So confused... HD-DVD or Blu-ray??

[2099net]

With Blu-Ray, will we still have the PAL/NTSC and Region confusion? Could it be possible for me to be able to buy a Blu-Ray player here, but import an R2 DVD and play it on the Blu-Ray player? Please say yes, deathie...

Escapay

If anything they're going to make it harder to play movies from different regions (and there's talk of each country having it's own "region" on Blu-Ray )

Studios don't physically manufacture and product, they trade in concepts. Once a movie is out there, its hard to manage who and how people will see it. That's why they want as much control has possible on limiting the ability to watch the movie. Don't expect people to be importing/exporting the new discs as easily as the rest of the world imports R1 DVDs now.

Ideally, they'd want the viewer to pay a fee each time the movie is viewed. I wouldn't be surprised if this is somehow possible on the next generation of players as well as purchasing a movie out-right. (There's big talk of Internet connections on the new players - ideal for a pay-as-you view system).

[deathie mouse]

hey, you might as well stop buying CDs, the US has just started to release CDs copyprotected

and nobody is complaining
i have seeveral copy protected CDs by now
About the pay per view and the internet connections (of which i'm opposed to ) well there's talk about that and it may be true Hollywood all it wants is you paying them everytime you see a movie (Which is kinda what they're doing anyway making you buy 7 different DVD editions of the same movie with suplemental deluxe slipcover remastered editions ) but pay per view and be authorized per view is a different business model than the current buy once home media one so we'll see what happens with the public. After all Divdx died a lonely death....isn't iTunes the opposite direction of that?: Pay directly for a song once and copy it to your HD and iPod and whatever? And as we all know about constant internet conection/Windows rock hard stability.. missing the ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast cus of connection lost? A directory error in Los Angeles Master Control and sudenly your 5000 DVD collection is umplayable? I don't think people with computers and w/o computers will like having to be conected to a wall socket. What happens with portable and car platyers then? But netty is just reacting violently to the news that Blu-ray is here

*runs like hell





just kidding with netty

About PAL 576 vs NTSC 480. well at least HDTV and Blu-ray is all different standarts capable, up to 1080 in all regions.
The only difference i see will be in the frame rates, 24, 30, 60 in América/Japan, 25, 50 in Europa/Oz. In theory a 60Hz display can reproduce all of them ultimately (In fact me wonders if we'll ever have high end 1080p displays that do film at 72hz for smoothest motion ) In fact if the media techies were clever they make it all 24p for movies and have THE PLAYER convert it/speed up to 24,25,30,50,60,72,75,100 whatever depending on your Display. After all it's a digital digital digital digital world.
Will R2 discs plays on R1 players and viceversa? Well R2 DVDs should not be playing on R1 players (and viceversa) today anyway. And they do.

so in the world of the inmortal UDincredible:

who knoz

[2099net]

hey, you might as well stop buying CDs, the US has just started to release CDs copyprotected

Hey, I don't want to copy anything. Just import and play it.

[DarthPrime]

Actually there are several people complaining about the copy protected CDs. People want to make backups or put the songs on their computer as MP3s, etc...

And if Blu-Ray requires a internet connection and has added copy protection limiting importing, or as an extreme example making the disc only playable on one player its just not going to be accepted.

They may try to crack down on importing, but I seriously doubt and I hope they don't try the constant internet connection thing. It just seems like a really bad ideal.

[anger is pointless]

is it true thier gonna make blu ray disks unripable or is it unburnable

[deathie mouse]

Hey, you know, i'm the most staunch blu-ray supporter in this site and even I don't wanna buy a format that i'll have to plug into the wall to give me "permission" to watch what i just bought. Hell, phone connections are flaky, right now one of my 2 phone lines has been down for 2 weeks. If i had only one, does that mean i would have to run a phone cable to my neighbors house while i'm out of phone service so i can ask Hollywood permission to watch my discs? The mind bogles. Divdx failed. I don't think ANYBODY (except hollywood bean counters and CEOs?) wants that.

So on one hand we want movies, and in great quality, on the other hand holywood wants money.
and they make movies.
So you want to make money, don't make it a turn off to give you money.

It just will boil to how does holywood wants to give us their movies and make money out of us, and if we ACCEPT those ways and it's succesful.. If we don't ACCEPT they wont make money. They want money. If they only want us to watch the movies with their big brotherish system of conecting/paying everytime, fine, but i wont watch or buy discs. Does ANYBODY want that. I mean real people, the ones that buy the discs?? i dont watch that way (and if i wanted, i be using pay per view right now which i NEVER use. i wanna watch when i decide to watch wehenever i wana watch and it's midnigfht or 6 pm or whatever and take the disc and watch whenever i press play and see my disc today or maybe next week cus this week im busy. no connections or third parties involved. ET have to phone home everytime i wanna watch a new or old movie no way. If holywwood only does that, there's free TV. and my DVDs already bought. No money for Hollywod.

And im sure 99% of you feel the same way. As netty said we just want to watch our discs!

So again on one side there's hollywod wanting to make money and on the other us wanting to give them money to watch movies. The way we like it. So what's it gonna be Hollywood?
One would suppose (or hope ) Hollywood wants customers, Lots of them. Like DVD customers

remember DivDX

hey, even more current! remember, nobody wanted a mediocre stepping stone HighDefinition disc system. like hd-dud. We wanted something good, a big jump something worthwhile. You havn't even started selling hd-duds and look where it's going.

la la la



as for pirating or ripping* or whatever, hey if pirates know just a finger or two of audio/video they can copy anything anytime they want . They'll find a way.


Too bad if holywood is more worried about them than about their true customers.

But in the end, how many copies of the Fifth Element on DVD are gonna be sold in the next 10 years? I had one. Was stolen. I'll buy another one in Blu-ray if it comes out.
If i dont have to ask someone authorization to watch it, that is.



Choose wisely big grashopper
_________________

*And btw anger is pointless, DVDs are supposed to be unrippable

[2099net]

So many Blu-Ray and HD-DVD threads. Which one to bump?

Now, this is interesting:
http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/10339/Son ... usinesses/

Sony and NEC announced today in Tokyo that they have signed an agreement to combine their optical disc drive businesses into a single company, Sony NEC Optiarc Inc., which will start operations on April 3, 2006.

Shinichi Yamamura, who is currently the Deputy President of Sony’s Video Business Group, will be the president of the new company, which will be capitalized at 490M ¥ (4.1 million dollars) and have a total workforce of 350 employees. Sony will own the 55 percent of Optiarc while the remaining 45 percent will be owned by NEC.

The new company will combine Sony’s expertise in optical pick-up heads with NEC’s proficiency in optical LSI logic. Sony is the main backer of Blu-ray Disc technology while NEC decided last year to join the HD DVD camp, which means that the new joint venture company will manufacture and sale both technologies.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm starting to think the companies driving this technology don't want an eventual winner. They seem to be content to keep their fingers in every pie.

What is LSI logic by the way? Deathie? Oh Deathie?

[kbehm29]

Also, according to http://www.blu-ray.com the street date for the first wave of Blu-ray disc releases has been made known: MAY 23

The ones I plan on getting on that date are xXx and T2: Judgement Day.

I wonder when Disney will announce their Blu-ray release dates? I can't wait to find out. I hope it will be around that same time-frame.

[Escapay]

Also, according to http://www.blu-ray.com the street date for the first wave of Blu-ray disc releases has been made known: MAY 23

According to TheDigitalBits, the second street date will be June 13.

Out of the releases on May 23 and June 13, I think the only one I'll actually get is Frank Herbert's Dune from Lionsgate, as it's the only one from the titles on those dates that I'd be willing to buy in the new format either as a blindbuy or an upgrade (which it is, since I've already got the 3-disc set) Gonna wait for the Warner and Disney Blu-ray titles to come out before I start buying some more...

Escapay

[kbehm29]

I can't believe there hasn't been another studio to announce their blu-ray releases for May 23rd or June 13th YET.

I thought for sure once one did it....the rest would join the bandwagon ASAP, I mean you would think they would have all of this prepared already!

Or...maybe I'm just being extremely impatient, LOL. I want Disney to say when Dinosaur, Chicken Little, and POTC are coming to blu-ray!

[magicalwands]

I've skimmed this thread for any mention of Harry Potter 4 on HD DVD releasing on April 11 but I didn't see any. Anyways, I'm sorry, I tried reading this thread, but I couldn't comprehend any of it. So, I have a few questions about what I should do.

1) Is it worth buying Harry Potter on HD even if I don't have a player for it yet but an hd tv?
2) Should I just buy the 2-disc next week just to get it at sale price and return it if I change my mind?
3) Will the HD DVD be anymore expensive than the normal dvd price of $20?

[DarthPrime]

I've skimmed this thread for any mention of Harry Potter 4 on HD DVD releasing on April 11 but I didn't see any. Anyways, I'm sorry, I tried reading this thread, but I couldn't comprehend any of it. So, I have a few questions about what I should do.

1) Is it worth buying Harry Potter on HD even if I don't have a player for it yet but an hd tv?
2) Should I just buy the 2-disc next week just to get it at sale price and return it if I change my mind?
3) Will the HD DVD be anymore expensive than the normal dvd price of $20?

1.) If you plan to buy a HD-DVD player soon then I would probably pick it up. If your not planning to get a HD-DVD player when they are released I wouldn't pick it up.

2.) Thats what I would do. Depending on if you want the extras I would currently pickup the 2 disc or the 1 disc release next week. Stores will take the DVD back as long as you don't open it. You could always sell it later if you got the HD version.

3.) I'm not sure, but I want to say yes.

[deathie mouse]

i would wait for the Blu-ray of Harry that will come out after and has twice the resolution of the HD-DVD...


i don't think an hd-dud is worth it over a DVD

[I am the Doctor]

magicalwands wrote

I've skimmed this thread for any mention of Harry Potter 4 on HD DVD releasing on April 11 but I didn't see any. Anyways, I'm sorry, I tried reading this thread, but I couldn't comprehend any of it. So, I have a few questions about what I should do.

1) Is it worth buying Harry Potter on HD even if I don't have a player for it yet but an hd tv?
2) Should I just buy the 2-disc next week just to get it at sale price and return it if I change my mind?
3) Will the HD DVD be anymore expensive than the normal dvd price of $20?

I don't think HD-DVD is going to fly, it's not enough of an upgrade. But I'm not entirely sold that Blu-ray will do that well either. I was a very early adopter of DVD (my first DVD player also included the infamous Divx feature that some have talked about). I could tell the difference between a VHS tape and a DVD, much like the difference between a cassette tape and a music cd.

The reason I'm not entirely sold that Blu-ray will take off is simply this: in techie circles and on movie aficiando websites like UD, there's a lot of talk about Blu-ray. When you go out amongst the general public, you rarely hear about either HD-DVD or Blu-ray. DVD took off because it was a major upgrade from VHS. HD-DVD and Blu-ray may be major upgrades over DVD, and I think they are. However, the general public may decide differently.

After all, remember the record labels were so sure that DVD-Audio and Super Audio CDs would take off. The quality was so much better than regular CDs. The public ignored the two formats, continued to buy regular CDs and eventually moved on to downloading their music off the internet. DVD-As and SACDs are a better technology looking for an audience that isn't there.

As I said, I'm not trying to knock either Blu-ray or HD-DVD, but I think there might be some resistance to yet another video format, whether the quality is better or not. Blu-ray or HD-DVD could take off, but it could also end up being something of a niche market like DVD-As and SACDs.

After all, I own a HDTV, and my current DVDs look quite great on it. I haven't seen a Blu-ray or HD-DVD picture, so I can't say whether the quality is better, but current DVDs will still play and look quite well on an HDTV.

So if it were me, I would stick with regular DVDs for now. They look quite good on HDTVs and until the format war ends, there's no reason to go whole hog into either HD-DVD or Blu-ray (unless you've got money to burn). Take it from someone who knows. I have a great set of coasters, if I can find them. They're called Divx discs.

[Escapay]

The reason I'm not entirely sold that Blu-ray will take off is simply this: in techie circles and on movie aficiando websites like UD, there's a lot of talk about Blu-ray. When you go out amongst the general public, you rarely hear about either HD-DVD or Blu-ray. DVD took off because it was a major upgrade from VHS. HD-DVD and Blu-ray may be major upgrades over DVD, and I think they are. However, the general public may decide differently..

I know what you mean. A couple nights ago I was on AIM with my sister Jane, and I was talking about Blu-Ray rather generally, like she already knew what it was. But she had no idea what I was talking about, so she started a barrage of questions that I tried my best to answer before re-directing her to the Blu-Ray FAQ, lol.

Escapay

[DarthPrime]

I'm having the same experience. If I mention HD-DVD or Blu-Ray hardly anyone knows what they are, and even if they do they don't care about them. From what I have seen locally most people don't care to upgrade from DVD.

It seems like the majority of support I have seen for these new formats is on movie sites and forums.

[BATBfan1]

SSSSOOOOO Confused lol.

As long as I can sit back and watch a nice Disney movie restored and picture is good, I dont care what it is.

[2099net]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/c ... 770774.stm

[kbehm29]

So what do you all think about the news on UD's front page that Disney might release in HD-DVD in addition to Blu-ray now?

I have to admit, it is bothering me. I mean -- I believe in Blu-Ray, I think it has the greatest storage capacity to last longer in the future. I want them to win the format war, if there is a winner. Now- this is almost like Disney is 'giving in', because others have.

I am a mother of five, so money is always a concern. I would almost rather buy an HD-DVD player because it's cheaper. But I know I will buy my kids a PS3 as soon as it's released (which I know may even be next year). I would hate to go with both formats just because I can't pick one.

What do you all think of this news, for those of you who have decided to upgrade?

[kbehm29]

http://www.blu-ray.com reported this yesterday:

Mar 15, 2006 - PlayStation 3 Launches Worldwide in Early November 2006

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that it would launch PlayStation 3 (PS3) in early November 2006 in Japan, North America and Europe simultaneously. With a monthly production capacity of one million units, SCEI will push forward a powerful product launch to spread the platform rapidly throughout the world, together with a strong and attractive lineup of PS3 game titles. PS3 incorporates the final specifications of BD (Blu-ray Disc), and with the overwhelming computing power of PS3, it enables playback of BD software at a high bit rate. Users can also connect PS3 to high-speed broadband network through Gigabit Ethernet and comfortably enjoy a wide-range of rich and exciting content and services over the network.