Blu-ray Forum - View Single Post

AV_Integrated · 10-12-2006, 02:59 PM

The obvious answer you will hear HERE is Blu-ray. But, let me try to make an honeset breakdown of considerations.

1. Longevity - Blu-ray has far more consumer electronics manufactuers and far more studios producing movies. This means more stores will be selling it and more people will have access to it.

2. Price - HD-DVD has Blu-ray beat on this, right now, period. $500 for the cheaper HD-DVD player, $1,000 for the Samsung. But, if the format won't have the movies you want, and may not be around for more than 2 or 3 years, then what's the point? Still, an extra $500 spent is tough to swallow. FYI: PS3 at $500 may (MAY!) be a very good Blu-ray player, but will be tough to come by in upcoming months.

3. Movies you want. While Blu-ray is 50% younger than HD-DVD, it has only 25% fewer titles on the market. By years end it may be identical, and by next year Blu-ray will start pulling ahead for movie releases. About 90% of the most popular films of the last 25 years will be available on Blu-ray. About 50% will be on HD-DVD. If you are bummed that you won't get King Kong right away, think about not getting any of the Disney/Pixar films or other major Disney/Sony/etc. releases that are not scheduled for HD-DVD.

4. RUMORS: Blu-ray is using MPEG2 which is a 10 year old technology so it sucks. FACT: Blu-ray and HD-DVD allow for studios to use MPEG2, AVC, and VC-1 compression. Blu-ray has used MPEG2 on Tears of the Sun which is considered by some to be the best HD disc release to date - or at least near the best. Other studios, such as Warner, use VC-1 for both their HD-DVD and Blu-ray releases. Disney has been using AVC for most of their releases. Bottom line: Quality between the two formats is nearly identical, but the earliest HD-DVD releases looked better than the earliest Blu-ray releases. In 2 years, nobody will remember that.

5. Storage capacity: Blu-ray has 66% more storage space per layer than HD-DVD. No matter how others try to break it down, that is the fact. Blu-ray is specified for dual-layer 50GB discs and HD-DVD currently only allows 30GB dual-layer discs. The full impact of this has not been discovered. But, potentially, these 50GB discs could allow for full HD extras for content, extra HD audio formats, and more interactivity across a single disc which HD-DVD simply will not be able to match at the highest levels. But, it may be close.

6. RUMOR: Blu-ray movies cost more than HD-DVD movies. FACT: This incredible rumor was started by HD-DVD fanbois prior to any Blu-ray movie official releases. In fact, not one Blu-ray title that I know of has hit the shelves for more than the HD-DVD counterpart. Pricing tends to be identical, and Warner has even announced a MSRP on Superman Returns that is LOWER for Blu-ray and higher for HD-DVD. Go figure.

7. RUMOR: Blu-ray dual layer discs (50GB) will never come out. FACT: Heck, even I didn't think we would see them this year, but Sony promised them to us in November... Yet, here it is in mid-October and 'CLICK!' is out on Blu-ray as a dual-layer 50GB title. More titles are scheduled for later this month/year and as equipment is made to press dual layer discs, we will see more and more BD50 titles.

8. HD-DVD requires new audio codecs be supported. Blu-ray doesn't. Yes, while this is true, Blu-ray does support PCM uncompressed audio on the disc. So, instead of getting a new 'compressed' audio format for your movies, you get rock solid UNCOMPRESSED audio which should always beat the compressed version. And since Blu-ray really has the space to work with it, the end user with a nice system is the one who will benefit the most.

9. Oh yeah - this should have been earlier on... But, who makes HD-DVD players? For stand alone there is Toshiba and a Toshiba made, RCA badged player. The FUTURE of HD-DVD includes a player from Microsoft that goes with the X-Box 360 and two new players from Toshiba. Nothing else is for sure at this time. Blu-ray? Players are out from Samsung and Panasonic. By the end of this year, Sony and Pioneer as well as Philips should be out. Sharp and LG should follow shortly thereafter. PS3 will ship with Blu-ray built into the box and likely a free movie to show people what the potential of Blu-ray is. All told: Blu-ray by March of next year should have 7 different manufacturers with at least 8 different players compared to 3 different manufacturers for HD-DVD and 4 different players.

In the end, the ONLY reason not to get Blu-ray is because it costs more. Perhaps if you absolutely, positively must have the Universal titles - right now. Over the next year, we may seem some shifting of loyalty and perhaps some studios will switch sides or produce in both formats, but as of now, there is no indication of that. For those who are worried, I recommend they wait. For those who want something but are worried, I would look into getting a PS3. I have mine pre-ordered with EB Games and because I did my homework, it only took me 15 minutes at the store to get on the pre-order list. Amazon and Toys-r-Us may be doing pre-orders as well soon.

10-12-2006, 02:59 PM	#4
AV_Integrated Senior Member Member since:Jan 2005	The obvious answer you will hear HERE is Blu-ray. But, let me try to make an honeset breakdown of considerations. 1. Longevity - Blu-ray has far more consumer electronics manufactuers and far more studios producing movies. This means more stores will be selling it and more people will have access to it. 2. Price - HD-DVD has Blu-ray beat on this, right now, period. $500 for the cheaper HD-DVD player, $1,000 for the Samsung. But, if the format won't have the movies you want, and may not be around for more than 2 or 3 years, then what's the point? Still, an extra $500 spent is tough to swallow. FYI: PS3 at $500 may (MAY!) be a very good Blu-ray player, but will be tough to come by in upcoming months. 3. Movies you want. While Blu-ray is 50% younger than HD-DVD, it has only 25% fewer titles on the market. By years end it may be identical, and by next year Blu-ray will start pulling ahead for movie releases. About 90% of the most popular films of the last 25 years will be available on Blu-ray. About 50% will be on HD-DVD. If you are bummed that you won't get King Kong right away, think about not getting any of the Disney/Pixar films or other major Disney/Sony/etc. releases that are not scheduled for HD-DVD. 4. RUMORS: Blu-ray is using MPEG2 which is a 10 year old technology so it sucks. FACT: Blu-ray and HD-DVD allow for studios to use MPEG2, AVC, and VC-1 compression. Blu-ray has used MPEG2 on Tears of the Sun which is considered by some to be the best HD disc release to date - or at least near the best. Other studios, such as Warner, use VC-1 for both their HD-DVD and Blu-ray releases. Disney has been using AVC for most of their releases. Bottom line: Quality between the two formats is nearly identical, but the earliest HD-DVD releases looked better than the earliest Blu-ray releases. In 2 years, nobody will remember that. 5. Storage capacity: Blu-ray has 66% more storage space per layer than HD-DVD. No matter how others try to break it down, that is the fact. Blu-ray is specified for dual-layer 50GB discs and HD-DVD currently only allows 30GB dual-layer discs. The full impact of this has not been discovered. But, potentially, these 50GB discs could allow for full HD extras for content, extra HD audio formats, and more interactivity across a single disc which HD-DVD simply will not be able to match at the highest levels. But, it may be close. 6. RUMOR: Blu-ray movies cost more than HD-DVD movies. FACT: This incredible rumor was started by HD-DVD fanbois prior to any Blu-ray movie official releases. In fact, not one Blu-ray title that I know of has hit the shelves for more than the HD-DVD counterpart. Pricing tends to be identical, and Warner has even announced a MSRP on Superman Returns that is LOWER for Blu-ray and higher for HD-DVD. Go figure. 7. RUMOR: Blu-ray dual layer discs (50GB) will never come out. FACT: Heck, even I didn't think we would see them this year, but Sony promised them to us in November... Yet, here it is in mid-October and 'CLICK!' is out on Blu-ray as a dual-layer 50GB title. More titles are scheduled for later this month/year and as equipment is made to press dual layer discs, we will see more and more BD50 titles. 8. HD-DVD requires new audio codecs be supported. Blu-ray doesn't. Yes, while this is true, Blu-ray does support PCM uncompressed audio on the disc. So, instead of getting a new 'compressed' audio format for your movies, you get rock solid UNCOMPRESSED audio which should always beat the compressed version. And since Blu-ray really has the space to work with it, the end user with a nice system is the one who will benefit the most. 9. Oh yeah - this should have been earlier on... But, who makes HD-DVD players? For stand alone there is Toshiba and a Toshiba made, RCA badged player. The FUTURE of HD-DVD includes a player from Microsoft that goes with the X-Box 360 and two new players from Toshiba. Nothing else is for sure at this time. Blu-ray? Players are out from Samsung and Panasonic. By the end of this year, Sony and Pioneer as well as Philips should be out. Sharp and LG should follow shortly thereafter. PS3 will ship with Blu-ray built into the box and likely a free movie to show people what the potential of Blu-ray is. All told: Blu-ray by March of next year should have 7 different manufacturers with at least 8 different players compared to 3 different manufacturers for HD-DVD and 4 different players. In the end, the ONLY reason not to get Blu-ray is because it costs more. Perhaps if you absolutely, positively must have the Universal titles - right now. Over the next year, we may seem some shifting of loyalty and perhaps some studios will switch sides or produce in both formats, but as of now, there is no indication of that. For those who are worried, I recommend they wait. For those who want something but are worried, I would look into getting a PS3. I have mine pre-ordered with EB Games and because I did my homework, it only took me 15 minutes at the store to get on the pre-order list. Amazon and Toys-r-Us may be doing pre-orders as well soon.