HD or Blueray.

robbie2003ie

Hi again.

I'm thinking of buying a HD external player which plugs into the XBOX360.
I have a 42" HD LCD TV 1080pi.

I dont think Microsoft will bring out a external blueray player ???

Is it better to watch a film in HD or Blueray or are they the same???

I think the future will be Blueray but i dont know if to go HD-DVD, even if Bluray is the future will they still make HD-DVD movies.........

Or would it be better if i bought a Blueray player??????

Has anyone watched a HD movie on the xbox, is it good...

humanji

At the moment, it's completely unclear if either HD or Blueray will win out, but Microsoft have said that if BlueRay wins, that they'll just come out with a Bluray player for the 360.

And I'd say that at the moment, it won't matter which you buy, as it'll be a while before we have a winner. HD isn't widespread enough for either side to give up the ghost just yet. I say get the HD add on and enjoy it. Or, better still, I think Toshiba have a player that plays both HD and Blueray, so you could check out that option

johnnyflav

I've watched both at 1080i, and can't tell any difference between them. Although the individually most visually impressive HD movie I've seen so far has been King Kong, which was HD DVD. But the quality of HD movies varies, some that are better quality than others.

At the minute, my money is on Blu Ray, seeing as they have the biggest consumer base with the PS3 and more major studios supporting them. It might also be a factor in your purchase that in Ireland you can only rent Blu Rays, AFAIK, there's no video rental store stocking HD DVD.

Either way you'll still have the option to purchase both for some time still, it's not like either is going to stop production, once the other has claimed dominance.

robbie2003ie

I'l just wait untill Microsoft bring out the bluray add on.
Could be waiting a long time, when will the competition stop.
Microsoft must know that BlueRay will win, they should just make the player.

King Kong will be the first to watch on 1080pi.
Must get a popcorn machine

brav

King Kong is only on HD DVD at the moment I think.
It comes free with the HD DVD addon for the 360.

XtraVision were always kinda byased towrds Playstation, like the 360 was out for over befor they started to rent 360 games, but when the PS3 came it had their games to rent nearly straight away, even thought the 360 has a bigger user base at the moment

robbie2003ie

Are Blueray disks Region Free.

kensutz

NO, you need to do some more homework

johnnyflav

Blu Rays aren't for the most part region free. There are some that were released around the time of the console launch that were, but pretty much everything released at the minute on Blu Ray will be region coded.

HD DVD isn't region coded yet, but more than likely will be, you can be fairly sure that someday soon the xbox will get an update that region locks disks.

As for the Blu Ray add on for the 360, you'll be waiting a loooooong time for that. It'll be 2009 before I'd expect to see that. By which stage any add on will probably cost more than a PS3.

8T8

Region locks for HD-DVD will only be enforced if the lock is present on the disc most HD-DVD's at this time do not have any region lock.

Only if HD-DVD completely tanks and the studios no longer support it will you see a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360 so definitely no such drive in the short term.

Karmafaerie

robbie2003ie wrote:

Microsoft must know that BlueRay will win, they should just make the player.

Why?!

As has been said before, there is no indication which format will end up on top.
Blu-Ray has more backing, but HD-DVD has enough so that it's not an overly big issue.

Plus, this time two years ago, Hd-DVD had a lot less backing, but a good few studios do now produce for Hd-DVD.

Also there's the porn factor.

All bar one porn studio are going to be making movies exclusively for Hd-DVD.
A few wanted to make Blu-Ray discs, but the rumour is that Sony don't want porn on their format, in the same way as they impeded porn on Beta-max.

(P.S: Just so you know, I'm not some pervert or anything, but this is actually a major factor, as the porn industry in America is worth some 15billion a year!!!)

What it comes down to, is that the Blu-Ray discs are much more expensive to make, and much more awkward.
Hd-DVD is a hell of a lot cheaper, and easier (current machines can be used, while with Blu-Ray, a whole new set of machines need to be purchased!)
While Blu-Ray is more capable, it'll all come down to consumer perception in the end.

If the public can be convinced that there is little or no difference between he two formats, then Hd-DVD will come out on top, as it's much cheaper for both producers, and consumers.

If Blu-Ray manages to give the impression that their format is vastly superior to Hd-DVD, then Blu-ray will win.

There really is no way to know at this time.

johnnyflav

Karmafaerie wrote:

Also there's the porn factor.

Not really an issue anymore, seeing as the internet plays such a large part of the porn industry, in the 80's, video pornography was exclusively available through the VHS medium. It was a shrewd move from Sony to do this, as it doesn't drop the PS3's appeal to perverts and gives them bonus points in the eyes of clean living folk.

Karmafaerie wrote:

If the public can be convinced that there is little or no difference between he two formats, then Hd-DVD will come out on top, as it's much cheaper for both producers, and consumers.

HD DVD's are appearing on the shelves a few euro cheaper than Blu Ray, but the price difference once they become established formats will be negligable. What does worry me is the royalty Sony are trying to make on every blu ray sold, as they own the patent. If Blu Ray becomes the sole player, then you can say goodbye to reasonable prices. The price depends as much on competition, supply and demand as anything else.

Karmafaerie wrote:

There really is no way to know at this time.

I don't totally agree, the figures all suggest that BluRay has the larger base, the most sales and the better backing.

Gurgle

Meh, I'd put both down as almost-ran.

If they were going to actually make it as far as becoming a standard, it would have happened by now. That boats gone, better technology is available.

DVDs were the last media-specific standard. Flash memory all the way from here.

steviec

Gurgle wrote:

Meh, I'd put both down as almost-ran.

If they were going to actually make it as far as becoming a standard, it would have happened by now. That boats gone, better technology is available.

DVDs were the last media-specific standard. Flash memory all the way from here.

First of all, they're doing far better than DVD was at the same point in its lifespan.

And secondly, flash memory is not an adequate replacement. Show me where you can get 50 gigs of flash memory on something as small and cheap as an optical disc...

Karmafaerie

johnnyflav wrote:

Not really an issue anymore, seeing as the internet plays such a large part of the porn industry, in the 80's, video pornography was exclusively available through the VHS medium. It was a shrewd move from Sony to do this, as it doesn't drop the PS3's appeal to perverts and gives them bonus points in the eyes of clean living folk.

I know that it won't be as big a factor as before but it still has serious knock on effects.
A lot of studios were hoping that Sony had moved on from their position back in the 80's, but this proves that they're still as narrow minded as ever.

johnnyflav wrote:

HD DVD's are appearing on the shelves a few euro cheaper than Blu Ray, but the price difference once they become established formats will be negligable. What does worry me is the royalty Sony are trying to make on every blu ray sold, as they own the patent. If Blu Ray becomes the sole player, then you can say goodbye to reasonable prices. The price depends as much on competition, supply and demand as anything else.

The disc prices are almost negligible, I agree, but in general Hd-DVD players are considerably cheaper.
Also, as soon as the formats start taking off, the fact that it'll be so much easier to burn onto blank HD-DVD discs will become a major factor.

johnnyflav wrote:

I don't totally agree, the figures all suggest that BluRay has the larger base, the most sales and the better backing.

Those figures have been vastly inflated by the sales of PS3.
There will be no way of telling untill the PS3 is an established medium.
That been said, insiders have been a bit put back, as it was believed that the PS3 would have a much bigger impact than it has.

Due to the number of PS3's out there, Blu-Ray has something close to a 5:1 advantage over Hd-DVD when it comes to players.
However, they difference in discs is only something like 100:98 in favour of Blu-Ray, so obviously most PS3 users aren't buying discs.

Sony try to claim that something like 87% of PS3 owners buy discs but they ignored the fact that a lot of those discs were their free ones that they gave away!!!
Only around 50% of PS3 owners have HD-TVs after all.

Every time one camp releases figures claiming an advantage, the other camp goes and does the same a week later.

All truly independent agencies say that it's too close to call.

johnnyflav

Karmafaerie wrote:

The disc prices are almost negligible, I agree, but in general Hd-DVD players are considerably cheaper.
Also, as soon as the formats start taking off, the fact that it'll be so much easier to burn onto blank HD-DVD discs will become a major factor.

While the stand alone Blu Ray players are without question dearer than the equivilant HD DVD player, the price and positioning of the PS3 make it a more substantial investment than a stand alone HD DVD player. (I'm not mentioning the xbox HD DVD add on here since anyone who specifically wants a HD player would probably fork out €600 on the PS3 before €600 on xbox and HD DVD player)

Karmafaerie wrote:

Due to the number of PS3's out there, Blu-Ray has something close to a 5:1 advantage over Hd-DVD when it comes to players.
However, they difference in discs is only something like 100:98 in favour of Blu-Ray, so obviously most PS3 users aren't buying discs.

All truly independent agencies say that it's too close to call.

I'll take your word on those figures, I'm not going to question you on that, both sides will obviously try to pump their own figures. The one figure that really would be the deciding factor is the number of players available. ie PS3 >> HD DVD players. This may not mean that people will automatically go and buy lots and lots of Blu Ray discs, but it does mean that they have the opportunity to do so. And this would mean that each of these households with PS3's would see no need to purchase further equipment to play HD movies.


I would personally rather that HD DVD become the format of choice, it's interactive menus are great to play with and the picture quality is on par with Blu Ray, but from my perspective I would regretably have to back Sony's Blu Ray format.

Karmafaerie

Listen I'm hardly an expert on any of this.
But I do read up on what the experts say.
All that's clear a this stage, is that nothing is clear.

I have no idea which will win, but I do know that for somebody to come out and say that "Microsoft must know that BlueRay will win", needs to read up on the matter.

godtabh

johnnyflav wrote:

I would personally rather that HD DVD become the format of choice, it's interactive menus are great to play with and the picture quality is on par with Blu Ray, but from my perspective I would regretably have to back Sony's Blu Ray format.

To me that makes no sense

You want HD-DVD to win but you are gona back Blu Ray?

I've a 360 and a HD-DVD rom would do me.

johnnyflav

kearnsr wrote:

To me that makes no sense

You want HD-DVD to win but you are gona back Blu Ray?

I've a 360 and a HD-DVD rom would do me.

What I'm saying is that in my opinion, HD DVD is the better format but I'm going to buy Blu Ray discs because they have a more viable future.

godtabh

johnnyflav wrote:

What I'm saying is that in my opinion, HD DVD is the better format but I'm going to buy Blu Ray discs because they have a more viable future.

IF you discard one of course they other has a much more viable future

savemejebus

I think it's all much ofa muchness really because even if HD DVD wins I think it will have to change. The reason so many film studios back blu-ray is because of it's anti-piracy and region locking measures. If HD DVD wins then I can see it having to update it's drm and region lock it's discs, which will kind of take away some of the main advantages it has over blu-ray.

For the OP the best thing he can do is check out what movies/series he wants to watch and then go with whichever format supports more of his favourites.

McDermotX

The problem with all these experts commenting on the state of the "format war", is that a lot of them have a vested interest in portraying one side to be winning (or in classic Sony style, "the War is already over").
Other trade analysts seem remarkably uninformed regarding both formats..

The only ones really worth listening to IMO are the ones who cannot categorically state either way !! Not much help there, I know..

A lot of what the lads have said below is fairly accurate, but what you'll have to remember is that, the HD market accounts for an incredibly small percentage of the home media market.....so in a lot of ways, the format war could be viewed as HD-DVD+BD Vs. DVD
Both formats could fail to take up the baton from DVD and remain in the niche market ala Laserdisc,which would be fine for Home Theater enthusiasts but irrelevant for the mass public.

We have a very strange situation as it stands......HD-DVD standalone player sales completely dominate BD player sales...........yet BD disc sales enjoy a marginal lead over HD-DVD sales (despite a later start in the market).
This applies to both the US and Europe (much, much smaller scale in Europe though, but a similar pattern). Japan hasn't quite taken to HD sales in the same way as the US, but what little there is more or less dominated by Blu-ray..........same can be said about the Aussies, where HD-DVD players are hard to find and many stores stock only Blu-ray hardware..
The PS3 accounts for 95% of Blu-ray player sales, but its disc attachment rate is minute. Its incredibly hard to place a figure on PS3s sold purely for Blu-ray purposes (forget Sony's 75%-80% estimate - if that was the case, the format war would have been over 6 months ago), but there is no doubt that the PS3 has had a huge say in this niche.

Both formats have great title line-ups, far more appealing than DVD at the same stage of its life, so informed consumers are left to decide which to go for. HD-DVD with its predominantly Universal Pictures exclusives, or BD with its Disney, Sony, Lionsgate exclusives (not including Fox as of yet as BD releases have been almost non-existent for various conspiracy theorist reasons.. piracy etc)

This format war could have been avoided (and should have been) but there is no budging at the moment from either side, so I find it incredibly hard to recommend either format as an odds-on definite to win to someone deciding between purchasing only one. Cheap mass-market players are probably the trump card (as well as content, which will go hand-in-hand), and the first to really reach the public with both stands the best chance....HD-DVD may be in a slightly better position to get player price down via Far-East suppliers, but nothing is certain at all..

Best case is obviously to buy into both....right now, a PS3 (since its latest firmware) and a Tosh XE1 or E1 represent the best options at the moment.
The PS3 is an excellent player, and the most future-proof of the BD players, while the Tosh XE1 is a stunning standalone, if still a little "clunky" for a high-end machine, with amazing DVD upscaling features.

The 360 addon, can be viewed as another good HD-DVD entry option, but it does have its limitations in the sound and general operation areas. On the plus side, its a good cheap way to dip your toes in the HD market, allowing you to build a HD-DVD collection without risking a more expensive standalone decision..
If the OP is not certain, the 360 addon may be the best way to go forward (still around €200, but can probably be found cheaper online), and at least test out the format.
I've been supporting both since launch and, market decisions aside, can highly recommend both on technical and entertainment standpoints, so I don't think you'd be too disappointed if hooked up to a decent setup..
Both have their advantages and disadvantages, which are so many to go into you could write a book or two..

Sorry for the long post..

Gurgle

steviec wrote:

First of all, they're doing far better than DVD was at the same point in its lifespan.

And secondly, flash memory is not an adequate replacement. Show me where you can get 50 gigs of flash memory on something as small and cheap as an optical disc...

Its at least 4 years since the blue-ray/HD-DVD struggle started.

At the time a 1Gb USB drive was nearly €200.

Now 1Gb is €13, you can get 16Gb for less than €200.
And thats just comparing it to Flash memory, Hard drives have scaled similarily and other types of ROM are shrinking too.

In that time, blue-ray added an extra layer and doubled its capacity. It can't go any further, and its already a mile ahead of HD-DVD.

Its going to come down to whether its more practical to release online or to release on a ROM of some kind.

So IMO, there will be no mass market for whichever one becomes standard.