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starman · Feb 14, 2008, 12:37 PM

He doesn't understand that it's like calculating MPG. It's never really, truly accurate.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 14, 2008, 01:41 PM

Blu-ray sales surpass 2 million in Europe - PS3 Fanboy

Blu-Ray: New 6X Recording Blu-Ray Lasers to Reduce Size, Save Power

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 14, 2008, 03:16 PM

Fire sale:
Amazon takes 50% off 150 HD DVDs - Engadget HD

goMac · Feb 14, 2008, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

Ya I knew you would post that. Shows how much Mr 21 year old knows about the internet if you think it is just a simple matter of math like that.

Way to debunk my argument. I like your clear examples and proof.

Yes, internet bandwidth does fluctuate. The problem is, 4 Mbps is bare minimum my cable connection will ever run at. It's pretty safe to do that math at 4 Mbps sustained. Even 10 Mbps is a bad day for me with a sustained download.

Sustained downloads hardly ever fluctuate though.

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

Funny thing is even though my internet connected is 5 megs whenever I download things from certain websites they are much much slower. Something must be wrong with my connection sometimes.

Um, ok? Taking your sarcasm into account, I'm still not sure what your point is. Akamai is backing Apple's downloads, and benching download times on launch day when every AppleTV user in the world is trying to download a movie isn't exactly fair.

Of course you use internet VOD all the time, so you must be the big expert on this right? I'm curious if you'd like to share with everyone how long your buffering time frequently is on the movies you download.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 14, 2008, 03:56 PM

So wait. Why is a thread on BR and DVD even mentioning bandwidth and Apple TV. I think you need your own "Apple TV is the future and optical should just give up RIGHT NOW" thread.

jokell82 · Feb 14, 2008, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

So wait. Why is a thread on BR and DVD even mentioning bandwidth and Apple TV. I think you need your own "Apple TV is the future and optical should just give up RIGHT NOW" thread.

Why do you even bother to bring this up anymore? It's quite obvious to everyone that this has become the all-encompassing HD thread.

Dakar the Fourth · Feb 14, 2008, 04:34 PM

Good point. Wouldn't hurt if a mod helped us out and renamed the thread.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 14, 2008, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by jokell82

Why do you even bother to bring this up anymore? It's quite obvious to everyone that this has become the all-encompassing HD thread.

Cuz it is ridiculous that Gomac still rambles on about another subject. Now that BR has won perhaps we should talk about current and future BR products and what people are doing with their current HD hardware.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 14, 2008, 05:01 PM

And on subject:
Electronista | Sigmatek builds low-cost Blu-Ray player

Chongo · Feb 14, 2008, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

And on subject:
Electronista | Sigmatek builds low-cost Blu-Ray player

this is perfect. I have both of my optical inputs used on my receiver, the coaxial is open

vmarks · Feb 14, 2008, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

So wait. Why is a thread on BR and DVD even mentioning bandwidth and Apple TV. I think you need your own "Apple TV is the future and optical should just give up RIGHT NOW" thread.

To be fair, the original poster way back when left the door open for this with the poll option "Neither."

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 14, 2008, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by vmarks

To be fair, the original poster way back when left the door open for this with the poll option "Neither."

Oh goodie. More ammo.

icruise · Feb 14, 2008, 06:06 PM

I was the one who added the poll to this thread a while back, and I added "neither" at the request of a number of posters. However, it was intended to reflect the number of people who were not buying into any HD format, rather than to suggest that they were going with alternatives. Downloads at that point hadn't really come into their own.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 14, 2008, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by icruise

I was the one who added the poll to this thread a while back, and I added "neither" at the request of a number of posters. However, it was intended to reflect the number of people who were not buying into any HD format, rather than to suggest that they were going with alternatives. Downloads at that point hadn't really come into their own.

Good thank you. So now what? We stick on track or lock 'er down?

climber · Feb 14, 2008, 09:06 PM

Toshiba will pull the plug on HD-DVD within the next couple of weeks. I think it will precede any announcement by Universal/Paramount. Then the war will be officially over. That is why very few HD-DVD releases are after March of this year.

As far as downloads go. Bandwidth needs to grow a lot before this is a great alternative. This disk war be ancient history by then.

icruise · Feb 14, 2008, 09:40 PM

I have no objections to starting a unified HD video thread if people want. But I think this thread could still stick around for a while for the discussion of things directly relevant to the war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 14, 2008, 10:43 PM

Report: Toshiba to Drop HD DVD | High-Def Digest

starman · Feb 14, 2008, 11:50 PM

Holy. Sh*t.

turtle777 · Feb 15, 2008, 12:09 AM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

Report: Toshiba to Drop HD DVD | High-Def Digest

-t

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 12:59 AM

Good. it is a complete waste of time and money for them to continue. There is ZERO chance of it winning or even getting a small piece of the market so they need to give up now and stop losing more money for pride.

Shaddim · Feb 15, 2008, 01:47 AM

and that's a wrap for this thread, thanks to all who participated. We'll be performing Death of a Circuit City Salesman next month, so come back and join us.

Cheers!

starman · Feb 15, 2008, 02:05 AM

Try the veal.

Brien · Feb 15, 2008, 02:36 AM

Well that was fast. A little over a month, in fact.

Don Pickett · Feb 15, 2008, 05:32 AM

So, instead of your next generation format being brought to you by the company which created Windows, it will be brought to you by the company which created Betamax.

I'm not sure if we won anything.

jokell82 · Feb 15, 2008, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by Don Pickett

So, instead of your next generation format being brought to you by the company which created Windows, it will be brought to you by the company which created Betamax.

I'm not sure if we won anything.

I still get a kick out of people who think HD DVD was a Microsoft format.

PaperNotes · Feb 15, 2008, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by jokell82

I still get a kick out of people who think HD DVD was a Microsoft format.

I still get a kick out of Nintendo fanboys as some of you are who have attacked Blu-ray for over a year JUST because you thought it was Sony technology because it was included in the PS3.

BTW, now on MacNN's sister site also

Electronista | Toshiba to axe HD DVD in weeks?

Ouch. And this I said for the whole of December 07.

jokell82 · Feb 15, 2008, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by PaperNotes

I still get a kick out of Nintendo fanboys as some of you are who have attacked Blu-ray for over a year JUST because you thought it was Sony technology because it was included in the PS3.

BTW, now on MacNN's sister site also

Electronista | Toshiba to axe HD DVD in weeks?

Ouch. And this I said for the whole of December 07.

How am I a Nintendo fanboy if I don't own a single thing made by Nintendo?

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by jokell82

I still get a kick out of people who think HD DVD was a Microsoft format.

It was backed by them so next best thing.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 12:52 PM

I get the feeling that rumor of Toshiba pulling the plug is true:

Blu-Ray: Wal-Mart Goes Blu-ray Exclusive in June

jokell82 · Feb 15, 2008, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

It was backed by them so next best thing.

I guess. But if you want to avoid supporting Microsoft you can't buy either of the formats.

voodoo · Feb 15, 2008, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by jokell82

I guess. But if you want to avoid supporting Microsoft you can't buy either of the formats.

That's disingenous. Microsith only made one of the codecs used by Blu-Ray, but other than that.. nothing.

They have no control over it at all and in reality there are 15 companies that share patents in VC1.

olePigeon · Feb 15, 2008, 01:44 PM

I have the feeling that Blu-Ray is going to suffer feature creep and people will be complaining about 1.3, 1.5, 2.0, 2.3 version players that aren't compatible with certain movies. Blu-Ray movies will start having warning labels on them like OS requirements, "This movie requires a 2.0 or newer Blu-Ray player."

Big Mac · Feb 15, 2008, 01:57 PM

Which is exactly why I hope it's rejected as the next major format. If Hollywood wants the world to embrace HD, it's going to have to get realistic about DRM.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

I have the feeling that Blu-Ray is going to suffer feature creep and people will be complaining about 1.3, 1.5, 2.0, 2.3 version players that aren't compatible with certain movies. Blu-Ray movies will start having warning labels on them like OS requirements, "This movie requires a 2.0 or newer Blu-Ray player."

They already do have notices saying some live features require an 1.1 player but if not the movie will still play fine.

Dakar the Fourth · Feb 15, 2008, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

I have the feeling that Blu-Ray is going to suffer feature creep and people will be complaining about 1.3, 1.5, 2.0, 2.3 version players that aren't compatible with certain movies. Blu-Ray movies will start having warning labels on them like OS requirements, "This movie requires a 2.0 or newer Blu-Ray player."

I think the worst case scenario is more likely "This movie requires a 2.0 or newer Blu-Ray player to access certain special features"

jokell82 · Feb 15, 2008, 02:06 PM

Well we won't know for sure until they're released, but there was word at one time that some 2.0 discs possibly wouldn't play at all on spec 1.0 players. I think it was something to do with the BD-java system or something like that.

olePigeon · Feb 15, 2008, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

They already do have notices saying some live features require an 1.1 player but if not the movie will still play fine.

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth

I think the worst case scenario is more likely "This movie requires a 2.0 or newer Blu-Ray player to access certain special features"

Why don't they just make it a requirement that the players have to support those features? It seems stupid that you have to pay for an already overpriced Blu-Ray player just to have to re-buy another Blu-Ray player so you can use the special features on a new Blu-Ray movie.

I am a Special Features kinda guy, that's why I don't buy movies off of iTunes or any other online movie source. I like all the extras on the DVD, especially the production related extras. Seems to me like Blu-Ray is designed to steal as much money out of consumers like myself, which wouldn't 've been a problem with HD-DVD.

Seeing how they operate already, it's only going to get worse. Damn it to hell I hate Blu-Ray.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Why don't they just make it a requirement that the players have to support those features?

They do...now. As 1.1 is required as far as I know. 2.0 spec doens't bring much other than needing a net connection.

Either way the PS3 supports 1.1 and 2.0 in the future with a software update.

Seems HD losing is helping the PS3 a TON. Came within 5000 units of the Wii in Jan which is amazing considering how much more it costs.
A perfect PS3 storm: Blu-ray hotness and Xbox supply issues

Chongo · Feb 15, 2008, 03:01 PM

I was looking forward to the "Godfather, Star Trek, and Indiana Jones" HD DVDs

olePigeon · Feb 15, 2008, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

They do...now. As 1.1 is required as far as I know. 2.0 spec doens't bring much other than needing a net connection.

Then I'm sure they'll release a 3.0 spec which will be too large to fit on a 2.0 spec firmware, so you'll have to run out and buy another Blu-Ray player just to get the special features on the latest round of 3.0 spec movies.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Then I'm sure they'll release a 3.0 spec which will be too large to fit on a 2.0 spec firmware, so you'll have to run out and buy another Blu-Ray player just to get the special features on the latest round of 3.0 spec movies.

They never said they are going as far as 3.0 but what other features could they possibly add other than the player can wipe your bum for you.

Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending February 10th, 2008 - Engadget HD

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Seems to me like Blu-Ray is designed to steal as much money out of consumers like myself, which wouldn't 've been a problem with HD-DVD.

Over HD-DVD that charged $5+ more per movie because it also had a DVD version on it even if you didn't want it.

olePigeon · Feb 15, 2008, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

Over HD-DVD that charged $5+ more per movie because it also had a DVD version on it even if you didn't want it.

To ensure that I can take it over to my friend's house or to work even if they had a Blu-Ray player and still be able to watch the movie? I think it's worth the $5. If it was an HD-DVD player, no matter what "version," I could still enjoy all the nifty extras on the DVD.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

To ensure that I can take it over to my friend's house or to work even if they had a Blu-Ray player and still be able to watch the movie? I think it's worth the $5. If it was an HD-DVD player, no matter what "version," I could still enjoy all the nifty extras on the DVD.

Well you might think so but most other HD owners didn't. Your way you pay another $5 to be able to take the same movie a friends house with a DVD player to save them money or you can just rent the damn thing the odd time that situation comes up.

I don't think anyone has ever come to my house with a DVD from their house to watch here.

EIther way even universal disagrees with you as the re-released the combo disks as HD only as they were doing so poorly.

jokell82 · Feb 15, 2008, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

They do...now. As 1.1 is required as far as I know. 2.0 spec doens't bring much other than needing a net connection.

Either way the PS3 supports 1.1 and 2.0 in the future with a software update.

Seems HD losing is helping the PS3 a TON. Came within 5000 units of the Wii in Jan which is amazing considering how much more it costs.
A perfect PS3 storm: Blu-ray hotness and Xbox supply issues

1.1 is required for new players. But manufacturers can continue to make the 1.0 players released before that cutoff date (I think it was late last year).

olePigeon · Feb 15, 2008, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

I don't think anyone has ever come to my house with a DVD from their house to watch here.

Maybe your ATAT scared them away.

analogue SPRINKLES · Feb 15, 2008, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Maybe your ATAT scared them away.

Ya that happens a lot.

icruise · Feb 16, 2008, 02:37 AM

Well, the Walmart announcement seals it. At the rate things are going, I wouldn't be surprised to see BR players become the de-facto standard fairly soon, replacing regular DVD players. It's just a matter of getting the price down.

Brien · Feb 16, 2008, 02:44 AM

If by soon, you mean two or three years, sure. I'm not entirely sure it'll happen sooner. Maybe, who knows?

Shaddim · Feb 16, 2008, 02:53 AM

By this Christmas they'll be $200, by next Christmas they'll be $100.