I kind of miss the format war....

[Kratos3]

Am I the only one?

I miss HD-DVD people saying how well their players upconverted SD DVDs. It was all just very funny.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

Yes and No. It was fun to laugh at the HD-DVD fanboys but the competition wasn't fun. Right when Transformers was coming out on home video, Paramount had to jump on the HD-DVD bandwagon and blu-ray consumers had to wait awhile until the format war was over.

[BStecke]

I miss the anticipation of the next big news. But I don't miss gimped releases, even though we're still getting those, apparently (Superman Anthology).

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by Kratos3

Am I the only one?

I miss HD-DVD people saying how well their players upconverted SD DVDs. It was all just very funny.

I don't understand the statement. It was pretty well documented that the Toshiba HD-DVD players were the best DVD upconverters at the time. If folks took exception to that, it was pretty much only fanboyism. Hell, I still have my HD-A2 to use for watching the occasional DVD, as it's better than my Pany DMP-BD60.

[Clark Kent]

The format war hurt the long-term viability of Blu-ray as the successor to DVD in the marketplace. Each delayed year that BD wasn't the clear-cut winner slowed sales and potential growth, in a crucial time when many consumers were being hurt by the economy.

[Anthony P]

has it ended? in an other thread in this section earlier today I responded to someone who said LOTR EE should not use two BDs and they should just use lossy audio and compromise the VQ because none of those matter just so that he can say "films don’t need anything near 50GB" (A bit earlier I pointed out that EEs where split on 2 disks because obviously not even 50GB is enough for long complex films)

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

I don't understand the statement. It was pretty well documented that the Toshiba HD-DVD players were the best DVD upconverters at the time. If folks took exception to that, it was pretty much only fanboyism. Hell, I still have my HD-A2 to use for watching the occasional DVD, as it's better than my Pany DMP-BD60.

it is not if it is a good up converter or not. But if unconverted DVD was good enough we would not have needed BD or HD-DVD. When the answer to "I can watch X on BD" or “HD-DVD is far behind and so will be dropped soon” is my HD DVD is a good up converter, then yes it is ridiculous.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

it is not if it is a good up converter or not. But if unconverted DVD was good enough we would not have needed BD or HD-DVD. When the answer to "I can watch X on BD" or “HD-DVD is far behind and so will be dropped soon” is my HD DVD is a good up converter, then yes it is ridiculous.

I see one of us is not understanding the issue here. The OP specifically referenced people promoting the DVD upconverting benefits of some HD-DVD players. Looking strictly at that aspect, then it is fanboyism to simply dismiss the claim. I'm in no way defending any aspect of HD-DVD or making a ridiculous statement such as upconverted DVD is "good enough". Blu-ray was and is the clear winner, however as DVD upconverters, the Toshiba players were excellent. That's the only point I'm trying to make.

[MiC. UHD]

I still enjoy the occasional HD-DVD, I thought it was a great format, especially back in '06 when things were first heating up. Either way it was healthy competition and I'm still a proud owner of the unfortunate format that just couldn't make it.

[Moefiz]

The only thing the format war was ever good for was all the BOGO'S that you use to get, other than that it wasn't fun at all...you would have to go a few weeks before you got a single release on Blu-ray,remember what Paramount did with Blades Of Glory on release day.

The good thing this site was always there with the latest news and deal.

[ZoetMB]

As Clark Kent posted, the format war hurt the viability of HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Consumers do not like confusion - it defers buying purchases. Back in the 1970s, it's what killed quad (4-channel stereo). It didn't help LaserDisc (vs the RCA disc). It caused problems in the early days of home video, although VHS was always the market winner because it was licensed to all manufactures whereas Sony refused to license Beta. Format wars are probably partially responsible for the fact that SACD and DVD-Audio didn't take off.

Be happy that the format war was settled relatively early. If it had not been settled, the HD formats would probably be dead now.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by Kratos3

Am I the only one?

I miss HD-DVD people saying how well their players upconverted SD DVDs. It was all just very funny.

Go to High Def Digest's Smackdown forum. It is still being fought daily. Going there is like going to the zoo, except you're allowed to poke the animals with a stick.

[krazeyeyez]

I miss the BOGO's and being able to laugh at the psychotic fanboys of both formats, but yeah, thats about it. Glad to have one format then have to deal with exclusives like i do with my games.

As for the statement of upconversion, with all the stuff i own that will never see a blu-release, expecially my massive tv collection i wish blu-ray had stepped up that feature as they most certainly have not with the OPPO being one of the only exceptions. Luckily those are at a fair price point and look forward to owning one at some point soon.

Originally Posted by Anthony P

has it ended? in an other thread in this section earlier today I responded to someone who said LOTR EE should not use two BDs and they should just use lossy audio and compromise the VQ because none of those matter just so that he can say "films don’t need anything near 50GB" (A bit earlier I pointed out that EEs where split on 2 disks because obviously not even 50GB is enough for long complex films)

Weren't hddvds 30 gigs? i do know they had the dual layer slated to come out before the February announcement of the final studio jumping ship and toshiba throwing in the towel. If they were 30 then they would have 60gig discs at this point so i would think that would be in your favor regarding that point.

[Canada]

The only thing I miss are the BOGO's that's it. Although the best thing about the format was the right format won!

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by krazeyeyez

I miss the BOGO's and being able to laugh at the psychotic fanboys of both formats, but yeah, thats about it. Glad to have one format then have to deal with exclusives like i do with my games.

As for the statement of upconversion, with all the stuff i own that will never see a blu-release, expecially my massive tv collection i wish blu-ray had stepped up that feature as they most certainly have not with the OPPO being one of the only exceptions. Luckily those are at a fair price point and look forward to owning one at some point soon.



Weren't hddvds 30 gigs? i do know they had the dual layer slated to come out before the February announcement of the final studio jumping ship and toshiba throwing in the towel. If they were 30 then they would have 60gig discs at this point so i would think that would be in your favor regarding that point.

I thought it was triple layer 51 gig disks. Also what works in a lab, doesn't necessarilly work in the real world. And using the HD DVD standard practice, until it's actually on the shelf, it's science fiction.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

has it ended? in an other thread in this section earlier today I responded to someone who said LOTR EE should not use two BDs and they should just use lossy audio and compromise the VQ because none of those matter just so that he can say "films don’t need anything near 50GB" (A bit earlier I pointed out that EEs where split on 2 disks because obviously not even 50GB is enough for long complex films)

I don't think anyone suggested using lossy audio for Lord of the Rings. If you're referring to my post, I used math to prove that with a lossless audio track, 251 minutes of 1080p content could fit on BD's 50 GB capacity with a ceiling bitrate of about 23 megabits per second. Dropping lossless audio would probably open the door for a bitrate ceiling closer to 30, but I don't think anyone would say that that would be a good idea.

What does that have to do with format wars though? BD is capable of doing 4 hours of 23 Mb/s 1080p with lossless audio. HDDVD would have never been able to come close to matching that. If HDDVD was still around, 2 discs would be required if any quality was to be expected. I even wouldn't be surprised if they stretched it on to 3 discs, because even though 50 GB can handle it (and 2 HDDVDs would be 60 GB), the studio is overshooting how much space is necessary.

[Mr. Al]

My Toshiba A-1 is still going strong.

[bhampton]

If I missed it, I would go to HighDefDigest and read up a bit because I know there are still people posting there that think HD DVD is going to win.


Or.... You could get into the 3D vs No-3D debate or some variant like the Active vs Passive 3D or Glasses Free... there's not much there but at least it's something.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Kratos3

Am I the only one?

I miss HD-DVD people saying how well their players upconverted SD DVDs. It was all just very funny.

I looked at it as an example of extreme tribalism: my country vs. your country, my religion vs. your religion, my political party vs. your political party, my name brand vs. your name brand, etc. - became HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray. Near the end of the "battle", I picked up a Toshiba XA-2 for cheap. The Silicon Optix Reon processor indeed upconverts SD DVD's in a superior manner, and I can still watch some items in HD that haven't been released on Blu-ray yet (Animal House, Eagles Farewell Concert).

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by bhampton

If I missed it, I would go to HighDefDigest and read up a bit because I know there are still people posting there that think HD DVD is going to win.


Or.... You could get into the 3D vs No-3D debate or some variant like the Active vs Passive 3D or Glasses Free... there's not much there but at least it's something.

I keep waiting for the black market China-blu players and movie to hit our shores.

Of course the newest boogeyman is Netflix. There's an evangelist preaching to all the heathens about how they are going to take over the world. Kind of reminds me of Demolition Man. "Netflix won the home video wars.Now all home video is Netflix."