The Blu-ray vs. HDDVD war (is now over)!

[rocklobster]

Just like back in the 80's with VHS and Betamax, we have a new media war: Blu-ray DVD's vs. HD DVD's. Which one do you people think will ultimately win out?

[beau99]

The format war was effectively ended recently, when Warner Bros. sided with Blu-Ray. They were the last major film studio to do this.

[ShiroiHikari]

Bah. This "format war" is totally bogus. At least VHS and Betamax had different technical specs. From what I can tell, Blu-Ray and HDDVD are virtually the same. They're trying to force us ahead, and I don't like it. I just switched to DVD about four years ago! It's too soon to switch again. I don't even have an HDTV anyway, so...

[Cognitive Gear]

I honestly don't care. Both are great. But only if you have an HDTV.

Which a large percentage of the populous doesn't.

[Radical Dreamer]

I'm definitely of the opinion that the entire Blu-Ray/HD DVD thing is completely ridiculous. There's really not that big a difference in quality from a normal DVD, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm fine with the picture on my TV as long as there's no static. XD I'm against the idea that I'd have to re-purchase my entire DVD collection to keep up, as well, so eh. Not interested, no thanks. XD

[Mithrandir]

Theoretically, this should be backwards compatible - meaning your current DVDs should still play in a Blu-Ray player. Kinda like how most DVD players can play CDs. You would not need to repurchase your entire collection.

This is one place where this "format war" is different from VHS/Betamax.

To the media companies, this wasn't actually a very tough choice. If they didn't all agree on SOMETHING, they were significantly reducing the overall available market. Even if they switched from HD DVD to Blu-Ray, they were still going to be able to sell more product.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

<i>"It's supposed to have higher definition but personally I never found myself saying 'Oh, Army of Darkness is still a glorious celebration of boyish fantasy violence; but only if the resolution was a wee bit bigger it could be significantly improved!' I'm not a connoisseur, but for me there's really not enough visible difference between Blu-ray and DVD quality for Sony to credibly argue that it's the next big advance."</i>
-Zero Punctuation

[Cognitive Gear]

As an HDTV owner, I can tell you that the difference between DVD and the HD formats is quite significant. However, the difference doesn't really benefit movies made any longer than 15-20 years ago, and even then there are some movies that just don't need it.

Also, I found an interesting article about DVD vs. VHS. The arguments against DVD are largely the same as the ones being used against the HD formats. It's quite an interesting read, now that we can look back and see that DVD was, in reality, truly superior.

Link

[Mithrandir]

I'm not sure what's funnier - the article or the replies. Interesting read!

[ShiroiHikari]

Any parent who has young children and a collection of Disney VHS movies knows that those things can be watched a dozen times of day for three years straight without showing any appreciable wear.

Hahahahahaha! That's a riot. Actually, the whole thing is pretty funny.

DVD was truly a huge step up from VHS. The only time DVD doesn't have a better picture than VHS is when they don't bother to make a clean transfer, like for some older films. And even then, it can still be much sharper.

I do kinda prefer the sound quality of VHS, though. It doesn't sound as squeaky-clean and...fake. But that's just personal preference.

[Jingo Jaden]

Think - BlueRay *Quality is higher, although HD DVD is no pushover and much cheaper*.

Hope - Multiple formats.

[Dante]

... I don't own a HD television, along with the majority of the United States, I don't even WATCH television... my parents do... if the US goes through with its threat to shut down analog in 09 and go to HD only, that will just mean that we won't BE watching television anymore... That stated, I see no reason to switch from VHS to DVD let alone from DVD to blue-ray, at 640x480 there is no visible difference to my eyes, and the same goes for higher resolution HD TVs.

If you're so bored with the movie that you're staring down pixels, its not the formats falt, its the movies fault. Frankly though, given the plotlines in most of the major motion pictures today, I don't blame people for wanting higher quality TVs... the shear lack of interest their plots generate make staring down pixels a far more enjoyable task then trying to build a plot around fancy explosions.

In the end, here's my prediction... the DVD/Blue Ray wars will be won by VHS... Why? Because once they go digital they can send signals out with the movie to forbid the recording of television based movies onto digital formats like the above. It would satisfy the media industries thirst for making the public go out and purchase their DVDs, a highly lucrative market these days. Because of this, VHS will eventually win out, because its non-digital format will make control over its ante-diluvian form impossible.

At the end of the day, the people will win out over the media industry... that is... if good triumphs over evil .

Mind you, once we go blu-ray, its only a short while before another higher frequency market takes blu-ray out in the digital wars, and then another couple of years before holographic disks take these out... In the end, its an unwinnable war in digital technology, especially given how well the law of accelerating returns is turning out to be.

-Pascal

[ShiroiHikari]

Well, I personally think that in the next 15 years or so, hard copies will go the way of the Betamax and media will go all-digital. That is to say, you'll be downloading your movies onto your digital media center instead of going out to the store to buy them. I don't necessarily like this idea, myself, because what happens when all your files get corrupted? You buy your entire movie collection again because they've got "copy protection" on them, more than likely.

[Raiden no Kishi]

Well, I personally think that in the next 15 years or so, hard copies will go the way of the Betamax and media will go all-digital. That is to say, you'll be downloading your movies onto your digital media center instead of going out to the store to buy them. I don't necessarily like this idea, myself, because what happens when all your files get corrupted? You buy your entire movie collection again because they've got "copy protection" on them, more than likely.

Or you could back them up on a Mac . . .

Not the face! Please, not the face! Or the hair!

Right. Topic. I honestly don't care who wins at the moment, being a college student and all. I do think that the PS3 gives Blu-Ray a leg up, since the PlayStation series is quite popular and I don't see that abruptly ending. Ergo, there will be a market for Blu-Ray discs until the next console (PS4?), unless I am mistaken.

I'm just fine with my DVDs right now, thanks. However, what would be nice is if we could get some disc consolidation for anime boxsets with these high-performance media. Having 2 or 3 discs for a series would be great instead of 6+(++++ if you're into things like Naruto, Inuyasha, or DBZ) discs, no?

.rai//

[Kaligraphic]

Based on major studio support, I'd say that the "war" has been pretty much won by Blu-Ray. Warner Bros. defection to the Blu-Ray camp has tilted the scales pretty decisively. Microsoft and Toshiba fought to get HD-DVD accepted, but they just didn't have the determination or the studio support. Sony pushed Blu-Ray. The PS3 included a Blu-Ray drive standard. The Xbox 360 supported HD-DVD as an optional accessory.

Massive device push plus majority of the big studios equals de facto standard. That's just how it goes here.

[Tenshi no Ai]

heh I agree with that Disney VHS thing. It's harder for kids to break, but I see kids holding a disk for 2 seconds and YEESH!

Couple comments:

-I found out that Blu ray disks tend to break easier. Knowing people who own PS3 games, found out they had to be careful when pushing the disk back into it's case, because it cracks in the middle >_> Sooo you apparently have to pop them in the middle or else it will crack >_>

-Walmart is thinking about going Blu only. Another huge thing since the Warner news.

-I personally m a Blu supporter, because I have a PS3 and it just has a nice big selection

[creed4]

blu ray, though I will be buying dvd's for the foreseeable future

[Stephen]

RL, from now on if you put threads on the wrong boards I will delete them.

[ADXC]

I could really care less. As long as they still make regular dvds then Im happy. I really don't care about higher quality, sure it looks nice but this should only be in the theatres where everythings supposed to look better than your own tv. I have a PS3, but Im not going to waste the laser on blue-ray disks. Ive heard it ruins the laser. And plus I do not want to switch over to either of them, it just means more money we have to pay for a luxury that we don't need.

[Nate]

-Walmart is thinking about going Blu only. Another huge thing since the Warner news.

If Wal-Mart goes Blu-Ray exclusive then HD-DVD will officially be dead.

[Scarecrow]

Umm... well I think Blu-Ray will win (not necessarily cause its better but just cause it sounds cooler) but I really don't care. I go to the store and I can certainly see a pretty nice difference in quality but umm... that would mean re-buying all my favorite DVDs just for a little better picture. I've already did that when I got a DVD player 8 years ago (wow I can't believe its been that long... I can still remember my first DVD... *sigh* Gladiator-2 disc special edition...)

I'll skip this one I think and wait about 10 years when they come out with 3D HD... all your movies in glorious 3D, no glasses required. THen it will be something worth switching over for.

[Tenshi no Ai]

I have a PS3, but Im not going to waste the laser on blue-ray disks. Ive heard it ruins the laser.

Ummm aren't PS3 games imprinted on Blu disks as well?

[Nate]

Yes, they are.

[Roy Mustang]

I'll skip this one I think and wait about 10 years when they come out with 3D HD... all your movies in glorious 3D, no glasses required. THen it will be something worth switching over for.

I'm going to wait for next gen dvd's that after you order them, they will walk to your house and jump into your next gen dvd player, which I hear will also cook you dinner.


On topic,

I'm not too worried about this format war. Like a few others, I'm happy with my dvd's and the only thing that I like about the Blu-Ray and HDDVD's is the storage space that they have and will be good for us folks that need to save a lot data on to a disk.

[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang [/font][/color]

[Tenshi no Ai]

the only thing that I like about the Blu-Ray and HDDVD's is the storage space that they have

Ah yes... thinner is better and won't take up as much room on my shelves... the thickness of DVD packages are NOT necessary and ruins them if they snap off and shake around inside >_>

[Roy Mustang]

I meant the storage space on the disk.

[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[mitsuki lover]

As far as '09 goes the only people that are going to be affected are the ones who get the signal through rabbit ears and outdoor antennae,they're the ones who will have to go out and pay for converter boxes to change over from analog to digital.Everyone else that has
cable and satellite won't be affected.
Now as to Blu Ray and HDDVD,I really don't care as long as regular DVDs are still going to be around it doesn't matter.

[mechana2015]

Another interesting factor is that the Blu-Ray comes with the PS3, while the 360 requires an add on that adds another 180 bucks to the price, actually making an HD DVD playing 360 about 30 dollars more expensive than the 80 gig PS3.

Even the elite 360, at 500 bucks doesn't play HD movies without an add-on.

[KeybladeWarrior]

Blu-Ray hands down.

[ADXC]

Well, yes I know that the games use blueray as well, but I don't want to waste it on movies when I could be wasting it on games! I just want my PS3 to be just for games, nothing else. Thats all.