HD/Blu-Ray Front Page Poll

[shockz]

Bluray... its all we ever sell... I've sold only a handful of HDDVD players.

[TDQuiksilver]

Blu.

[Raa]

If you only sell BD, then you're a bit biased in your comment, IMO.

Im very glad the dvd store I order from online now stocks HD and BR, before they were BR exclusive - guess they were missing a lot of sales ;)

[Coldgunner]

If you only sell BD, then you're a bit biased in your comment, IMO.

Im very glad the dvd store I order from online now stocks HD and BR, before they were BR exclusive - guess they were missing a lot of sales ;)

or they just wanted to stock more titles...

[MrKuro]

Well over here in Canada, HD DVD and BD are dead on pricewise. If you goto your local Best Buy or Future Shop the cheapest HD DVD player is the Toshiba A30 which retails for $399, the same price as a 40GB PS3... better bargain for your dollar = PS3 in this case.

This is why almost every HD person I know up here, is going BD.

around here, everyone buying a standalone HD player is going hd-dvd .. some of those that own ps3's are buying the odd bluray movie, but i have yet to see anyone with a BR standalone (well besides me).

I vote neither will win, and both will coexist, hybrid players that play both hd formats will be the norm in a few years.

for me (an early adopter).. i have multiple players for either format, so i can experience all the HD goodness without worrying about the format its on.

[Waylander]

add a dont care option and i will vote, i am going to buy a LG GGW-H20L soon because i could not give a **** if a film is on hddvd or blu-ray aslong as its in high def

[youngmc33]

I'm all for Blu-ray. One of the main reasons I got a PS3 was to play Blu-ray discs, believe it or not. I was completely happy with my Wii, but when my DVD player crapped out, I decided on a PS3. Also, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Samsung was making a BD player the same price as the HD-DVD players (since they're no longer at that super cheap price, at least here in Canada). All the people I've talked to in person who are interested in HD are behind Blu-ray. Blockbuster's selection of BD is a lot bigger, as is FutureShop's. All the HD-DVDs are on clearance, and the BD displays are a lot bigger. Things may be different in your neck of the woods, but around here, BD is the winner.

[Damian]

Blu-ray FTW

[soniqstylz]

I hope you're being sarcastic. Blu-ray is in no way technically superior to HD DVD, not even by size anymore, and the PS3 is twice as much as a stand-alone HD DVD player.

Coo. Lemme know when 51Gb discs are a) officially playable, and b) in use.

Also lemme know when they can do uncompressed audio and 40+ Mb/s video encodes.

Lastly, keep me posted on when the HD-DVD player that is half of the 40GB PS3 also plays games, surfs the internet, and actually plays back video in 1080p via HDMI 1.3.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

How is Blu-ray technically superior? As far as I know, it's the same laser, same technology. The only difference is numerical aperture. And please, let's not get started on all storage capacity crap.

:yes: i was about to reply the same.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Coo. Lemme know when 51Gb discs are a) officially playable, and b) in use.

Also lemme know when they can do uncompressed audio and 40+ Mb/s video encodes.

Lastly, keep me posted on when the HD-DVD player that is half of the 40GB PS3 also plays games, surfs the internet, and actually plays back video in 1080p via HDMI 1.3.

the 51GB disc argument is futile, on either camp. it's just as bad to argue 51GB discs as it would to be argue 100 or 200GB BDs.

please... the whole uncompressed audio argument is worthless. audio is only good as your outputs. having uncompressed audio on TV speakers is the same as a 1.5Mbit DTS track. if you have some killer $10,000 audio system... then sure, you might hear a difference. not to mention that plenty of HD DVD discs use TrueHD which is a loseless audio codec. i'll bet anyone they couldnt tell the difference b/w a TrueHD and an uncompressed track... not to mention that HD DVD supports Master Audio.

40Mb/s encodes? ok, that may be a peak, but it's not sustained. I've watched plenty of HD movies peak over 30Mbit/s... again, i'll bet anyone you cant tell the difference b/w 30 and 40Mbit.

last argument? sure, youre right. a 40GB PS3 can play games, do internet and does playback at 1080p.... for $399. for the average joe consumer who doesnt give a sh*t about a PS3, a 1080p HD DVD player at 1/2 the cost looks a lot more appealing.

[Malisk]

I think neither. In say 3-4 years or so, a successor will probably start creeping out, and I don't really think the format war will have had a definite conclusion by then.

How is Blu-ray technically superior? As far as I know, it's the same laser, same technology. The only difference is numerical aperture. And please, let's not get started on all storage capacity crap.

I don't know why you wish to disregard the storage capacity, or how storage capacity is crap when considering the potential for recordables, but you have a comparison here, and the specs involve more differences than in numerical aperture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of...chnical_details

If I'd have to pick and choose today, it's as usual for me: Easily Blu-ray for data discs and recording, not even any competition there. Higher capacity, higher speeds. And as for HD movies, I could take either HD-DVD or Blu-ray. It matters less there, because I get the HD video with high quality sound and the standard extra material in either case. I don't really care for interactivity, Internet support, or other bling bling. :) The movie studio support could make more of a difference there, but then again, that could risk judging format on past good movies, not future ones, so it would be a bit of a lottery if doing like that.

Edited December 14, 2007 by Jugalator

[BlueFiberOptics]

At this point, I wish just 1 format would win, regardless of who it is.

A long time ago, I predicted HD-DVD would win based on the name alone. Consumers were likely to be confused between "Blu-Ray" and "HD-DVD" and would likely choose HD-DVD because they recognize DVD in the name.

However, that is not the case these days.

[shockz]

If you only sell BD, then you're a bit biased in your comment, IMO.

Im very glad the dvd store I order from online now stocks HD and BR, before they were BR exclusive - guess they were missing a lot of sales ;)

Considering that they come up asking me for bluray players... I'd hardly consider myself biased.

I never push one or the other...

I just wish they would pick one already... I want to get one... because after seeing both of them... watching just dvd's suck.

[Malisk]

last argument? sure, youre right. a 40GB PS3 can play games, do internet and does playback at 1080p.... for $399. for the average joe consumer who doesnt give a sh*t about a PS3, a 1080p HD DVD player at 1/2 the cost looks a lot more appealing.

If you don't care for the console part, you can get a BD player for $299 however (Pioneer BDC-2202), or $199 if you feel like the Lite-On DH-4O1S. I don't like Lite-On though, but YMMV and $199 is 1/2 the cost too, anyway. With the discs rather similarly priced, I'm starting to think the cost thing is to rapidly become a myth in 2008.

[+Elі Subscriber²]

I wish HD-DVD wins, I like it better, besides it's backward compatible, so I wont need to buy my collection again just to play it on my new player, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Blu-Ray is not backward compatible is it?

I want this stupid war to end though, so I can just go ahead and buy a player.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

I wish HD-DVD wins, I like it better, besides it's backward compatible, so I wont need to buy my collection again just to play it on my new player, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Blu-Ray is not backward compatible is it?

I want this stupid war to end though, so I can just go ahead and buy a player.

backward compatible with what? VHS? lol j/k

both play DVD/CD just fine.

I think neither. In say 3-4 years or so, a successor will probably start creeping out, and I don't really think the format war will have had a definite conclusion by then.

I don't think it will happen in 3-4 years, 7-10 years maybe.

Keep in mind that cable companies consider all recorded media a threat and direct competitors with their Pay-per-view service.

I don't think we will be buying and renting movies 7-10 years from now. It's a hassle. Having that service accessible from the comfort of your couch is much more convinient. So instead of buying and renting films on disks, there will be some kind of subscription-based on-demand HD films service.

Edited December 14, 2007 by Zhivago

[HoochieMamma]

He's talking about the rather stupid "profiles" they have.

[.Neo]

I'd say Blu-Ray, but personally I can't say I care which one will win. A disc is a disc to me.

[gigapixels Veteran]

the 51GB disc argument is futile, on either camp. it's just as bad to argue 51GB discs as it would to be argue 100 or 200GB BDs.

I wouldn't say so. They're already beginning test production runs with them to find out the yields and they could be in the market relatively soon. The 100GB or 200GB discs are a futile argument though as they aren't even close to beginning production nor does anybody know if they'll work in current players.

[Raa]

Lastly, keep me posted on when the HD-DVD player that is half of the 40GB PS3 also plays games, surfs the internet, and actually plays back video in 1080p via HDMI 1.3.

Got one setup in the lounge, feel free to come over and watch any of my HD movies in 1080p on my Sony Bravia.

Oh and no, it's not an Xbox.

[gunnerhkjp]

My feeling is that Bluray won when they got most of the major manufacturers on their side.

Although Toshiba's got a lot of muscle to keep this fight going for a while longer.

[coth]

Neither for me. Flash wins. I believe flash will become much cheaper in a non-distant future. So 32-64GB flash drives will cost as much as blu-ray drive. And big SSD will cost as much as usual HDD.

[nMIK-3]

Blu-Ray will be the winner with huge differences.

[bsquirle]

I think Blue Ray will win.

Mainly because of the releases, the marketing and the PS3.