Issues with HD DVD combo discs?

[Joe Cain]

I'm in an ongoing debate with a neighbor about which format to choose (he's a big Star Trek fan, leaning towards the red side because of Paramount). He has some questions about the dual-sided DVD/HD-DVD discs and I just don't know much about them. I've tried running a search here but I'm getting really bogged down sifting through the threads looking for pertinent info; can anyone point me in the right direction(s)? Thanks!

[Wondermaker]

Funny you should mention this, because Bill Hunt just posted an "appeal" of sorts to HD DVD studios about the follies of combo discs, and he summarized the problem quite nicely. It was posted in his My Two Cents column yesterday.

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

Finally today, I'd like to say a few words of appeal to the HD-DVD supporting studios. And no, this is not what some of you think. I've said many times that I like the HD-DVD format, despite the fact that I prefer Blu-ray. And believe it or not, it's true. Except for one thing: I absolutely HATE the DVD/HD-DVD Combo format. I hate it with a passion. Why? Well... let's put it this way. I've kept a bit of a running tally. In the last two months, I've checked out 23 Combo titles. You know how many actually worked, playing smoothly all the way through? Just 9. In the other 14 cases, I'd be watching the movie and about halfway through it just freezes, stutters a little bit and then flashes an error code. What's happening, it seems, is that in the replication stage, the bonding layer between the DVD and HD-DVD halves is being applied too thickly. So many HD-DVD players choke on the resulting Combo disc. This is the same problem a lot of people had with Universal's The Good Shepherd and Children of Men Combo discs a few months ago. Clearly, the problem STILL hasn't been resolved. I know it's not just my player, because not only have I updated the firmware and still had problems, the same discs crash on other players I've tried, as well as the HD-DVD drive on my new PC. And I get regular complaints from readers who are experiencing the same issue.

This is a HUGE problem, folks. Nearly every new film these studios are releasing is on a Combo disc. If less than half of them are working properly for me, just how big is this problem market-wide? The most recent problem I've had: Warner's We Are Marshall, just last night. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be two-thirds of the way into a movie only to have it crash on you? Well... yeah, I suppose some of you do. How are the studios managing the customer service problem here? I've got so many non-working Combo discs I wouldn't even know where to start trying to exchange them all. So this is my appeal to the HD-DVD supporting studios: PLEASE... either fix this problem with the Combo discs, or abandon the Combo format altogether and just release your titles on regular HD-DVD discs. It might be a good idea for the HD-DVD Promotion Group to create a single phone number or e-mail address to act as a clearing house for this, where people with defective discs can get them easily exchanged. Let's have an end to this problem once and for all.

So there you go - it's basically the adhesive bonding layer between the two disc "halves" that screws up the playback. Plus it makes the product itself ridiculously expensive, and a waste - as the DVD is not going to be a side that early adopters and home theatre enthusiasts will use anyway.

[Joe Cain]

Ask and ye shall receive! Brilliant.

I thought what I'd heard had something to do with the adhesive. It still seems incredible to me that someone would sell a product designed to show off state-of-the-art technology...that consists of two pieces held together with glue.

(I've been told elsewhere that digitalbits is not a reliable source because of Bill Hunt's obvious BD bias...although not yet by anyone who has proven him wrong.)

Thanks again.

[WickyWoo]

Bill's "bias" is simply the HDers not likeing him being right most of the time, and that he's saying things that go against their god. When an HD zealot like Josh Zyber is saying the same thing, you know how bad it is.

I thought what I'd heard had something to do with the adhesive. It still seems incredible to me that someone would sell a product designed to show off state-of-the-art technology...that consists of two pieces held together with glue.

BD-50s are also glued together. It's just a very advanced adhesive.

[Joe Cain]

A BD-50 ain't a flipper, neither. One of these things is a finished product; one of these things is a finished product created by slapping TWO finished products together. Obviously glue is one the things holding the world together along with oil, hugs, drug money, and the music of Sun Ra. I'm just saying the combo disc strikes me as being a laughably inelegant design solution for a 21st century hi-tech media storage solution.

Now I think I'm going to go make a combo player with my PS3, one my old DVD players, and some drywall screws.

Found Josh Zyber's plea to the industry to eliminate the discs last night. Man I'm glad I don't own any of those things.

[jamclaur]

The biggest issues with HD DVD combo discs is that they suck.