What will make you choose one or the other?
samlewis -- Tue, 11/13/2007 - 10:46
In the December 2007 issue of The Perfect Vision, editors ask if a clear winner of the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD will emerge.
"Many of us hoped that as we moved into the second year of the great Blu-ray vs. HD DVD conflict, a winner would have been crowned. The fact that there are two different, incompatible formats for high-def optical discs does nobody any good.
"Over the past couple decades, we’ve seen successful transitions from an established entertainment format to a superior medium—audiocassette to CD and videocassette to DVD—but in both cases your new and improved player could play anything on store shelves. Today, we’re expected to buy one player to watch Spiderman and Edward Scissorhands and another to watch King Kong and Heroes. This way lies madness...
"Still, say you have a beautiful high-def TV, are hungry for first-rate movies and TV shows, and have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket—there must be a smart move to make, right?"
What deciding factors will help you choose between a Blu-ray and an HD DVD player?
How many years did it take for crappy VHS to vanquish the superior Betamax format? Blu ray needs to find a quality cheap producer for their players and flood the market or HD DVD will win with its cheap players.
And right now neither Blu Ray HD DVD is producing a player that exploits all the benefits of the format at a reasonable price. No Sony ES yet and even more interesting is the top audio/vediophile companies have stayed out of the market so far for the part. The mass market doesnt care about ulitmate audio or video quality just price thats why VHS won! Folks are buying cheap LCDs and plasmas from folks like Westinghouse, Vizio etc. Why price not quality!
With a recession coming in next 24mos and the possibility of a depression
price will rule!
Sheepherder
Shenandoah Valley, VA
sheepherder wrote:How many years did it take for crappy VHS to vanquish the superior Betamax format? Blu ray needs to find a quality cheap producer for their players and flood the market or HD DVD will win with its cheap players.
And right now neither Blu Ray HD DVD is producing a player that exploits all the benefits of the format at a reasonable price. No Sony ES yet and even more interesting is the top audio/vediophile companies have stayed out of the market so far for the part. The mass market doesnt care about ulitmate audio or video quality just price thats why VHS won! Folks are buying cheap LCDs and plasmas from folks like Westinghouse, Vizio etc. Why price not quality!
With a recession coming in next 24mos and the possibility of a depression
price will rule!
I agree with the general theme of this answer, though I must say the last 7 & 8 head “superVHS” versions of that format were pretty amazing (relatively speaking) thus I think each of the current formats (Blu-Ray-HD DVD) can be made into a winning format but surly there are many a political issues to iron out before a winner is created.
I think both formats will co-exist for quite some time to come. Sony and Disney will never concede, nor will Toshiba and Microsoft. Therefore, I believe the best solution for consumers is a dual-format player such as the LG BH200 or Samsung BD-UP5000. Yes, they are expensive (both around $1000). The other alternative is to get two players, which can actually cost less than a dual player ($300 or less for a Toshiba A3 and $400 or less for a Sony BDP-S300 or 40GB PS3). Personally, I'd be willing to pay extra for the convenience of one player that can play both formats.
If one must choose between them, I think HD DVD has the edge for these reasons:
1. The players are generally less expensive, in some cases a lot less.
2. All HD DVD players are capable of everything the format can do. But most current Blu-ray players can't do PIP, and none can do BD-Live (online interactivity). Also, the firmware in the current players cannot be updated to add these features. The only exception is the PS3, which can be firmware-updated to do both.
3. All HD DVD players can be updated simply by connecting their Ethernet port to a broadbank Internet access point (like a router). The firmware in most current Blu-ray players must be updated by downloading the update to a computer, burning a disc, and inserting the disc into the player.
Of course, if you choose either type of player, you can't play any titles released on the other format, which sucks. Thus, I say get both or, even better, a dual player and be done with it.
Scott Wilkinson
Video Editor
The Perfect Vision
It might also depend on the economy. Recession is on the horizon for at least the US. And depending on who is prez and their economic and national security policies could result in a depression in the US. Recession and one large very successful terrorist attack in the US at the right time could turn a mild recession into a nasty depression.
Will our foes test a female prez you bet.
So the cheaper format may win
Sheepherder
Shenandoah Valley, VA
I bought both an HD DVD player and a Blu-ray player. Both are good formats. I've decided I like Blu-ray better though because the discs seem to resist scratches. I get scratches on my HD DVDs just from placing them in the disc tray on the player. Other than that, I don't think there's much difference between the two formats as far as picture quality is concerned. I really think Blu-ray will win in the end. Blu-ray is advertised more and there are more manufacturers making Blu-ray players.
I believe that a dual format player (or two players, a Blu-ray and an HD-DVD) is really no solution at all. If you are a movie collector like myself, your investment in the software can run into thousands of dollars, much more than the cost of the player(s) themselves. Ultimately, one format is going away, and you will have to rely on an aging player that can no longer be replaced or repaired, to watch a large part of your investment. Who can still watch their old Beta format tapes?
It now seems clear that if any format emerges as a winner, it will be Blu-ray, which has been outselling HD-DVD by about 2 to 1 in the US almost from the start, and by even greater margins in Europe and Japan (See . http://www.thedigitalbits.com/ )
Harrison S.
I bought a Toshiba A3 a couple weeks ago. Price was the biggest reason. Also I didn't want to invest $400 or more in either player when I dont know if HDMI 1.3 is going to be the standard for at least 2 yrs. I think Blue-Ray is the better format, but the differences are not that important to me. The only thing that has is that some discs are only available in Blue-Ray (
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