Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD

[Patrick]

Anyone have any opinions the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD debate? I'm going to buy one or the other for my soon-to-be acquired flat-screen TV. Know which is the best format and has the best price? Thanks.

 

[mathjak107]

my vote whenever 2 formats fight it out is wait until there is a clear cut winner until buying. most of the time formats that are competitive end up dying untimely deaths with no winner. the formats just never get off the ground

 

[smileydog]

The battle still goes on... I thought the CNET article explained it pretty well.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6463_7-6462511-1.html
CNET and a lot of industry experts say hold off a bit more. I have been waiting and watching - the market place will ultimately descide.

 

[mathjak107]

they are so right. after 35 years in the audio hobby i saw loads of stuff come and go and barely get support after an initial flash in the pan.

 

[bssc]

I think that the reason that the DVD was so successful was that there was only one format (ignoring fullscreen versus widescreen).

I went over to a friend's house and watched a basketball game on high definition TV. I didn't see any significant improvement in the picture except that I could read the fine print on the car ads much better.

Put me in the camp of waiting for them to not only figure out which format to go with but that once that happens, wait until prices come down.

Besides, 8 tracks will live forever.

 

[audreyh1]

I love HD! Watched a NOVA program last night on the evolution of flowering plants in HD and the scenes and detail were just spectacular!

We have an AQUOS 32" HD LCD TV in our motorhome. Have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Audrey

 

[terminator]

I went over to a friend's house and watched a basketball game on high definition TV. I didn't see any significant improvement in the picture except that I could read the fine print on the car ads much better.

It definitely depends on the size of the TV. It's hard to tell the difference on smaller sets, but on larger sets the difference is enormous IMHO.

 

[Texas Proud]

HD-DVD will win out on this one...

don't know where it is, but the Blu-ray folks don't want porn on thier disks.. where the DVD says OK....

the article said that the porn industry was the 'deciding' factor when it was VHS vs BETA.... porn went with the VHS and beta went downhill...

 

[mathjak107]

now high def porn thats got to be cool.

"hey look babe, looks kinda like your grandfather eating vanilla ice cream dont it? ha ha ha ha

 

[HFWR]

Not only that, but you'll get to hear "ah, oh, ooh, yeah, oh, oh, ah..." in 5.1Dolby surround...

 

[NinjaPigeon]

I'm all for HD. Blu-Ray is supported by Sony, which has turned into a terrible company in the last few years in terms of how they treat their customers. Furthermore, Blu-Ray has a "phone-home" capability where it can tie a particular disc to the player it was first played on. I am not current on the latest trends and intricacies of the two technologies, but this was something discussed when it first came out.

I already strip DRM off of music I buy from ITunes. I don't mind paying for content, but I refuse to be restricted in how I use it. So, no thanks on the Blu-Ray.

 

[mathjak107]

being supported by sony is usually the kiss of death.

 

[audreyh1]

Thank god having this stuff in an RV prevents any "phone home" sneaky business!!!

Audrey

 

[shigsy]

HD-DVD will win out on this one...

don't know where it is, but the Blu-ray folks don't want porn on thier disks.. where the DVD says OK....

the article said that the porn industry was the 'deciding' factor when it was VHS vs BETA.... porn went with the VHS and beta went downhill...

It looks like many in the porn industry will be going with hybrid discs (Total HD).

Also, the Internet wasn't a factor during the Beta/VHS war, I've heard that you can like, um...get porn on your computer...or something like that. That's what a buddy of mine told me that at least.

 

[Patrick]

HD-DVD will win out on this one...

don't know where it is, but the Blu-ray folks don't want porn on thier disks.. where the DVD says OK....

the article said that the porn industry was the 'deciding' factor when it was VHS vs BETA.... porn went with the VHS and beta went downhill...

Just found this on Wikipedia:

"HD DVD is currently exclusively backed by several adult-movie/pornography studios/publishers, including Wicked Pictures, Pink Visual, Bang Bros, Digital Playground Inc. and ClubJenna Inc. (which on 22 June 2006 was acquired by Playboy Enterprises), and HD DVD is also non-exclusively backed by Vivid Entertainment."

 

[Patrick]

Thanks for all the input.

Update:

I bought the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD unit, mainly because of its price point (about half) compared to Blu-ray. It was $320 from amazon.com. HD DVDs look great and standard DVDs look almost as good with the Toshiba's upconversion capability.