Technophiles: Which format will prevail - HD-DVD or BluRay?

[Writer]

And why?

:shrug:

[DarkTirade]

1. Cheaper and less proprietary usually ends up doing the best in the long run.

Which one's cheaper and less proprietary? :) I get the impression that HD is, but as I'm too broke to get the newest crap, I haven't been following it much lately. Don't want to taunt myself by learning about stuff I can't afford.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. I say this in all honesty and confidence - whatever the porn industry chooses.

Just like porn chose VHS over Beta, the HD-DVD/BlueRay war will end when porn makes its choice.

[GirlinContempt]

3. I don't know if porn has as much weight anymore

just because of all the options available to get it. Well, mainly the internets... But when the choice was made before, people didn't have the ability to just go download something and burn it or watch it on their computers, ya know?

[DarkTirade]

4. Well, porn didn't choose... they weren't ALLOWED to put their stuff out on Beta.

This time Sony's gonna be a little more lax about who gets to use their format. :) They learned their lesson last time.

[Chovexani]

11. Porn is irrelevant this time around

Because of the intertubes. Porn studios have embraced the internet model and are on the cutting edge of it. That's where they're banking on the big money coming from.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Only two studios are putting their stuff out on HD...

everyone else is going BluRay or covering their asses with both.

Best Buy has a huge BluRay room with HD hidden in a corner.

It is believed that BluRay is somewhat more difficult to copy illegally, giving it the edge with studios even though it costs a few more cents to make a disk.

BluRay is a much cooler name.

Toshiba is reported to be on a crying jag right now.

[Joe Fields]

6. Unfortunately for the public, we would have to go out and buy

special equipment to play bluray. My son tells me the cheapest equipment cost over 300 dollars.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. HD ain't cheap either, but prices are dropping like stones...

wasn't too long ago you had to drop around 800 bucks for BluRay. 200-300 bucks seems to be the target, with 300-400 being the low end now. Maybe even less if enough get into it. the first VCRs cost more than that, remember?

I'm not sure, but I heard you can play BluRay on your PlayStation, too.

[Joe Fields]

18. That's what my son told me, that you can use a play station.

Yeah, I remember my dad paying over a grand for his first VCR, when they first came out.

[Chovexani]

14. Like anything, bargains can be found if you look hard enough online

I've seen BD players go as cheaply as $200. Best Buy's running an internet special now where you get a $500 Sharp BD player free with the purchase of select Aquos model TVs. There were a shit ton on special for the holidays. This Xmas was definitely the year of HDTV and if you missed out, the Consumer Electronics Show going on right now in Vegas has manufacturers rolling out new models, meaning the current ones will go on sale before too long.

Do your homework and you can find deals.

[cabraverde]

8. I know a wierdo who still has a Beta machine

he stockpiled a whole shitload of blank tapes, and bought a bunch of the machines when every one else gave up and went to VHS.
Some people just dont have enough common sense to just let a bad idea die.

[Reverend_Smitty]

9. We still have a beta machine up in our attic

I think it is older than I am and weighs about 1000 pounds. Funny thing is we moved about 10 years ago and still brought the damn thing with us...why? who the hell knows

[harmonicon]

10. normal ol' DVD isn't going anywhere

It's universal(ish - the whole region thing is fucked up), and dirt cheap. I think this hi-def thing is a fad. The quality is better enough to make a big difference.

[Chovexani]

12. Blu-Ray, for two reasons

1) Storage capacity. BD blows HD-DVD out of the water on storage capacity, and computer manufacturers are going to be sticking BD players and burners in machines before long. 2) Studios are already recognizing this, and dropping their HD-DVD exclusivities left and right. Warner will not be the last.

Which is good, because BD is just a superior format IMO. This ain't like Betamax vs. VHS where the inferior tech won.

[democracyindanger]

13. Both. Or wait.

LG sells a player that can handle both, but it's pretty steep: $1200. Sony and Toshiba are supposed to be coming out with some too, which will drive the cost down somewhat.

But I'd wait a year or two. The battle should start sorting itself out soon, and even if it doesn't there'll probably be plenty of hybrid players to choose from.

If you've got money burning a hole in your pocket, though, I'd go for a new plasma.

[jmowreader]

15. BluRay. Here's why.

You can, at this time, buy both HD-DVD burners and BluRay burners for your computer. They're seven hundred dollars apiece so you won't find them in your average computer, but they're available.

An HD-DVD burner creates a 17GB disc. A BluRay drive creates a 25GB disc. Bigger is better.

Right now the biggest impediment to the absolute ascendancy of BluRay is Xbox 360's use of HD-DVD. You'll need an HD-DVD burner to pirate Xbox 360 discs, but everyone else will be on BluRay.

[regnaD kciN]

16. Either...

...Blu-Ray or neither.

Blu-Ray just got a huge boost with Warner Brothers deciding to no longer issue HD-DVD discs. That is going to have huge implications for the availability concern.

However, it seems to me it's entirely possible that, even with HD-DVD dead, Blu-Ray will remain little more than a niche format, and consumers will stick with standard-def DVD.

[Deja Q]

17. I'm waiting for the format war to end.

James Bond will be out on Blu-Ray, but Serenity is on HD. Star Trek TOS (FWIW) is on HD-DVD.

Besides, any decent LCD screen has built-in filters and will make standard def DVDs far more palatable.

More on Trek, the high def transfer on the film looks remarkably clean (no grain, but a bit soft) - but the revamped f/x are hit or miss.