Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray Battle Over? Warner Switches to Blu-Ray
- Thread starter hvfsl
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
seashellz2, you are a prophet of doom, but I'm inclined to agree with you. It looks like we're in for some tough economic times ahead.
That's why this "format war" has been such a train wreck, and why Warner was anxious to END IT. There wasn't a lot of momentum to begin with, and persisting consumer confusion overtime is a recipe for apathy even in much higher economic times... which they're not.
~ CB
I just thought I'd put in my 2 cents! Just wanted to say that when it comes to releases that are being released on both formats, the video encodes are exactly the same as studios do not make 2 different encodes for each version (see Warner releases like Harry Potter and Blade Runner for example), so saying that Blu-Ray video quality is better on those titles is completely false. Most HD-DVD studios use VC-1 as their codec which uses very low bitrates to achieve maximum quality. You might say Blu-Ray has more space and higher bandwith, but when titles like Paramount's Transformers uses AVC as their codec (same one used on many Blu-Ray titles, including Sony's and Disney's) and that it is considered reference quality and as good as and Blu-Ray title, I don't know how you can say that video quality is worse on one than the other, and Transformer's total disc space is 26 GB. Same with King Kong, or movies like Bourne Ultimatum that only take 20 GB of space and is also considered reference quality. It wouldn't look any better on Blu-Ray. The only compromise has been with sound since HD-DVD doesn't have enough bandwith for uncompresses audio, but that problem is solved with Dolby TruHD since it is a lossless codec.
I've been watching both on my 106" screen as I support both formats, but honestly, the only people that say one format is better than the other are fanboys, nothing else. Both formats should have survived and I will keep supporting HD-DVD for as long as I can with exclusives as I don't want to see it die. It is far from being an inferior format and those that think so need to get their facts straight please.
I've been watching both on my 106" screen as I support both formats, but honestly, the only people that say one format is better than the other are fanboys, nothing else. Both formats should have survived and I will keep supporting HD-DVD for as long as I can with exclusives as I don't want to see it die. It is far from being an inferior format and those that think so need to get their facts straight please.
If you are comparing the same title on both formats, you won't see ANY difference as both are using the same encode. If it's not the same title, then it's apples and oranges anyway as some encodes are really bad (ie Robocop and the first release of The Fifth Element) and some are really good (ie Pirates of the Caribbean and Lost S3).
As for recording 24p as 60i for the disc, only a complete moron would waste extra bits for filler frames that the player will insert on it's own. Anyone doing that should be fired on the spot.
Vizio, the definition of quality
No rich Pasadena folk here...
It is an inferior format if you want to use it for more than just movies. And potential is important. If they're using identical encodes now that's because it's easier to support both that way.. When BD is the only format they have to consider they'll be able to encode to use up the full capacity.
Though people have said this before numerous times in the epic thread already.
It makes sense now for a studio to use the same encoding with both formats. But perhaps with HD-DVD out of the way we will see better quality in the future, with more disc space being available on Blu-Ray. Just a thought.
Oops, mixel beat me to it.
If you are comparing the same title on both formats, you won't see ANY difference as both are using the same encode. If it's not the same title, then it's apples and oranges anyway as some encodes are really bad (ie Robocop and the first release of The Fifth Element) and some are really good (ie Pirates of the Caribbean and Lost S3).
As for recording 24p as 60i for the disc, only a complete moron would waste extra bits for filler frames that the player will insert on it's own. Anyone doing that should be fired on the spot.
Vizio, the definition of quality
No rich Pasadena folk here...
I spent about 4 months shopping for a good HDTV. The day I bought it was the day I was told by a good client of mine that worked in liquid crystal development that Vizio was one of the best TV's on the market, for by far the best price. So I had another look at the unit, while taking off my snob glasses and bought it. I had about $4400 to spend, and I chose to save my money and buy a $1800 unit.
As far as your fellow "morons" are concerned, they're using 60i. It looks great, and does a better job at filling the frames than an actual unit can. Plus, the space is there on the disc. So why not use it? And I've seen no one fired over it. Whatta shame. You better run off and tell someone that them thar DVD authors are wasting bits!!! Quick now... run along.
But what's really going to be interesting is watching the same title, on both formats from the same dual format player. In that, will hopefully be the truth.
PS - I just bought the new Samsung BD-UP5000 "True" Dual Format player from Amazon. It's ships to me on February 5th. I'm excited. I honestly think the HD-DVD camp will still survive as a cheaper quality alternative to Blu-Ray production, as long as these players are out there. At last, HDi and BD-J coexist in one player. That's all I came here to really say. But then that production assistant's assistant's assistant's fluffer for Playboy had to come and flame my TV.
This is slightly incoherent. Could you rephrase it so I can understand what you're trying to say?
FWIW, I'm not trying to be a ****, I'd really like to know.
You're ignorance is fascinating for someone "in the industry". Putting 60i on a disk doesn't do "a better job at filling the frames" than a stand alone player, they are exactly the same. All both are doing are taking the odd lines of resolution from the outgoing frame and matching with the even lines of the following frame, standard 2:3 pulldown.
Show me a DVD author that would rather waste bitrate on filler frames than on the actual material and I'll show you someone that'll never work on a studio-release.
Were you planning of developing software for the PS3?
Most people with a PS3 only care if it plays games well. Which it does.
As the DVD format wars rage on content providers are announcing their various plans at internet downloading.
Combine this with the facts that regular old DVDs look OK on HD TVs and the economy is week you can easily see why consumers are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what will happen.
The format winner might be irrelevant as technology moves forward passing discs by.
Combine this with the facts that regular old DVDs look OK on HD TVs and the economy is week you can easily see why consumers are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what will happen.
The format winner might be irrelevant as technology moves forward passing discs by.
Was it? I read the transcript wrong then...either way though, a jab nonetheless. I just hope Apple has something up their sleeves with the Apple TV and iTunes.
Not to my mind. I see obtaining a piece of hardware and getting content for it delivered on physical media as something separate and distinct from an online model for access to media. Whether I decide to purchase Blu-ray or HD-DVD hardware and software is not impacted by any choices I have to choose iTunes, or Amazon, or whatever for downloading content to rent or own.
I hope Blu-Ray wins
Speaking as someone who works in post-production, the Blu-ray spec will mean far more options in the future. HD-DVD was all premised around one thing: a Hi-Def movie playback. With the Blu-ray specs, interaction of many kinds will be much more possible. As well, it gives you more data storage.
And, for those who want to keep their HD-DVD discs, the LG player just dropped to $400. It plays and records Blu-ray, and plays back HD-DVD.
Speaking as someone who works in post-production, the Blu-ray spec will mean far more options in the future. HD-DVD was all premised around one thing: a Hi-Def movie playback. With the Blu-ray specs, interaction of many kinds will be much more possible. As well, it gives you more data storage.
And, for those who want to keep their HD-DVD discs, the LG player just dropped to $400. It plays and records Blu-ray, and plays back HD-DVD.
I can tell the difference between the Blu-ray MPEG-2 and the discs with MPEG-4/VC-1. Why use the older MPEG-2? Cheaper?
With that being said, coinciding with Warner's announcment, Fox is going to be releasing Blu-ray titles in MPEG-2 again (ID4 is one of them).
I guess when there's no competition, you can do what you want...
There's still competition with Standard-Def DVD. Studios really need to make sure that their Hi-Def releases are above and beyond that of the DVD of the same title. That's the only way HD media will really push out DVD (be it BR, HD-DVD, or Digital Downloads). So far it has been hit or miss with catalog titles, but new releases tend to have a pretty good track record.
this graph is really sketchy....
even the "fixed" one doesn't include Discovery Channel/BBC releases, which would be in the "purple" category and at this point in the game would appear on that graph based on sales numbers. The overall sales numbers for HD are very, very low, and a considerable number of those actual sales are for things like Planet Earth or Blue Planet, or even things like the HD versions of a few famous operas or ballets that are available now...
even the "fixed" one doesn't include Discovery Channel/BBC releases, which would be in the "purple" category and at this point in the game would appear on that graph based on sales numbers. The overall sales numbers for HD are very, very low, and a considerable number of those actual sales are for things like Planet Earth or Blue Planet, or even things like the HD versions of a few famous operas or ballets that are available now...
and more important: bring down the price of the movies ... especially after the "new release" shelf live
if the HD movies are only 2-3 bucks more it would be obvious what to choose .. if after months, casino royale on blue ray is still costing 30 bucks while it can be had for 5-7 bucks on ordinary DVD, many consumers won't think twice what to choose