Main Differences Between Blu Ray and HD DVD?

[DaPenguinPimP]

I have a friend still buying HD DVDs rather then blu rays and I am trying to convince him how much better Blu rays are. What are some of your reasons you like blu ray better? Besides the fact that it won the format war.

[Astalder]

So long as he understands that he's paying for extended rentals that will be worthless once his HDDVD player goes, it's not a horrible idea. That's assuming of course he's getting a good deal, when I sold my HDDVD movies I was given $2 each, he shouldn't be paying more than $5.

[saginawjuggalo]

Scratch resistance.
Better playback on the PS3 then my HD-A1 but most BD standlones.. well, they sure aren't PS3s.
Lossless audio on most releases.


Get ready for the biased opinions and hatred to roll in.

[Twankies08]

Well blu-rays are wayyyyyyy more durable,
because HD-DVDs scratched easily!!

[dadkins]

All studios are now behind Blu 100%.
All newer movies are Blu.
Higher quality of picture and audio - especially the newer releases.
You can buy new drives/players/laptops that are Blu.

Is that good for starters?

[Gremal]

He's buying garbage-ware. The reasons HD DVD lost are well documented. From the studio perspective, Blu-ray has more robust copy protection/anti-piracy. From the customer's perspective, Blu-ray has 40% more headroom for better bitrates and BD content.

[Clark Kent]

The only reason you need is that HD DVD is a dead format. No more movies will ever be published on that format. Would your friend buy laserdiscs right now?

[Col. Zombie]

Originally Posted by DaPenguinPimP

I have a friend still buying HD DVDs rather then blu rays and I am trying to convince him how much better Blu rays are. What are some of your reasons you like blu ray better? Besides the fact that it won the format war.

Well, I don't know this is a hard one...a real thinker...I'm stumped...hmm!!

Okay, perhaps one of the best reasons I could think of to go Blu instead of HD-DVD is because HD-DVD is FRICKIN' DEAD!!!

You state in your original post "Besides the fact that BD won the format war." That's a pretty BIG aside. As a matter of fact that's the greatest reason of all not to purchase HD-DVD, making ALL OTHER REASONS a moot point.

If your friend is still honestly throwing away moeny into HD-DVDs rather than making the switch to Blu, he/she needs a whole lot more than just convincing.

[Marquoz]

Originally Posted by DaPenguinPimP

I have a friend still buying HD DVDs rather then blu rays and I am trying to convince him how much better Blu rays are. What are some of your reasons you like blu ray better? Besides the fact that it won the format war.

Biggest reason I like Blu-ray better then HD-DVD is I can get new releases on Blu-ray. It also seemed to be the lesser product during the war with more movies getting lackluster transfers and lossy sound tracks. I wasn't too impressed with all the extra features that HD-DVD offered as the only advantage over Blu-ray. I still haven't used BD-Live if that helps explain how useless I felt HD-DVDs extras were.

[Zen_Amako]

Blu-ray and HD DVD are more alike than different, which is why the whole format war was stupid to begin with. The difference is that a single-layer Blu-ray Disc holds up to 25GB of data and a dual-layer disc holds 50GB, whereas a single-layer HD DVD holds up to 15GB and a dual-layer holds 30GB (fortunately, there weren't that many 15GB HD DVDs released). Menus and special features are pretty much the same.

Of course, the main difference *now* is that HD DVD is a dead format, and Blu-ray players and discs are still being produced. One thing HD DVD has going for it now is that you can get HD movies for cheap (in some cases, the same title that would set you back $25 on Blu-ray can be had for $5 or less). If you're going to invest in HD DVD, though, it's probably a good idea to have a backup player (also fairly cheap now). The movies aren't worthless as long as you have a working player.

[Blu Titan]

It is a moor discussion at this point (HD DVD vs Blu). Never purchased any of those awefull reds, but paying $2 for a catalog title is appealing to many HD DVD owner.

[perfectdark]

Not sure why you would buy movies on a dead format

but i do wish HD DVD had won the format war, i loved those combo discs and the fact that all HD DVD players were manufactured the same , no freezing or firmware updates just to play a movie like bluray

[Sloan78]

Well we can tell him why, but in the long road it's his money and he's gonna spend as he please's I quess. Makes very little/to no sense why he would, but to each his own.

[steve_dave]

Advantages -

Blu-Ray Disc:
-More studio support from the majors to the indies.
-More lossless audio support and options.
-More manufacture support from off-brands to name brands.
-All players are capable of 1080p output.

HD DVD:
-Combo format discs make it more cost effective for homes with multiple TVs
-Dolby Digital Plus lossy format offers higher bit rates.
-No region codes

Disadvantages -

Blu-ray Disc
-Region coding on selected titles.
-Blu-ray Profiles offer different capabitlties: BD 1.0 is basic playback, BD 1.1 adds True Picture-in-Picture feature, BD 2.0 adds BD-Live online

HD DVD
-Player choices are Toshiba or XBox 360 add-on. That's it.
-Lower end players only output at 720p max. 360 add-on requires VGA or HDMI for 1080p output.
-Lower capacity discs sometimes either result in less features with better compression or more features with decent compression.

[ckent22]

Don't tell him anything if he is buying things that aren't on Blu or that you can only get through Blu imports.

I still buy them too. I buy both and have 2 players. So, I am happy to buy both.

The only real advantages Blu has as far as the media itself goes is higher bitrates, larger capacity for storage memory, and better sound in some cases.

Some HD - DVDs have Dolby TrueHD, so I will continue to buy the ones that are either not on Blu and or the ones who you can only get through imports.