What's the difference and which is better: HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray

[dferigmu]

I keep hearing about the next format wars being HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray. What's the difference? Is one of them clearly better? Which format is Apple supporting and which one will probably win?

I just think it's dumb to have new formats for movies and games already. DVD just became the standard not too long ago. Do we really need to have a new format, let alone two? Even if one of these catches on, they better be able to play all my DVDs.

 

[Blue Velvet]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/84793/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/75486/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/107772/

 

[combatcolin]

Anyone with an ounce of sense would simply wait untill 2006 before plumping for a new DVD player.

I am.

I could quote Betamax Vs VHS but its been quoted a million times before.

 

[MisterMe]

....

I just think it's dumb to have new formats for movies and games already. DVD just became the standard not too long ago. Do we really need to have a new format, let alone two? Even if one of these catches on, they better be able to play all my DVDs.

If you can't afford it, don't buy it. If you had bothered to read, you would know that both Blu-ray and HD-DVD support the current DVD standard. All of your old DVDs will work with whichever new player you buy. However, current DVDs do not have the capacity to support the new high-definition content. Unfortunately for the buying public, the DVD became popular as the era of NTSC, PAL, and SECAM is coming to an end. Time marches on. We either go along with it, or we will be run over by it.

 

[dferigmu]

If you can't afford it, don't buy it. If you had bothered to read, you would know that both Blu-ray and HD-DVD support the current DVD standard. All of your old DVDs will work with whichever new player you buy. However, current DVDs do not have the capacity to support the new high-definition content. Unfortunately for the buying public, the DVD became popular as the era of NTSC, PAL, and SECAM is coming to an end. Time marches on. We either go along with it, or we will be run over by it.

Ok, calm down a little. I was just asking. No need to get bitchy about it. And no, the public DOES NOT have to go along with every new technology. The public goes along with what makes sense. CDs came out decades ago. How are SACD's and DVD-A's selling, huh? Not well at all because no one cares if they're better. CD's have been fine and are fine now. The next major leap in music formats will be to MP3/AAC/ect. files and not another type of media. HD-DVD and BR are coming to close to DVDs. I don't think they wil catch on for a while and we don't have to go along with it just because it's better technology. Some new technology makes sense and some doesn't and fails, but that doesn't change the fact that the reason new technology is developed is for tech companies to make us to buy their products.

 

[paulsonn]

Check out John Dvorak's article on the two types of HD DVD's.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1750098,00.asp

I think HD DVD (in whatever format) will be a huge seller. Look at the success of DVD, the fastest growing consumer electronics product in history. People are somewhat frustrated at the lack of HD programming on the networks, and consumer electronics dealers love to push HD sets, so a HD DVD format would be a godsend.

The first HD players, as always, will be around $1K. I'll wait until the second generation falls to $350 and then take the plunge.

The main reason SACD's and DVD-A's are not selling is not that they aren't better, it's that there are two competing formats, and the public doesn't want to invest in a dead format or buy a universal player. The video industry is acutely aware of the disastrous effects of format wars, but neither camp will give in. Billions of $$ are at stake, after all.

 

[absolut_mac]

I could quote Betamax Vs VHS but its been quoted a million times before.

The big scandal with Betamax vs VHS was that the inferior product won. Mostly due to Sony's arrogance, greed and stupidity and outstandingly slick marketing on the part of the VHS group - Panasonic/Matsushita, JVC etc.

 

[clayj]

Format Wars SUCK

I can't believe the short-sightedness of the consumer electronics giants and movie companies for creating and backing TWO different standards for high-def DVDs... it just guarantees that early adopters like myself won't touch either format with a 10 foot pole until someone puts out a player that works with BOTH formats.

I bought a DVD player on Day 1 (March 24, 1997), and had to have DVDs shipped to me by a friend in Seattle because they weren't offered for sale here in Charlotte. But when the new HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players come out, I'm just gonna have to sit back a while and wait for a solution that will play everything. You don't want to get stuck with a player that only works with 50% of the released titles, do you?