Next Generation DVDs

[gkarris]

I say Smart Money

Smart money says HD-DVD. Why? Who wants a player and media run by a monopoly such as Sony?

Back in my day - between Laserdisc, CED, Beta, and VHS, VHS was the cheapest, and it won out....
(CED I think was a bit cheaper but you couldn't record).

Looks like HD-DVD is destined to be the winner....

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I'm going to wait until the dust settles.

Don't see myself trying to replace a medium DVD collection any time soon, and as long as I don't have a HDTV replacing the old DVD player makes no sense whatsoever, and even whenever I get myself a HD ready (as they're called here) flat screen TV, I will probably still be more than satisfied with DVD quality for a while...

...and by then the dust should have settled...

 

[~Shard~]

Neither format impresses me. This is not like the move from VHS to DVD, or cassette tape to audio CD. I just don't see a big enough improvement to warrant me adopting either technology. Consumers jumped on board when CDs were released back in 1982 because the format offered not only a new digital media but also a way to instantly access tracks across an entire "album". Convenience, not technology, drove this format to almost instant consumer adoption. Fast forward a bit to 1997 when the first DVD player was released. Again, convenience, not technology, drove people to the market en masse. Unlike VHS tapes, the new DVD format was smaller, easily navigated and would not wear down over time like existing tape-based formats. Hell, even the concept of a shiny plastic disc was cool!

Plus, what do the new high definition DVD formats really offer consumers over DVD? Technology and more storage. Is this enough? I'd say no. Consumers, most of whom rarely know how to properly configure their players or home theater systems, are perfectly content with their current DVD players (and indeed some have just jumped on board to DVD in the last several years). While the potential for more extras and alternate endings exists due to increased storage on the new media, there isn't really a compelling reason for consumers to migrate over to the new high definition DVD formats in large numbers the way I see it.

 

[Zwhaler]

WTH are you all talking about?

I use BetaMax.




Duhh.

Haha I remember those days...

 

[ksz]

I don't know how the format war is going to play out, but right now the advantage lies with HD-DVD. A recent example of a lose-lose outcome from a format war is SACD versus DVD-A. Both are essentially dead despite the availability of universal players. This was probably due to the lack of popular titles, lack of simultaneous release of new titles, and the general market trend towards downloaded music.

However, I purchased HD-DVD earlier this year and now have about 30 titles. At screen sizes smaller than 50 inches, I suspect high-def isn't going to provide a significant and patently obvious improvement in picture quality, but at projection sizes of 70 inches and higher (such as my 120-inch front projection screen), the difference is night and day. All those extra pixels of real information fill up the screen with a smooth and stunning picture.

I am enjoying HD-DVD so much because the difference in picture quality is simply that obvious. The difference in sound quality between a well-recorded CD and SACD/DVD-A was much less apparent.

 

[steamboat26]

I think that blu ray is more promising but so far, their movie selection sucks.
I will wait until a clear winner is chosen, but i am betting that HD-DVD will win.

 

[Cube54]

I voted for 'Blu-ray' and I don't care which format wins the movie war.

Why Blu-ray?? Data Capacity ->>>>car mp3 player anyone??

The dual-layer version of Blu-ray (writer) holds about 48 gb verse about 32gb for hd-dvd

Imagine slipping in your fav. Blu-ray music dvd & then driving to & from work for a whole year and not hearing the same song twice.

 

[Chundles]

Up-converting DVD player for me, I'll wait and see how this whole HD malarkey turns out.

 

[srobert]

Looks like consumers are taking all the flak for now.

I've seen some TV commercials that already are stating "Now on HD DVD" or "Now for Blu-Ray". It seems that right now, no matter which format you choose, you'll end up missing out on some of your favorite titles that are only available for the opposing format. :-/

e.g.:
Batman Begins (HD DVD only for now. Not Blu-Ray)
The Italian Job (Blu-ray only for now. Not HD DVD)
The list could go on and on.

It won't be fun waiting years for one of the format to kick the bucket before I can get all my favorites in a single format… and that is assuming that one of the two really dies.

I was expecting more studios to go "bi" from the start. Maybe it's too expensive.

Anybody knows of a site that lists all exclusives for both Blu-Ray and HD DVD?

 

[mkrishnan]

I'm going to ignore for now, and possibly ultimately go with downloads, depending on how the tech works. Truth is I very, very rarely watch DVDs. My viewing is almost all either DVR'd television or movie theaters. I buy maybe one DVD a year, and maybe rent one or two more. And then every few years I go on a viewing binge....

 

[llahsram]

Anybody knows of a site that lists all exclusives for both Blu-Ray and HD DVD?

It doesn't do a side-by-side comparison, but you can find a list of upcoming HD-DVD and Blu-Ray titles from the various studios on the High-Definition Release List at The Digital Bits.

 

[ebow]

I thought this was going to be a thread about Star Trek: The Next Generation DVDs. I guess I didn't see what forum it's in since I loaded the thread from the MacRumors homepage.

I used to know gobs of specs about new & upcoming formats (at least gobs compared to most joe-consumers) but I've mostly given up on keeping up. I'm not even going to upgrade my 8 year old TV to HD until either (a) I have to (it breaks) or (b) good HD sets move into the SD price range. So as I voted, DVD is good enough for me, thanks.

 

[srobert]

Ok. I compiled my own list out of curiosity. Thought I would share my observations with you.

As of October 17, 2006:

• There are at least 77 HD DVD movies available (Excluded 3 music concerts)
• There are at least 59 Blu-Ray movies available (Excluded 7 music concerts)
• 26 titles are availble for both formats (18 Warner Bros and 8 Paramount)
• Only Warner Bros and Paramount make titles for both formats
• Warner Bros and Paramount have more titles available as HD DVD than Blu-Ray
• Universal Studios distribute to HD DVD only so far (32 titles)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment distribute to Blu-Ray only so far (19 titles)
• Lionsgate distribute to Blu-Ray only so far (9 titles)
• MGM distribute to Blu-Ray only so far (3 titles)
• Buena Vista distribute to Blu-Ray only so far (4 titles)

List of Warner Bros movies available for both Blu-Ray and HD DVD

• 16 Blocks
• Blazing Saddles
• Corpse Bride
• Firewall
• Fugitive (The)
• Full Metal Jacket
• Good Night, and Good Luck.
• House of Wax
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• Lake House (The)
• Lethal Weapon
• Lethal Weapon 2
• Rumor Has It...
• Space Cowboys
• Swordfish
• Syriana
• Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
• Training Day

List of Paramount movies available for both Blu-Ray and HD DVD

• Æon Flux
• Four Brothers
• Italian Job (The)
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
• Sahara
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
• Sleepy Hollow
• U2: Rattle and Hum

Sources:

Wikipedia: List of HD DVD releases
Wikipeida: List of Blu-ray releases

 

[~Shard~]

I'm not even going to upgrade my 8 year old TV to HD until either (a) I have to (it breaks) or (b) good HD sets move into the SD price range.

January 1, 2009 it is then!

 

[MarkCollette]

Part of the problem with any high definition disk format is that you're still constrained by the fact that HD televisions are a balkanised market. Will the television take in 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p? What format will the player output? What version will the disk be encoded in? Which one will do the conversion, and will it do it optimally, or crappily?

I have way more faith that a downloaded video that's non-interlaced will play as well as possible right on my computer screen.

 

[gkarris]

I've seen the "light"....

Part of the problem with any high definition disk format is that you're still constrained by the fact that HD televisions are a balkanised market. Will the television take in 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p? What format will the player output? What version will the disk be encoded in? Which one will do the conversion, and will it do it optimally, or crappily?

I have way more faith that a downloaded video that's non-interlaced will play as well as possible right on my computer screen.

I finally have to report that I think there's a winner and a looser:

Winner: The large corporations!!!
Looser: The consumer!

I went out last night to shop around for stuff and in preparation for the holidays, dealers are putting up high-def displays.

There's a lot of ranting and raving on how bad Bluray looks, but last night I saw it in all its stunning glory: A Panasonic Bluray player ($1200) on a Pioneer Elite LCD Display ($8,000) with a VC-1 encoded movie. Wicked expensive. But, I saw HD discs for the first time on a display that can handle it (1920x1080 in 1080p). I guess you can get more inexpensive 1920x1080 displays (around $2000).

But, the popular thing to buy now is the 1024x768 displays. I actually saw in a store 2 Samsung LCD displays, one 720p, the other 1080p, and with a 1080i signal (Discovery HD Channel), the 720p is "grainy".

Then, when someone hooks up a HD-DVD or Bluray to it, they get crap.... now they learn they have to go out and buy a better display. Then there's this whole HDMI thing (like my projector has component inputs).

The large corporations are laughing to the bank...

I think the future will be in DVD quality still delivered in DVD format for those who like to collect, and downloadable for those who want to play movies on an iPod/iTV/computer....

 

[backsidetailsli]

definelty going to wait for the dust to settle. i dont wanna waste any money on something thats not going anywhere

 

[MarkCollette]

I wonder what the difference in quality would be between:

A. An existing DVD encoded in MPEG2 at x bitrate

B. A DVD disk, but encoded in H.264 at x bitrate (not transcoded from the DVD, but rather directly encoded from masters)