Who would buy Blu-Ray or HD-DVD BTW?!!

[Dawg]

I looked at a link at Suncoast Video and here is the various prices for the movie, 'Crash':

DVD (WS, Spec, Dir, 2PC) $26.98
DVD (Full) $19.98
UMD (WS) $28.98
Blu-Ray $39.99
HD-DVD $??.?? (I'm gathering that there is no price because Sony has something to do with this film and of course won't make it available on another company's format. F**king format wars!)

Tell me this, why the hell would anyone but techo-nerds even go out and buy close to a $1,000 player and then spend $30 to $40 for a damn movie that you can get on DVD for $10 to $20 cheaper?!

There is NOT that much of a difference in picture quality! (I saw the side by side comparisons and though it looked pretty, it didn't change the movie much for me.)

I wouldn't be buying into any new format anytime soon because it is just an excuse for them to jack the prices back up after players and movies got cheaper. It's stupid. Also, what if you pick the side that loses the format war?

I remember a few years back when Divx came out and this one dude bragged about having a Divx player and being able to rent it and buy it outright if he wanted. Funny thing was when they went Kaput, he lost the ability to make them functional or something to that effect. What an idiot! :p

:dead: Dawg

[DeadJonas190]

Who would I buy? Are we slave traders now?

J/K

If I had to pick between HD and Blu Ray I would definatly go HD for the simple reason that Blu Ray is not that much better except on paper. In order to utilize the full functionality of both you have to have the best HD TV on the market so not only are you spending $1000 for a blu ray player your spending thousands on a TV to fully use it. Plus, it's a Sony product and I am not too happy with how crappy their products and customer service have been for the past few years so HD is the way for me.

HD is cheaper and Blue Ray isn't much better when you actually look at the picture. The difference is hardly noticable except on paper, so I would say save a lot of money and go the route of HD.

[darth los]

In order to utilize the full functionality of both you have to have the best HD TV on the market so not only are you spending $1000 for a blu ray player your spending thousands on a TV to fully use it.

I've been saying almost the same thing for a while now. I think the blue ray/ hd format war is moot and neither will gain a significant edge on the other until hd tv monitors that will enable people to reap the full benefits of the formats become affordable to the average consumer. Take me for example. I'm a student who works part time and i have a son. What business do i have blowing 3 or 4 thousand dollars on a 50 inch plasma? Plus There's so much paraphanelia that you need to get the full hd experience on a plasma/lcd screen that it often confuses prospective buyers and drives the cost of having hd through the roof. Many people who have hd ready sets are unaware that only a handfull of channels broadcast their content in hd and although they have an hd ready screen what they're actually watching is standard def.:confused: Back to the debate though. I've also seen dvd and the new formats side by side and let me tell you the difference is not that striking. It's no where near superior the way dvd was compared to vhs. Also, to go off topic gor a second, anybody ever wonder why low end blu-ray players are selling for about $1,000 bucks and yet sony is including one in the ps3 game console for only 600? Does that smell fishy to anyone?:dead:

[general tbag]

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story....d=02300000MCY3


Quote:
Based on a new media research report that says neither the HD DVD nor its Blu-ray contender will deliver a "knock out" punch in the digital video ring, consumers may well think twice before upgrading their home theater system.

That's the conclusion drawn in a report by media researchers at The Screen Digest, which projects that both formats will coexist until some form of common ground is established, much like the current situation with recordable DVDs.

Opinions vary among industry watchers, some of whom argue that Blu-ray, backed by Sony and most of the major film studios, is in a better position to dominate.

"The net result of the format war and the publicity it has generated will be to dampen consumer appetite for the whole high definition disc category," said Ben Keen, Screen Digest chief analyst, in a statement.

Give and Take

The report notes that the success of DVD was based on the fact that it offered better quality and greater convenience than the VHS format it replaced. This time, though, both standards support similar features, and the differences are likely to confuse the average consumer.

For example, while the two formats look similar, a Blu-ray disc cannot be played on an HD DVD player and vice versa. And, Blu-ray discs hold up to 50 GB of content compared with HD DVD's 30 GB, Screen Digest notes.

What's not confusing is the price: each player is listing for as much as $1,500.

Edge to Blu-ray

"A battle between formats is not fought week by week; it is fought by lining up companies to support the format," said Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler. "And the Blu-ray format continues to have much more support from manufacturers and studios than HD DVD."

The HD DVD format is backed by Toshiba, Microsoft, Universal, and others, while the Blu-ray format is backed by companies including Sony, Samsung, Phillips, Panasonic, Disney, and Twentieth Century Fox Studios, Warner Bros. and Paramount are backing both formats.

"It's time to put a stake in the ground regarding the future high-definition DVD format: Blu-Ray has won," Adrienne Downey, senior analyst at Semico Research, wrote in a company newsletter. "Walking around [the Consumer Electronic Show], it was obvious that much of the enthusiasm and momentum is on the Blu-Ray side."

"The support for HD DVD is minimal, in comparison. And Blu-ray has a technical advantage as well because it offers greater storage density," she said in a recent interview, noting that the Blu-Ray disc can scale up to 200 GB over time. "HD DVD can't match that scalability," said Downey.

All Just a Game

Sony has promised to provide Blu-Ray technology in its next-generation PlayStation 3 gaming console, which will give the format even more momentum, some analysts say.

Michael Goodman of Yankee Group said that Toshiba and its partners must be pleased, given that they were first out of the gate and that Microsoft will provide an HD DVD peripheral for the Xbox 360 gaming machine.

By 2010, Screen Digest believes that just under one-third of all spending on video discs in the U.S., Japan, and Europe will be generated by sales of high definition formats.


as per the gaming section about blu ray.