Can we PLEASE stop letting the 'HD DVD brigade' dictate our discussions?

[JadedRaverLA]

This has been bothering me a lot lately. As everyone here knows, many other online forums are made up of a small number of VERY vocal HD DVD advocates. Whether they're paid shills, blind fanboys, or just delusional is a debate for another time, but for now I wanted to make one big point. We are letting 'the other side' dictate the debate topics.

Let me give you a few examples of topics that have been discussed to no end around here...

BD+ cracked. Spin: Supposedly Fox will stop releasing again or go neutral. Fact: In reality, the crack hasn't been released to the wild, and there's no indication that the overall system is broken, just the implementation on the first releases.

No Profile 1.1 players yet. Spin: We don't have a 'finalized spec,' according to the HD DVD fans. Fact: I haven't heard a ton of people (here or elsewhere) proclaiming that PIP-commentary is the feature that will save high-definition media. It's a goofy feature that will be here when it gets here.

Players are too expensive. Spin: No one will ever buy one and our format is doomed. Fact: BD players have always been more expensive, and it's done pretty well for us so far. Also, most of us own players already, so what difference does it make to us?

Fox titles unplayable. Spin: Fox titles allegedly didn't work on ANY standalone player, and they might never work. Fact: Three players had problems initially. Two (the Samsung players) received updates within a week or so, and the final one (on the LG) is due soon.

Blu-ray discs are expensive to produce and the yield rate is lower than HD DVD. Spin: Studios actually make more money selling HD DVD's because they're cheaper to produce. Fact: Nobody knows what the real defect rate is for HD DVD since a significant number of their titles don't play correctly on any of the HD DVD players. That's a far more significant problem than whatever slight cost advantage HD DVD may have.

So what's my point: simply to show how much time we waste (on here and on other forums) debating the HD DVD camp's 'talking points' instead of showing the superiority of Blu-ray. Don't beleive me? Do a search for any of the above topics and see how many topics/posts you come up with related to them. Now, perform a similar search for the below topics:

• HD DVD doesn't have enough space for lossless audio
• HD DVD doesn't have a high enough bitrate to produce the quality of many Blu-ray exclusive releases
• Blu-ray has a huge advantage in terms of support -- from content providers, CE companies, the PC industry, etc.
• Blu-ray is designed as a recordable format, with fully functional PC burners, camcorders, and settop recorders available from many manufacturers
• Blu-ray will be getting nearly every major new release in Q4, while HD DVD will only be getting around half
• AACS is hacked... and there is no additional protection available on HD DVDs
• Blu-ray software has outsold HD DVD 2:1 year-to-date in the U.S. and has essentially wiped out HD DVD in many other countries

Notice how much more frequently the FUD topics get discussed than the topics that portray Blu-ray in a positive light? It's time we all got on the same page and show how great our product is, rather than continuously debating the FUD produced by the other side.

<Gets off soapbox.>