Comments on: FAQ: What's next in HD video fracas?
HD DVD isn't dead, at least not quite. That leaves many options and potentially expensive mistakes for consumers.
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Oops, I spoke too soon.
Digital downloads will replace hard media at some point (On Demand is beginning to show movies still in theaters), and with the ability to stream all sorts of digital media to your tv and stereo, consumers might skip bluray alltogether.
A couple of terabyte drives from now, bluray could become obsolete itself.
in households, Blu-ray is beating HD-DVD handily.
Blu-ray burners here are already down to $599. Too much, yes,
but how much are HD-DVD burners right now. Burners you can
pop into your computer and start burning. I know on my Mac, I
can get two different burners and my burning software (Toast)
already supports them.
How's it going on HD-DVD in the software sector? (I'm really
asking.)
Also, something this article does not account for is the ps3 'effect' Everyone that I know that owns a ps3 owns or rents blueray discs.
(I personally own a ps3 and over 100 blueray discs)
What does the preceding prove? Just that my experience is somewhat limited, as your own experience would seem to be.
--mark d.
So the number of STUDIOS may be tilted in Blu Ray's favor, but the number of TITLES isn't necessarily - it could even become tilted in the other direction.
So long that they'll both be hawking their independent, ill conceived standards while feature rich, affordable HD downloads reach the mainstream.
I want them to PAY for every time they stuck it to the consumer with their greedy format wars.
Was that too strong? ;<)
T
because of the Warner announcement. Well, yeah, they're the
winner alright, of a hell of a lot of used players from all the
bluray customers that are beginning to find out that their
players are in essence useless but a few months of spending
1000 dollars on the format.
HD DVD had it right from day one. They're accessible and stable
and in the end a million times better for the consumer. If in the
end, for some weird reason, enough people end up deciding
that the more expensive and useless format called bluray is
better, then you didn't spend much money at all and still have a
great upscaling DVD player to ignore the bluray ripoff until the
next format comes along.
Bluray seemed better, but in the end, it was HD DVD that had it
right all along.
I guarantee Paramount and Universal will be format neutral before 2009.
HD DVD has a hard time with 1080p. Blue-ray has the space (And more importantly the bandwidth) to support 1440p and might be able to push 2160p. This is with software update to the current PS3. with a hardware update 2160p would be easy. HD DVD was obsolete from the day it hit the shelf.
1440p TVs have already hit some markets and 2160p is coming faster than you want to think.
Long live the Blue!
Forget the format war and the price war I want features and the feature I want is to be able to put the content on any screen. And DRM makes the disk about as helpful as a coaster.
I have too many hard drives lying around.
I'd pay $10 for a blank disc.. just no COASTERS PLEASE.
As soon as we can burn those HD movies from thepiratebay.org for a cheap price, the burner sales will go up ten times....
For example, a blank Blu-ray that is 50 GB
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-jyvBK8lVhwd/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=158BNR50AH
is $47.99 (I didnt shop around, quick google search).
This is with the tech still relatively in its infancy and not yet proliferated. DVDs started out similarly. I wouldnt be surprised if this dropped substantially as more people bought into it.
The 'customer visible' differences between the two formats (that are the basis on which we will end up making decisions) to my knowledge are:
- HD-DVD has a provision for making backup copies of a DVD for personal use and BluRay does not AFAIK
- HD-DVD doesn't have a 'profile' update or software update mechanism -- so nobody's HD-DVD player can become obsolete. BluRay however does have updateable 'profiles' and many people already own BluRay players that are obsolete because they lack the capability required for the new profiles even if their firmware is flashed.
- Anything else?
I might be wrong about those points. But my real point is -- these are the factors that matter to consumers. As a tech journo, you should focus on that instead. Help us decide. Please!!
Here is a list of advantages of HD DVD:
Blutamax has extra DRM included.
Blutamax is not region free unlike HD DVD.
HD DVD players have a network connection and can download interactive disks content and firmware grades automatically. Blutamax players dont and cant.
Every single standalone Blutamax player on sale now is already obsolete due to 'profile' updates needed (i.e. they couldnt get the hardware right first time round).
Blutamax has less capacity than HD DVDs 51GB disks
Lots of Blutamax films are encoded in the legacy MPEG 2 codec which measn the picture quality really suffers.
All Blutamax disks have to waste massive amounts of space on uncompressed sound tracks because Dolby HD support is not standard on Blutamax players.
You can buy an Xbox 360 AND a standalone HD DVD player for less than the price of a PS3. Dont put up with the PS3's inferior graphics and lousy games.
You can have a standard DVD on the flip side of an HD DVD disk. Dlutamax cant cope with that.
Oh and Blutamax players cost twice price too.
the thing is, even if i were in the market for an upscaling dvd player at $79, would I even want to pay just $50 extra for a format that's dying?
people might consider that a waste of $50 rather than an added bonus.
i really wanted hd-dvd to win.
Some stores that keep track of sales stats per employee...they REALLY don't want to sell them only to have their performance take a hit a few days later.
If you want an HD DVD player, raid the dumpsters behind Best Buy in 3 months.
I believe things are the way they are because Sony has deep pockets and that is it. For this reason I think it would be great if HD DVD won out. Is it probable? No, but one can hope.
Sony has a very bad history of being over priced and limiting much like Apple. Do they make good stuff? Yes they do but not any better than anyone else who can sell it at half the price.
lets start with:
"Blu-Ray doesn't have a player worth owning under $400"
well how about the PS3. not only is it a blu ray player, and an upscaling dvd player, it is also a game console.
next untruth: "It's discs are physically inferior to HD DVD and DVD"
wrong again. blu ray disks hold much more data than hd-dvd disks. how much you ask. how about almost 20 gigaBYTES more. that allows for better quality uncompressed audio such as HD-DTS, and more special features.
next untruth:
"the players are slow and cumbersome"
nope. my PS3 boots up0 and starts playing a movie before my toshiba A35 (the best hd-dvd player money can buy) even says hello... which is slow and cumbersome you say?
next untruth:
"all rights to the content on Blu-Ray are completely removed from the consumer"
you have all the same rights that you have with DVD disks. given they did make it more difficult to copy and pirate the movies.
HD-DVD is region free and pirates love it for that reason.... could that be your real reason for all the blu ray hate? i bet it is.
If and when HD DVD burning players with hard drives hit the market (and if double sided HD DVD-r disks ever sell for less than $20), you can talk about managed copy (Hint, with the companies making blank media starting to abandon HD DVD this will never happen).
It's a shame there had to be two formats to begin with and people are in this predicament.
However, I'm guessing many HD DVD owners bought on price alone. You get what you pay for.
They're upset and bitter. Everyone else is happily enjoying their Blu-rays.
While I agree HD-DVD specs were solidified before Bluray's, that is not the only reason to support a format. Also, look at the consumer electronics space - do you see a whole bunch of companies on one side leading to vibrant development and one lonely company carrying the format on the other side. You decide.
Sorry you're jealous/upset. You backed the wrong horse. Sell it while you still can.
I must correct myself. In another talkback I mentioned that the HD-A30 only did 1080p at 24 fps. I got that from the CNET review.
Either the CNET review is outdated or it's wrong.
My workplace has started servicing Toshiba's HD DVD units. I'm very impressed with the quality.
From experience I can say that the HD-A30 does both 1080p 60 and 1080p 24.
To the point: $150 HD-A3 being close to the cost of an upconverting DVD player, I don't think so.
You can get a Toshiba upconverting dvd player for $60 if you look hard enough. You can get a DVD/VCR that upconverts, made by Toshiba, for under $100.
So, if you're talking 3 times the cost then sure, they're close.
Duel format players suck. Who in their right mind would pay close to a grand for a DVD player? HD or not.
A BIG problem Toshiba has is awareness.
A lot of my customers and friends ask me about HD. All of them know Blueray. The name is out there in a big way. Something I hear a lot after a mention of Blueray is "isn't there some other kind of HD too"?
People don't know HD DVD and they don't know Toshiba sells it.
Toshiba has three things going for it: 1 price, 2 better format and 3 they're not Sony. They have to do a better job promoting HD DVD to consumers.
Of course, it didn't help that Microsoft stabbed Toshiba in the back by not offering an XBox with a built in HD-DVD drive. But what else would one expect from Microsoft?
On the other hand, I do agree that MS haven't done enough to push HD DVD. They should have made it almost difficult to buy a 360 WITHOUT a bundled HD DVD add-on.
So, you're actually getting better product by paying less for an HD-DVD unit.
Who do you expect people to listen to? The owners know what quality they have gotten. Should they listen to someone who is ignorant of the whole topic, like you?
When I do buy an HD DVD player (which may be soon because of the price cuts), I won't be buying any movie in HD that I already own in SD DVD.
SD DVD looks great on my 42" LCD TV, especially those that were mastered digitally. I see no reason to repurchase the over 300 movies I own just to see them slightly sharper.
And, there is just no way in heck I will ever pay upwards of $30 for a new movie release on HD DVD.
So, if I do buy an HD DVD player (HD-A30) for under $200, I will be looking for HD titles I don't already own (that will be tough) and I sure won't be buying any new HD releases unless I can get them at the same price as the SD version.
You can win and still buy, as long as you buy what you want and need, not what they tell you you want and need.
This leaves Other complaining over Encryption systems issues which backer are lightly to push for a solution to after they've got enough momentum behind the standard.
Having a 75GB version would allow for movies Like Lord of the Rings to be properly printed and does leave hollywood thinking about how it could make some more extended lengh movies and leaves us consumers gutted they didn't think of this problem sooner when the hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy film was made because with some extended time and a bit more work and effort it could have been Great.
- HD DVD prices go down due to demand and value
- by samkass February 5, 2008 6:22 PM PST
- HD DVD players are going to keep dropping in prices as the
- Like this Reply to this comment
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- fire sale?
- by Miked350z February 6, 2008 5:21 AM PST
- I'd agree with this comment. It makes sense for toshiba to
- Like this View all 2 replies
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- HD DVD is cheap because they need to clean house
- by jrm125 February 6, 2008 9:10 AM PST
- If they wait any longer word will totally be out to even the less than tech savvy that the format is a total loss. They need to sell it while they still can. Ironically, following the holidays, despite the fire sale of gear, Blu ray still came out on top.
- Like this View reply
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (172 Comments)companies try to move inventory in the face of low demand and
reduced value (since it's basically going to be just an expensive
DVD player in a couple years).
Reporting dropping HD DVD player prices as if it's some sort of
game-changer is just disingenuous. Blu-Ray won, but c|net
knows it can get a few more ad downloads if they declare the
format war not over yet.
liquidate their stock. Although folks they dont do their homework
before purchasing will get burned. Thats what return policies are
for I guess. 2 studios will not and can not provide enough
content to keep hd-dvd alive :(
No one wants HD DVD