HD-DVD has lost

jayteecork

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6184403.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;title;2

Looks like Blu-Ray is the future now.

mcgovern

Edit: I'm an idiot.
Sorry

mayordenis

Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format." Toshiba spokesperson Keisuke Ohmori called the report "speculative,"

Gran Hermano

jayteecork wrote: »

Looks like Blu-Ray is the future now.

Wrong.. the future is downloading and/or streaming

jayteecork

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Wrong.. the future is downloading and/or streaming

Nah.
People will always want a box with the nice artwork and a disc.
People like to have a few shelfs of their movies, all categorised and alphabetised. I know I do.
I don't what some hard drive full of Ones and Zeros.
I want something tangible.

It's the same reason amazon's new book download reader thingie won't be a success.

People like having a real book in their hands and also to add to their library.

Jack Sheehan

You can't compare books to films and games. This is the reason there has been widespread piracy of movies and games, but when was the last time you pirated a book?

RE*AC*TOR

This is all swings and roundabouts.
In the grand scheme of things the market share of both formats combined is so small compared to standard dvds that the significance for the studios is approaching zero.
Right now they are both specialist/enthusiast formats.
My honest opinion - while the picture quality achievable for someone with a 40" tv and a bluray or hddvd player is superb, it is not the quantum leap that going from vhs to dvd was. And to most people dvd is "good enough".
While one format may ultimately beat the other, the winner could well fizzle out as well. Probably to either (a) be beaten by dvd, or (b) only be an interim solution with a true successor to dvd still to be seen (this could well be downloading/streaming).

Gran Hermano

jayteecork wrote: »

Nah.
People will always want a box with the nice artwork and a disc.
People like to have a few shelfs of their movies, all categorised and alphabetised. I know I do.
I don't what some hard drive full of Ones and Zeros.
I want something tangible.

It's the same reason amazon's new book download reader thingie won't be a success.

People like having a real book in their hands and also to add to their library.

Once upon a time people insisted on having a physical CD or LP, look
how happy the masses are now with downloading music via itunes or
similar. Those who insist on owning a physical CD of music are becoming a
minority.

Movies will go the way of music once bandwidth and download caps
are capable of providing end-users video in a fast and cost efficient
manner. Once movie studios are happy their property is protected
with suitable DRM and that they can supply end-users quality products
they'll promote it above blu-ray or any other physical format. They'll
be more than happy to cut out the retailer as it'll give them even more
margin on the product and greater control over pricing (also reducing
discounting and grey-imports).

Games will go the same way eventually.

layke

All this means is that the film companies got paid xxx sum of cash to go HD. It could swing back to Blu Ray at any stage. why don't they cut the **** by making it compatable with both.

jayteecork

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

My honest opinion - while the picture quality achievable for someone with a 40" tv and a bluray or hddvd player is superb, it is not the quantum leap that going from vhs to dvd was.

I dunno, I saw Casino Royale being played on a Sony Bavaia(I think) and the picture quality was out of this world.
Easily as big a leap above DVD as that was above VHS.

Microsoft would "consider" a blu-ray add on
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=90300

bucks73

jayteecork wrote: »

Nah.
People will always want a box with the nice artwork and a disc.
People like to have a few shelfs of their movies, all categorised and alphabetised. I know I do.
I don't what some hard drive full of Ones and Zeros.
I want something tangible.

It's the same reason amazon's new book download reader thingie won't be a success.

People like having a real book in their hands and also to add to their library.

Im the same...I would prefer to have something physical in a box for the money I spend even though I do download a lot of my music now. I am quite happy myself with DVD at the moment and cant see myself switching to any HD format until the discs are the same price.

I cant see downloading/streming taking over as a lot people can not get/do not want decent broadband and it could be years before there are decent speeds and full coverage in this country. And then they need to hook up a pc/HDD to their internet and TV. Buying a dvd player for 30 or 40 quid is a lot easier and a lot cheaper for a lot of people.

TheDoc

im the same cant see myself changing till the discs are the same or a decent price.

it is amazing looking i can see it clearly, but i cant pinch myself to pay 40 euro for a film i can get on dvd for 15....

i find it a very useless and ****ty "war"

if only they could make it all on one, or someone make a hd/bluray player...cause we are all gna miss out in the long run, unless we spend a fortune

RE*AC*TOR

jayteecork wrote: »

I dunno, I saw Casino Royale being played on a Sony Bavaia(I think) and the picture quality was out of this world.
Easily as big a leap above DVD as that was above VHS.

I've watched bluray movies on a 40" 1080p Bravia.
The picture quality is superb. I even bought Planet Earth on BluRay. However, the leap is not the same as from VHS to DVD. Go back and watch some vhs tapes and remember. The leap from analog to digital is a much bigger one than from digital to more highly defined digital.

Look at super audio cds and dvd audio. Much better sound. No one cared. Even cd quality is above most people's needs in music terms. 128kbps Mp3 is sufficient for the majority.

Also realistically once you move down to the size of tv most people might have (32"). It gets harder to notice the improvements. But most people can tell the difference between dvd and vhs.

unklerosco

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

While one format may ultimately beat the other, the winner could well fizzle out as well. Probably to either (a) be beaten by dvd, or (b) only be an interim solution with a true successor to dvd still to be seen (this could well be downloading/streaming).

Thats exactly what I think... Unless the players come down to about €150ish n the movies come to being about €5 more than a dvd I don't see it taking off....

And as for having a DVD collection, I much prefare having all my movies on my hard drives, I can access them anywhere around the house... Its less hassle, no scratched discs, no kids wrecking them, no missing discs...

Scruff

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote: »

if only they could make it all on one, or someone make a hd/bluray player...cause we are all gna miss out in the long run, unless we spend a fortune

TA-DAAAA!

but a combo drive for the 360 would be nice too.

Varik

Microsoft has said it would consider creating a Blu-ray player add-on for Xbox 360, and that it isn't all that bothered by Warner Bros' decision to go with Blu-ray instead of HD-DVD.

"I fundamentally don't think...this has a significant impact on Xbox 360 versus PlayStation 3," Xbox hardware group marketing manager Albert Penello told Reuters. "With the PlayStation 2, DVD was a big part in the beginning, but over time, people were not buying it as a DVD player after [the] first year or two."

Unlike the PlayStation 3, which has a Blu-ray drive built-in to the console, the HD-DVD player is a stand-alone accessory for the Xbox 360.
"It should be consumer choice, and if that's the way they vote, that's something we'll have to consider," said Penello.

Varik

Scruff wrote: »

TA-DAAAA!

but a combo drive for the 360 would be nice too.

that $599 for that player as it not a true hybrid like the old dvd +/- drives it more like 2 player in one box meaning twice the price,
by the time these get cheaper blu ray will have won or downloads wont suck so much getting rid of the problem

silvine

If the PS3's fortunes improve Blu-ray could make great inroads and we probably would see an XBox Blu-ray player. At the moment films on Blu-ray are expensive. They are more of a video/audiophile's treat than something the regular joe will buy.

I think downloading is the way forward and owning physical copies of a film will go the way of vinyl - something collectors like to argue is better than the current fashion. But with Ireland's download speeds the way they are, DVD, Blu-ray and HD-DVD makers needn't worry yet.

The standard connection here is around 2mb where as in France it is around 20mb and in South Korea it's 100mb. Those are the kind of speeds we need to truly make buying physical forms of films the secondary option for move fans. Then you would have the convenience of being able to watch anything with the click of a button. There is a lot to be said for that convenience versus heading all the way down to the store to buy a more expensive physical copy. Just take a look at digital music sales compare to CD sales.

Kinetic^

It wasn't so much that I wanted Microsoft to win, it was more that I wanted Sony to fail.:(

Riesen_Meal

Time to buy a PS3....





Just for Blu-ray, hardly for gaming!

unklerosco

It aint microsoft that are failing, its Toshiba.. HD-DVD is there brainchild. I think Sony where always gonna win as they own a movie label, already have the sales force for getting blue rays into shops... Toshiba have none of that..

wayne040576

Philips have unveiled the first blu ray player that will be cheaper than the ps3

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-13855_1-9841862-67.html

shanethemofo

And Let me guess Jaytee.... You own a ps3?

And Sony PWNZERS M$?

*sigh*

unklerosco

I'd spend the extra $50 n get a PS3....

Fingleberries

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

While one format may ultimately beat the other, the winner could well fizzle out as well. Probably to either (a) be beaten by dvd, or (b) only be an interim solution with a true successor to dvd still to be seen (this could well be downloading/streaming).

Very true - I remember in the early-90s there was a scrap for the next music format between MiniDisc (Sony) and a Mini Casette player (I think from Phillips). Anyway, it was all about the way of the future. The MiniDisc won out, and the Phillips one disappeared. Yay! ... big whoop.

But who cares, neither of them made a big enough dent into the overall market for music players where the CD remained as King, until MP3 players eventually made its massive leap forward in popularity.

I can see the same thing here. Blu-ray and HD-DVD scrap it out. One wins... So? What difference does it make? The Percentage of movies sold in either format is miniscule compared to DVD.

One of the main reasons that DVD took off as a format was simple: Everyone got behind the one standard and went with it (Ok, there are a few initial bumps - if anyone remembers DVDs that you used to have to switch over to Side B to watch the second half of the movie? ... or the whole difference with DVD +/-, R, RW, -, + recordable formats).

Since there was such a concentrated push to make it mainstream, prices came down relatively quickly for the players.

Anyway, as the lads from Red vs Blue say the future of home video is the HHDDVVDDBVD player.

kowalski1979

I'm gonna stick with regular DVD's until prices drop for high definition formats or downloads become standard.

I have heard upscaling players will prolong the life of DVD's, I am going to get a HDMI cable for my Xbox 360 to do this. Has anyone done this with the Xbox?

event

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Movies will go the way of music once bandwidth and download caps
are capable of providing end-users video in a fast and cost efficient
manner. .

could be years before we get that in ireland though

bucks73

kowalski1979 wrote: »

I'm gonna stick with regular DVD's until prices drop for high definition formats or downloads become standard.

I have heard upscaling players will prolong the life of DVD's, I am going to get a HDMI cable for my Xbox 360 to do this. Has anyone done this with the Xbox?

I have an upscaling DVD player hooked up to an LCD tv and the picture is excellent while the Sky via scart isnt great.

eoin2nc

Just after buying the Xbox HD-DVD player At least Im getting 5 free HD-DVDs

Supercell

Anyone that thinks dvd is the be all and end all is wrong, plain wrong, we would all still be using crts if that was the end of it.

Fact is HDTV is mainstream in America and slowly but surely coming mainstream here in Europe with SkyHD BBCHD and now C4HD , to deny that is to bury your head in the sand.

HDTV is here and isn't going away - Blue ray has won, buy a Blue Ray player if you can afford it, I cant but fully expect to next time i buy a movie player.

Utopia Parkway

NO real interest in either blu-ray or hd-dvd. Will be sticking with plain old dvd's for a good while longer yet. Can't say I feel a burning desire to see an even higher definition picture.

Though I'm sure the next system I get I will consider getting a HD player.