$1800.00 for a BDPlayer

[Sony1]

I think this price is way to high. If an HD DVD player only costs $400.00 than Blue-ray might be in trouble.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/01...sung/index.php

[Shadowself]

Originally Posted by Sony1

I think this price is way to high. If an HD DVD player only costs $400.00 than Blue-ray might be in trouble.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/01...sung/index.php

The link you provide mentions neither a $1800 BD player (though one high end, "elite" one has been announced with all the bells and whistles) nor a $400 HD-DVD player (and I know of none that have been announced -- though it's still possible).

As I've said elsewhere in this forum, IF the HD-DVD group actually ships players at half (or less) of the price of any and all BDA players then HD-DVD may have enough of an advantage to survive. However, I don't see the BDA will really allow this.

[Sony1]

http://www.redherring.com/Article.as...y+War+Still+On

[zombie]

The $1800 BD player is a Pioneer Elite. Their Elite line is of course top of the line. Certainly standard BD players will be less expensive.

[Sony1]

This is where I come out on this fromat war, hear me out on this. If these Blue-ray manufactures are in this thing together, and the list price for these players are going to start at $1000. than why would Sony release the PS3( with a blue-ray player) for half that price. It's just going to alienate, and undercut the other manufatures that are in this thing with you. Remember even a rich man wants a good deal, so the fact that HDDVD is offering a player at $400.00 this March and Blue-ray set to be over twice that in April, keep in mind both players will only output 720P at first, than I cant see Blue-ray winning this thing anytime soon. Sony1

[zombie]

Now it's $400? All I've read is that Toshiba would be releasing a $500 and an $800 HD DVD deck. Regardless, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Sony and other BD supporting manufacturers will have to match Toshiba's price or they'll likely be dead in the water come summer. If the PS3 is priced at $499, the other BD hardware will have to be priced even less since it won't include a game system. Crazy as it seems, consumers may actually be helped out by the launch of HD DVD because if Blu-ray is to succeed as a format their hardware will have no choice but to price competitively. Might this mean a standalone BD player for $299 by year's end?

[James Morrow]

Originally Posted by Sony1

both players will only output 720P at first

By both players I assume you mean the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player and the Samsung BDP1000 BD player? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but US$499.99 looks rather more like US$500 than US$400, and most buyers these days expect a remote control at least ...

Just because Samsung have stated that they might rush (perhaps not their choice of words) a 720p/1080i (i for inferior, of course) machine to market and then release an upgraded 1080p-capable version later, you shouldn't ignore the fact that the vast majority of BD machines will be 1080p-capable from the start. Further, when saying that both machines will only output 720p at first it's worth bearing in mind that the HD DVD specification does not include 1080p.

Finally, downscaling 1080p material to 720p is all very well, but the best quality is achieved by using a one to one pixel mapping between the source material, the disc content and the display device. You might have noticed that BDs are 1080p - so showing them at any other resolution (apart from 2160p, 4320p, etc.) is inevitably a compromise - and BD isn't about compromise. Do you want to buy a system that will be the standard for some time to come or do you want to buy one which unnecessarily includes major compromises which are a throwback to 1930s technology, only to have to buy a new player/recorder and display two or three years later or accept living with state of the ark technology?

... and talking of image quality, the fact that each BD layer has 66% more capacity than an HD DVD layer can be used to add value in terms of extra content, even higher quality, or a bit of both ...

[beavis69]

if you want a blu-ray player for a cheap price, get a playstation 3. it uses blu-ray technology, and it has a dvd player. and its a game system.