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What's Good About Blu-Ray Movies?
- Thread starter The_Man
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Blu-ray movies (like HD-DVD) are encoded in high definition (up to 1080p) so what do they offer over DVD? HEAPS MORE QUALITY if you have a good HDTV display. Also they have huge amounts of storage available for extras so who really knows what the movie studios will do with the media? Only time will tell.
As for the comment about HD-DVD winning the battle only time will tell. Apple, and Sony have their money invested in Blu-ray, Microsoft, and Toshiba in HD-DVD so it'll be an interesting battle at least.
As for the comment about HD-DVD winning the battle only time will tell. Apple, and Sony have their money invested in Blu-ray, Microsoft, and Toshiba in HD-DVD so it'll be an interesting battle at least.
The_Man said:
Have you ever seen HD programming on HDTV? That is what Blu ray is about. There IS a difference.
And for once Sony will win a format war. Blu Ray will beat out HD DVD. Theres a few reasons why I think this:
1. Larger discs(in terms of GBs). People like more space for a similiar price. This reason is small.
2. The big reason(and this is a very big reason) is the PS3. Sony can't be stopped. Those who buy their PS3s will have very little reason to own an HD DVD player as it comes with a Blu ray player. Sony sold over 100 million PS1s and over 100 million PS2s (so far). Its worth mentioning that sony sold those 100 million PS2s in roughly 6 years time(debuted in jap march 4th). Now there are some people hating on the PS3 because of the price, but matters not because they will sell them. Lets assume for sake of argument, that Sony loses half their userbase (this is a worst case scenario): that means Sony will sell over 50 million PS3s aka Blu Ray in roughly 6 years if not less(since the price will inevitably drop). Can the HD DVD group convince 50 million typical dvd owners to upgrade to a 500 dvd player? in the same time span? Eh I don't think they can. I don't think that many people care about the difference enough to justify the cost.
Another example which I believes helps get my point across is this statistic from the congressional budget office, is that there are 35.9 million broadband subscribers in the world vs god knows how many dial up. Why? In small part because of location for some people but I believe(and I've seen people say it) they don't think its worth it. They have something that delivers something like they like at an acceptable rate. I think that will be the case with DVD vs HD DVD. They have their DVDs and many families won't be able to justify the price of the player for the upgrade in movies.
Sony is making this a no brainer since, people will buy the PS3, and since they have it, why not pay a bit more for the superior quality movie?
Someone I'm sure will respond with the Xbox 360 having its add on adapter for HD DVD movies. It will definitely be a nice add on for those 360 owners who do NOT plan on owning a PS3. Many people will own both though and there wouldn't be a reason to buy the adapter at the point. That and the Xbox sold roughly 26 million units. So for HD DVD to get a larger user base than blu ray the following has to happen(this is mostly a far fetched chance):
Sony loses half its market share with the PS3
Xbox 360 doubles its market share to approximiately 52 million(from xbox's 26 mil).
Half of those people will not own a PS3 as well so they buy the HD DVD add own.
Now the HD DVD group just has to sale 20 million HD DVD players to families in the world and Blu ray makers sell none.
I guess it COULD happen... And Linux COULD become the desktop of choice for casual users everywhere.
For the record:
I own an HDTV.
I own an Xbox and an Xbox360, did own a PS2, will buy a PS3 at launch(or will have by Xmas) and I will not buy an HD DVD add on for my 360 for that reason. With that information, take my post for what you will.
Xander562 said:
This is a common response that is horribly wrong. Comparing BD to UMD makes no sense and here is why.
Sony is not the sole force behind BD. Apple and other companies are behind it. Meaning the number of devices where BD is implemented is much more than the one for UMD.
If Sony took UMD and made it a portable standard for all devices and not just Sony products, UMD might have been something.
Anyhow, you say HD DVD will be better, you think? The facts about each format are available, and have been available for sometime. So are you saying it will be better because it is a better format? Or because you hate Sony? If it is the later I suggest you head over to wikipedia or another source to get the FACTS on each format and then make a decision.
Well let's see:
Sony's Blu-ray player. Cost: $999.99
Toshiba HD-DVD player. Cost: $499.99
They both come with a deal that saves you 10% on any HD-DVD or Blu-ray discs for a year.
Now, the Sony has been available on Amazon since the end of January. The Toshiba, for about 11 days. Even with such a huge head start, the Toshiba ranks at #723 in Electronics (#958 yesterday), versus the Sony's #2,148 (#3,128 yesterday). That's a pretty damn big difference.
It's all coming from the price, everyone says capacity, but data rate matters more to video quality (the entire reason for the Superbit versions of movies on DVD is to max out the data rate according to the spec). Both formats are nearly equal in this regard: 36mbps for Blu-ray, and 36.5mbps for HD DVD.
If either of these take off, it'll most likely be HD DVD, but I wouldn't be surprised if HVD owns them both.
Sony's Blu-ray player. Cost: $999.99
Toshiba HD-DVD player. Cost: $499.99
They both come with a deal that saves you 10% on any HD-DVD or Blu-ray discs for a year.
Now, the Sony has been available on Amazon since the end of January. The Toshiba, for about 11 days. Even with such a huge head start, the Toshiba ranks at #723 in Electronics (#958 yesterday), versus the Sony's #2,148 (#3,128 yesterday). That's a pretty damn big difference.
It's all coming from the price, everyone says capacity, but data rate matters more to video quality (the entire reason for the Superbit versions of movies on DVD is to max out the data rate according to the spec). Both formats are nearly equal in this regard: 36mbps for Blu-ray, and 36.5mbps for HD DVD.
If either of these take off, it'll most likely be HD DVD, but I wouldn't be surprised if HVD owns them both.
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for the record...
afaik, Apple is not behind ONLY Blu-Ray. they will support whichever format wins actually. they openly support BR, and they openly support HD-DVD. they have not spent any money on the development of either.
afaik, Apple is not behind ONLY Blu-Ray. they will support whichever format wins actually. they openly support BR, and they openly support HD-DVD. they have not spent any money on the development of either.
PlaceofDis said:
Thank you for saying that.
Also for the record, Apple already has HD-DVD authoring software (DVD Studio Pro) and HD-DVD playback software (DVD Player; although it may currently be limited to unprotected content). They currently have no Blu-Ray software.
Here is what I think...
HD DVD already has a step up simply due to its name. To emphasize my point lets look at the general consumer, I will use my dad as subject. My dad has an HD TV and a comcast HD subscription. His thinking has already put HD DVD as the winner even without knowing anything because, as he said, HD DVD will be compatible with everything I own... I have since educated my dad and have pointed him towards materials that explain the differences but he is not alone. BD has a challenge ahead of itself and that challenge is to to find a way to educate the consumers who are stuck on the buzz word HD.
Personally I see this... HD will take off first, gaining support. BD will take off slow but gain a higher acceptance with people dealing with technology. Once BD gains more acceptance, players will become more universal and thus giving BD a better chance at becoming successful.
As to why BD is better, less compression on movies, larger storage.. but having not first hand witness either HD DVD or BD I am trying to stay neutral in my views
HD DVD already has a step up simply due to its name. To emphasize my point lets look at the general consumer, I will use my dad as subject. My dad has an HD TV and a comcast HD subscription. His thinking has already put HD DVD as the winner even without knowing anything because, as he said, HD DVD will be compatible with everything I own... I have since educated my dad and have pointed him towards materials that explain the differences but he is not alone. BD has a challenge ahead of itself and that challenge is to to find a way to educate the consumers who are stuck on the buzz word HD.
Personally I see this... HD will take off first, gaining support. BD will take off slow but gain a higher acceptance with people dealing with technology. Once BD gains more acceptance, players will become more universal and thus giving BD a better chance at becoming successful.
As to why BD is better, less compression on movies, larger storage.. but having not first hand witness either HD DVD or BD I am trying to stay neutral in my views
I am sticking with DVD until the war is won. I was glad to see movies in the $20 dollar range at Amazon for Blu-Ray already. Hopefully Handbrake HD will exist someday too. It would be cool if 50 GB blank re-writable disks were available for a few bucks and the drives were under $200.
Anyone who buys a dedicated HD DVD or BR player this year is an overpaid fool.
But Sony have a huge advantage making the PS3 a Blu Ray player, however the price of the thing....
But Sony have a huge advantage making the PS3 a Blu Ray player, however the price of the thing....
Uh, I was amused by the post about Sony PS3 leading the world to the supremacy of Blu-Ray... I mean, a great example of wishful thinking !
In my opinion, the arguments lacked a proper spine...
DVD is well recognized worldwide, but I really don't see the influence of the PS2 in that at all ???
I've got a PS2 AND and a dvd player, because the PS2 was not the best Dvd player you could hope for: color problems, very noisy because of the fan, etc.
If i get a PS3, well, it might just push me to buy an HD-DVD player, so I have both standards ?
But for me, the game station world and the video/movies world are distincts. It might be of influence for a student (reduced space in the room and reduced financial capacity), but the student market is not such a decider for expensive products - they still have to graduate and find a job before they get the HD-set with HD-Plasma etc...
Additionally, I like Sony's products (despite their not-really-mac-friendly interface), and I own quite a couple of them, but they have a bad history of choosing the stuff with good technical specs but bad marketing future:
- Mini-Discs - I loved that stuff, small and simple, but the market disappeared, even after introducing the labels' albums on MDs;
- UMDs - well, I don't know about that, but it doesn't seem to catch up, who would want to buy a small resolution movie ?
I guess I'll go for what comes best. Any chance on a dual-standard player one day? In a mac?
In my opinion, the arguments lacked a proper spine...
DVD is well recognized worldwide, but I really don't see the influence of the PS2 in that at all ???
I've got a PS2 AND and a dvd player, because the PS2 was not the best Dvd player you could hope for: color problems, very noisy because of the fan, etc.
If i get a PS3, well, it might just push me to buy an HD-DVD player, so I have both standards ?
But for me, the game station world and the video/movies world are distincts. It might be of influence for a student (reduced space in the room and reduced financial capacity), but the student market is not such a decider for expensive products - they still have to graduate and find a job before they get the HD-set with HD-Plasma etc...
Additionally, I like Sony's products (despite their not-really-mac-friendly interface), and I own quite a couple of them, but they have a bad history of choosing the stuff with good technical specs but bad marketing future:
- Mini-Discs - I loved that stuff, small and simple, but the market disappeared, even after introducing the labels' albums on MDs;
- UMDs - well, I don't know about that, but it doesn't seem to catch up, who would want to buy a small resolution movie ?
I guess I'll go for what comes best. Any chance on a dual-standard player one day? In a mac?
Absolutely!combatcolin said:
Now that I did not know. Has anyone here used it for that?Nermal said:
Another advantage HD-DVD has is that the manufacturing process is the same as the current DVD process. The same machines, with minor modifications, can produce HD discs. Bluray discs are significantly more difficult/expensive to make, with lower yields.
Counterfit brought up a very good point regarding prices. In terms of home entertainment usage Blu-ray costs more, but delivers the same end product as HD-DVD (both formats have more than enough space to hold movies + extras in HD). But in terms of computer usage obviously Blu-ray has a leg up because it's potentially greater storage size.
IMO, the PS3 having Blu-ray will not have the same effect as the PS2 having DVD. DVD was already a hot product before the PS2 came out so the PS2 just gave people what they were already salivating over. The PS3, on the other hand, is being used to help usher in a new format. Two completely different situations. Especially considering the format war and that HD adoption in the US hasn't exactly takin' off like wild fire.
Lethal
IMO, the PS3 having Blu-ray will not have the same effect as the PS2 having DVD. DVD was already a hot product before the PS2 came out so the PS2 just gave people what they were already salivating over. The PS3, on the other hand, is being used to help usher in a new format. Two completely different situations. Especially considering the format war and that HD adoption in the US hasn't exactly takin' off like wild fire.
Lethal
correct me if I'm wrong but weren't DVD players on the expensive side the first year they were released? Like other people have said, I will wait until DVD turns into VHS until I purchase a BD /HDDVD PlayerCounterfit said:
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The bottom line is this.
Neither format will "win" anytime soon becuase the consumer demand and interest for HD-DVD or BRD is miniscule compared to that of DVD when it was introduced. VHS was king for 25 years before DVD came around, DVD is only about 10 years old. The majority of consumers are happy with DVD. Also, you don't just need a PS3, 360 with add on drive or set top player, you also need a HDTV. That's a two fold investment, while jumping into dvd just required only a player and worked on any TV.
I believe that BRD and HD-DVD will be the next laser discs, where the videophiles and rich jump on board, getting both HD-DVD and BRD players making studio preferences a moot point.
The demand for any sort of next gen DVD format will come when 75% - 90% of consumers have a HDTV, which will be at least 5-10 years.
Trust me, you will see.
Neither format will "win" anytime soon becuase the consumer demand and interest for HD-DVD or BRD is miniscule compared to that of DVD when it was introduced. VHS was king for 25 years before DVD came around, DVD is only about 10 years old. The majority of consumers are happy with DVD. Also, you don't just need a PS3, 360 with add on drive or set top player, you also need a HDTV. That's a two fold investment, while jumping into dvd just required only a player and worked on any TV.
I believe that BRD and HD-DVD will be the next laser discs, where the videophiles and rich jump on board, getting both HD-DVD and BRD players making studio preferences a moot point.
The demand for any sort of next gen DVD format will come when 75% - 90% of consumers have a HDTV, which will be at least 5-10 years.
Trust me, you will see.
Counterfit said:
Ummm, yeah. Only Toshiba makes an HD-DVD player and they will probably be the only ones making them since no other hardware co. are on board.
Samsung BR-DVD player comes out on June 25th. I'll bet about $499- $599.
Other BR harware co. include Dell, HP, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sharp and TDK.
Multiple manufacturers equals price competition which is good.
Just like DVD, I'd say about six years to BR take over.
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LethalWolfe said:
You are correct that PS3 and BR will be different than PS2 and DVD. The PS3 is being used to usher in a completely different format. The question is: for those who will buy a PS3, why wouldn't they buy Blu Ray? I would guess that majority of the consumers who are going to pay the 500-600 for the PS3 have some sort of plan in a year or two to switch to HDTV if they already do not own one. Every gamer who will own a PS3 more than likely will know a gamer with an HDTV. They'll experiment with BR vs DVD and see a difference. The chances that every DVD player owner will know an owner of a stand alone HD DVD player aren't as high.
DVDs did not succeed because of the PS2 and the PS2 did not succeed because of DVDs.
BR can succeed because of PS3 but the PS3 will not succeed because of BR.
IF the PS3 is a complete bomb, then BR will definitely follow suit.
Sanyo and RCA are also making HD-DVD players.killr_b said:
I'd be very surprised if either HD format has a "take over" in 6yrs. The selling points between HD and DVD are much less than between DVD and VHS and the cost of upgrading is significantly more (new player + new TV as opposed to just a new player).
Lethal
The PS3 is obviously going to give BR a boost, but I don't think it's going to give Sony the "slam-dunk" over HD-DVD that many people seem to think it is. Even though the video game console market is big and growing, the non-console market is still bigger. How many people will buy a PS3 and, of those, how many will buy the $600 version (the $500 version lacks HDMI and is not HDCP compliant which effectively means it's useless as a Blu-ray movie player)?Malfoy said:
Lethal
I won't buy a ps3 for a BRD player, i'll buy it for a gaming machine. I'd rather Sony took out the BRD, cut the price to say 400 or so of the ps3 and not try to shove their "technology" that I don't want in my gaming machine up my arse. I think they should go the way of the xbox 360 and offer it as an addon. I don't know a single person that watches dvd's on their ps2 or xbox, or xbox 360. I'm sure they are out there, i'm just saying I personally don't know any. It's all a marketing ploy by Sony to try to boost their sales of the BRD. Didn't work for UMD, let's see if it works for BRD dvd's and players.
Now I will probably end up buying either a BRD, or HD DVD player as a standalone unit, but that is when there are much better tv's to choose from that actually support 1080p.
Now I will probably end up buying either a BRD, or HD DVD player as a standalone unit, but that is when there are much better tv's to choose from that actually support 1080p.
Zman, you may not know anyone that watches DVD's on their systems now...but when PS2 came out, it was the first DVD player for most of the people that bought it. There will definitely be a similar situation with PS3 and I do think Sony has the advantage. But HD-DVD still has a chance. I'm not going to buy either til there is a clear winner and I have my own HDTV...