HD DVD vs BluRay

[WebWarlock]

(mods, move this where it is needed the most. It's not so much TV and Movies, but related)

Ok Kittens!

So we have two new DVD formats out now. And for those of us old enough to remember it is shaping up to be the VHS vs Beta battle all over again.

Here are the brief notes.

HD DVD and Blue Ray.

Currently Blue Ray has the advantage in terms of capacity and comes from Sony (same people that gave us Betamax). So they have the edge and desire not to loose again. But it looks like to me that HD DVD might have the market advantage.

So has anyone bought one? Planning to buy one?

Me? I am waiting to see which one the HD version of Lord of the Rings will be on!

Warlock

[Hemiola]

God, WebWarlock, you hit the nail right on the head by stating that it's much like the old and nasty VHS vs Betamax conflict. In fact, it echoes many more utterly ridiculous trade wars in which only consumers lose--
consider:

1. Monaural vs Stereo--this was the first really destructive format war. Record stores hated it, since they had to carry double stock on all of their records (mono and stereo records were not compatible). It was not until the arrival of the "universal" pressing technology (sometime in the mid 1960s) that the conflict ended, but even so many worthwhile mono recordings fell by the wayside because many people refused to buy "old-fashioned-sounding" recordings!!!!

2. Stereo vs Quadraphonic--another needlessly destructive trade war, this time involving four (4!!!) mutually incompatible formats during the 1970s. As a result, the whole idea of 4-channel sound fell by the wayside (Although, oddly enough, it has been revived for use with video!).

3. VHS vs Beta--and again :( Beta was clearly the superior technology, but VHS had the greater capacity and more available software.

4. And now this--my philosophy is to wait it out, and see which one "wins". I believe it will all depend on (a) which format is "backwards compatible" (i.e., playable on a "normal" DVD player) and (b) which format has the most software available for it. Trust me, this won't be pretty.

[Culzean]

Oh my God - I forgot about Quadraphonic! Didn't The Who release an album in Quad? Or, was it the Stones?

Digital movies have already been through a few changes:

* Video disks - the movie was on a disk the size of an LP, but housed in a box. You would load the disk by inserting the entire box into the player. They actually had great picture and sound.

* Laserdisks - these looked like DVD's only they were the size of LP's and you could only get one hour's worth of analog-video data per side. So, if you were watching a two hour movie you had to flip the disk over.

BluRay may have an advantage since it's built into the PlayStation3. Just one more way of getting them into people's houses.

Still, you'll probably have to buy a new TV if you want to take advantage of the better picture these devices can deliver making this is a very expensive proposition.

As much as I love new technology, I'll be waiting a long time before buying one of these players.

[boomstick79]

I read an interesting article that proposed the theory that the future of the HD vs Blu-Ray war rested upon the porn industry. Seeing as the DVD market for porn is huge, it implied whichever format the main batch of porn producers went for would swing the balance. I'm not quite sure how accurate that hypothesis may be, but it gave me something to mull over on my tea break
Personally I'm holding back for a couple of years until they've decided which one has won and then I can by the DVD recorder version of whichever one it is. Or at least wait until my current player carks it

~Lou

[WebWarlock]

Well both players will also play all your current standard DVDs, but neither type of HD Disk will play in current DVD players.

BluRay comes on the PlayStation 3 but Microsoft will ship X-Boxes with HD DVD.

Other than that Microsoft has been largely non-comital, supporting both formats.

Porn: You could have something there. THey were a HUGE factor in the VHS vs Beta war and now the Adult Video entertainment market makes more money than the rest of Hollywood combined they will have a huge say in how this next one goes.

Warlock