Was browsing some game sites when I came across this stupid Blu-ray vs HD-DVD article that smacks of sheer FUD on gamesradar.com.
The best part is when they say HD-DVD has better picture simply because BD standalones aren't web-enabled and according to them won't be able to get firmware upgrades. WTF? If both versions of Harry Potter are in 1080p with the same codec how can a firmware upgrade make any difference in the picture assuming the discs actually play?
And of course at the end the author eloquently says "Suck on that, Blu-ray." I'm sure his check from Toshiba will be clearing any day now. So much for journalistic integrity.
Tried to find an email address or some other way to comment on this stupid article but I couldn't find one on their site. Guess I'll stop visiting their site from now on.
3) HD-DVD looks better
Remember when we said both formats were identical? Scratch that. The PS3 is as far as we know, the only web-enabled Blu-ray player, which allows for firmware upgrades. Most, if not all HD-DVD players have internet capability built in allowing for firmware upgrades constantly. Meaning, if you have a regular Blu-ray player - not PS3 - then your video resolution won’t look as good as any HD-DVD player. Of course, that will change in the future, but for the time being you can rest easy knowing you have the best looking version of The Order of the Phoenix"
For one thing, he is talking about the ability to access web enabled features and the ability to download firmware directly to the player as being one and the same, and acting like PS3 is the only player that has this option.
Granted, while most current Blu-Ray players won't be able to use the future web enabled features, most (as far as I know) have ethernet ports to allow for downloading firmware when needed. So, that arguement doesn't hold water. Granted, there are some (mostly older ones) that don't even have that feature, which sucks, but even in those cases they typcially can be upgraded via a disc.
And he seems to somehow assume that any Blu-Ray player that doesn't have an ethernet port or web enabled connectivity somehow automatically has lower resolution than HD-DVD, which makes no sense since those things are essentially unrelated. Granted, firmware might be able to include a new codec or something that may help in improving picture quality for some movies that take advantage of that codec, in which case having a player with the lack of an ethernet port will make things a little more complicated in terms of upgrading the machine, but not by THAT much since disc based updates are still an option. And that would only come into play when/if a specific upgrade somehow effected picture quality in a positive way. But weather or not a player has an ethernet port, in and of itself, does not effect resolution, so that makes NO sense at all.
And I say this as someone who has both formats. I actually will likely pick up a few HD-DVDs when they eventually go on clearance. But most of what this guy is saying makes no sense.
Looks like it was written by a 4 year old. I am not even sure why anyone would believe that absolute total malarky! It is complete BS and yet they still had the balls to put a link to our site on it??
And you can't comment or email them about it either.
Someone find the contact us and set them straight!
And people think I'm crazy when I say that 360 v PS3 and blu-ray v HD DVD are really just 2 battles in the same "culture/lifestyle" war. Tell me this guy isn't an X-Box fanboy who by extension is hating on blu-ray.
The only contact information I could find was on the "About us" page, and those email addresses were for potential advertisers or freelance journalists.
Someone should write a nicely composed retort and submit it for publication.
To be honest quite a few of their articles seem to be that way. If you go back you'll find all sorts of features on the evolution of cleavage in video games, the sordid sex lives of Mario and Princess Peach, and how Master Chief is a submissive - just to name a few.
I don't think we should be worrying about a site that caters to a bunch of 12 year olds who also think it's cool to be the first person to post on a news article with "TEH FIRST POST!!111!!!!1!"
megagames is the same way. anti-PS3/Blu-ray articles are usually written by kids that can't afford it.
The only contact information I could find was on the "About us" page, and those email addresses were for potential advertisers or freelance journalists.
Someone should write a nicely composed retort and submit it for publication.
I sent this to them.
Quote:
Please pass this on to the rather ill-informed Shane Patterson. You have my permission to reprint any part of this e-mail on your website.
3) HD-DVD looks better
Remember when we said both formats were identical? Scratch that. The PS3 is as far as we know, the only web-enabled Blu-ray player, which allows for firmware upgrades. Most, if not all HD-DVD players have internet capability built in allowing for firmware upgrades constantly. Meaning, if you have a regular Blu-ray player - not PS3 - then your video resolution won’t look as good as any HD-DVD player. Of course, that will change in the future, but for the time being you can rest easy knowing you have the best looking version of The Order of the Phoenix.
Wrong!! It is impossible for one copy of The Order of the Phoenix to look better than the other. They both have identical VC-1 video encodes. Do you understand what that means? VC-1, along with MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 are the lossy compression schemes used on HD DVD and Blu-ray to deliver the video. On HD DVD the video bit-rate can reach speeds of up to 29 Mbps, whereas on Blu-ray the video bit-rate can reach speeds of up to 40 Mbps. However with Warner releases they encode first for the HD DVD and then port it over to the Blu-ray, thus allowing for only one encode. This has been the case for all released Warner titles – they are all identical on both formats, bit for bit, peak for peak, pixel for pixel. I hope you’re starting to get the idea.
You state that “your video resolution won’t look as good as any HD DVD player” which is absolutely absurd. ALL Blu-ray players are capable of 1080p output, most at 24 frames per second, which matches how film is shot – 24fps. ALL Blu-ray players are capable of decoding the three video codecs used on Blu-ray, just like all HD DVD players are capable of this decoding as well. The firmware upgrades have absolutely nothing to do with the resolution at all! Firmware upgrades so far have been for enhanced audio capabilities such as the Samsung BD-P1400 which received the ability to bitstream dts-HD Master Audio through HDMI via a firmware upgrade. They have been to resolve Java issues with more complex programming like the game “Liar’s Dice” found on one of the Pirates of the Caribbean Blu-ray discs. Not once has a firmware update been issued to any player to change the resolution, which is to say whether or not the player is capable of outputting 1080 lines of vertical resolution.
Anyone that cannot figure out how to burn a CD-R or DVD-R on their home computer is welcome to call Samsung, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony, Philips, LG or Sharp and will receive any firmware upgrade for free in the mail within a few business days. As for your statement that firmware upgrades are “constant” I would beg to differ. Other than the PlayStation 3 I don’t think any Blu-ray player on the market has had more than two or three upgrades. How is that constantly upgrading?
Now back to the original paragraph – because Blu-ray has 60% more bandwidth than HD DVD not only is it capable of better picture when optimized for, like Sony, Disney, Lions Gate Films, Fox and soon Warner too do (10,000 B.C. will be the first Warner release that actually takes advantage of the increased bandwidth Blu-ray offers), but it has more bandwidth to ensure lossless studio master bit for bit reproductions of the audio too, which you won’t find on many HD DVD’s. There are three times as many lossless audio tracks on Blu-ray releases as there are HD DVD releases. This HAS resulted in a better average review score for picture quality too. In an average of over 1,000 HD DVD and 1,000 Blu-ray disc reviews from High Def Digest, Home Theater Spot, DVD Talk, Upcoming Discs and Home Theater Forum, Blu-ray and HD DVD had the following scores.
Code:
PQ SQ TOTAL HD DVD
3.88 3.61 3.74 HighDef
3.96 3.88 3.92 HTSpot
3.63 3.50 3.56 DVDTalk
3.98 3.80 3.89 Upcoming Discs
3.89 3.68 3.78 Home Theater Forum
3.84 3.67 3.76 Totals
Code:
PQ SQ TOTAL Blu-ray
3.94 3.81 3.87 HighDef
4.09 4.28 4.18 HTSpot
3.69 3.74 3.71 DVDTalk
4.03 4.12 4.07 Upcoming Discs
4.25 4.04 4.14 Home Theater Forum
3.94 3.96 3.95 Totals
Does that look like HD DVD has a more consistent picture to you? I think not. Do you also understand the complexities involved with 1080p24 and 1080i60? That entry level HD-A3 player does not support 1080p at any frame rate. It has to take the 1080p24 source and convert it to 1080i60 which is interlaced. Then you have to rely on your HDTV’s ability to correctly deinterlace that signal, which not many of them do. Gary Merson’s tests over the last two years have shown that almost 60% of HDTV’s fail deinterlacing, which means you get 540 lines of information doubled, instead of 1080 lines. Go with 1080p which is progressive and you skip this step altogether. Here’s a great document which I think will help you understand resolution a little better.
4) HD-DVDs are region-free
Unlike Sony’s insistence on controlling each market, HD-DVD could care less where you buy the DVDs from. What does this mean? 1) You can nab foreign movies before they’re released in the US. 2) You can buy American movies that haven’t come out here yet. And 3) you can get movies on HD that are normally Blu-ray only because that exclusivity stuff deals mainly with America. This means Fox, Lionsgate and more are available for your newly purchased outdated technology.
Actually the majority of Blu-ray’s are also region free and the same here that you’re saying applies to Blu-ray. Universal and Paramount movies are available through other markets. For example I imported Face/Off region free on Blu-ray from the UK as there it is released by Buena Vista. The Blu-ray release features uncompressed lossless PCM unlike the North American HD DVD only release which has lossy Dolby Digital Plus.
1) You can get foreign movies region free on Blu-ray
2) You can buy American movies on Blu-ray not yet released here
3) You can get movies on Blu-ray that are normally HD DVD only because of exclusivity deals in America.
It doesn’t matter what Sony insists upon outside of their own studio’s releases, the Blu-ray Disc format is controlled by a board of directors comprised of:
• Apple, Inc.
• Dell
• HP
• Hitachi
• LG
• Mitsubishi Electric
• Panasonic
• Pioneer
• Philips
• Samsung
• Sharp
• Sony
• Sun Microsystems
• TDK
• Thomson
• Twentieth Century Fox
• Walt Disney
• Warner Bros.
Should Sony want to change something about the Blu-ray Disc format, it has to be approved by the board. There are also 17 patent holders in Blu-ray Disc technology. They are:
• CyberLink Corporation
• Dell Inc.
• Hewlett-Packard Company
• Hitachi Ltd.
• Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
• LG Electronics Inc.
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic)
• Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Pioneer Corporation
• Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
• Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
• Sharp Corporation
• Sonic Solutions
• Sony Corporation
• TDK Corporation
• Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC)
• Warner Home Video Inc.
Looks like Sony has a lot less domination over the format and market as you’d have us believe.
5) Early Blu-ray players won’t play future discs
Remember when we said the PS3 is the only web-enabled Blu-ray player? To keep costs low at the Blu-ray launch, early players were apparently built without foresight in mind. Starting this October, newer players will support web capability, royally screwing early adopters. Oh and that HD-DVD player you own? That’ll still play every HD-DVD. Suck on that, Blu-ray.
Are you sure you’re not leaving out some VERY important information here in this statement? Are you sure early Blu-ray players won’t play future discs? I think what you meant to say is that “Some features on future discs won’t play on early first generation Blu-ray players” yes? For example, Lions Gate Films just released “War” with a picture in picture track that requires a secondary video decoder. I have a Panasonic DMP-BD10 which does not have PIP software on it. The option to watch this feature does not appear in the menu on my player, however I am able to watch the PIP feature as a separate standard definition featurette, hence I have not missed out on any of the content. Your statement suggests that the discs with PIP and web-enabled features are going to blow up when inserted on a first generation standalone Blu-ray player. However all the special features, deleted scenes, etc., and the main movie itself will work just fine. Boy I’m sure all those 450,000 owners of G1 Blu-ray players are going to be bummed when they find out they can still watch the main movie on their player but went out and bought a new one because of the propaganda you’re pushing.
I hope this helps you see the rather gaping errors in your article. The site would be wise to either post corrections in an update or entirely delete the article and try writing it afresh, this time allowing someone who has some clue what they’re talking about to do the contributing.
Oh, muy excelente, amigo. I was hoping you'd pick up the gauntlet; you make it look so easy. If there were an Order for the Meritorious Busters of Fear, Uncertainty, & Doubt, I'd get drunk and eat chicken fingers at your presentation ceremony.
You'll keep us apprised of any responses, I hope?
I found this kinda interesting. The "Games Radar" website is owned by Future US. In Oct. 2007, Future US & Sony announced the creation of "Playstation: The Official Magazine. I wonder how Sony would like all this misleading info????
I wrote this in response to their "insightful" article...however, I really didn't find a good place to email it to, except the contributors@gamesradar.com Anyone have a better email for these guys?
I just finished reading your article “DVDstruction – 5 reasons your HD-DVDs are still good” by Shane Peterson and I am deeply concerned about the article’s integrity. I am assuming that you are interested in accurate journalism and he is not just mad that his preferred HD format lost the format war.
First, I disagree with the comment under bullet point number 2. HD-DVD looks better. This is outright false for a number of reasons (I would be more than happy to discuss this with you if you want…mail me back). However, saying that because some Blu-Ray players come without Ethernet connectivity and THIS is why they look worse is absolutely ridiculous! First of all, EVEY SINGLE Blu-Ray player sold to date can have firmware upgrades! These upgrades can either be performed online with Ethernet (as is the case with Samsung players and the PS3), they can be performed with a USB Thumb Drive (as is the case with the Sharp BDHP20U), a SD Memory Card (Panasonic DMPBD30K), or in the case of EVERY player, with the firmware burned to disc.
Firmware does NOT always influence picture quality. Most of the time it corrects bugs or adds support for Java or BD+ or other features found on newer discs. In no case does the lack of Ethernet affect picture quality!
Second, you should know that MOST Blu-Ray discs are region free! Region coding has been used very selectively and only on “day and date” releases, not catalog titles. This is a major reason why Disney and Fox would never switch to HD-DVD. They perceive a need to delay the release of some movies in certain regions. This is because often, while we in the US are enjoying a movie on DVD, Europe is still watching the same movie in theaters. In order to protect the revenue of the theaters they are delaying the release on home video in that market. The main benefit of region free HD-DVD at this point has been to get movies overseas that have not been released here. When all is said and done, and the format war is over, every studio will be releasing their movies on Blu-Ray and this will be a non-issue to the majority of customers.
Finally, you claim that early Blu-Ray adopters are “screwed” because early machines will not play 2.0 profile movies. Again, this is absolutely untrue. Profile 1.0 players will be able to play any movie made on Blu-Ray! True, you will not get picture in picture for the extra features (however, you WILL still be able to watch the video, just not as a PIP while the movie is playing!) and you will not be able to go online for the web enabled features, BUT THE MOVIE WILL STILL PLAY!
For all the hype surrounding PIP and web interactivity, I sincerely believe MOST customers are interested only in watching the movie. Extras are nice, but they are icing on the cake, not the cake itself. And honestly, neither HD-DVD or plain old vanilla DVD had a smooth, bug-free launch either. Remember early DVD players that didn’t support DTS? Remember all the glitches and bugs solved by firmware updates on both DVD and HD-DVD?
All in all, I would say that this article was written by someone who has his hard earned money invested in a format that unfortunately is going the way of Betamax. I am sorry that his investment is not panning out. Naturally, I would expect that some people out there are going to be very bitter about this. This bitterness should not be an excuse to badmouth the competing format, and absolutely not be an excuse for disseminating false information! I believe, in the interest of journalistic integrity, as well as your responsibility to convey ACCURATE information to your readers, you should re-visit this article and post some corrections. Thank you.
Last edited by john_nemesh; 01-16-2008 at 08:45 PM.
Reason: fixed link to email addr
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