[sabrejim]

That's so funny that the first releases have bigger discs than bluray. That nullifies everything except studio support.

What's irking me is that people are saying this isnt impressive. It's just HD on a disc. It's better than any hd cable and satellite has been coming out but noone cried when that crap came out.

[starman]

Here's a link to a thread with an animated GIF showing the differences between SD and HD DVD:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=668631&page=2

[Eug Wanker]

I hope the second batch of HD-DVDs aren't all VC-1. We need some H.264 goodness. Just because.

[starman]

HD-A1's are on the shelves at Wal-Mart.

[Ilgaz]

I don't know it is because I work in video business and we still use cassettes (digital betacam) but I am particularly irritated by the "handling" precautions of DVDs, e.g. you can't put them on desk without risking loss and I believe as it is nearing "nano level", HD DVD is even more fragile.

Blu Ray is more like 3.5" diskette opposed to HD DVD. You can put them around, no freaking (sorry) cases around.

[Dark Helmet]

What ever happened to that coating that was supposed to make disks next to scratch proof? I thought blu-ray was going to use it over caddies.

[mduell]

Anyone know the ratio of codecs used for movies released sofar?

edit: I shoud read all the linked to threads.
Looks like VC-1 (WMVHD) is the most popular for HD-DVD, but MPEG2 will be the most popular for BluRay... I wonder why the BluRay disks aren't using more advanced codecs (VC-1 or H.264), given that they have less space available (assuming 25GB BluRay and 30GB DL HD-DVD).

[Ken_F2]

Anyone know the ratio of codecs used for movies released sofar?

So far, all shipping HD-DVD titles are using VC-1. All Blu-ray titles with announced specifications use the MPEG-2 format, but I certainly expect we'll see VC-1 and AVC encoded titles on the Blu-ray format later this year.

I wonder why the BluRay disks aren't using more advanced codecs (VC-1 or H.264), given that they have less space available (assuming 25GB BluRay and 30GB DL HD-DVD).

Sony's "Blu-print" is the only Blu-ray authoring platform currently available, and it only supports MPEG-2 transport streams. That's part of the reason why the initial slate of Blu-ray titles will be MPEG-2.

Sonic is coming out with an alternative Blu-ray authoring platform this summer -- it's in beta now -- which will support AVC (H.264) and VC-1. Sonic's HD-DVD authoring platform already supports VC-1 and AVC. I think you can expect most Blu-ray titles coming from the non-Sony studios to be authored with this platform.

[MaxPower2k3]

so, I wonder how long until this feature is actually good for something?



(note that "Blue Laser" means 15/30GB, or HD-DVD, not Blu-Ray)

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

I'm starting to wonder if they are releasing so many titles on HD-DVD at launch that I have zero interest in because people will buy them just to test out their players. I was struck by this thought when it seemed so many of the home theatre geeks were running out and buying Phantom of the Opera because it was one of the few titles they could get their hands on. Not at there's anything inherently wrong with getting Phantom, but how often do you seek home theatre online geeks gleefully bragging about their new Andrew Lloyd Weber titles to the rest of the online geek world?

Heheh

[Dark Helmet]

If this is true... wow, that's a friggin' deal!

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/26/ps...se-date-price/

"The folks at Team Xbox have picked up the latest issue of PSM, also known as the Unofficial PlayStation Magazine, and let us know that the magazine is claiming to have the official launch date and price of Sony's latest game console. The PlayStation 3 is set to launch in early November, just in time for the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, simultaneously with its online service. The asking price? $399 for US, €322 for Europe, and ¥45,965 in Japan.

While we're sure that a magazine entirely devoted to Sony's platform has some pretty good inside sources, and the prices and date seem pretty likely, consider this speculation until we get the official word from Sony (or, at least, the Official PlayStation Magazine)."

[Eug Wanker]

Doesn't sound right to me. And why would the Japanese price be ¥45965?

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Doesn't sound right to me. And why would the Japanese price be ¥45965?

What you mean? doesn't that convert to $399 US?

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

What you mean? doesn't that convert to $399 US?

The pricing usually does not convert directly, cuz the price is set independently for each country. For example, the Xbox 360 is US$399.99, but it is also €399.99. What it sounds like is that mag just got a US$399 price for the PS3 somewhere and converted it to Euros and Yen and claimed that's what the price was going to be, cuz $399 is close to €322 and ¥45965.

That Japanese price would be like MS setting the Canadian price of the Xbox 360 to $497.48 instead of $499. Kind of a strange number to choose.

It was NT$13888 in Taiwan, but that makes sense since 8 is a lucky number in Taiwan. It's now 12980 though now.

[starman]

BOING! I'm all over that.

[Dark Helmet]

"SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - When Apple (Research) signed on to support Sony's controversial Blu-Ray videodisc initiative, it gave the embattled format a boost in the marketplace. But now Steve Jobs' quid pro quo is becoming clear. Rumor has it that he's asking Sony and other studios to include iPod-ready versions of their movies on Blu-Ray releases. Disney, which has worked closely with Apple on video content in the past, is also in the Blu-Ray camp. Persuading Sony (Research) and Disney (Research) to add iPod support would greatly expand Apple's movie library from the one title it sells today, Disney's "High School Musical." Since Blu-Ray discs are much more capacious than DVDs, it shouldn't be a technical problem to store a much smaller iPod version of a movie alongside the full, high-definition version. The Slashfilm movie blog points out that Apple would be giving up revenues it could realize by selling those movies through the iTunes Music Store - but that having more iPod-ready movies available would help Apple sell more of the devices."

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/26/tech...0426/index.htm

[starman]

^^ welcome to last week.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by starman

^^ welcome to last week.

Don't be such an idiot. I saw the rumors of content being on blu-ray disks and even commented on it. People here didn't take it seriously because of the source so I posted another one from a bigger site written TODAY.

[Dark Helmet]

Porn industry is siding with Blu-Ray because of the increases storage and the fact that the PS3 ships with one.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/05...php?lsrc=mwrss

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Porn industry is siding with Blu-Ray because of the increases storage and the fact that the PS3 ships with one.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/05...php?lsrc=mwrss

Note the disc type.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Note the disc type.

OMG proved me wrong. When I said they were siding it I guess I said 100%

[Eug Wanker]

Ironically, 100% of next-gen HD pr0n discs right now are HD-DVD. There are exactly zero Blu-ray pr0n discs at the moment.

[sabrejim]

Some are wmv hd on dvd.

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Don't be such an idiot. I saw the rumors of content being on blu-ray disks and even commented on it. People here didn't take it seriously because of the source so I posted another one from a bigger site written TODAY.

I posted the original from iPod Hub who had the news first. I like the writing style there (It's opinionated and witty like The Register not bland like iLounge and ipodnn ) and somehow they got several scoops before anyone else. It could be a really good site after a while.

[driven]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Note the disc type.

That's a good film BTW. (For what it is anyway.)

[goMac]

I'd hate to see the guy that mixed that up for Pirates of the Caribbean.

"Alright kids, your mom and I are going out to dinner, but we got you a movie to watch..."

[driven]

Fortunately it's not sold on the same shelf as Pirates of the Caribean. But I can see the mixup happening at home if "Mom & Dad's movies" aren't separated from "Family flicks".

[Eug Wanker]

Hmmm... It seems that pr0n disc may be WMV HD. If so, that's false advertising.

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

I am just asking because you see a little overly blown away. Not that it isn't exciting to see a movie in HD but with as many shows and PPV movies that are in HD nowadays it isn't really something brand new.

Yes DVD's look like ass in comparison. I compared my Battlestar DVD's to the HD broadcast and there is a world of difference.

I can't wait to get a blu-ray player with Batman Begins and Battlestar in high def

The current Battlestar Galactica TV show is distributed by Universal Studios, which is a firm supporter of HD DVD.

This is Universal's first HD disc:

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

The current Battlestar Galactica TV show is distributed by Universal Studios, which is a firm supporter of HD DVD.

Ya well no worries, that will change soon enough.

Somehow I see a connection between PS3 gamers and BSG.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Ya well no worries, that will change soon enough.

Well, not really, they've dug their heels in for now. Even if they change to support Blu-ray, I wouldn't expect to see it happenning until 2008.

Mind you, I wouldn't expect to see BSG on HD DVD until 2007 anyway.

Somehow I see a connection between PS3 gamers and BSG.

That doesn't really make much sense, especially considering you already own an Xbox 360 (which will see the announcement of an HD DVD drive next week), as do very many people who watch BSG.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

That doesn't really make much sense, especially considering you already own an Xbox 360 (which will see the announcement of an HD DVD drive next week), as do very many people who watch BSG.

Well here is the difference...

Xbox - Does not come with a HD-DVD drive.
PS3 - Comes with a Blu-ray drive

Now you want to take a stab at sales numbers guesses? When there are 20 million PS3's out there with Blu-Ray drives and say 10 Million Xbox where only a small few MIGHT have an add on HD-DVD drive you can see which one studios will be attracted to.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Well here is the difference...

Xbox - Does not come with a HD-DVD drive.
PS3 - Comes with a Blu-ray drive

Now you want to take a stab at sales numbers guesses? When there are 20 million PS3's out there with Blu-Ray drives and say 10 Million Xbox where only a small few MIGHT have an add on HD-DVD drive you can see which one studios will be attracted to.

True.

However, it will be interesting to see what the price of the PS3 is. I'm suspecting it will be $500, which is cheap for Blu-ray, but expensive for a console. It might take quite some time to reach that 20 million PS3s mark at a $500 price point. Non-gamers do not generally buy consoles to watch movies, even if the console is cheaper than a standalone player.

It will also be interesting to see what the pricing of standalone players will be. HD DVD already launched at $500, whereas Blu-ray launches at $1000. I do think that HD DVD at $500 is a bit of a loss leader for Toshiba, but then again, other brands like RCA are matching this price this summer. $1000 for Blu-ray is far too expensive IMO, even for a launch product. Even if Blu-ray players were to drop by half by Xmas (which would be a very optimistic guess), I suspect HD DVD will still be cheaper by then. ie. $400 HD DVD players by Xmas, considering they're only $500 right now.

P.S. Blu-ray has now been delayed again. Don't expect to see anything this month. June at the earliest, and November/December for the PS3, probably in restricted volume.

[vmarks]

Toshiba put a 2.5 GHz Pentium 4 CPU and a GB of PC2700 DDR RAM in their new $500 HD DVD player (HD-1A).

This is the equivalent of an early 2003 vintage Compaq Presario (C470CA) or HP Pavilion (754N) that sold at the time with 512M of RAM for $1650 and $2175, respectively.


That's right, the apex in next-generation consumer electronic devices, the HD-DVD player, is little more than a 3-year old PC (with a cool new DVD drive) in sheep's clothing -- confirming and perhaps validating the complete convergence of CE and IT devices.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by vmarks

Toshiba put a 2.5 GHz Pentium 4 CPU and a GB of PC2700 DDR RAM in their new $500 HD DVD player (HD-1A).

This is the equivalent of an early 2003 vintage Compaq Presario (C470CA) or HP Pavilion (754N) that sold at the time with 512M of RAM for $1650 and $2175, respectively.

That's right, the apex in next-generation consumer electronic devices, the HD-DVD player, is little more than a 3-year old PC (with a cool new DVD drive) in sheep's clothing -- confirming and perhaps validating the complete convergence of CE and IT devices.

Yes. I was surprised at this when I first heard it. However, I don't think this will be true by the end of the year. Dedicated chips that support HD H.264, MPEG-2, and VC-1 should find their way into these things by the end of the year. General purpose CPUs like the P4 aren't really ideal for this type of stuff.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

True.

However, it will be interesting to see what the price of the PS3 is. I'm suspecting it will be $500, which is cheap for Blu-ray, but expensive for a console.

Think of it this way.

Customer: "Hi I wanted to get one of those fancy new HD-DVD players".
Store Employee: "Sure they are $500. But for the exact same cost you can have a blu-ray player as it comes in the PS3."
Customer: "So you are saying for the EXACT same price I can have a blueray player and the most advanced game unit on the face of the earth with more features than I can count?"
Store Employee: Yes.

Now lets assume that by the time the PS3 is out HD-DVD player have come down to $400. A $100 difference will be one hell of an easy up-sale to a PS3.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Think of it this way.

Customer: "Hi I wanted to get one of those fancy new HD-DVD players".
Store Employee: "Sure they are $500. But for the exact same cost you can have a blu-ray player as it comes in the PS3."
Customer: "So you are saying for the EXACT same price I can have a blueray player and the most advanced game unit on the face of the earth with more features than I can count?"
Store Employee: Yes.

Now lets assume that by the time the PS3 is out HD-DVD player have come down to $400. A $100 difference will be one hell of an easy up-sale to a PS3.

The number of people I know who bought a PS2 just to play DVD is exactly zero.

And like I said. HD DVD is $500 TODAY. The PS3 may be $500, but whatever price it is, it won't be out until November at the earliest, and probably in low volume.

So, more likely, in the December:

Customer: I'd like to get one of those $400 HD-DVD players.
Sales Drone: Well for just $500 you can get a PS3, which includes a Blu-ray HD player!
Customer: Cool, but I don't play video games.
Sales Drone: It's only another $100, and get other features too.
Customer: Well maybe. Do you have it in stock?
Sales Drone: No, but I'd be happy to take your name and number, and I'll call you when we get more in.
Customer: When will that be?
Sales Drone: Well we sold our first 5 last week, and expect to get 5 more in a couple of weeks, and you'd be number 7 on the list.
Customer: Uh, no thanks. I want to have the player for sure by Xmas, and I see 3 HD DVD players on the shelf over there right now.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

The number of people I know who bought a PS2 just to play DVD is exactly zero.

How is that relevant in any way? You've totally lost me.

Were DVD's players the same cost as the PS2? No, they cost more.

Did people buy PS2's just for the DVD players. Yes, according to sony and many other sources.

Will a PS3 be the same cost of a HD-DVD player but with tons more. Probably.

Did the gamecube sales lag because it didn't play DVDs? YES! Nintendo said so.

How many people do you even know with PS2s? Is your personal experience somehow the gold standard?

If you want to go that route I know 2 people out of 2 that use the PS2 as a DVD player.

P.S. My mom says HD-DVD sucks

[starman]

There's a much more significant difference between the DVD drive in the PS2 and the HD-DVD drive in the PS3:

DVDs were new

HD-DVD is a novelty

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

How is that relevant in any way? You've totally lost me.

Were DVD's players the same cost as the PS2? No, they cost more.

Exactly. DVD players in general did cost more than the PS2, but yet nobody I know with a PS2 bought it just to play DVDs.

Did people buy PS2's just for the DVD players. Yes, according to sony and many other sources.

Yes, the PS2's DVD player was an incentive to buy it. However, few people bought it strictly as a DVD player, partially because as a DVD player it's not so good.

Will a PS3 be the same cost of a HD-DVD player but with tons more. Probably.

Like I said, I doubt it. That might have been true had it been released in April, but it's not coming out until November. Too bad too, cuz I really wanted to buy one... in April.

Did the gamecube sales lag because it didn't play DVDs? YES! Nintendo said so.

Yes, I agree.

How many people do you even know with PS2s?

Probably about 10 or 11.

Is your personal experience somehow the gold standard?

Yes.

If you want to go that route I know 2 people out of 2 that use the PS2 as a DVD player.

Did they buy it only to play DVD?

Originally Posted by starman

There's a much more significant difference between the DVD drive in the PS2 and the HD-DVD drive in the PS3:

DVDs were new

HD-DVD is a novelty

That's a good point too. I definitely don't think the interest in Blu-ray and HD DVD is going to be anywhere near as strong as the interest was in DVD.

P.S. Just to nitpick... The PS3 has Blu-ray, not HD DVD.

[Dark Helmet]

Remember back when the DVD's came out how many people were saying "I don't want to re-buy all my movies that I have on VHS".

Next thing you know the PS2 is selling like hotcakes and DVD were the fastest adopted consumer electronics item of all time.

For sure the adoption for bluray/hd-dvd will be MUCH slower but as the PS3 will have it weather you like it or not people will be more prone to check it out and buy a blu-ray disk for the extra features over the same title on DVD.

Also with the really fast adoption on HDTV sets that has started people will quickly realize that DVD's don't look so hot.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Remember back when the DVD's came out how many people were saying "I don't want to re-buy all my movies that I have on VHS".

Actually, what I remember is that everyone and their dog wanted DVD. Many did not rebuy their movies, but they bought NEW movies on DVD, once they were able to get a standalone DVD player for relatively cheap.

In fact, my local Blockbuster went out of business because they didn't have DVDs for rent. Their customers started going to the shop next door, which had tons of DVDs (and VHS tapes too).

Next thing you know the PS2 is selling like hotcakes and DVD were the fastest adopted consumer electronics item of all time.

DVD was selling like hotcakes before the PS2 even came out.

For sure the adoption for bluray/hd-dvd will be MUCH slower but as the PS3 will have it weather you like it or not people will be more prone to check it out and buy a blu-ray disk for the extra features over the same title on DVD.

Like I said, you mom isn't going to be buying a PS3. Neither will my sister. Nor my colleagues. The only people I know personally who are considering buying the PS3 are those who want to play games on the thing at least part of the time.

Also with the really fast adoption on HDTV sets that has started people will quickly realize that DVD's don't look so hot.

HD rocks, but you said it yourself... Blu-ray/HD DVD adoption is going to be much much slower than DVD.

[Eug Wanker]

Insider info from a Warner employee:

Samsung BDP-1000 Blu-ray not as clunky and is faster than the Toshiba HD DVD players. The Samsung also supports 1080p output and is very quiet. However it costs twice as much.

All Blu-ray titles at launch are MPEG-2 single-layer 25 GB.
All HD DVD titles for the time being are VC-1 dual-layer 30 GB.

EDIT:

Uh oh, SWG is gonna hate this Warner release list...

HDDVD:
Unforgiven
Rumor Has It
The Fugitive
Constantine
Batman Begins
Dukes of Hazzard
Firewall
Dirty Dozen
Matrix
16 Blocks
Shawshank Redemption
Troy
Syriana
Harry Potter 4
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Enter the Dragon
Training Day
Full Metal Jacket
Terminator 3
Goodfellas
Rundown
Apollo 13

BluRay:
Firewall
Syriana
Good Night and Good Luck
Dukes of Hazzard

We might just have to get both Blu-ray and HD DVD. SWG wants Batman Begins and BSG. Batman Begins for now is HD DVD only, and BSG will likely be too since it's Universal. I want Hero and some other movies which will likely be Blu-ray. Stupid format war.

Here's hoping those multi-format players come out sooner than later, and don't cost too much money...

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Think of it this way.

Customer: "Hi I wanted to get one of those fancy new HD-DVD players".
Store Employee: "Sure they are $500. But for the exact same cost you can have a blu-ray player as it comes in the PS3."
Customer: "So you are saying for the EXACT same price I can have a blueray player and the most advanced game unit on the face of the earth with more features than I can count?"
Store Employee: Yes.

Now lets assume that by the time the PS3 is out HD-DVD player have come down to $400. A $100 difference will be one hell of an easy up-sale to a PS3.

a) There is going to be a massive shortage of the PS3 when it's released.
b) There is going to be a lack of titles for Bluray when the PS3 is released.
c) HD-DVD will get cheaper faster than the PS3 gets cheaper.

More likely it will go like this:
Customer: "Hi I wanted to get one of those fancy new HD-DVD players".
Store Employee: "Sure they are $500. But for the exact same cost you can have a blu-ray player as it comes in the PS3."
Customer: "So you are saying for the EXACT same price I can have a blueray player and the most advanced game unit on the face of the earth with more features than I can count?"
Store Employee: Yes.
Customer: "Great! Lemme pick up Battlestar Galactica in HD to go with my PS3..."
Store Employee: "Oh... that doesn't work on the PS3..."

[mduell]

When the PS3 is finally released, HD-DVD set-top boxes won't be the same price as the console; I'd guess they'll be 50-75% of the price, and of course have a much larger library of titles available.

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

DVD were the fastest adopted consumer electronics item of all time.

Using what metric?

[greenamp]

What's gonna be funny is all the schmucks who buy one and hook it up to their non-hd TVs.

[Dark Helmet]

"As we've reported, the selection of titles available has been markedly lackluster to date (though we expect that to improve dramatically by the end of this month and into June, with titles like U-571, The Chronicles of Riddick and the soon to be announced Batman Begins). The discs that have been released look and sound (by and large) fantastic, but again I don't know too many people salivating for the "DVD and HD-DVD Combo Format" version of Rumor Has It..., do you?

So then yesterday, we contacted the PR agency handling the format launch for Toshiba (as we have done about once or twice a week for a while now) to find out when we might finally get the actual review hardware we'd been expecting and waiting patiently for... only to learn that it might still be as long as two months before Toshiba can send us one. Now, let me tell you, it's awfully hard for us to do our jobs here at The Bits of reporting on a new format, when we can't even get our hands on WORKING review hardware. And it's even more unusual for a new format that the industry is so keen to promote (by comparison, I'm assured by the Blu-ray Disc camp that we'll have review hardware from them as soon as it's available). Given how hard we've worked to cover HD-DVD thus far here at The Bits, and how many of our readers we managed to turn out for Toshiba nationwide format launch tour last month (we've been told that Bits readers attended at many of the tour stops), the fact that we still can't get review hardware is telling. I know from talking to other members of the press (particularly the online press) that they're having similar problems getting HD-DVD hardware.

Before we go on, this has nothing to do with sore feelings about not getting hardware. Frankly, in talking with the PR agency, it just sounds as if there's not many review units available at the moment. What that tells us is just how seriously rushed the HD-DVD format launch has been. Toshiba, desperate to get HD-DVD onto store shelves before Blu-ray Disc, has stretched itself pretty thin. Buggy and less than fully-featured and compliant hardware, uneven PR support, lackluster software selection, VERY limited hardware and software availability at retail outlets... all of these things have resulted in a lot of frustration among early adopters and many in the early adopter press. Our own experience with HD-DVD here at The Bits has been a decidedly mixed bag thus far, and the reviews we've seen elsewhere in the press, along with the reports of our own readers who have purchased players and discs, seem to corroborate this. I'm not ready to declare the HD-DVD format launch a disaster... but it's been significantly less smooth than we (and, I suspect, the HD-DVD camp - despite enthusiastic press statements to the contrary) might have hoped, and far less smooth than the current DVD format's launch was back in March of 1997."

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa119.html#day16

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by greenamp

What's gonna be funny is all the schmucks who buy one and hook it up to their non-hd TVs.

Well, not everyone can afford an HDTV. However, it seems that with the Xbox 360, it's proving to be an incentive to upgrade to an HDTV. By the sounds of it, 480p from a HD DVD disc (or Blu-ray disc) is probably often going to look better than 480p from a corresponding DVD. I could see using this setup for a few months before the HDTV upgrade. It would look pretty good on high quality EDTVs too so I could see people using this for a while.

The HD DVD discs are using VC-1 (and H.264) and seem to be targetting 30 GB dual-layer sizes. In fact, for Warner Bros rumor has it that it's at the point where 25 GB single-layer Blu-ray discs are not big enough, because they're trying to maximize usage of that 30 GB size with image quality and extras.

I'm guessing that means that some are encoding VC-1 with bitrates as high as 20 Mbps. Thus image quality should be stellar in HD, and downsampled 480p should also be stellar. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for 480p from many corresponding DVDs.

Originally Posted by mduell

Using what metric?

The rate of consumer DVD uptake is supposedly the fastest consumer electronics adoption rate of all time.

What metric?

I had thought it was both the number of units purchased per unit time initially and the speed of adoption into a certain percentage of US homes, but I'd have to check that.

[starman]

Originally Posted by mduell

Using what metric?

He's right. It's been well documented that DVD was by far the fastest adopted new technology of all time.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Well, not everyone can afford an HDTV. However, it seems that with the Xbox 360, it's proving to be an incentive to upgrade to an HDTV. By the sounds of it, 480p from a HD DVD disc (or Blu-ray disc) is probably often going to look better than 480p from a corresponding DVD. I could see using this setup for a few months before the HDTV upgrade. It would look pretty good on high quality EDTVs too so I could see people using this for a while.

The HD DVD discs are using VC-1 (and H.264) and seem to be targetting 30 GB dual-layer sizes. In fact, for Warner Bros rumor has it that it's at the point where 25 GB single-layer Blu-ray discs are not big enough, because they're trying to maximize usage of that 30 GB size with image quality and extras.

I'm guessing that means that some are encoding VC-1 with bitrates as high as 20 Mbps. Thus image quality should be stellar in HD, and downsampled 480p should also be stellar. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for 480p from many corresponding DVDs.

More rumour on this...

It seems that one of the issues with Blu-ray is that the authoring tools are not as mature. ie. The best Blu-ray authoring tool according to some is Sony's. However, it currently only supports MPEG2 supposedly. There are other authoring tools that support VC-1 and H.264, but some claim they are not as good, so they're sticking with Sony's MPEG2 solution.

MPEG2 is fine, but given that the initial Blu-ray discs are single-layer only, it does present problems in terms of disk space. For example, one of the initial Warner Blu-ray discs is Syriana. That movie is 2 hours and 6 minutes long. If they were to choose say 25 Mbps for MPEG2, that would be roughly 23 GB just for the video alone. Add some audio and stuff and there's nothing left.

Mind you, for extras they could just put the stuff on a second disc however. Still, the rumoured immaturity of authoring tools with support for VC-1 and H.264 on the Blu-ray side is a concern.

OTOH, both H.264 and VC-1 HD DVDs are already out. For example, all initial US HD DVD releases are VC-1, and Miramax Japan released Finding Neverland on HD DVD using H.264.



P.S. This is one movie I'd really like to see in Hi-Def:

[meelk]

while the PS2 did help DVD adoption rates, dvd playback on the PS2 is complete ass, I'm sure the exact same thing will be the case for the PS3.