MS: HD-DVD might be "next Betamax," Blu-ray still possible


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Well HD-DVD is similar to Betamax in one way also. Betamax had much lesser capacity than VHS, this was the main reason for Betamax's downfall. BluRay has a much higher capacity than HD-DVD (50gb vs 30gb) and BluRay is more durable (better anti scratch protection).

HD-DVD gives you 15gb on single layer discs, 30gb on dual layer.

Blu-Ray gives you 25gb on single layer discs, 50gb on dual layer.

Blu-Ray discs are more durable (scratch resistant)

Why on earth would anyone want HD-DVD to win? Blu-Ray is clearly the better format in this case.

Yes the discs might be a little bit more expensive, but 30gb vs 50gb? that's 20gb more - that's almost a DL HD-DVD extra on the DL BDR ...

I seriously hope Blu-Ray wins, it's clearly the better format due to capacity and the fact that Blu-Ray discs are more durable. BDR's and players/writers will be cheap anyways once Blu-Ray is mainstream.

Actually, I would really say that BetaMax failed because of licensing fees. Sony was charging up the ass then to make a BetaMax player. Also, they didn't want porn on BetaMax tapes. Everyone knows that the format the pr0n industry chooses is what succeeds anyway, but they didn't know that back then.

As for capacity, it's only good for what people do with it. The sheer fact that Blu-Ray discs have an extra 20GB and are not blowing HD-DVD out of the water in terms of a quality comparison only shows that that extra space is being wasted on fluff or stuff you will never watch.

And your comment about Blu-Ray discs being more durable is the first I've ever heard. Care to back that up?

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As for capacity, it's only good for what people do with it. The sheer fact that Blu-Ray discs have an extra 20GB and are not blowing HD-DVD out of the water in terms of a quality comparison only shows that that extra space is being wasted on fluff or stuff you will never watch.

And your comment about Blu-Ray discs being more durable is the first I've ever heard. Care to back that up?

More capacity is still better. What do you want to be able to burn on your PC in the next years? 25/50gb Blu-Ray discs or 15/30gb HD-DVD discs? More is better, no matter how you look at it or who produced the format. By the way Blu-Ray's test formats are up to 33gb on a single-layer disc and 66gb on dual layer discs now, so development has not stopped. I know what i want on my computer atleast, with those 1TB drives coming soon, HD home cameras becoming affordable, HDTV broadcasts/movies becoming more mainstream and so on...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

Hard-coating technology

Because the Blu-ray Disc standard places the data recording layer close to the surface of the disc, early discs were susceptible to contamination and scratches and had to be enclosed in plastic caddies for protection. The consortium worried that such an inconvenience would hurt Blu-ray Disc's market adoption.[2]Blu-ray Discs now use a layer of protective material on the surface through which the data is read.

Both Sony and Panasonic replication methods include proprietary hard-coat technologies. Sony's rewritable media are sprayed with a scratch-resistant and antistatic coating.[3]

TDK also announced a way to remedy the problem in January 2004 with the introduction of a clear polymer coating that gives Blu-ray Discs substantial scratch resistance. The coating was developed by TDK and is called "Durabis". It allows BDs to be cleaned safely with only a tissue. The coating is said to successfully resist "wire wool scrubbing" according to Samsung Optical technical manager Chas Kalsi. It is not clear, however, whether discs will use the Durabis coating or if the use of the coating will prove too expensive.

Verbatim announced in July 2006 that their Blu-ray Disc recordable and rewritable discs would incorporate their hard-coat ScratchGuard technology which protects against scratches, abrasion, fingerprints, and traces of grease.

Edited by bidz
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More capacity is still better. What do you want to be able to burn on your PC in the next years? 25/50gb Blu-Ray discs or 15/30gb HD-DVD discs? More is better, no matter how you look at it or who produced the format. By the way Blu-Ray's test formats are up to 33gb on a single-layer disc and 66gb on dual layer discs now, so development has not stopped. I know what i want on my computer atleast, with those 1TB drives coming soon, HD home cameras becoming affordable, HDTV broadcasts/movies becoming more mainstream and so on...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

Burn so much stuff onto a single disc? And use it where? With hard drives so cheap these days, the cost of buying a Blu-Ray burner + blank discs will take forever to be better than buying a hard drive. The only people who want Blu-ray to succeed are those who want to burn lots of data.

As for your quote from Wikipedia, no where does it say that Blu-ray si more durable than HD-DVD. All you've proved is that Blu-ray has protections to offset the fact that data is closer to the disc than other formats.

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People keep fighting over which one is going to be better...they are both equally wanted on the market and people will continue to wonder which will become the new standard, just give in to technology that things change and everything will be fine. Expect to waste money once and a while and possibly loose value, it's life.

I personally own a Toshiba HD-A2 and it works perfect but I also have the intent to purchase a PS3 in the upcoming weeks. One of the other, doesn't matter to me, HD is HD and I'm happy :)(

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I have to admit, I really like MS's stance on HD-DVD. Unlike Sony, who are short of saying "Blu-Ray is your god, worship it" (I know they never said that, but well we all know how arrangant they [sony] have been these days). I think it's great that a) they [MS] give you the option for HD-DVD (and not force it on you like somebody else :whistle: ) and b) admit that maybe HD-DVD might lose and that they might be open to having a Blu-Ray addon drive for the 360. To me that shows that they care and I think that is great :) Let the consumer feel they are in control (within reason of cause) and everyone wins (Y)

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i walked into gamestation today (UK) and guess what they have HD-DVD movies, i could not see a blu-ray movie in sight... but then again they were selling the HD-DVD drive for 360 so im not suprised.

You'll see game retailers selling Blu-ray movies when the PS3 is released in Europe. Why would they now? There isn't a market.

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You'll see game retailers selling Blu-ray movies when the PS3 is released in Europe. Why would they now? There isn't a market.

Blu-Ray players are availible on the other hand play.com is doing players and movies... along with a few other sites. I know wat you mean thought by that. Just a matter of time, ohh well march is just another 2 months away :p

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You'll see game retailers selling Blu-ray movies when the PS3 is released in Europe. Why would they now? There isn't a market.

...and also they haven't release Blu-Ray here officially whereas HD-DVD has been released.

I recently brought the HD-DVD add-on and am very pleased with it. I cannot fault it. The only fault I can find is that the player down-mixes the audio (to Dolby Digital) however at the moment I cannot play any of the new Lossless codecs due to my hardware not supporting it. From my experiance, I hope HD-DVD comes out on top. :)

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