkin' expensive multi-format machine.

I'll just wait for the dust to settle.

And my current DVDs better be able to play on whatever they come up with.

 

Well, as far as I know, I am going to wait until the dust settles with the format wars. I sure am not going to keep spending money on hardware that will end up obsolete in short order.

I recently saw some HD-DVD players in Walmart a few months back, but basically, if studios keep puttin so many restrictions on the discs and players, then less people are goin to be willing to buy them, let alone the movies.

I am still on the fence on this one.

 

Forgive me if someone already mentioned this, but I'm too lazy to search the whole thread, but I read on /. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/213258 the other day that the porn industry has standardized on HD-DVD. Game over. Legend has it that a similar move to VHS by this niche market doomed Beta.

 

I'd love a HT section here on PC. I'm a hardcore HT buff. I have both HD DVD and BluRay right now. As far as picture is concerned, both are better than DVD, and close enough to each other not to matter. I say wiat for a combo player.

Projections are that even in 6-8 years regular DVD's will still have a 50% market share.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(one @ Jan 15 2007, 07:37 PM) [snapback]376066[/snapback]</div>

One more 'nail in the coffin of HD-DVD' comes from Microsoft, of all places...

One MSFT XBox exec said they have no plans on making HD-DVD standard on the X360 because 'they don't want to stick customers with the next betamax'.




<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jan 16 2007, 01:58 AM) [snapback]376151[/snapback]</div>

John that is sort of an absurd statement.

There were no real differences between regular DVD and DIVX in terms of quality, and in fact, DIVX players could play regular DVDs. It's nothing like Betamax vs VHS, as those players were not cross compatible. Of course, you couldn't play DIVX in a vanilla DVD player, but you could go the other way.