LA, CA Blu-ray versus HD-DVD, finally, it's over!

I am really excited about the demise of HD-DVD, which from the start was the inferior format in every respect. Granted, both HD-DVD and Blu-ray are huge improvements over standard definition DVDs but it's very exciting that the better format won and this war can come to an end.

I'm mostly excited because the swift end to this war (from this point; it has been a long battle) means we can get the Star Wars films in high definition fairly soon. What's kind of interesting is we'll actually be getting the highest possible definition for the final two prequels -- it would be impossible for them to be higher def. because they were shot with the Sony F900 and F950 and those are just 1080p cameras (the camera I shoot on is not much worse than the F900 to be honest). So because Blu-ray plays in 1080p we'll be getting the final two prequels, at least, in the exact definition of their acquisition, which should be interesting to see. I would imagine they are going to look pretty awesome.

I am shocked by how fast HD-DVD crumbled at the end, though. The overall format war was long and arduous, and I had supported Blu-ray for seriously about 5-6 years because it was the first format I heard of on the horizon, then I heard of this hokey garbage HD-DVD where they were just normal DVDs but with more storage capacity, not even new technology, no new laser, nothing, and the fact Microsoft was on board made me pick against it too. They haven't done anything right lately, Xbox 360 shipped with almost 100% of the systems completely damaged goods, had to be returned (mine too), they ship this stupid Zune nonsense that is like the retarded cousin of the iPod, and then they put out Windows Vista, which is worse than XP by far, and then they support HD-DVD. Makes you wonder how a company like that can even stay in business. A monkey could do a better job right now.

This last x-mas it seemed like HD-DVD was still somewhat competing, so I thought it would take at least through the rest of 2008 to decide a winner. But in six short weeks HD-DVD bit the dust because of these factors:

1) Warner Bros. dropped HD-DVD for Blu-ray in January. This was really the crushing blow, though it was still only the first of many elements that knocked HD-DVD to the ground for good. Ultimately with only Paramount and Universal supporting HD-DVD, it couldn't compete. Warner tipped the scales big-time.
2) Best Buy announced they would strongly recommend Blu-ray to consumers and not HD-DVD.
3) Netflix dropped HD-DVD in favor of Blu-ray.
4) Wal-Mart announced Friday, February 15 that they would phase out HD-DVD by June and completely discontinue restocking HD-DVD products immediately. This was the final crushing blow -- no Wal-Mart, no Best Buy, no format.

The final announcement will officially come this week, maybe Monday, but unofficially it came this weekend -- Toshiba has announced they will immediately stop manufacturing HD-DVD players in all markets, effective immediately. The white flag is flying, and thus the long format war is over with shocking abruptness towards the end.

I threw in my lot with Blu-ray this last x-mas when I got PS3 finally and got the five free Blu-ray movies. I knew Blu-ray would win from the start, but it was just a longer battle than I had hoped. Now I'm just looking forward to upgrading to a 50" LCD HDTV in the near future. My TV is 5.5 years old and isn't even HD, it's an old plasma, but the announcement of the Star Wars films on Blu-ray would seal my purchase immediately.

So let's hope! Star Wars in HD!!! That's as good as you can do without being in the theater.

Did anyone here buy a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player already or were you guys also holding out for the winner? I was waiting for the winner and I felt this past x-mas was good enough, I mean the writing was on the wall.

 

I refuse to give up my HD DVD player regardless. I don't think HD DVD would give up this easily. I smell foul play on Sony's part. There are a few things that just don't fit on why Blu Ray is the "better" format for retailers:

1) Blu Ray is expensive to produce and isn't a complete format yet. Blu Ray players are still BD 1.1 while most of the discs are BD 2.0. This means you still have to wait for the update, that might not even be the last update, to make all BD features accessible while watching the movie. For studios wanting to cut costs and save money any way they can, a single layer BD is more expensive to make than a dual layer HD DVD. And if Sony does win this one, Sony will have a monopoly and be able to fix prices any way they want. HD DVD is already completed, has a lower price with the SAME 1080p resolution, the SAME 5.1/7.1 audio.

2) If Blu Ray is so great, they why did Sony have to incorporate them into the PS3? If it was soo great, then all the stand alone players would be all they need to sell the format. Again, fixed pricing because they would have no competition. This means the prices would only go down during the holidays.

3) Why would "low price" retailers want to carry the more expensive brand? It makes no sense what so ever. With the economy going to bust, the lower priced format should be a no-brainer.

Sony might have the upper hand now, but it only takes one thing to take it away. Again, I smell foul play on Sony's part. There had to have been money exchanged to go exclusive, and if that's true, that should violate every anti-monopoly law in the world. In fact Sony is being investigated by the EU because of it's practices on selling Blu Ray to studios and not practicing open competition.

Shame on you Sony. You can't even play fair to win.

 

So because of a different laser, does that generally mean a player that plays Blu Ray can't play current DVDs while HD DVD would have?

 

My HD-DVD player is off my Xbox 360. It is not only a great HD DVD player but also up converts regular DVDs.

I am big buyer of DVDs just rent HD DVDs from blockbuster online (yes they still carry them) and watch standard dvds on it as well.

My experience with blu-ray and the ps3 is that the load times are very long, and there are fewer extra features on blu-ray dvds.

The PS3 in my opinion sucks as a game platform, the 360 is far superior due to its available games and online capability. As far as Blu-ray players I may buy one in the future but the price will have to come down on players. Until then I will continue to watch any HD-DVDs that come out and my upconverted DVDs which look great.

There is some talk of Xbox making a blu-ray add on for the 360. I bought my HD DVD add on for aroun 150 and it came with 6 free dvds. If they come out with something similar for blu-ray I would pick it up. I doubt it will happen since blu-ray uses Java and that is a whole nother issue between Sun and Microsoft.

 

Well nothing could mean the death of HD more than this. Wal-Mart has announced that it will no longer carry the format chosing rival Blu-Ray instead.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19141319&ft=1&f=1006

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004188334_apwalmartbluray18.html?syndication=rss

SJ, I really don't think Sony paid every retailer and other movie studio off so that it could have a monopoly. What company could have so much money and power.

 

SR, Sony, like Toshiba is a worldwide manufacturing company. You should know first hand the kind of money Sony can dish out. And all it takes is a contract and a guarantee of money to sway a company. Heck, that's why their products are soo expensive.

Still, once these retailers and studios realize that HD DVD is the more practical format, then we'll see who's the better format. It's just too bad people can't see that HD DVD is the same quality and performance for a lower price and isn't just a catchy name. Most people buy Blu Ray cause of the name, which is a sad reflection on how gullible people are to companies like Sony who bet on people being misinformed to sell product.

Or maybe I'll wait till our impending recession hits to show that Blu Ray is the WRONG WAY.

 

Why should I know first hand? I don't work for Sony Electronics. Seriously I doubt Sony can pay off retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. That would be more money than one company even a big one could handle.

Also, do you really think it was the name Blu-Ray that swayed buyers? I think you should give people more credit than that. If not then give that person a raise who thought of that name then.

I think it's too far gone now. Retailers and manufactures aren't going to switch again next year.

 

It's all in contracts. Royalties, cash for being exclusive. It's done in business all the time. And I was referring to you working for Sony in general. I'm sure you could see the money that Sony is capable of dishing out if needed. I mean they're still pushing the PS3 because of Blu Ray and they still need to break even on production costs. One way to help make back the money is to get exclusive deals with retailers to only sell BD.

I still think HD DVD won't die out so soon. It's just needs a kick in the right direction.

As for the whole name thing, most people I've asked liked Blu Ray cause of the name. They didn't know anything above what the display told them. Most people don't know that's it's the same violet colored high frequency laser that reads the disc. The difference is the layer on the BD is closer to the surface so it needs special violet laser to read the disc. They also don't know that about BD 1.1 and 2.0 and that even new Blu Ray players aren't 2.0 compatible yet. They're still working on full compatibility. This is due to the Blu Ray Java software (which again, most people don't know about). HD DVD on the other hand is complete and all players can utilize all feature on every HD DVD disc. They just knew the name and the color of the boxes were cool. Not to mention most High Definition movie files are generally around 12GB (with sound). HD DVD single layer hold 15GB, which is perfect cause the extras generally don't take up too much memory. And if you wanted to add a better sound track (Dolby True-HD or DTS-HD Master Audio), you could go dual layer (which most Euro HD DVD's use to have a DTS-HD audio track) which is 30GB but is also less expensive to produce than one single layer Blu Ray disc. Not to mention HD DVD is manufactured similarly to regular DVDs thus making them less expensive to make. Also, HD DVD is region free, which means movies can be imported from anywhere in the world (probably one of the reasons Sony's fighting so hard to get all studios behind it).

And then there's the fact that most people who praise Blu Ray, don't even own an HD TV (or a decent one for that matter), or even the $1500 A/V reciever to decode Dolby or DTS HD tracks, let alone a full on decent 5.1/7.1 surround sound system.

And unlike Blu Ray's "Beyond High Definition" slogan, it's the same 1080p resolution and the same audio formats/quality. There's no "Blu Ray 1080p" or "HD DVD 5.1 audio". IT'S THE SAME. It's the name that's helping it sell, and I say again, if the format is so great, it shouldn't need to be included in a video game console to sell. It should've been able to sell on it's own. What most people also don't realize is that if you own a PS3 and it goes down, everything goes down. You'll be out a Blu Ray player and the video game console, and you'll be without any form of entertainment.

 

PS3 sales have been abysmal. We all know that. If you think Sony was working PS3 to win this war the numbers don't add up. I don't care either way, but Blu-Ray won. Now we have one format...Now let's live with it. I won't be buying anything SWSE that LFL puts out on any format either way. Most Americans are more worried about if their TVs will just WORK next year. I'm lucky I'm not in that camp, but I relate. Bottom line: Sony won one. Who cares?

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_hi_te/japan_toshiba_13

Toshiba stops making HD players.

 

this boils down to one question ONLY:

Will Blu-Ray make porn DVDs?

Everything else is complete minutia after...

 

Porn went with HD-DVD early last year as production costs are much lower than Blu-Ray.
They will have no choice but to go Blu-Ray now, as distribution channels for HD simply won't exist.

 

Universal just droppped HD in favor of Blu-Ray.
Keeping it's last remaining film studio will be of Paramount importance to HD.
Well, not really, just sounded cute saying that.

 

I've read the news, and I'm wearing a black tux (figurarively speaking) today. I still won't give up my HD DVD player as I still have movies to buy for it. I'm getting a PS3 when I move out for Call of Duty 4, but even then I won't add another SKU count to Sony as I'll buy anything Sony/BD used or second hand. Or I'll just buy the DVD of any movie and have it upscaled on my HD DVD player.

My final thoughts are still: Blu Ray is the WRONG WAY! HD DVD FOREVER!

 

Whoa whoa, so much misinformation here, where to start..

From Blu-ray: "Because Blu-ray utilizes a lens with a greater numerical aperture than HD-DVD, the laser spot can be focused with greater precision to fit more data on the same size disc. This allows Blu-ray to hold 25GB per layer (50GB on a dual-layer disc), whereas HD-DVD can only hold 15GB per layer (30GB on a dual-layer disc). Blu-ray has also adopted a higher data transfer rate for video and audio (54Mbps vs 36.55Mbps)."

You can theoretically hold EIGHT layers on a Blu-ray disc, Sony is already working on this, that is a whopping 200 gigs per disc! HD DVD can only hold two layers, that's a pitiful 30 gigs. That is not the format of the future. Also uncompressed trust me a two hour movie takes a lot more than 12 gigs, haha, christ, my 3 minute music video is 720p and is about 1 gig uncompressed. If you have a DVD format that can hold a heck of a lot more space you can potentially have a lot better quality video, whether it's 1080p or not is not the only consideration. I can make my music video 720p but highly compressed and it looks terrible because the data transfer rate is bad and the compression is high.

Also, Blu-ray discs have FAR more extra features than HD-DVD, so whoever said that... no. Not correct at all. Blu-ray has so much more space for extra features it's not even funny.

It is correct that HD-DVD players were shipped fully feature-enabled and Blu-ray players were not, they were shipped 1.0, and are on build 1.1. They will be at 2.0, but the PS3 can support all of these firmware upgrades anyway. It's the stupidest argument I've yet heard that it's a BAD thing we got a great next-gen DVD player with our video game system.

Ok next behind-the-times comment made here -- PS3 vs. Xbox 360. No, PS3 sales have not been bad, they've actually been very good. It has only been on the market for barely more than a year now, keep in mind, half of the time the Xbox 360 has been on the market. In January, PS3 outsold Xbox 360. It is superior technology, a true next generation system, not like the 360 which while it has great graphics is NOT as capable as the PS3 or even anywhere close. It's a level down from that. Are there more great games on the 360? Absolutely. I have both systems and there are indeed more good games for the 360 *at this time*. But that's rapidly changing as new titles are released every week.

Sony paid off TOSHIBA?!? LOL, that's a good one. No, I don't think so. There are no conspiracy theories here. HD-DVD started out earlier than Blu-ray, it had a market edge in the first 3-4 months of 70% to 75% even. But then once Blu-ray passed HD-DVD it always maintained at least a 59% edge per month, and usually 65%. That was the downfall of HD-DVD -- not enough adoption. People knew the next generation format is Blu-ray, which is the future's technology.

If you think this war isn't over, you're crazy. Look at the press release posted here! It's game over. Toshiba already announced they are NOT going to market, make, or be involved in HD-DVD whatsoever anymore. Universal switched to Blu-ray today too. This isn't the 4th quarter, down by 5, with 4 minutes to go. This is the locker room after the game is over where the HD-DVD camp can talk about the turning point of the game (Warner going Blu) and the Blu-ray camp can celebrate its glorious victory. And almost every company was supporting Blu-ray besides The Evil Empire (Microsoft), Intel, and NEC (besides Toshiba). The other big companies were all Blu.

 

Everyone should read this article before running out to buy an expensive blu-ray player

Why not to buy blu-ray yet

And about special features current Blu-ray dvds did not include all the special features available on dvd or hd-dvd.

Here is an example found on the WB 300 dvds 300 blu-ray vs hd-dvd

So space isn't an issue you can all the space in the world. If the studios do not want to invest in blu-ray special features because they do not want to play with Java thats is up to them. Once again the consumer loses out to a harder to produce product.

 

And just because one format wins, it doesn't mean you have to support it, or choose it.

And I never said anything about Sony paying off Toshiba. Sony did have one advantage over Toshiba, and that Sony does motion pictures here in the states, while Toshiba doesn't. It's no secret that studios can collaborate with other studios for projects, or in this case to sway other studios to choose a format and guarantee exclusive deals and royalties from those deals. We all know it happens all the time and in fact is the way Hollywood became the movie capital it is today. If you don't believe me, research it like I did.

As long as there are DVDs my HD DVD player can upscale to 1080p. And as long as Sony keeps those prices high, people will still choose regular DVD which is fine by me!

I will admit that BD is good for video games, but again, price is everything in a world where economies are unstable.

 

BD is not good for video games. The load time is horrible and the seek time is even worse with that 40GB of data to sort through.

Trust me, you will be better off buying Call of Duty 4 on an Xbox rather than a PS3. Save yourself some money and come play with everyone else on Xbox live.

 

Penny Arcade, so there's some language

[image=http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2008/20080206.jpg]

 

HAHAHA so true.

I know so many people who refused to buy a 360 since they were die hard ps2 fans and couldn't imagine playing anything other than a ps3.

A few months later while they sat at home and played alone, hearing about everyone playing together on xbox live they ended up going out and picking up a 360.

Not saying they do not play some games on their PS3, as it does have 1 or 2 exclusive titles that are pretty good. In the long run they are on their 360 way more often. And if they also have a Wii the PS3 ends up being a very expensive blu-ray player.

 

I've seen both formats. To me, they both look awesome. Unfortunately for my family, we just bought an HD player. I'm hoping HD won't die, especially since I've seen the load times and glitches BluRay has.

 

Well it will make your regular DVDs look better on your HD TV.

Otherwise HD is dead. All the studios have backed out and Toshiba is no longer making the players.

 

HD and BD don't actually upscale 480i DVD footage to 1080p, it doesn't work that way. It will make it look better but it's not like standard def. DVDs magically become 1080p, otherwise they wouldn't sell HD discs or Blu-ray discs at all

Also, that's something else I forgot to correct in my last post -- online gaming? Excuse me? PS3 owns 360. Another Microsoft ripoff. You have to pay $50 a year for Xbox Live, it's FREE on PS3, another reason it's a far superior and now far less expensive video game system. For what you get with the PS3, which includes like 10 features you have to pay extra for on the 360, it's a much more cost-effective system than the 360 and it's better in every technical respect. Load times aren't bad at all, not sure what you're talking about. I guess if you're so impatient you can't wait 3 seconds between levels or something, sure, load times suck. But I consider 3 seconds of load time no problem, especially since it usually occurs between heavy bouts of action anyway so you need a breather for that tiny one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, etc.

I love my 360 too, for the record, and still play it and it has some awesome games. I'm not dissing 360. But I am saying it's a $200 system that costs more, for no reason at all. It's just not a good enough system to justify the price when you can get a PS3 that comes with an expensive Blu-ray player for a much better deal. If the PS3 is $400, which it is, the 360 has no right being above $200. Even that seems overpriced. $150 is more like it.

 

How does it feel to live on the banks of denial?

The trees nice and green and the air cool and crisp?

PS3 is a half a$$ed system just like Blu-ray in which Sony pieced together to bring to the market before the company went under.

This is why the PS3 is selling less systems than the PS2.

"Hardware Sales (in units sold)
Nintendo DS: 8.50 million (17.65 million LTD)
Wii: 6.29 million (7.38 million LTD)
Xbox 360: 4.62 million (9.15 million LTD)
PlayStation 2: 3.97 million (41.12 million LTD)
PlayStation Portable: 3.82 million (10.47 million LTD)
PlayStation 3: 2.56 million (3.25 million LTD)"
Gamespot stats

The type of people who root for Sony are pompous.

Not saying you are pompous, but you can do the math.

 

I only root for Sony because they pay me too. I have no other excuse. I swear they did a presentation at work and I couldn't tell a freaking difference. Maybe my eyes and ears are just getting old. I also don't play video games so couldn't tell the difference there either.

I have nothing really informative to add to this really boring discussion. But please feel free to carry on.