Boring Blu-Ray vs HD DVD update #342

[TGC]

No apparent about it. The war is over. They had no choice really when everyone and their mother started to back Blu Ray. Toshiba is going to lose millions and millions of dollars over this.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I'm glad. HD DVDs scratch HORRIBLY (at work they scratched up embarrassingly when bagged and filed but Blu-Rays were absolutely fine).

[The Chief]

a format run by sony can in no way be good.

awaits rootkit

Edited February 19, 2008 by The Chief

[stokeriño]

a format run by sony can in no way be good.

awaits rootkit

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Sony's Betamax generally accepted as being better quality etc. than VHS, but VHS won because it was cheaper?

And now Blu-Ray has won because, amongst other things, Sony have shipped 10 million Blu-Ray players tucked away inside relatively cheap PS3 consoles while Toshiba managed only one million HD-DVD players. As much as your Sony hatred is kind of cute, I would nonetheless like to hear a reason Blu-Ray "can in no way be good" which is related to Blu-Ray itself rather than some other Sony foible you might happen to have a grudge towards.

Edited February 19, 2008 by stokeriño

[bdsghost]

VHS won because it was cheaper?

[Summers]

For people saying HDDVD and Blu-Ray wont become the new Betamax.. HDDVD already has.

[zero]

That's not to say that Blu-ray won't either. Blu-ray is about to fuck over a ton of early adopters with Blu-ray 2.0; from I Can Has Tech:

Having all but won the HD format war, Sony is now readying an update to the specifications that define it’s Blu-ray format. Unfortunately for early adopters, the new Blu-ray 2.0 profile will mandate new hardware requirements that previously were optional1 as well as include new software requirements. That means that existing Blu-ray players may not be able to be upgraded to support the new profile with a firmware update. Indeed, the only Blu-ray player on the market today that can support the new features is (surprise!) Sony’s own PlayStation 3.

Erstwhile supporters of the now nearly defunct HD DVD format, like myself, might smugly point out that the hardware features newly mandated in Blu-ray 2.0 were already mandated in HD DVD 1.0 and that all HD DVD players on the market today can support the kinds of features that Blu-ray 2.0 will introduce.

So if you have a PS3, you're fine. And I assume that is most Blu-ray adopters, because if you're a tech nerd and went out and bought a $600 Blu-ray player when you could have just went out and bought a $500 PS3, you're an idiot. But still, they're only halfway there with Blu-ray - people just got on board with DVD in the last few years because it was such a jump in quality from how shitty VHS was. There's really not that big of a leap from DVD to Blu-ray aside from picture quality, and some Blu-ray players aren't even backwards compatible, it's just going to be way too confusing for the average consumer right now. while Blu-ray may have made HDDVD into this generation's Betamax, that doesn't mean that Blu-ray won't be this generation's Laserdisc.

As for the format war, I can guarantee either format would have been better off if this stupid shit never happened in the first place. I would have preferred HDDVD to win simply because it's cheaper, but I'm fine with Blu-ray if it becomes accepted as the standard. Right now, I'm perfectly content with my $40 upconverting DVD player I picked up the other day that does wonders for my standard def collection.

Edited February 21, 2008 by Zero

[Colly]

Aparently lots of UKavillians are trying to sue because they bought HDDVD players. I find this amusing. I demand compensation, my 8 track player is no longer supported!!