KABLAMMO! Bill Hunt responds to Harry Knowles/AICN!

[PeterTHX]

God, I can only imagine the hate mail this is going to generate.

I've always loved "The Bits", it's a daily stop of mine when browsing the web. Been able to talk to Bill in person a few times as well. Wow, just wow. It's all my format war talking points in posts over the past year all wrapped up in one tidy little essay.

[BTBuck1]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Wow, just wow. It's all my format was talking points in posts over the past year all wrapped up in one tidy little essay.

Any time anyone mentions HDDVD, I just feel like cut& pasting this article.
It is like the Bible of BD now!

[mikey p]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

God, I can only imagine the hate mail this is going to generate.

Check out M$AVS, hate mail is putting it mildly!

[jubaiweaponx]

talk about taking sides ,man bill pulls no punches in that article and all the tools and zealots in the hddvd camp are reeling ,man they will never see the truth till the format is buried in the ground,hope they aren`t holding their collective breath cause there isn`t any air coming anytime soon!!

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by Wondermaker

And the HD DUD fanboys are already flinging insults over at AVM$...

Yikes. The majority of comments over there just show staggering ignorance and stupidity. But what else is new?

Now all the same lies, excuses and FUD are coming out from the HD-DUD fanboiz again.

One of my favourite comments, that "Fox and Disney have all but abandoned blu-ray"... uh, what? What are two blockbuster POTC movies, Apocalypto, Deja Vu and a statement from the actual head of the studio (not just the head of the home video division) about how friggin' great Blu-Ray is in the last couple of months? Not to mention Fox released a big blockbuster title in Night at the Museum.

In comparison, exclusive wise, HD-DUD fans will be getting mostly a bunch of second string catalog titles from Universal... some of which they may have to boil first before playing. Shame, I really wanted Bulletproof in HD... not.

And my other favourite... that poor old Bill Hunt "was a BD/Sony shill from the start". Really? When? There have been nothing but HD-DUD reviews on his site until very recently. He actively sat on the fence. I personally thought he was still too nice to the hd-dud in his piece by saying that both formats were "equally good" (they're not! Spec for Spec blu-ray beats HD-DUD, that drives me crazy).

[TJandBLU-RAY]

Well, this is indeed great news. As I have sat and watched some HD DVD titles as of late, while the video is not bad, the audio sometimes lacks punch. And at least on one title, the trailer is in some sort of odd ratio...neither 16:9 or P&S...weird.

As one who loves BD, I am pleased by this. And as one who does own both formats, (and prefers BD), I will gladly mothball the HD player next to my reel to reel, 8 track, and laser disc player when Universal starts putting out movies in BD.

[PeterTHX]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&#post10687118

Before it's deleted.

Like my play on MichaelHDDVD's sig?

[NutsAboutPS3]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

I personally thought he was still too nice to the hd-dud in his piece by saying that both formats were "equally good" (they're not! Spec for Spec blu-ray beats HD-DUD, that drives me crazy).

I agree - after having watched quite a few Blu-ray discs now, I'm of the opinion that you really need a video bitrate around 35Mbps to get the best video quality. The titles that are more like 20+ rather than 30+ have noticeably inferior picture quality. 30GB will only store 1:54 of video at 35Mbps. What about the audio and the special features? What if the movie is longer than that? 30GB simply isn't enough space to give top notch video quality for all movies, there is no way HD-DVD can be considered equal to Blu-ray for quality. And in any case, HD-DVD doesn't even allow the bitrate to reach 35Mbps, it maxes out below 30Mbps compared to Blu-ray's 40Mbps.

[nhaase]

It seems to me that Mr. Hunt is a very reasonable man, who thinks about what he writes before he posts it. Also, it seems, after reading this, that he has supported BD for a while (as we know), but has wanted to be fair. The AICN post seems to have pushed him over the edge, and he wants to put it all out there for good.

Kudos to him. Hopefully HD digest will post this, as they should. He even said HDDVD is the equal format. While I don't agree w/ this (bitrate difference), he still says that w/ equal formats BD is still better because of support.

The man just seems to have had enough of this war, as have we all, and even if he would have chosen the other format, it would still make me happy to see such a commanding opinion finally choose a side and lay out his decision soundly.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Wow! An important article. Remember this day.

Indeed it is. It's not about BHunt correcting HKnowles but about The Digital Bits finally OFFICIALLY endorsing BD. The endorsement is not just because it is a better HD optical format but also because he (and we) want the war to end fast.

The significance of this endorsement comes from the fact that TDB was one of the sites that fought to end DIVX (and not Divx). TDB also advocated strongly for anamorphic widescreen on DVDs.

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Well, maybe Toshiba can cut the price another $100, and get Oprah to endorse it, or sumthin'

At least she can give everyone in the audience a player, some discs, and a pot.

Hey don't diss Miss O! Mr. Ocean certainly didn't.


fuad

[Scorxpion]

HELLO TO All ,

I'm going to send him an email congratulation him on what he have said in his article.All what he have said is only the truth and nothing more than TRUTH.Admitted it HD-DVD we are facing you with facts and not FUD like you.

This is BD what it can do for now and Future.the unbeatable format ever made till now.

Congratulations to all and i ask you please if you can send him an email and congratulate him.

[PeterTHX]

Did I own Bobby Black?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9#post10687589

I swear the stubborness of them makes Jackasses seem agreeable.

[Deane Johnson]

The reaction of the HD-DVD fanbois at AVS is hilarious. I suspect their average age is about 17. Can you imagine what it will be like when Universal goes neutral?

[simpspin]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Well, maybe Toshiba can cut the price another $100, and get Oprah to endorse it, or sumthin'

At least she can give everyone in the audience a player, some discs, and a pot.

I'm betting the next thing we'll see is a 2:00 a.m. informercial on the Superiortiy of the HD-DVD catalog.

[bferr1]

Wow, great editorial by Bill! That's what me and my friends would call a slice of truthcake!

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Deane Johnson

The reaction of the HD-DVD fanbois at AVS is hilarious.

I browsed AVMS yesterday, but I couldn't bring myself to even post. There were locked threads everywhere...it just looked like trainwreck. The owners and administrators of that place should be ashamed of themselves.

Originally Posted by Deane Johnson

I suspect their average age is about 17.

That sounds about right, and I've posted as much here in the past. I've said it before, but it seems Toshibas pricing on HD DVD has brought a lot of 18-22 year olds (who have no business being early adopters) into this thing. They've spent their life savings and college loan money because it was "cheap", and deep down I think they know what is going to happen.

Originally Posted by Deane Johnson

Can you imagine what it will be like when Universal goes neutral?

It's going to be complete chaos. Hopefully, this will happen early next year.

Good job by Bill Hunt on his website.

[Chad Varnadore]

Bill's taking a stance is great for the future of HD packaged media, and needed. Even more promising, is that based on private discussion, others in the online press, some who appeared very resistent to BD early on, now agree. Hopefully, it'll just be a short matter of time before they'll also publicly admit it, and stop worrying about what some people will say. Some of the less mature posters may hate them now. But, even they will eventually come around when they see what they've been missing.

[JTK]

One problem:

Bill unintentionally put a big spotlight on Harry and AICN and by consequence, gave them far more credence than they deserve vs. simply ignoring the rabble.

Great stuff by Bill, though.

[bferr1]

Just wanted to share my e-mail of appreciation to Bill with you guys:

Bill,

I have been an occasional critic of yours whenever you go on some emotional tirade over the Star Wars Prequels or a pending Star Wars DVD rerelease, and I've not been shy about writing to you and expressing my criticism. In the interest of being fair, however, I have to commend you on your pro-BD "correction" of Harry Knowles and AICN, a very well reasoned and fair article that I can agree with. I own a PS3 and an HD-XA2, but I always favor the BD version over HD DVDs because I feel the PS3 is virtually 100% reliable as a player, while the XA2... well, isn't. Toshiba and company can try to brainwash people with low player prices all they want, but at the end of the day, movie selection and reliability trumps all, and BD wins these categories hands down. And when BD player prices catch up to HD DVD player prices, where does Toshiba go from there?

Anyway, I know that you'll probably be attacked left, right and center by the "*****alots" (as I call them) on AVS Forum and elsewhere, but I wanted you to know that I'm with you on this one. As one U2 fan to another, let me close by quoting Bono from the song "Acrobat": "Don't let the bastards grind you down."

Regards,
Bryan Ferreira
bferr1

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by nhaase

It seems to me that Mr. Hunt is a very reasonable man, who thinks about what he writes before he posts it. Also, it seems, after reading this, that he has supported BD for a while (as we know), but has wanted to be fair. The AICN post seems to have pushed him over the edge, and he wants to put it all out there for good.

I don't think his story is much different than many, many of us. Or Disney (Iger) or Lionsgate (Beeks). Long ago we looked at the situation and simply asked "Which has the best chance of succeeding?"

That there are good technical arguments for choosing Blu-ray makes it that much easier.

If things were completely turned around, and it was Sony equipment and Lionsgate as the extra exclusive studio, versus everyone else, I think almost all of us would have chosen HD DVD. The advantages of Blu-ray would have been totally overshadowed by the stark cold reality of which format had the best chance of succeeding.

The Digital Bits has previously shown they will take sides and not merely objectively report a battle when they feel they must take a stand that they see is in the best interest of their readership. They did it with DVD over DIVX and the cause of anamorphic DVD.

It's a tough call for us, having to take sides. But it's time. Sometimes you just have to have the strength of your convictions and the balls to stand by them... and so we do and have.

Gary