Blue Ray or HD-DVD?

[ToddSchumacher]

Just wondering what folks here will be buying for their Hi-def viewing.

 

[Shalimar]

I'll be going with a PS3 eventually so the onboard blue-ray makes the choice fairly easily.

 

[JoelF]

Only HD-DVD will play current DVDs - it sounds like a no brainer to me. Blu-ray will become the next Betamax - how Sony doesn't learn.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Only HD-DVD will play current DVDs - it sounds like a no brainer to me. Blu-ray will become the next Betamax - how Sony doesn't learn.

Really? So this information from Blu-Ray.com is incorrect? I'm not saying you are wrong, but there seems to be information that contradicts what you are saying.

2.2 Will Blu-ray be backwards compatible with DVD?


Yes, several leading consumer electronics companies (including Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Pioneer, Sharp and LG) have already demonstrated products that can read/write CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs using a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical head, so you don't have to worry about your existing DVD collection becoming obsolete. In fact, most of the Blu-ray players coming out will support upscaling of DVDs to 1080p/1080i, so your existing DVD collection will look even better than before. While it's up to each manufacturer to decide if they want to make their products backwards compatible with DVD, the format is far too popular to not be supported. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) expects every Blu-ray Disc device to be backward compatible with DVDs.

Anyway, for my part I'm going to sit on the sidelines until the format war is over. Considering how few DVDs I watch and the fact that I don't have a HDTV, I'm in no hurry to get a Hi-Def player.

 

[Arnwyn]

Neither, until the format war has been decided (though if I had to choose one, it will be Blu-Ray, since I'll have a PS3 anyways).

 

[Bront]

I would support HD-DVD for the openness of the format. Blu-Ray is supposed to be even more copy/backup protected than DVDs, while HD-DVD will be remain fairly similar to what's out there now. I don't particularly like that.

However, I don't have any money interested in it either way, as I don't own an HD set, nor will I for a while.

 

[buzzard]

Maybe once one camp wins I'll bother caring but for the moment, I am quite disinterested. Sure, I do have an HD monitor and all that good stuff, but honestly the resolution from a progressive scan DVD right now is plenty good. This is definitely a case of just not seeing the point.

buzzard

 

[Bront]

Maybe once one camp wins I'll bother caring but for the moment, I am quite disinterested. Sure, I do have an HD monitor and all that good stuff, but honestly the resolution from a progressive scan DVD right now is plenty good. This is definitely a case of just not seeing the point.

buzzard

It's honestly more useful for Data, and it may be a potential saver due to the decrease in extra disks (Imagine the LOTR Extended Eddition one 1 disk each for everything, or perhaps even just one disk).

However, if they can get the price down, it could eventualy replace CDs for cheap portable storage, particularly if the R/Ws catch on.

 

[Mallus]

Neither for quite a while. Seeing as I bought my HDTV in the recent past, not the recent future, it can only display a max of 1080i. Which makes most DVD's look fantastic. Couple that with the speed with which current DVD's reach the "$10 and under" price point, and I'm moved to naught but apathy but the brewing Blu-Ray HDDVD war...

 

[delericho]

I'll probably be getting a PS3.

Other than that, I'll not be investing in a HD TV for a few years yet, until there's more HD programming and until I can get the HD version of the DVD player, which is in turn reliant on the format war being over. My parents were burnt by the Betamax thing, and I buy too many films to not learn the lesson from that.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised to see both formats fail. By refusing to settle on one standard for the future products, the companies have muddied the waters for customers. I would expect a lot of people to be holding off until the format war is over, which will prevent it ever really being waged. It might be that we skip to whatever the next iteration of the technology is without this version ever really catching on.