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Eug Wanker · Mar 1, 2006, 02:14 PM

Blu-ray player and movies will be released on May 23:

Samsung BD-P1000

Launch titles:

50 First Dates
The Fifth Element
Hitch
House of Flying Daggers
A Knight's Tale
The Last Waltz
Resident Evil Apocalypse
XXX

Out of all of those movies, the only one I have the least bit of interest in is House of Flying Daggers, but I don't have enough interest in it to actually buy it.

Samsung's Blu-ray burners for computers will supposedly come out earlier, in April:

Blu-ray Mac mini, iMac, and MacBook Pro in Q4 2006?

hickey · Mar 1, 2006, 03:52 PM

did they list the price of the players/burners?

So does this settle the Blu-ray/HD-DVD war, is there a lot more to come?

Eug Wanker · Mar 1, 2006, 04:02 PM

The Samsung BD-P1000 is probably gonna be about US$1000. Ouch, but not unexpected.

Dunno the price of the computer burners.

MaxPower2k3 · Mar 1, 2006, 05:20 PM

so there's still no official launch day for HD-DVD, right? I thought it was going to be around the same time, though. The advantage (at least at the outset) is that HD-DVD players are (supposedly) going to be available for $500, which could make the difference for some early adopters when both have a relatively limited catalog. I'm sure eventually the BR catalog will eclipse HD-DVD and they'll fall out of popularity, or we'll end up with a situation similar to HD Audio, where neither SACD or DVD-A have died (although neither one is exactly alive) but many players will play either one.

ICD2k3 · Mar 1, 2006, 05:23 PM

speaking of blu-ray, I can't wait for the PS3

Eug Wanker · Mar 1, 2006, 05:37 PM

Yeah, this is a very different situation from the DVD launch. Then, there was one format (not counting the evil Divx), and it was firmly established once the PS2 launched. The PS2 helped DVD perhaps, but IMO DVD helped the PS2 than the other way around.

In contrast, I think the launch of the PS3 will greatly help the cause for Blu-ray.

wdlove · Mar 1, 2006, 09:39 PM

No plans at this point to go out and purchase a new DVD Player. By waiting the prices will come down.

slugslugslug · Mar 1, 2006, 11:27 PM

I actually couldn't care less about a player for my teevee, but I'd sure like to stick a BD burner in my iMac G5 (20", 2.0 GHz, which apparently is an easy model to get into). I'd buy a 5-pack of rewritables and actually get conscientious about backing up my ish.

Is it safe to assume that once Apple ships a Mac with a slot-load Blu-ray drive, I can shove the same model in my iMac and have it Just Work?

Eug Wanker · Mar 2, 2006, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

I actually couldn't care less about a player for my teevee, but I'd sure like to stick a BD burner in my iMac G5 (20", 2.0 GHz, which apparently is an easy model to get into). I'd buy a 5-pack of rewritables and actually get conscientious about backing up my ish.

Is it safe to assume that once Apple ships a Mac with a slot-load Blu-ray drive, I can shove the same model in my iMac and have it Just Work?

It is not. Apple uses many different drives of differing sizes. Even if it's small enough to fit, the fitting bracket may not work, and the connectors may not be compatible either.

A nice external Firewire Blu-ray drive would work just fine though. I use an external DVD drive with my iMac, for region free stuff.

slugslugslug · Mar 2, 2006, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

A nice external Firewire Blu-ray drive would work just fine though. I use an external DVD drive with my iMac, for region free stuff.

Yeah, but you seem like you're capable of keeping your desk free of big piles of junk. With me, the more stuff that's part of the iMac, the less I have to worry about unearthing for use

.

Eug Wanker · 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by MaxPower2k3

so there's still no official launch day for HD-DVD, right? I thought it was going to be around the same time, though. The advantage (at least at the outset) is that HD-DVD players are (supposedly) going to be available for $500, which could make the difference for some early adopters when both have a relatively limited catalog. I'm sure eventually the BR catalog will eclipse HD-DVD and they'll fall out of popularity, or we'll end up with a situation similar to HD Audio, where neither SACD or DVD-A have died (although neither one is exactly alive) but many players will play either one.

Toshiba has announced laptops with HD-DVD drives. One even has an HDMI output. They are to be released in April.

Toshiba Satellite M100: 14" 5.2 lb laptop with HD-DVD (US$1034)

Toshiba Qosmio G30: 17" laptop with HD-DVD and HDMI port (US$2400)

Now, the 17" is a monster (with a monster remote), but the 14" one above bodes well for MacBook Pros I think. If HD-DVD laptops can be relatively inexpensive, then I'm guessing that the addition of a Blu-ray drive to a MacBook Pro won't make things too expensive. I'm definitely waitiing for a Blu-ray enabled MacBook Pro 13", hopefully with HDCP support. If the version A Intel 13" doesn't have Blu-ray, I'm just going to hold on to my iBook a little while longer.

turtle777 · 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Blu-ray player and movies will be released on May 23:

WTF ? Looks so 1990s.

Edit: Again: WTF ? WTF ? WTF ? WTF ?

This is s o fugly. What were they thinking.

-t

euchomai · Mar 8, 2006, 12:02 PM

What exactly will all of this mean? Extra long crystal clear movies? How much space would a regular HD movie take up on a disk?

I Bent My Wookiee · Mar 8, 2006, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by euchomai

What exactly will all of this mean? Extra long crystal clear movies? How much space would a regular HD movie take up on a disk?

It means you get HD quality on disks. HD looks 5 times better than DVD's, it is a HUGE difference.

Not sure of the space as it depends on the compression they use.

MaxPower2k3 · Mar 8, 2006, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by euchomai

What exactly will all of this mean? Extra long crystal clear movies? How much space would a regular HD movie take up on a disk?

That depends on the compression. Broadcast quality MPEG2 HD requires about 8 gigabytes per hour (at around 18 megabits). DVDs tend to be higher quality than broadcast signals, though, so I would guess that, if they use MPEG2 on next-gen DVDs, it will be 25-30mbits (or, at least, that's what I'm hoping, because I don't think 18mbits is sufficient for HD).

However, there's also H.264 (and Microsoft's equivalent) which is what Apple uses for their HD movie trailers. With that, you can get DVD-quality HD (even 1080p) in around 10.6mbits. If this were used, a 2-hour movie would require only about 10GB, leaving the rest of the disc for all of the pointless special features that they cram onto DVDs today.

Eug Wanker · Mar 8, 2006, 01:23 PM

Yep. You can easily get a very good quality 90 minute HD 1080i movie on a 8.5 GB dual-layer DVD using H.264. So, HD-DVD's single-layer 15 GB discs are more than sufficient for 2.5 hour HD movies.

Single-layer HD-DVD is not sufficient for long MPEG2 HD movies though, so that's where the benefit of Blu-ray or dual-layer HD-DVD comes in.

My guess is that most initial movie Blu-ray releases will be MPEG2.

Eug Wanker · Mar 8, 2006, 05:17 PM

Blank Blu-ray discs to ship this month.

2X (72 Mbps)
Single-layer (25 GB)
Anti-scratch, anti-static coating

BD-R: €25
BD-RE: €30

In the meantime, LG is going to be making hybrid Blu-ray/HD-DVD players, instead of just Blu-ray.

LG Electronics is considering developing a dual-format player for both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs and has dropped the BD199 Blu-ray player from its spring release lineup, according to a memo sent to LG's dealers from consumer electronics sales VP Bob Perry.

The memo states that the dual-format player is planned for late summer/early fall, and came about as a result of the uncertainty of the looming next-gen DVD format battle. "In light of uncertainty in this early stage of the market for pre-recorded high-definition optical discs, we have decided not to introduce the BD199 as originally planned for this spring," it says.

olePigeon · Mar 8, 2006, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Blank Blu-ray discs to ship this month.

That gives Microsoft a week to come out with the BD+R so everyone will have to buy a new burner again.

baw · Mar 8, 2006, 06:38 PM

And don't forget the BD-RAM format.

iLikebeer · Mar 8, 2006, 07:01 PM

Wow! Maybe blu-ray runs off the Guinness nitrogen widget! That's the same day the patent expires!
And I have an HDTV, but there's no way I'm paying $25-50 for a movie. I'll pay $20 for a movie that I really want to see and keep, IF some girl I'm dating at the time hasn't seen it and really wants to. Otherwise I wait until the price comes down. I have over 300 DVDs that I'm NOT rebuying because DVD's look good enough upconverted and I'm not putting out that kind of money again.