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HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray [misc discussion]

GFLPraxis said:
So, I suppose Sony's deserving of some congratulations. This is the first time they've won a format war...um...ever?
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No.. They won the war with Philips with MiniDisc and Philips DCC in the mid 90's. But you have to remember it may have won, but it was hardly a 'success'.

And to be honest I still feel this is going to be a similar war.. where even though they win... it will be another format in a couple of years which will be the real one that takes off... however at least BD has more support than minidisc ever had.
 
Im confused. why is this in the apple games > console games section?
I mean i know that PS3 has blu ray, and you can get an adapter for 360 for HD, but isnt there a better place to put this thread than in the gaming section?
 
marclapierre13 said:
Im confused. why is this in the apple games > console games section?
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It started in this section under a different title to do with consoles and had a different slant, but due to the broadening of discussion the thread title was changed to reflect such.
 
To slightly switch topic-

In the UK, PS3 adverts have lines such as "with AI only possible on Blu-ray", "graphics only possible on Blu-ray"... It does make me cry inside.

"filler files only possible on Blu-ray" more like :D
 
Slightly off topic, but thought of something (this whole thread is going off topic anyway :eek:).
Why is it that a single layer DVD holds 4.7GB and a dual holds 8.54GB (not 9.4GB), but HD-DVD and Blu-ray hold exactly double over 2 layers, with no loss? (ie. single 25, dual 50 and single 15, dual 30)
 
Maybe there's some kind of large allocation directory or something on the 1st layer which blocks out that section of the 2nd layer?

Maybe mice run into the DVD pressing labs and nibble away the innards of the 2nd layer? Excreting them as Gamecube discs, UMDs or Minidiscs.
 
I think 4.7 and 9.4 are if 1GB == 1000MB instead of 1GB == 1024MB.

So a regular 4.7GB DVD is really somewhere around 4.3GB or something I think.
 
Actually I was quoting them both as 1GB = 1000MB.
Wiki says:
Code: 
	Single layer capacity	Dual/Double layer capacity
Physical size	        GB	GiB	GB	GiB
12 cm, single sided	[b]4.7[/b]	4.37	[b]8.54[/b]	7.95
12 cm, double sided	9.4	8.74	17.08	15.90
8 cm, single sided	1.4	1.30	2.6	2.42
8 cm, double sided	2.8	2.61	5.2	4.84
 
Bring out yer dead.. *dong* Bring out yer dead

Posted Jan 7th 2008 10:29PM by Richard Lawler
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

The Financial Times is reporting that Paramount is preparing to use a get out clause in its HD DVD exclusivity deal, and go back to Blu-ray, about 4 months after ending its dual-format release schedule. The move would be a result of Warner's switch to Blu-ray, using a "get out" clause in Paramount's promotional agreement with the HD DVD camp. No details on what it might take to rip up the contract and make Michael Bay very, very happy, but if the rumor proves true this could make the slow death he predicted for HD DVD a very, very fast one.
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http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/paramount-following-warner-out-the-hd-dvd-door/
 
Wow, it's rather...surprising. Industries rarely change so much overnight! :eek: HD-DVD has gone from runner-up to virtually dead in the course of 3 days.
 
This is all happening so fast!

Hopefully it'll turn out like UMD. In that prices dropped so much where you can buy sealed copies of new-ish films for £1.99 ($4). That way I'd definitely get a whole load of HD-DVDs and just wait for a hybrid player.

Also to the BR defense camp who want nothing more than to see HD-DVD die - Isn't it good to have 2 formats? I doubt we would have seen media and player price cuts on both sides so quickly if there was 1 format. Competition has been great in the format war and (unrelated) to the console war.
 
raggedjimmi said:
Also to the BR defense camp who want nothing more than to see HD-DVD die - Isn't it good to have 2 formats? I doubt we would have seen media and player price cuts on both sides so quickly if there was 1 format. Competition has been great in the format war and (unrelated) to the console war.
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i think a format war might be important in the beginning but if it takes so long like this one it actually does more damage especially on the hardware side... a lot of manufacturers are still waiting with producing devices...

(before anybody comes up with "there also was a format war for the DVD" ... the DIVX system was US only .. in the rest of the world there was AFAIK no competition)
 
raggedjimmi said:
Also to the BR defense camp who want nothing more than to see HD-DVD die - Isn't it good to have 2 formats? I doubt we would have seen media and player price cuts on both sides so quickly if there was 1 format. Competition has been great in the format war and (unrelated) to the console war.
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Not really. Unlike the console war, where each system can have strengths and weaknesses, this kind of a competition really benefits nobody. Consumers have to buy two different players that do the exact same thing (or a more expensive hybrid player), or go without. Meanwhile, movie studios' sales are not only much lower because the market is split in two and thus only half can buy their movies, but also because a lot of people just won't buy the players until the format war is over.


So everyone loses money, really.

Unlike the console war, prices will still drop without competition because ANYONE can make a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player, not just one company, so the different players will compete with each other.
 
That's reassuring then. One has to wonder if Sony would have been this aggressive adding new features to the PSP and PS3 if not for better selling competition. Looking back at the PS2 since it had no competition it remained at the same price for a very long time, even here the PS2 is still £90 even though it's the weakest (and likely cheapest) of all last gen systems to build.
 
takao said:
(before anybody comes up with "there also was a format war for the DVD" ... the DIVX system was US only .. in the rest of the world there was AFAIK no competition)
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Yep DVD was the right format, at the right time and without direct competition. It also quickly broke the important price barriers which sped up it's take up. Remember DVD is probably the most successful and quickest adopted format in recent age...

BD & HD-DVD are both great quality wise, but I don't think they offer enough just yet to be taken full mainstream. The PS3 is still the biggest selling BD player, take the PS3 out of the equation and I imagine that the format war would rage on for years without getting anywhere significant.

I still would not pay €599-999 for a BD player here (those are the prices I saw in the Sony centre before xmas), and I normally always buy new formats.

I bought laserdisc, I bought cdi, I bought vcd, I bought minidisc, I bought DCC, I bought SACD..... All of which failed the mainstream even though they offered better quality, better technology... The fact remains formats take off when the consumer is ready for them, and in that respect... DVD will continue to be the biggest seller for a long long time.
 
MacRumorUser said:
The fact remains formats take off when the consumer is ready for them, and in that respect... DVD will continue to be the biggest seller for a long long time.
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If that were a fact then the studios wouldn't be backing either format and sticking with DVD, look at the DiVX players for example ;)

HD as a technology is taking off, sales are skyrocketing, the consumers want a HD format player to match the technology that they are purchasing now. BD will fill that need, DVD's are on their way out, but im sure you still use audio cassettes right?

BD will replace DVD sooner than you think, the digital distribution while it sounds nice is easily a good 10 years off. DD may be the next big thing, but I am not sure as people like to have something that they can hold, physical media is psychological to the purchase, take that away and the average consumer feels they get less.

For now BD is the new DVD, like it or not BD will replace DVD and by the sounds of it a lot faster than you anticipate :)

Ed
 
Ed H said:
For now BD is the new DVD, like it or not BD will replace DVD and by the sounds of it a lot faster than you anticipate :)

Ed
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If it happens it happen, means I wont have spent a whole lot of money on another redundant format :D (seriously buy all your films on VHS, then re-buy all your favorites on Laserdisc, then re-buy all your favorites on DVD, and now I'm re-buying all my favorites on HD.. bloody formats :D)
 
I just can't see BR taking over that fast. DVD is so cheap and looks fantastic through a good quality DVD player on a good TV. Buying habits of my friends seem to be everything gets purchased on DVD (despite the hardware they're packing) but only the big films get an additional HD format purchase (LotR et al).

Could just be the prices and availability of said media in the UK. Nobody here has dropped DVD purchases.
 
raggedjimmi said:
I just can't see BR taking over that fast. DVD is so cheap and looks fantastic through a good quality DVD player on a good TV. Buying habits of my friends seem to be everything gets purchased on DVD (despite the hardware they're packing) but only the big films get an additional HD format purchase (LotR et al).

Could just be the prices and availability of said media in the UK. Nobody here has dropped DVD purchases.
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DVD wasn't cheap when it was a new emerging technology like BD ;) However VHS was dirt cheap when DVD started to take hold of the market, you are looking at the picture wrong.

By your analogy VHS should still be here, DVD will be phased out by BD just the same as VHS was phased out by DVD.

Ed
 
Well as HD become more standard those prices will drop making it easy for everyone to access(just as DVD did) Blu-ray will be as DVD is today.


Isnt 2009 suppose to be the time when broadcasters start using the DTV frequencies that will force most people to buy HD ready sets?



Bless
 
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