Toshiba has announced that they are ending development on the awkwardly-named HD DVD brand, calling it quits against Sony-backed competitor Blu-Ray. Thus, the brand with the cooler disc name, wins.
Who out there has any sort of HD player, and what are your thoughts on this so-called format war? Is Blu-Ray seriously the superior format? And when can I finally expect a decently-priced player to FINALLY play such movies on my 1080p TV?!
Mark
[ February 19, 2008, 08:02 PM: Message edited by: Charles Capps ]
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
I like old-fashioned, regular DVDs just fine.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Same here for now, I've been intentionally sitting this one out. I doubt many people will rush off and replace their standard def players and movie collection in a hurry, it'll be a while before Blu Ray replaces DVD. Remember how long before VHS became cheep, even after it won out over Beta? Or how long it took DVDs to become the preferred media? We're looking at a couple of years at least until the back catalogue becomes sufficient and more to the point, affordable.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Rise Lord Vader! Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
I want to see BluRay applied to CDs and game discs, too. Start putting full-length stuff on minidiscs.
--Jonah
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I'm fine with standard dvd's too. I would like to see more movies with bonus features put on to UMD's for use in my PSP though.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Blu-ray has a smaller capacity, and I believe a slower read rate. I think HD-DVD was just marginally superior, but Sony won out with better marketing, hooking exclusive release agreements with the biggest studios.
Peregrinus: PS3 games *are* Blu-ray discs.
Also, I'm fine with DVD for now, but that's only because I have an SDTV. Remember that HDTV generally has a higher resolution than DVD does (my *monitor* has a higher resolution than DVD does, too, but I'm used to watching movies in DivX anyway so it's fine).
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Nope. HD-DVD's have less capacity, slower read and write rates, and no regions. I think the bit-rate for sound is lower too.
The main problem with BR is that it's made by Sony, and therefore expensive to buy and even more expensive to repair when (and it will. often) breaks.
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
RIP 09 F9 11 02...
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Yeah, sony is great at marketing cheapy-cheap stuff at holy-crap-batman prices.
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
You lost me at "Sony is great."
Former VAIO user here. Still bitter.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I don't know, my old NW-HD5 is still chugging along happily and my Bravia is doing well. So's my dell inspiron. (I draw the line at sony laptops) Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
O I dont hate sony's products, I just hate their attitude about them. I love the PSP, but it is so delicately and cheaply made, not to mention that the warentee sucks. And that sony markets some things at unbelievebly high prices. A ps2 controller costs 25 bucks. And they wear out so easily. One controller I bought 6 months ago stopped working after 3 months of NORMAL use. one of the internal button connections snapped off. A third party Controller I got for 15 bucks has lasted me at least 15 months. Sony also sells special TV out cables for their new psp that allows them to be played on a TV. The only thing that differs between these special out cables and normal ones is a teeny lip on the connector of the cable that makes it slightly shorter than other cords. It effectively stops other cables from working with the PSP. These said cables cost $29.99. A complete rip-off.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
HP *sucks.*
Hmm, I think having no region is a major *plus* ... you're counting it as a minus?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Yeah, the only reason regions exist is so the studios can charge more and you don't have option of buying from somewhere cheaper.
Also, how is "HD-DVD" awkwardly named? It's the high-definition equivalent of a DVD. Thus, HD-DVD. The name "Blu-Ray" conveys no useful information. (Not to mention the spelling...)
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
It's a bit of a mouthful with too many 'D's and about five syllables. While precise, it's not good as far as abbreviations go. Blu-Ray on the other hand rolls off the tongue rather smoothly. Not that it really matters, I bet even when we've all swtiched to HD we'll still just call them DVDs.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Sony is a bit high on prices for the most part, but working at a store that sells Sony products (for the lowest prices in the city, too), I've seen the prices on most things drip significantly. We sell Sony's BDP-S300 BluRay player and when we first brought it in it was $499. Right now I think we're selling it in the vicinity of $399. The electronics manager predicts that by Christmas he'll be able to sell it (or a similar product) for $249. The TVs also follow a similar trend with price drops every now and then.
Posted by OverRon (Member # 2036) on :
Well at least it's been whittled down to one standard. As I remember waiting for one of the original R/RW DVD standards to become the only one standing, but in the end got a +/-/RAM DVD drive for my PC. I had been contemplating going for one of those HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo drives, but they were still a little too expensive last time I checked.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I'm still waiting for Dual Layer blanks to become affordable.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
quote:Originally posted by Daniel Butler: HP *sucks.*
Hmm, I think having no region is a major *plus* ... you're counting it as a minus?
No, I meant that it was another nail in it's coffin, as the reason regions exist is to rip off Europe and make money.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
So mod your player or stick it in a computer and stream it over your house 'net to your set-top DVR, or encode to DivX with the same quality, burn it, and buy a player that will play data discs. Don't they even sell regionless players in some stores or online? There are lots of ways around that ridiculous region idea. Fecking capitalists.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
...or just use DVD shrink.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Wow, too much technobabble. And I thought Voyager was bad.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Which part was technobabble, "computer" or "burn" Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
I haven't seen either, but those I know, who have seen both, all liked Blue Ray the best.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
With my vision VCRs still have good quality, so what's the deal?
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
God, Engadget's sucked lately. Everything's a Mac vs. PC spoogefest anymore. It used to be at least the HD/BR spoogefests would at least break the monotony...
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Ritten: VCRs record analog at TV quality which is equivalent to 640x480 resolution; it looks fine on a 640x480 TV, but a 1024x768 (or higher) HDTV makes it look like *crap.*
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Maybe, but can you tell me if there's a digital recorder that can record basic cable without having to sign up for some stupid service? Basically, a *true* replacement for the VCR?
As for the whole hi-def war, I haven't cared that much. I only first got into DVDs a few years ago.
Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
I have one, but I can't remember the brand, and Searches have come up empty.
It works without the service, you have to either hit record, or program the timer. The quality is nice.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Run it in to your computer and record it on a HDD.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Those dvd recorders with a built in hdd are quite good, and they have come down alot in price.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
AFAIK, you can't run basic cable into your computer since it's an analog signal. Besides the fact that I don't have anywhere to hook a coaxial cable into anyway.
And shut up about having old equipment or lousy cable. It works, therefore it's still good. With two kids & a third on the way, it's not exactly like I have spare cash for this anyway.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
I am on digital. I have thought about trying it with the S connection, as both the video card and the box have one.
Worst that can happen is the normal total and utter failure. Which, in some small way, is better than a complete and udder failure.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
You can buy an analog TV-in card, can't you?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Yes. I tried that once. It was some sort of ATI card. The recording software that came with it sucked, though, so I never really did anything with it.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Torrents. Alternately, library books, which are pretty neat.
(Fun facts: I have downloaded one thing via Bittorrent in my whole life, and I had to do it at a friend's house. I am at the library all the time.)
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I've torrented massive amounts of television shows...I don't even have cable TV. No point Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
I had one once. Never could get it to work consistently.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Yeah, they're crap. I bought once, and replaced it quite quickly. In the end I gave up on TV cards - they seem to be far too tempermental.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I've heard good things about USB TV tuners, but I haven't tried any.
Posted by OverRon (Member # 2036) on :
I've had a couple of hauppage cards, one was a normal analogue one, and the other was a digital terrestrial one. Even using a signal booster, the picture was shit on both, and I always got this horrible interlacing interference with the picture.
I also had one of them All-in-wonder cards, and had wires trailing everywhere. Never did get it to work properly, and in the end just thought "fuck it." It was 9800 pro so it was a good GFX card for the day, but I wish I'd bought a non-all-in-wonder version and saved some money.
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