High Definition vs Blu-Ray

[RogerS]

An interesting poll here shows 10x more people have bought HD DVD as opposed to a Blu-Ray.

Is that because HD DVD devices are more readily available at the moment? Or is it because a lot of people in the poll have or want to have an HD DVD for their Xbox and so are looking for compatibility?

Currently I'm sitting on the fence.

 

[ike]

Sit long enough and you can afford both! :lol:

Ike

 

[Colin C]

I would not jump in to soon as I think it is all going to go the way VHS and Betamax did :roll:

 

[Losos]

Colin & everyone,

Yes, please please don't jump in too quick. When I was younger I used to think it was smart to get the latest gizmo and then it suddenly dawned on me that these things are never properly sorted.

Once the sales & marketing people get wind of a new product they go all out to sell it regardless of whether it works properly or not. The last time I got caught was over Sky's infamous Sky + box.

As you all probably know the early ones had a 'bug' in the HDD software, and an international argument between Sky, the UK maker of the box, the German supplier of the HDD, and the Japanese (Inever did find out what part they played in this sorry tale ) meant that it was a long long time getting sorted, in fact it may still be a problem :lol: the box would 'locked up' frequently and the only cure Sky could offer was a replacement box.

That was all fine except the Sky technician (Well you had hardly call him a technician more a 'swopper of boxes') usually couldn't get to you for at least a week.

I want HD TV but I ain't going near it until I am convinced it's been properly de-bugged and works the way it should!!

(Edited for spelling correction)

 

[Alf]

I would not jump in to soon as I think it is all going to go the way VHS and Betamax did :roll:

Ah, you mean it's all going to end up on DVD? :lol:

 

[Roger]

I think you're on a different track there Losos - they're talking about HD and Blu-Ray as in the next stage DVD standard .... not HD TV!

 

[Losos]

Sorry Roger

Not yet in the DVD world but IMHO the dangers of 'rushiing in' still applies.

 

[Anonymous]

What's the rush? DVDs store a full film (I would rather read a book)

 

[Roger]

Definitely do Losos - I'm sitting on the sidelines watching and waiting until the frenzy stops and the price drops to a realistic level .........

 

[ByronBlack]

nearly 1k for a blu-ray player? How many titles are currently available for these machines, how many HD-DVD films are there at the moment?

I really wouldn't bother at the moment, regular DVD's are here for atleast the next 2-3 years, the public isn't ready for yet another major format change, most people I know are still only just getting into regular DVD, can't see many jumping in to another format, and I really fail to see the point at the moment.

 

[RogerS]

All good points re Blu-Ray vs HD DVD.

The question re HDTV is not open to debate, I think, since that format etc is well-defined and stable. Certainly if I was buying a new TV then I would make sure that it was HDTV.

I know that I will probably (never?) watch HDTV live since I have no interest in Sky and terrestrial HDTV broadcasts are years and years and years away. But we do watch a lot of DVDs.

 

[OLD]

I am reading What HiFi sound and vision dec. issue which is very informative about HD and all its aspects, the tvs can have three types of input formats 720p,1080i,and1080p so any input device has to be up to supplying these formats and this is where it gets complex the mag goes into the detail and explains the differences but i am left with the impression not to touch it .Its to new expensive and not fully developed yet.
One thing that did catch my eye is you can get dvd players with scaling that enhance your ordinary dvd to take advantage of the reproduction on a HD tv.
I recommend the mag. to help get your head round this complex subject.

 

[Losos]

Old,

You said "Not fully developed yet" and that says it all

And thanks for the magazine tip - seeing as how I'm still not a DVD owner :wink:

 

[RogerS]

Old,

You said "Not fully developed yet" and that says it all

And thanks for the magazine tip - seeing as how I'm still not a DVD owner :wink:

Pssst...wanna buy a VHS recorder? Very cheap :wink:

 

[DaveL]

Pssst...wanna buy a VHS recorder? Very cheap :wink:

I think you may of missed a marketing opportunity here. How about this top of the range Beta Max machine.

 

[blurk99]

Hi Roger

I think it'll boil down to who wins the game console battle this christmas - the x-box 360 is a HD DVD player, the PS3 (not yet released) will be a Blu-Ray device (IIRC)

If 50,000 mums and dads keep their little ones happy with the X-box this year you can guess which format will be more popular...

Also i read something about competing film studios investing in different development teams.. maybe we'll only be able to get warner brother films on blu-ray...

best of luck

jim

 

[Colin C]

blurk99

You are right about the film studios as some of the big ones ( cant remember with ones ), but some have gone with one or the other.

They where trying at one time to bring it all tegether but as you can guess it did not work out :roll: