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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > Blu-ray/HD DVD... Who is winning?

View Poll Results: Which do you have? (Choose only ONE. Includes stand-alones and game consoles.)
Poll Options:
HD DVD 34 votes (17.09%)
Blu-ray 87 votes (43.72%)
Both 14 votes (7.04%)
Neither 70 votes (35.18%)
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 199. You may not vote on this poll
Blu-ray/HD DVD... Who is winning? (Page 12)
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Severed Hand of Skywalker
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Feb 20, 2007, 04:17 PM
 
So as of a couple weeks ago there are more BR titles than HD-DVD.

Anywho, just when we all thought 50 gigs of storage was way more than we could ever need... Disney announces Pirates will be on TWO BR disks. One 50 gig disk for the movie and one 25 gig disk for the extras:

Disney 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Booty to Include Two Discs, BD-Java Features | High-Def Digest

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
     
Gossamer
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Feb 20, 2007, 04:20 PM
 
$35 for a movie...wow.
     
icruise
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Feb 20, 2007, 04:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker View Post
So as of a couple weeks ago there are more BR titles than HD-DVD.

Anywho, just when we all thought 50 gigs of storage was way more than we could ever need... Disney announces Pirates will be on TWO BR disks. One 50 gig disk for the movie and one 25 gig disk for the extras:
MIssion Impossible 3 is already on 2 BR discs.

Originally Posted by Gossamer View Post
$35 for a movie...wow.
What's so surprising about that? The MSRP for a lot of DVDs is set that high. And back when I had a laserdisc player (before DVD) I paid 2-3 times that for special editions of movies that didn't have nearly as good a picture or special features.
     
Gossamer
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Feb 20, 2007, 04:27 PM
 
Originally Posted by icruise View Post
What's so surprising about that? The MSRP for a lot of DVDs is set that high. And back when I had a laserdisc player (before DVD) I paid 2-3 times that for special editions of movies that didn't have nearly as good a picture or special features.
Call me sheltered, but I've never seen one online or in a store for that much.
     
Severed Hand of Skywalker
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Feb 20, 2007, 04:35 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer View Post
$35 for a movie...wow.
They all seem to have really high list prices but I am finding they are selling for only $5 more than the DVD.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
     
jokell82
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Feb 20, 2007, 04:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer View Post
Call me sheltered, but I've never seen one online or in a store for that much.
Go to Suncoast one day.

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analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 10:36 AM
 
     
mitchell_pgh
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Mar 16, 2007, 11:49 AM
 
Interesting read... I noticed the other day that my local blockbuster has both HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Once one of them disappears... I think I may buy a player.

It's the same thing I did with the Divx vs. DVD war... damn... I'm old.
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 11:55 AM
 
I have nothing really against HD-DVD other than the disk capacity being 50% of BR which is the only reason I don't support it. They have been doing a good job so far but nothing that makes it THAT much better than BR.

BR had a iffy start with player delays and a couple so so looking titles but it was overblown as HDDVD had some bad looking disks also. In the past 3 months BR has come a LONG way.

The fact is since the PS3 shipped in Dec there are more BR titles, more in the pipeline, more studio support, more BR players in the market with more shipping by year end, almost triple the sales of HDDVD, BR quality is the same as HDDVD even when using MPEG2 over MP4, and in many cases BR is cheaper as some HDDVD disks also have the DVD version on the other side. Cool if you REALLY want it for some reason but if you don't your forking over at least $5 more per title.
     
analogika
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Mar 16, 2007, 12:05 PM
 
Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh View Post
Interesting read... I noticed the other day that my local blockbuster has both HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Once one of them disappears... I think I may buy a player.

It's the same thing I did with the Divx vs. DVD war...
Which of those disappeared?
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 12:14 PM
 
A serious question: How do HD-DVD supports see the format BEATING Blu-ray. Not making a good effort or having respectable sales... but BEATING.

If you can't see it winning and BR off the market why continue to hold out or support it?
     
Gossamer
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Mar 16, 2007, 12:19 PM
 
I can get an RCA HDV-5000 for $300 brand new in box. Would this be worth buying to flip somewhere else? It retails for $466 on Amazon, and apparently it's the same as the Toshiba HD-1 (maybe?) which is selling for about $300ish on eBay.
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 01:10 PM
 
My lord that thing looks like the first VHS players. All it needs is top loading and a bit of wood grain
     
Montezuma58
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Mar 16, 2007, 01:11 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer View Post
I can get an RCA HDV-5000 for $300 brand new in box. Would this be worth buying to flip somewhere else? It retails for $466 on Amazon, and apparently it's the same as the Toshiba HD-1 (maybe?) which is selling for about $300ish on eBay.
It's the same as the the Toshiba HD-A1. You'd probably have to get it much cheaper to be worth the hassle of reselling it. The newer HD-A2 can be purchased for around $360 new easily.
     
Gossamer
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Mar 16, 2007, 01:27 PM
 
Originally Posted by Montezuma58 View Post
It's the same as the the Toshiba HD-A1. You'd probably have to get it much cheaper to be worth the hassle of reselling it. The newer HD-A2 can be purchased for around $360 new easily.
Ah, the A1. Thanks for the info.
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 01:53 PM
 
     
jokell82
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Mar 16, 2007, 02:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
A serious question: How do HD-DVD supports see the format BEATING Blu-ray. Not making a good effort or having respectable sales... but BEATING.

If you can't see it winning and BR off the market why continue to hold out or support it?
The only way either format wins is by exclusive content. Most consumers couldn't give a sh*t about disc capacity, they care about what movies they can watch.

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icruise
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Mar 16, 2007, 02:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by analogika View Post
Which of those disappeared?
DIVX did (but not DivX -- who the hell thought it would be a good idea to name these two things so similarly?)

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
A serious question: How do HD-DVD supports see the format BEATING Blu-ray. Not making a good effort or having respectable sales... but BEATING.

If you can't see it winning and BR off the market why continue to hold out or support it?
For the people backing HD-DVD (by this I mean the people who own a stake in it and who would profit from its success), it makes a lot of sense to continue supporting the format. Even if they don't think they can win, half (or a third or whatever) of the market is better than nothing. For consumers, though, I can't see any reason to back a losing horse. If things continue as they are, I don't see HD-DVD ever beating Blu-ray.

P.S. As I was typing this, the UPS man delivered two Blu-ray movies to my door.
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 02:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
The only way either format wins is by exclusive content. Most consumers couldn't give a sh*t about disc capacity, they care about what movies they can watch.
You're right. This summer the big HD-DVD titles that will give it a lead over BR are:

Children of men
The Game

And BR has such unknown titles as:
Spiderman 1 and 2
Pirates of the Caribbean
Cars
     
jokell82
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Mar 16, 2007, 03:17 PM
 
I just don't seem to understand why you care so much. One format will win eventually or neither format will win (due to obsolescence).

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analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 03:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
I just don't seem to understand why you care so much. One format will win eventually or neither format will win (due to obsolescence).
Why? how about because I don't want to buy 50 BR movies if 2 years from now they are off the market entirely and I have to hold onto old relic players like people did with beta and LazerDisc.
     
jokell82
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Mar 16, 2007, 04:03 PM
 
So you do what the vast majority of people are doing - wait until a format is decided.

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analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 04:16 PM
 
Originally Posted by jokell82 View Post
So you do what the vast majority of people are doing - wait until a format is decided.
Well that is more chicken and the egg. A winner can't be decided if nobody buys either.

Not to mention I am ITCHING for HD as on my HDTV even DVD's look blurry. I don't want to wait another year or two for one to disappear just to make good use of my setup.

Bond on BR is totally mind blowing visually and audibly and I don't even use the uncompressed audio yet which I heard is like night and day to even the best Dolby or DTS mix.
     
hmurchison2001
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Mar 16, 2007, 05:25 PM
 
I'm an HD DVD supporter and I don't care about HD DVD beating Blu-ray at all. My focus is on.

1. Getting hardware that performas well- check
2. Getting access to excellent content- Incomplete

Now I could buy a Blu-ray to get access to Disney, Fox, Columbia and Lionsgate movies but I'm a bit nonplussed about why. HD DVD gives me excellent quality from a player that is $360 on Amazon and movies from Universal, Dreamworks, Warner, Newline, Weinstein, and other smaller studios. Basically the Blu-ray studios want me to buy their blessed hardware and I'm not into meeing their demands I'm into them meeting mine.
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analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 16, 2007, 05:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by hmurchison2001 View Post
Basically the Blu-ray studios want me to buy their blessed hardware and I'm not into meeing their demands I'm into them meeting mine.
Actually they want you to buy their movies not just the players.

You on the other hand seem happy with the hardware and poor movie selection.
     
icruise
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Mar 16, 2007, 05:45 PM
 
The hardware cost for BR players will come down, just as it did with DVD players. Right now the only real advantage HD-DVD has is the (relatively) cheap players. But if you don't have much to play on them, what's the point?
     
hmurchison2001
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Mar 16, 2007, 06:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by icruise View Post
The hardware cost for BR players will come down, just as it did with DVD players. Right now the only real advantage HD-DVD has is the (relatively) cheap players. But if you don't have much to play on them, what's the point?
Yes they will come down but it would be foolish to think that HD DVD cannot take advantage of the same economies of scale and thus decrease in price in a proportional manner.

HD DVD has advantages beyond just cheap players. It's based off of HD DVD technology which means HD DVD pressing plants can also press DVD-9. This mitigates any risk. Blu-ray requires a investing in a whole new line that is incompatible with DVD-x. This is why smaller studios who don't get the benefit of Sony's disc subsidation generally choose HD DVD (most Adult film studios)

I also prefer the platform spec of HD DVD. Dolby TrueHD lossless audio is Mandatory, Ethernet is mandatory, the Interactive Layer is HDi which is Ecma scrip, XML, CSS and SMIL based. It doesn't require compilation like Java to view because it's not a bytecode language. Persistent storage is mandatry..every HD DVD player must be able to store a specified amount of HD 1080 content. Every HD DVD player must support dual audio and video decoders for PiP functionality.

As of today the HD DVD platfrom is superior and it's cheaper. Blu-ray's surface advantage of 50GB discs hasn't manifested in superior quality movies. Thus it's basically alive because of studio collusion.
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Mar 17, 2007, 12:41 AM
 
     
exca1ibur
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Mar 17, 2007, 12:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by hmurchison2001 View Post
Yes they will come down but it would be foolish to think that HD DVD cannot take advantage of the same economies of scale and thus decrease in price in a proportional manner.

HD DVD has advantages beyond just cheap players. It's based off of HD DVD technology which means HD DVD pressing plants can also press DVD-9. This mitigates any risk. Blu-ray requires a investing in a whole new line that is incompatible with DVD-x. This is why smaller studios who don't get the benefit of Sony's disc subsidation generally choose HD DVD (most Adult film studios)

I also prefer the platform spec of HD DVD. Dolby TrueHD lossless audio is Mandatory, Ethernet is mandatory, the Interactive Layer is HDi which is Ecma scrip, XML, CSS and SMIL based. It doesn't require compilation like Java to view because it's not a bytecode language. Persistent storage is mandatry..every HD DVD player must be able to store a specified amount of HD 1080 content. Every HD DVD player must support dual audio and video decoders for PiP functionality.

As of today the HD DVD platfrom is superior and it's cheaper. Blu-ray's surface advantage of 50GB discs hasn't manifested in superior quality movies. Thus it's basically alive because of studio collusion.
Thats great but what it boils down to is content. As a user thats all we care about. You can have the best hardware on the planet, if there is no content for it, does it matter? We are all on a Mac forums, so we should all understand that more than anyone.

P.S. I prefer PCM audio myself.
     
Eug
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Mar 17, 2007, 01:10 AM
 
Originally Posted by exca1ibur View Post
P.S. I prefer PCM audio myself.
Why? Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio are bit-for-bit identical, but don't waste space (since they use lossless compression).
     
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Mar 17, 2007, 01:57 PM
 
Originally Posted by exca1ibur View Post
Thats great but what it boils down to is content. As a user thats all we care about. You can have the best hardware on the planet, if there is no content for it, does it matter? We are all on a Mac forums, so we should all understand that more than anyone.

P.S. I prefer PCM audio myself.
Content is King. You're exactly right. That's why I'm supporting HD DVD. You do know Disney and Fox tried to push Divx over DVD right? So to me this is just another situation in which both studios are supporting the "most" restrictive format.

Blu-ray has 3 forms of copy protection :

AACS- Just like HD DVD
BD+ - which rides on top of AACS but can do things like disable your player
ROM Mark- marks the disc so that hopefully pirate discs can be tracked
Region Encoding- Prevents certain discs from playing in some regions.

HD DVD has :

AACS

Now you tell me what format is most likely supporting consumer Fair Use right more? The ideal situation is for people to pull their heads from their @$$ and support HD DVD because in the end the studios are going to go where the money is. If that's HD DVD you're going to get the benefits of a player with the most features, lowest cost and least amount of restrictions. Who doesn't want that?
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exca1ibur
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Mar 17, 2007, 02:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by hmurchison2001 View Post
Content is King. You're exactly right. That's why I'm supporting HD DVD. You do know Disney and Fox tried to push Divx over DVD right? So to me this is just another situation in which both studios are supporting the "most" restrictive format.

Blu-ray has 3 forms of copy protection :

AACS- Just like HD DVD
BD+ - which rides on top of AACS but can do things like disable your player
ROM Mark- marks the disc so that hopefully pirate discs can be tracked
Region Encoding- Prevents certain discs from playing in some regions.

HD DVD has :

AACS

Now you tell me what format is most likely supporting consumer Fair Use right more? The ideal situation is for people to pull their heads from their @$$ and support HD DVD because in the end the studios are going to go where the money is. If that's HD DVD you're going to get the benefits of a player with the most features, lowest cost and least amount of restrictions. Who doesn't want that?
For me the more exclusive companies with movies 'I' want to watch are on Blu Ray. Unless I plan on pirating the copy protection means jack. The people are going where the movies are and if you look at the numbers right now and growth. I think it all speaks for itself. My opinion of course, but the facts are there to support it.
( Last edited by exca1ibur; Mar 17, 2007 at 04:30 PM. )
     
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Mar 17, 2007, 04:29 PM
 
So far, I like what Blu-ray format is offering.
     
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Mar 18, 2007, 01:58 AM
 
Duly noted. Blu-ray does have the superior studio support. The good thing for HD DVD fans is that studio support is a malleable thing. I myself prefer less DRM, lower costs and full featured players enough that I can hold off on product from companies that want to hold their content ransom to get me into buying a more DRM'd format. Everyone has their limits.
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Mar 18, 2007, 02:57 AM
 
The unfortunate thing is, sales are small enough right now that I can almost promise that no studios will switch until one of both formats die.

Sony/Fox/Buena Vista are trying to smother HD DVD right now, so they can move onto market penetration - although I think they're statement of surpassing DVD within 3 years is insanely retarded, blatent spin, I can see why they want to get rid of HD DVD pronto.

I love HD DVD, they've got some great flicks (and I am a bit biased, owning a player and all), however I have to be honest here, if it doesn't die they both will, and of the two formats, it's easier for HD DVD to lose. Sure, BD-J sucks, but I can live with that.
     
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Mar 18, 2007, 10:43 AM
 
Originally Posted by icruise View Post
The hardware cost for BR players will come down, just as it did with DVD players. Right now the only real advantage HD-DVD has is the (relatively) cheap players. But if you don't have much to play on them, what's the point?
Keep in mind they are also so cheap because toshiba is losing money on them or breaking even at best.

Not to mention you save money on the player but have to pay more for the HD-DVD version as it usually is a dual disk with DVD on the other side.

I mean there was almost a $10 price difference for the Departed in HDDVD over the BR one. The sales of each was 13,000 HDDVD to 20,000 BR the first week.

Ok one thing I still don't quite understand.

Why do people consider HD-DVD to be the underdog battling against the "Monopoly" of sony?

How the hell is Universal Studio's, Toshiba and frackin' Microsoft considered an underdog?

How is HD-DVD any less "proprietary" than BR?

What monopoly does sony have? They didn't own DVD's, not leading in TV's or MP3 players and they lost Betamax (which I can't believe people are still hung up on).

You guys really want Microsoft to win over Sony? I sure as hell don't as we have seen what happens when MS owns anything. Remember how they didn't update IE for Mac or PC for YEARS after they beat Netscape?

Apple has said they are going BR and not HD (so far). Why would you root against Apple and for MS and Toshiba of all things?

Originally Posted by hmurchison2001 View Post
As of today the HD DVD platfrom is superior and it's cheaper. Blu-ray's surface advantage of 50GB discs hasn't manifested in superior quality movies. Thus it's basically alive because of studio collusion.
Actually BR and HD disks are equal now in terms of picture and BR always has a lead in audio.

HD-DVD also has a bit of a throughput disadvantage that some studio's have expressed concern with ALREADY. Think about in 3 years when it is on everyones computer.
( Last edited by Lateralus; Mar 18, 2007 at 12:05 PM. )
     
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Mar 18, 2007, 02:49 PM
 
HD-DVD is a much more elegant format than Bluray. It mandates that the players have to be able to handle two simultanious video streams, meaning you get nicer menus and directors commentary features. You also have manditory managed copy, which means you are allowed to rip HD-DVD's (nifty for us people who like to keep our content in a digital library). Also, iHD is much nicer than Bluray's Java system. iHD has internet connectivity features, because internet connectivity is mandated in HD-DVD. In fact, HP broke ranks with the rest of the Bluray group and requested iHD support in Bluray, but Sony declined. Also, HD-DVD has been using MP4 compression since the beginning, while it sounds like Bluray may not be (Pirates of the Caribbean on two disks sounds like MP2 compression). HD-DVD is also backwards compatible, meaning those of us without HD-DVD burners can still burn shorter HD-DVD content to a DVD.

The only real knock anyone seems to have against HD-DVD is it's capacity, which seems to have been solved.

As Sony drops their Bluray prices, HD-DVD will drop theirs, and HD-DVD will stay cheaper.
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goMac
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Mar 18, 2007, 03:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
Apple has said they are going BR and not HD (so far). Why would you root against Apple and for MS and Toshiba of all things?
From the conversations I have had with people in Apple aware of the situation, they are neutral. It's been a while since I've heard, so that's not to say they haven't chosen a side (I bet they haven't yet), but if you look on the web page of both camps you will notice they are members of both camps.

I also think Apple may end up choosing neither as their platform of choice and instead distribute online.
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Mar 18, 2007, 05:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by goMac View Post
You also have manditory managed copy, which means you are allowed to rip HD-DVD's (nifty for us people who like to keep our content in a digital library).
Is this actually usable at the moment? I've hardly heard anything about it, beyond some initial press releases. In any case, saying that it allows you to rip HD-DVDs is more than a little misleading. The idea is that it will allow you to make at least one (heavily DRMed) copy of the disc's content and use it on a media center PC or other device, but from what I have read the details aren't at all clear. For example, the movie studios apparently have the right to charge you to make that copy, and they will somehow monitor your creation and use of it over the Internet.

So the utility of this feature is still very much up in the air. It could be good, but I think it's unlikely that the movie companies are going to let you do anything like this for free, given their past history.
     
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Mar 18, 2007, 05:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by goMac View Post
I also think Apple may end up choosing neither as their platform of choice and instead distribute online.
What does this even mean? Apple is not going to be marketing movies on Blu-ray. The whole point of the "Apple supporting Blu-ray" issue is that they will add Blu-ray drives to their computers, so people can use them for backup or for burning their own HD movies to disc. Choosing neither isn't an option in this situation. Choosing *both* might be, if viable dual-format drives come around soon enough, but I think that's a little unlikely. Since they are a computer company and not a producer of HD content per se, from Apple's point of view, the storage capacity is the main issue to be concerned about, and Blu-ray has HD-DVD beat there.
     
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Mar 18, 2007, 06:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
You guys really want Microsoft to win over Sony? I sure as hell don't as we have seen what happens when MS owns anything. Remember how they didn't update IE for Mac or PC for YEARS after they beat Netscape?
What's with this misinformation about Microsoft and HD-DVD? They're supporting the format, not owning it and they never will.

I own both Blu-ray and HD-DVD players but you're far too biased here with incorrect information. You might want to recheck your source where you got your information from.

Either format is not dying and won't be for a good while.
     
Eug
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Mar 18, 2007, 09:42 PM
 
Microsoft has its hands in BOTH formats. Both formats have support for Microsoft's VC-1 (WMV-9) codec as a mandatory requirement.

That's why you can use pretty much the same VC-1 encode on HD DVD and Blu-ray.
     
exca1ibur
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Mar 18, 2007, 09:51 PM
 
All codecs are supported on both formats, yet right now studios are pretty much standardizing on VC1 / TrueHD for HD DVD and MPG4 ADV/ PCM for Blu ray.
     
Eug
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Mar 18, 2007, 09:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by exca1ibur View Post
All codecs are supported on both formats, yet right now studios are pretty much standardizing on VC1 / TrueHD for HD DVD and MPG4 ADV/ PCM for Blu ray.
That is not correct.

There are some H.264 HD DVDs, and there are several VC-1 Blu-ray discs. There is more incentive to go VC-1 on Blu-ray for the format neutral studios, since as I said it can mean doing the video encode just once.

Furthermore, TrueHD is not mandatory on Blu-ray. Neither is Dolby Digital Plus. That is why PCM is being used.
     
analogue SPRINKLES
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Mar 18, 2007, 10:19 PM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
Furthermore, TrueHD is not mandatory on Blu-ray. Neither is Dolby Digital Plus. That is why PCM is being used.
So what's so wrong with that? There is plenty of space and if it has better sound anyway what is the downside?
     
exca1ibur
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Mar 18, 2007, 10:24 PM
 
I never said TrueHD was mandatory, or even on Blu Ray. I haven't seen a single one with TrueHD. I also never said ALL Blu ray disc use VC-1. I said most NEWER Blu ray movies are using MP4, which they are. Have a look for yourself. I know earlier discs used mostly MP2 and VC1, but now most are MP4 now, is what I'm saying.

I've never heard of anyone making something mandatory for either camp. I thought that was up to the developer, since no matter which formats they use they are all supported by the media.
     
awaspaas
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Mar 19, 2007, 12:10 AM
 
Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES View Post
So what's so wrong with that? There is plenty of space and if it has better sound anyway what is the downside?
The key is it's lossless compression - not inferior sound. Use the extra space for better video and/or more features. Doy.
     
goMac
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Mar 19, 2007, 03:29 AM
 
Originally Posted by icruise View Post
What does this even mean? Apple is not going to be marketing movies on Blu-ray. The whole point of the "Apple supporting Blu-ray" issue is that they will add Blu-ray drives to their computers, so people can use them for backup or for burning their own HD movies to disc. Choosing neither isn't an option in this situation. Choosing *both* might be, if viable dual-format drives come around soon enough, but I think that's a little unlikely. Since they are a computer company and not a producer of HD content per se, from Apple's point of view, the storage capacity is the main issue to be concerned about, and Blu-ray has HD-DVD beat there.
I think they'll add support for both HD-DVD and Bluray as optional components, but they won't make them defaults except on the high end Mac Pro's. I know this sounds obvious because they did the same thing with the Superdrives, but I think they will push iTunes instead of really pushing for either HD-DVD or Bluray.

Apple doesn't really have a use for Bluray's storage capacity right now, not to mention HD-DVD has 51 gig discs on the way out from the labs. I honestly don't think Apple cares too much about either format really.

I mean, think about the position Apple is in. I think a lot of people assume because Steve Jobs is associated with Disney, and Disney is in the Bluray camp, that Apple will be in the Bluray camp. But Apple could sell HD content to you no matter if you have a DVD drive, a Bluray drive, or an HD-DVD drive. Why pay money for an expensive drive or player when you could just download HD content? And it doesn't matter which camp a movie studio is in. They all can add content to iTunes. The end consumer wouldn't have to worry about the platform war either. All this puts Apple in a very good position.
( Last edited by goMac; Mar 19, 2007 at 03:35 AM. )
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el chupacabra
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Mar 19, 2007, 03:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by Adam Betts View Post
What's with this misinformation about Microsoft and HD-DVD? They're supporting the format, not owning it and they never will.
Its Microsoft. They intend to try and control as much of it as they can. They only support HD DVD for 2 reasons:

1. Sony already has control of Blu ray, their only chance is with HD dvd, and it will be through VC-1.

2....And they are taking advantage of HD DVD's inferior capacity; They know HD DVD requires heavy compression software, much like microsoft's VC1. And they know they can get lots of royalties for every VC1 movie blu ray or hd dvd sold.

There's a link somewhere back in this thread that shows what codecs are being used by each group. You'll see most HD DVd use VC1 while most blu ray use mpeg2 (maybe even mpeg4). Coinsidence?

Bottom line is MS has a lot to lose if HD dvd loses. Why would anyone use the poorest of the 3 codecs if they didn't have to? I wonder what dirty deals went on so that HD dvd movies aren't being ecoded in H.264 more often since its light years ahead of vc1.

I hope no one truly believes HD DVD will be any less drm'd than blu ray come the future... At least Sonys' honest with us on that.

Not to worry though MS will probably win this war just like they do every war. Even some BD's are having to conform to the lower standards of HD dvd since a few studios are just doing one VC1 ecode to put on both.
     
goMac
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Mar 19, 2007, 03:54 AM
 
Originally Posted by el chupacabra View Post
2....And they are taking advantage of HD DVD's inferior capacity; They know HD DVD requires heavy compression software, much like microsoft's VC1. And they know they can get lots of royalties for every VC1 movie blu ray or hd dvd sold.
Sony takes royalties for Bluray too. You can hardly argue that Sony is just creating Bluray for the shared good. Microsoft and Sony are both just about as open.

Also Bluray uses VC1. You can't argue Microsoft is against Bluray because they don't use VC1 because that simply isn't true.

Also VC1 and MPEG4 are about the same. MPEG4 could possibly be a bit better, but light years better is a complete exaggeration.
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